If Japanese companies don't reform drastically and implement English as their daily business language, the economy will only continue to contract.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Increasingly, corporate executives who don't speak Japanese are coming into Japan. Unlike their predecessors, they expect their employees to be able to communicate in English.
The fact of the matter is that fewer people in Tokyo are able to do business in English than in many other big Asian cities, like Shanghai, Seoul or Bangkok.
Another dynamic of this last year was our increased penetration into the Japanese market.
Japan has only 100m people. Asia has 4bn. At least one-third, maybe nearly half, will become middle class, and this is a big opportunity for Japanese businessmen.
From another point of view, a new situation now seems to be arising in which Japan's prosperity is going to be incorporated into the expanding potential power of both production and consumption in Asia at large.
In this context, the current recovery in the Japanese economy is taking place in tandem with the growing interdependence with the rest of the world, particularly with the other East Asian economies.
We must draw on the unique strengths of the Japanese economy, seek an open and cooperative approach with our international partners, and intelligently exploit the promise of new growth areas.
I think U.S. and Chinese businesses need a common language and dialogue.
The only language that the Japanese whaling industry understands is economics.
We have substantially improved our position in Japan which now represents a major part of our business.