Di tahun 1929, pernah terjadi ‘depresi ekonomi global’. Wall Street menukik tajam tak terkendali. Surat saham tak lebih nilainya seperti kertas biasa.

Saat itu, General Motor terpaksa mem-PHK separo dari 92.829 karyawannya. Perusahaan besar maupun kecil bangkrut.

Jutaan orang menjadi pengangguran. Jutaan orang kelaparan. Daya beli turun bersama harga dan lowongan pekerjaan.

Malam menjadi gelap gulita. Kepanikan terjadi di mana-mana. Toko yang masih bertahan, menghentikan pembelian dari pabrik karena gudang sudah penuh dengan barang yang tidak terjual.

Saat itu, Konosuke Matsushita yang memproduksi peralatan listrik bermerek National dan Panasonic baru saja merampungkan pabrik dan kantor dengan pinjaman dari Bank Sumitomo.

Kondisi badannya sering sakit-sakitan akibat gizi yang kurang di masa kanak-kanak, ditambah lagi dengan kerja 18 jam sehari, 7 hari seminggu selama 12 tahun merintis usahanya. Hanya semangat hiduplah yang membuatnya masih bernapas.

Dengan punggung bersandar ke tembok rumah, Matsushita mendengarkan laporan tentang kondisi perekonomian yang terus memburuk ketika manajemennya datang menjenguk. Lalu bagaimana tanggapannya ?

“Kurangi produksi separonya, tetapi JANGAN mem-PHK karyawan. Kita akan mengurangi produksi bukan dengan merumahkan pekerja, tetapi dengan meminta mereka untuk bekerja di pabrik hanya setengah hari.

Kita akan terus membayar upah seperti yang mereka terima sekarang, tetapi kita akan menghapus semua hari libur. Kita akan meminta semua pekerja untuk bekerja sebaik mungkin dan berusaha menjual semua barang yang ada di gudang.”

Perintah ini bagi anak buahnya sama anehnya dengan depresi ekonomi itu sendiri. Koq bisa terjadi, yah ?

Dalam situasi begitu, sangatlah masuk akal jika perusahaan mem-PHK karyawan demi efisiensi. Namun Matsushita karena keyakinannya pada sang kebajikan sudah mantap, demi kelangsungan hidup anak-istri karyawannya, akhirnya mampu menghasilkan terobosan yang manusiawi pada masa depresi ekonomi tersebut.

Kebajikan Matsushita terhadap karyawannya mendapatkan hasil yang manis 16 tahun kemudian dari karyawan yang pernah ditolongnya. Ia menuai buah kebajikannya sendiri.

Ketika Perang Dunia II berakhir, Jenderal Douglas McArthur yang mengendalikan Jepang, menangkapi semua pengusaha Jepang untuk diadili karena keterlibatan mereka selama perang.

Pada kurun 1930-an, para pengusaha Jepang, termasuk Matsushita, mendapat tekanan rezim militer Jepang saat itu untuk memproduksi senjata dan logistik militer lainnya. Maka Matsushita pun ikut ditangkap.

Sekitar 15.000 pekerja bersama keluarganya membubuhkan tanda tangan petisi pembelaan untuk Matsushita !!! Jenderal McArthur pun tercengang oleh petisi tersebut dan akhirnya membebaskan Matsushita.

Tidak ada pemilik usaha dan pimpinan industri sebelum perang dunia kedua yang diizinkan McArthur kembali ke pekerjaannya kecuali Matsushita.

Demikianlah Matsushita dapat terus memimpin perusahaannya sampai menjadi raksasa elektronik dunia, dan baru pensiun pada tahun 1989 pada usia 94 tahun.

Ketika Matsushita meninggal tahun 1990, bukan cuma para pebisnis yang berduka cita. Presiden Amerika saat itu, George Bush (Senior), pun turut berduka.

Matsushita berhasil membangun dirinya melewati ambang batas pengusaha yang umumnya selalu lapar duit dan haus fulus serta menjadi pribadi yang humanis dan filsuf yang sangat peduli terhadap kemanusiaan.

Bagi Matsushita, uang bukanlah tujuan. Meskipun butuh uang tetapi uang bukanlah segala-galanya. Baginya, uang adalah sarana untuk melakukan kebajikan.

Itu sebabnya, beliau tidak pernah menggigit orang, main curang, atau merebut jatah orang lain. Matsushita yakin bahwa kalau kita tidak jahat dan terus berbuat baik maka kejahatan akan menjauhi kita dan kebaikan akan melindungi kita.

I really hadn’t planned to review this, but I felt the urge to write an actual post for the blog again, so: NHK09.

So, my last large-scale AKB48 concert review was their previous show at NHK Hall in 2008.  That was just one performance.  This reviews three (slightly cut-up) concerts put on within two days in April this year.  That said:

RSL GO TIME!

Concert 1 (Day 1)

Honehone Waltz

Akimoto and company decided to start off this first-of-its-kind concert series with a not very popular, anti-climatic unit song.  Mariko, Mai, Acchan, and Kojiharu are used to bring Honegumi’s only A-side a sort of ‘mature’ appeal.  Usually performed by some of the youngest in AKB, four of the most popular members of Team A, and AKB48 for that matter, don the bone-adorned tutus and full-body coverings in an attempt for comedy.  Personally, I think the quartet did a perfectly fine job and I’m sure that their fans enjoyed seeing them in such an unexpected shuffle.  However, I do wonder about who is wearing whose costume.  Did they get new ones?  None of the girls look like they could fill out Maachan’s old costume, and Mariko is notorious for getting new costumes made due to her long torso.  Then again, AKB’s costumes always tend to include an abnormal amount of elasticity so the majority of the group can somehow fit in a single size.  Regardless, according to the backstage footage included on the third disc of the set, it seems like the girls had enormous troubles learning the choreography to ‘Honehone Waltz.’  I’m not sure if it’s because they weren’t taught it by their usual choreographer and they had only Erena, Oku, (and possibly Tomo-chin) to learn it from, or if they weren’t given time to perfect the steps.  Either way, they seemed rather frightened by what looks to be some of the least complex choreography the group has ever used.

Korogaru Ishi ni Nare

Next up is Team K’s trademark song with oodles of ‘We are the Team K’s.  I wish that they would phase this out or something.  I understand that it’s a huge part of Team K’s identity, but I’ve never really liked the song, and it’s been in EVERY concert so far.  Team K has so many great full-Team songs to choose from that I feel could be more exciting to watch.  I am glad that they’re using the K5 encore costumes, though.  They match the anthem well.

Oh, and there was like NO Natsuki in this performance.  Really.  That’s another thing about ‘Korogaru’: the girls don’t switch positions much, so you only get to see the girls in the front row.

Tadaima Renaichuu

With another mainstay of AKB, Team A starts with their A5 opener.  It’s such a great song, and such a great way to keep the energy going but continuing Team A’s ‘image.’  The lack of a full Team doesn’t hurt the performance as the song does a good job of not showcasing any members (aside from Maeda) and allowing all the girls a little chance to shine.  While they might want to change up the costumes at some point (to just about anything, really) the performance seemed pretty fresh with the new stage elements for this concert.  On that note, let me mention that I love the set up: two tiers of performance-able stage space, stairs abound, and entrances/exits in the back.  It’s so ideal for a group like AKB that can efficiently be used for a single girl’s performance or the whole lot of AKB48, SKE48, and their respective RSs.  Also, the pretty lights on the steps do a great job with their effects.

At first I was all “Who is that beautiful girl?” and then I was all “Oops.  It’s Chiichan.  I knew there was a reason why she’s immediately after Natsuki.

Wasshoi B!

Wow, they really went all out and included another Team-specific song.  That’s all right, though, since I, along with everyone else on Earth, love ‘Wasshoi B!’  The sparkly ‘Anataboshi’ costumes do not go with the song whatsoever, but it’s nice to have such pretty costumes on such as pretty stage with such pretty girls.  It all matches.  Except the song.  It’s not pretty: it’s in-your-face.  Also, I feel like it’d be nice if Team B could perform a different song immediately after this so they could carry the energy they just brought out into something other than an MC.

Favorite part of the song.  So cute, yet so innovative for AKB.

Te wo Tsunagi Nagara

Onto SKE48.  First off, pretty lights.  Anyway, SKE continues to perform really well and impress me.  This seems to be their big promotional song before they got their debut single, and it obviously sounds very AKB and flows with the rest of the concert.  The girls all seem really excited to get to perform their own songs in their own uniforms for once, and I’m glad they’re not singing ‘Party ga Hajimaru yo’ again like they always used to do.  (As a side note, has anyone else ever wondered if the girls got to pick their partners for the song?  I’m just imagining two girls who really dislike each other getting paired up.)

Chaimu wa Love Song

I love this song so much.  It’s so cute and, though I’ve yet to read the lyrics, seems so odd.  I mean, I’m guessing that they’re singing about the chimes in a love song… while singing a love song with chimes in it.  If my lyrical guess is correct, it would fit the Akimoto-mentality of songs about things idols don’t usually sing about.  Like how they’re not idols, for example.  So, the song’s great, the line distribution is questionable, and the bubbles are perfect.  Yay.  Oh, and I really wish they would switch to their costumes that I presume are underneath their school uniforms.  I mean, they have the time and the resources.  Why not?

SKE48

And we’re back to ‘SKE48.’  Akimoto just seems to be so proud of himself that he was able to re-write this one song that now he has the girls perform it all the time.  While yes, it is pretty clever that he matched up new lyrics so well, the song does get boring after a while.  At first when Team KII and the RS showed up, I was wowed by their number, but then I realized that it was probably just under 30-ish girls, and I’m used to that many by now.  But they do seem to take up quite a bit of the stage.  Also, I love how the non-Team S girls’ costumes are conservative almost-plausible school uniforms while Team S has those pretty, obviously stylized variations on uniforms.  And when I say ‘love,’ I actually mean that I think it’s silly.

Kuroi Tenshi

Naturally, Acchan’s unit gets to perform both verses of their song.  The second verse is much more climactic than the first, so I guess that makes sense, but why can’t more songs have both verses sung?  (I’m looking at you ‘Shamu Neko’ and ‘Dakishimeraretara.’)  The girls here do an excellent job and the expensive lighting really helps fill up the stage.  Personally, my favorite parts of the lighting are when the step lights are randomly white, blue, and red, almost resembling the ’sea of headlights’ that Akicha’s solo line describes.  Also, I think it’s pretty funny when they grab Acchan by the wrists and pin her to… nothing, since there isn’t a wall in the center.

Oh, and Fujie’s performance of this song is just magical.  You can really tell that they put her in Acchan’s unit because she’s being pushed so much.  In my opinion, she does much better in darker units rather than lighter fluffy ones like ‘Hajimete no Jelly Beans.’

Tenshi no Shippo

A song from black angels to a song with white angels.  Aww.  Okay, this is by far the cutest unit song AKB has put out… ever.  I love how it’s so simple and doesn’t have any underlying thoughts: it’s just plain adorable.  I’m glad that Aika got the chance to perform her unit in a larger concert like this, even though it can’t possibly be all that popular.  And Yukirin is a good substitute for Gussan’s position.  I guess that since she’s one of AKB’s famed selected members now, she gets priority over other girls for filling in sometimes.  I would kind of expect Haachan to get it though, since she’s filled in a few times before.  But oh well.  Anyway, did anyone notice the lack of balloons?  This would be an excellent time to get out huge, monstrous balloons for the girls to carry before setting it afloat.  Better yet, a few stage hands could hide backstage or something and help the girls hoist one of those huge balloons they use at parades.  Maybe of a tail to match the song.  That would be creative, wouldn’t it?

Nakayan really does get a great position in the song as it’s a three-tier unit ala ‘Hatsukoi Dorobou’ with one girl getting half the lines, then the second getting a little bit more than the third girl.  Her beautiful voice really fits with the 80s-like instrumental that pops on during her solo.  Go Nakayan!

Wimbledon ni Tsuretette

First off, the line distribution in this song really perplexes me.  The lead gets next to no lines, while the other two get multiple lines during the verse.  I forget if the second verse is different, but I remember that it was odd the last time I saw an S2 LOD.  And it’s not like Tsukina has a bad voice or something.  I mean, some AKB unit songs are similar (‘Faint.’ to some extent ‘Tsundere!’ as Tomo-chin’s lines are in the often un-preformed second verse… basically Tomo-chin doesn’t get many lines), but this one completely throws me off.  It almost feels like Kumi or Sayuki lead the unit while Takai back-dances.  Weird.  Oh, and did everyone notice how different the costumes were?  Basically, it looks like the girls are all princesses of different places or something.  This is kind of similar to ‘Tenshi no Shippo.,’ as they use the same colors and both have varying costume details.  So there’s another clever transition.

Ame no Doubutsuen

I never noticed that the camel, currently played by Chikano instead of Imai, never got any lines in the verse and was lumped with the two leads, Erena and Kana.  That kind of makes me angry… but again, I can’t change anything, can I?  This is yet another cutesy unit making it a four-song streak that melts all of the wotas’ hearts.  I find it a bit funny that Nonti is so ‘old,’ yet she’s always in the song when Team K performs it.  Notably, during the recent Team-only tour in August, Noro performed ‘Ame’ and gave up her spot, complete with amazing solo lines, in ‘Kimi wa Pegasus’ to either Mocchi or Yuko.  I don’t know if that’s her choice or management’s, but it still happened.  Back to the song, though, I remember showing AKB to a friend of mine this summer, and when we got to this song (from the Natsumatsuri Hibiyaon concert), she had me stop to watch it and she was amazed by just how adorable they can be.  At this point she even went to one of the four Japanese girls that were in the room and told her that she should try out for AKB and wear the penguin costume.  (The Japanese girl quickly said she would never do such a thing and laughed along with her friends at the absurdity of being a member of such a group.)

The Nonti-ness of this performance is wonderful, especially the part when she looses her hood and she’s just as beautiful as usual despite being in an oversized panda-themed dress.  I just wish there were more Chikano here.

Tane

I’ve never been fond of this song, but this performance really saved it for me.  The combination of the club-like spot lights and colorful dresses really made me enjoy it.  As with most idol music, it’s usually better to see performed rather than just listening to it.  Also, the performance gave a really nice sensation of the music mounting and mounting during the chorus when Haruna, Takamina, and Miichan sing their respective lines.  I hadn’t noticed that during my infrequent listens to the song.  They should probably perform a different song, though.  Maybe ‘3 Seconds’?  That would be too good.

Hatsukoi Dash

WOW.  They totally shortened the song!  That was impressive.  I’m pretty darn sure that AKB hasn’t ever had one of their songs shortened to JUST the first verse and chorus.  Usually they’re way too restrictive with that sort of thing, unlike the other leading idol group who will turn singles into solos and has more medleys than you can shake a stick at.  Anyway, their mini performance is just as much fun as you might think it would be, which means that if you like Watarirouka Hashiritai, then you’ll like the song, but if you don’t, you won’t like the performance.

Yaruki Hanabi

Their second half-song is their second single.  It’s just as bouncy as usual and keeps the flow from their last song going.  I’m glad that this one has a bit better line distribution than ‘Hatsukoi Dash,’ but it’s still very Mayu-centric with a hint of Aika, Nacchan, and almost no Harugon.  The one thing that makes me a little bit upset in this performance is that Aika doesn’t get to sing her solo lines in the lead-up to the last chorus.  That was my favorite part, but it wasn’t done in the concert here.  Bummer.

Kaiyuugyo no Capacity

The second set of Team songs starts with the after-unit-section closer song from K4.  I’ve never been a huge fan of it for reasons unknown to me.  It’s very powerful and flashy, while at the same time allowing the girls’ vocals to be heard, all things that I enjoy.  Maybe this is due to the fact that I love the two songs preceeding it, and so this pales in comparison.  The performance here in a large event hall seems to add much more energy and excitement.  I like how there aren’t many opportunities to lead in the song and it tends to be a free-for-all for attention, so the girls go all out.  And the sparkly costumes help gather any attention needed.

Natsuki got a bunch of shots here and it made me proud to be her fan.  In her quartet lines with Sae, Kana, and Ohori, you can really hear her voice, as expected.  I very, very rarely hear her sing with Kana, but with Sae, she usually stands out as they tend to harmonize weirdly, and with Ohori, Meetan’s voice generally adds a more sensual after-taste.

Joshikou-sei wa Yamerarenai

I think that an interesting thing here was how they brought in the ‘Itoshiki Natasha’ unit.  In a usual Stage performance, Miku, Sasshi, and Haachan don’t come onstage till the second verse since they were busy changing costumes after their MC.  Here, they kept them on stage the whole time, but just threw them in the back for most of the first verse and chorus.  I would have thought that they would sing with their groups from the second verse, but I guess not.  Also, please note how they didn’t do their little tournament at the end of the song.  I’m kind of glad this did happen, as it shortens their stage time, making room for more songs, and also means that Mayu doesn’t get yet another chance to shine, as I’m sure they would ‘rig’ who won to showcase the star of Team B.

JK Nemurihime

I actually prefer the performance of ‘JK’ at the theater instead of this.  Here, there seems to be a lack of controlled spotlights and the entire stage is filled with white light.  It kills the coolness that the intro suggests.  I do, however, like how they took the first formation and somehow doubled it to fit onto the two Team-sized stages.  Also, I’m glad that they turned around the girls who usually face the mirrors in the theater.  It might be interesting if they kept the girls facing back, but had the monitor use the cameras from backstage to show their faces while singing.  Either way, they aren’t completely hidden as I was afraid they would be.  Anyway,  I liked this more during the Stage performances, and I think the lighting really affected the mood of the song and turned it into a really boring show.

Sakura no Hanabiratachi

The continuous AKB48 single collection starts with their debut indie single, ‘Sakura no Hanabiratachi.’  This performance is with the AKB48 RS and led by the five SKE48 girls that had performed their unit songs during the third concert.  Of course, they are missing Jurina, but she pops up later.  I loved watching the performance because it was full of girls that I was just a little bit unsure of their identities, and so the whole time I was excited when I figured out who was who and where they were positioned in the song.  A few short-comings that I disliked were how they weren’t wearing the costumes Team S wore during their run of S1, and there weren’t any fake cherry blossoms falling down during the last chorus.  I also just realized how weird the fact that the color purple is used to signify the song, but the costumes are in blue hues, and sakura are pink…  Whoever chose the lighting in A1 was an odd one.

Skirt, Hirari

Next is AKB’s famous song with up-skirts.  Performing that night were the most popular seven of the current time.  I’m guessing that if Yuko were there, she’d replace Takamina like in the JCB Hall concert from December.  My big complaint here is that they switch up this line-up so much and the original girls don’t get their place to shine.  I mean, these Team A girls are the ones that made AKB famous.  They should get their original spots.  Takamina getting no lines makes no sense whatsoever.  Also, they could have given Erena and Takamina Rina and Tomo-chin’s lines if they’re going to do it this way.  I know that in the ‘Skirt, Hirari’ single, all seven girls get solo lines, and I know that in the Stage version (pre-shuffle) all five girls get lines.  Now, when they did shuffle A1, Rina and Itano joined the original five ala the single.  Did they get their solo lines, or was it presented just like this?  There isn’t any video from those performances, so I don’t know if I’ll ever know.  Regardless, it’s stupid to leave two girls with no solo lines when it’s totally precedented that they can if they were to want them to have them.

Aitakatta

As their first single with a major label, ‘Aitakatta’ comes next.  Awesomely enough, they made more of the original A2 costumes, and now all of the Teams have gotten to wear them!  This makes me think that Erena and Aki may have been the only ones who never got to perform in that costume… but whatever.  They all look splendid in it.  It’s interesting to see that the performance was done by mostly less popular members.  From what I can tell, Sae is the lead girl with Sayaka, CinDy, and Kashiwagi as the other ‘leads’ if you could call them that.  Kashiwagi even gets to do the shouting part in the last chorus.

I love how all of the girls seem just completely excited to perform this one.  It’s certainly not my favorite single, but I’ve found that it’s the one original that I love sheerly due to it’s nostalgia.  I always think back to the performance of Kohaku with all kinds of Natsuki  screen time.  Ah, those were the days when Natsuki and partner-in-crime at the time Noro Kayo were very, very close possibilities to become senbatsu.

But yeah, super-duper energetic performance by the girls here.  It’s fun to see them run around and have a good time!

Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru

Finally!  Another performance of ‘Seifuku!’  They hadn’t performed it since Shibuya AX 2008.  Yeah, so almost a year and a half, and such an important single in AKB history.  It was the one that really set AKB48 apart from the other idol groups.  They weren’t afraid to take chances.  A huge reason why I’m glad they did this single collection is that this is a good way to bring new fans up-to-date.  Casual AKB fans who maybe just buy the occasional CD, maybe ‘10nen Zakura’ for instance, given the time this concert was held, might not know about some of these songs that AKB can and will perform.  Especially if a fan doesn’t go to Stage performances at the AKB48 theater, they won’t know what they’re missing.

Oh, and they brought out the flames again.  That’s just one more thing I love about ‘Seifuku.’  Now, let me add a little rant in here.  Why on earth did Takajo Aki get Rina’s spot.  Rina has always been up there in my ranking.  Specifically, she’s so far been Natsuki’s only rival in stealing my number one postion.  This means that I generally don’t like anyone who substitutes in for her for any song whatsoever.  Examples include Yukari in what should have been Rina’s position in ‘Kioku no Dilemma,’ had she not been away from performing at the time, and Asuka in ‘Mail no Namida.’ Takamina in ‘Kikyou,’ and Miho in ‘Shinkirou’ at the Shibuya AX 2009 performance.  Now, I’m just now getting over Yukari taking Rina’s H1 and H2 positions because, after all, she is her under, and literally just within the past few days I’ve realized that Asuka was a perfectly fine substitute because if they had to choose someone, it was going to be a girl that they pushed a lot, and one with a soft, good voice.  Asuka’s one of the only ones who fits that bill (and I’ve decided that she’s destined to become on of the next front girls), so I’ve let that go.  Takamina is a great choice as she has a similarly great, though completely different voice, and Miho’s performance was pretty good, but it was saved by the fact that Chiichan subbed in for Haruna.  Anyway, I think it’d be neat if they would have chosen Mai to take Rina’s spot, as she was graduating in this concert series, and I’ve always loved her and Rina together in whatever song possible ala ‘Dear My Teacher.’  This could all be fueled by my dislike that Aki somehow got on the fast track for senbatsu-ism… Back to the concert!

Keitbetsu Shiteita Aijou

First fire, now smoke?  I love reoccurring extras!  The second of the dark singles, brings Natsuki back to the stage!  I’ve always had some sort of respect for the song, but it’s never been one of my favorites.  Sure, the lyrics are good, the PV is wonderful, the music is interesting, and the cast is superb, but it’s just never clicked with me, similar to how I never paid attention to Yuko till relatively recently.  (On the topic of Yuko, it looks like Asuka got to sub again.)

Natsuki got a fairly okay amount of screen time here compared to previous performances.  In the PV she was never focused on at all, and was only shown in the background in the dance shot, usually behind the less popular senbatsu, and a few times in the story scenes, notably with Rina, Yuka, and a cell phone.

She even got to be the first girl shown on the last ‘dareka.’  That actually means something to me.  How sad.  But, that makes me remember a review of a single song from a Hello! Project Wonderful Hearts concert where they actually counted close-ups of members. That sounds like it might be fun…

BINGO!

Comes out to cheer the gloomy corner of AKB48 single history, this time with pretty much the original cast of the first Kenkyuusei shows.  I think that because I happen to love a ton of the girls that are part of this generation, I enjoyed this performance fully.  I just wish that Asuka could have performed here to make it as perfect as possible.  I’m not sure who else would need to be present to make it a full Team, but I have a feeling that Deguchi Aki would have to be here, and then cut a few of the newer girls, but I don’t know who.  The addition of ex-RS, now Team S member Nakanishi Yuuka was an excellent choice since I never saw her perform with the other girls.  In this performance the girls get to wear the PV dresses and I couldn’t be happier about this.  It would be completely possible to do a complete A4R-Kenkyuusei show and just use the ugly casual outfits that they use in the Stage performance, but here they were able to wear my favorite of the BINGO! costumes (the others being the NHK07 costumes and the H1 costumes) in all their colorful glory.

Fujie looks incredible and shares her lines in the verse with one of the RS graduates of the night, Uriya.

Chiichan takes Mariko’s position.

And Chikano just looks darn adorable.  I really want to go study who took who’s spots during the days this was performed.  I know there is a thread at Stage48 which I think I made that has all of this information in it (I didn’t come up with it all, someone (Jasey?) gave it to me.)

Boku no Taiyou

New party dresses!?  That’s right, a few of the dresses were used in the ‘Boku no Taiyou’ PV, but a bunch are new!  I’ve always wanted to see AKB perform the song in those dresses, so this was a great performance for me.  Even better: there’s Natsuki!  This line-up features only one senbatsu of the single, Sayaka.  The other seventeen girls seem to be the non-ex-RS and non-senbatsu of ‘Yuuhi.’  I’m not a big fan of the H1 line distribution, though, as it seems like twelve-ish of the girls sing, while the others just dance until the chorus.  I’d prefer that all of them get spots in the chorus to sing, or half or less of them.

The three solo lines are sung by Aika, Harugon, and Nacchan.  The thing I love about this is that these three are the non-Mayu parts of Watarirouka Hashiritai.  Mayu might have gotten way more lines in those two singles they performed earlier, but now these girls are leading another single.  It just made me feel happy for them, as despite being selected for a sub-group, they are still always overshadowed.

Natsuki’s performance was great.  I’m not sure, but is her dress Mariko’s PV dress, or is it a new one?  The back looks extra-weird.  Either way, I’m glad that she performed in the song, despite me not thinking that she would get to.

Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka?

The third single in a row with the PV’s original costumes is ‘Yuuhi’ with nearly all the senbatsu members.  Yuko was getting over surgery at the time, so she only participated in MCs at the concert series.  Kashiwagi replaced her for this song.  One thing I love about ‘Yuuhi’ is how calm and easy it is, yet it still has a danceable beat and is interesting to listen and watch.  The school-girl-meets-gogo-dancer-meets-plaid costumes are a great little touch with their boots that apparently leave skid marks.  I honestly can’t say much about this performance as it’s rather typical, even though they haven’t performed it in concert like this before.  It’s a nice moment of rest during the medley.

Romance, Irane!

‘Romance, Irane!’ was the first single I was really around for as an AKB fan.  Technically, I think ‘Yuuhi’ was released after I learned of AKB and joined Stage48, but over that entire month I wasn’t really paying attention to the group and I would just listen to their music and some of their PVs, similar to all the other artists I liked at the time.  AKB48 was the first musical interest that actually evolved into a fandom for me.  I remember when information was slowly leaking out about ‘Romance.’  First we found out the title and that it was the first song from H2.  A Stage48 forum member told us that it was “like Seifuku on steroids.” Then we received rips from the theater and the radio.  I listened to the song non-stop for a while, keeping it on loop while I did my nightly crunches.  I wasn’t a big fan of the song to start with, but I slowly ended up liking it more and more.  Its disco-like vibes, powerful choruses, and harmonic verses are one of my favorites, with me eventually learning some of the choreography and most of the lyrics, studying the costume distribution (Acchan’s has a row of flowers across the bust, Itano and Nozofisu’s has a silver belt, and Hana has extra ruffles on her gold costume; there are six different kinds of costume sets; and there are three possibilities of what the girls wear under their boots: white socks, purple stockings, and nothing visible), and learning about the lyrical structure of AKB songs.  I love how dramatic it is and how lavishly ‘Romance, Irane!’ is presented.  This concert’s performance was nothing to laugh at: perhaps my favorite of the shows it’s been in.

From all the concert reports I read, everywhere said it was Maimai with Team 2.  This is definitely not the most complete information, as it’s actually Maimai, Mariko, Yukari, and Sayaka from the senbatsu, Natsuki, Nonti, and Yuka from Team 1, and then whoever is left from Team 2 and the vast majority of Team B.  Although, yes, I do love that Natsuki gets to sing in a trio due to the H2 set-up of lines, I do wish that they would break from this format and add in Team B in the future so they aren’t just stuck dancing in the back.  Maybe since Team B has participated in the G-Rosso shows, they’ll change this in future performances.

I loved the different girls singing taking the senbatsu lines.  Notably Asuka and Meetan taking Acchan and Kojiharu’s lines.

One idea that I personally think would be cool for concerts with ‘Romance’ directly before ‘Baby!’ would be to have the girls wear the costumes for ‘Romance, Irane!’ with their costumes for ‘Let’s get Ato 1cm’ underneath like they do in H2, and do a quick change between songs.  The golden two-pieces would match ‘Baby!’ perfectly!  But, these NHK08 party dresses are also pretty gosh-darn awesome.  Also a great choice for the songs.

Baby! Baby! Baby!

AKB’s second completely summer-inspired single appears next.  Guess what, I have another story.  I gave one of my dance teachers a CD of various songs, and this one happened to be on it.  She ended up liking it, and when one of the jazz classes she taught needed a song for our spring recital, the students voted and ‘Baby! Baby! Baby!’ was declared as the winner.  That’s right, AKB can appeal to tween girls.  Who knew?

As per usual with all-AKB performances of this single, all of the girls stay on one section of the stage and there are tons of traffic jams and just general closeness happening on stage.  Maybe they’ll re-work this?  I happen to love the end of this performance with Jurina completely stealing the camera away from Takamina.  It’s like my favorite front girl is replaced with an eleven-year old girl.  Oh wait, that’s not an over-statement or anything.

Oogoe Diamond

‘Oogoe’ is another cornerstone in the new AKB48 discography.  It’s the first single with their current label, King Records.  When it was first announced, there was much speculation on whether or not this would be a darker or more powerful single.  As it turns out, it ended up being more energetic and stronger than we expected, and it also featured a few things I felt would be essential to a new first single.  A) It would be timeless.  Songs with too much of an emphasis on one topic tend to get old very quickly.  B) It would reflect the current AKB.  ‘Oogoe’ features an all-new front-girl, a much more compex-sounding instrumental, more intricate choreography, and more interesting line distribution.  C) It would be the new ‘Aitakatta.’  While it has yet to replace this fan-favorite, it has all the fundamental workings of the famous single: a repetitive word “Aitakatta/Daisuki.” lyrics about confessions of love, a mode of transportation is referred to, and trademark choreography.  I think it was a rather successful release.  This concert’s performance is great.  Besides the fact that the girls in back get to do next to nothing as usual, the performance is fun to watch.  My only question is, “What on earth are the Kenkyuusei wearing!?”  That’s literally what I was thinking the entire time I first watched the DVD.  During that viewing, I paused it multiple times to try and guess which costume they could possibly have on: “‘Wagamama na Nagareboshi’?  ‘Tanjoubi no Yoru’?  No, they’re only white.  ‘Virgin Love’?  No, they’re tiered.  ‘Daisuki’? No, they’re simpler.”  Seriously, I was completely perplexed as to where these costumes came from.  I gave up and decided that they were new.  (Actually come to think of it, are these from the Natsumatsuri Hibiyaon concert?  I seem to remember the Moeno wearing something similar…)

10nen Zakura

Both verses of ‘10nen Zakura’ are performed, presumably because they had yet to have been done in a big concert before.  For those taking score, ‘Aitakatta,’ ‘BINGO!.’ ‘Romance, Irane!,’ and ‘10nen Zakura’ were the only singles in the continuous single collection to have both verses performed.  Again, the song is done in a three-tier performance with senbatsu and substitutes on the lower layer, other members on the middle layer, and RS at the top.  At least this way they aren’t squished.  One thing I hope for in a future concert is for ‘Oogoe’ and ‘Zakura’ to be done in school uniforms for the first time.  I mean, they are school-themed, not princess party dress-themed.

Natsuki was given a semi-close-up approximately once.  I felt the need to include a capture of her, despite her looking less-than-excited.  Yui behind her looks poised to eat her.  Watch out.

Oh no!  There’s a Nacchan down!  I repeat, a Nacchan down!

Dareka no Tame ni – What Can I Do For Someone? -

For the first time in a multi-Team concert, AKB performs A3’s ballad.  I like the white costumes used during the Stage performances, but this is okay too.  I’m glad they’re finally getting to use these songs, as every AKB Stage has had at least one ballad.  I’m hoping that ‘Dakedo….’ is used at some point.  I have to wonder if they’re saving that for a super special graduation, though.  Not that this series doesn’t have a super special graduation or anything…  Now, I’m one of those people who usually don’t like ballads, so while this one is very nice and the performance is beautiful, I really can’t say it strikes me as that amazing.

Now, I’m trying to figure out if the audience is singing along during the chorus, or if it’s just the recording.  A concert hall-filling choir of wota gives me a rather cute picture in my head.

(Encore)

AKB Sanjou!

After AKB left their original major music label, a bunch of songs were made that in my opinion seem to mirror previous fan favorites.  As previously stated, there are the similarities between ‘Aitakatta’ and ‘Oogoe Diamond.’  More of the songs that I feel could almost seem like re-made versions are ‘Sakura no Hanabiratachi’/'10 nen Zakura,’ ‘Tanjoubi no Yoru’/'Namida Surprise!,’ ‘Aozora ni Soba ni Ite’/'Sakura Iro no Sora no Shitade,’ ‘BINGO!’/'Baby! Baby! Baby!,’ and ‘Wasshoi B!’/'B Stars.’  Two songs that I think will be released later are new versions of ‘Dear My Teacher’ and ‘Virgin Love.’ Here, I feel like ‘AKB Sanjou!’ was created to replace the A1 encore song ‘AKB48.’  Obviously the fact that they both have the group’s name in their names helps, but the over-riding theme of AKB being awesome is present in both, as well as the fact that they don’t perform ‘AKB48′ in their concerts anymore, but they do perform this new version.  Lyrically, the songs help generate an overview of where AKB is in its career.  ‘AKB48′ presents the girls as new and wanting to bring in and keep audiences while ‘AKB Sanjou’ depicts the girls as powerful and able to work through anything.  Both are acceptable summaries of the girls in the respective eras of AKB’s history.

The scrim was a nice touch to begin the song.  Similar to the blinds at the AKB Theater, the diffused light looks much better and adds to the performance.  It’s also much more climactic.  Yay for good decisions by AKS!

Oh no.  The girls are split up incorrectly again.  I don’t like when the majority of the group is in front and then a few are in back.  I’d prefer it to be split in half, or more people in back.  I don’t like it when the chances of being in front are better than being in back because then it would just suck to be one of the few chosen to be in the back.  I think I talk about this philosophy too much…

The kanji says “kamisama” or “god” if you hadn’t heard yet.

Hikouki Gumo

AKB’s new flag song introduced in the last NHK concert fits right in here.  The lines are split up by Team in an even-is manner.  More specifically, A/A/A K/K/K B/B B/B A/K/B/A.  Please note that Team B gets an extra set of lines than what is the case in Team A concerts, and Team A gets an extra line in the break-down.  By the time the chorus hits, the RS and SKE48 members are back on the stage for the encore.

I’m anxious to see Natsuki in the Hikouki Gumo PV coming out with the release of ‘RIVER.’

(Uriya and Saotome Graduation Ceremony)

Originally I wasn’t going to do little summaries of these MC-like sections, but now I broke down and I’ll do really, really short ones.  The first concert of the trio features Research Student Uriya Akane and Team-B-member-turned-Research-Student Saotome Miki’s graduations.  First, Uriya Akane announces her graduation.  I don’t know how many of the other girls knew this happened, but I think most of the RS knew this was coming since there were many pictures of her with another RS or two on the AKB RS FC blog.  There were theories outside of AKB, but they were of course just rumors.

Next, Uriya runs back on stage to say that she’s graduating, too, but everyone knew that already, so it’s more of a surprise appearance similar to what Nozofisu does in the third show.  It’s interesting to note that these are the first two RS to get such nice graduations.  It kind of makes sense though, as Uriya was a first generation RS, and Saotome belonged to Team B in the good old days.

Uriya gets some flowers via Sae.

Saotome (a Sato Natsuki fan, she even yelled “Sato” and “Natsuki” once when it was her turn for the shout in ‘Kiss Shite son Shichatta’ in one performance) gets her flowers from her former unofficial Team captain, CinDy.  Their relationship is so cute here.  It’s so respectable and heart-warming at the same time.

While the two RS graduates talk, Sayaka runs backstage and arranges for the instrumental of ‘Aitakatta’ to be put on so they don’t leave with a sour note.  The graduates get to announce it.

Aitakatta (Encore Ver.)

This uplanned ‘Aitakatta’ is a fun one to watch, as none of the girls are quite sure what to do.  Team B members all rush to Saotome at different times to wish her farewell, while everyone who had worked with Uriya before visited with her, including ex-RS Nakanishi Yuka.  The graduates of course got the speaking part in the chorus.  Not that that was really planned.

This was such a cute impromptu performance of AKB’s famous up-beat debut single.  I’m glad that they had enough time that first night to do something like this… (And that right there is called foreshadowing.)

Concert 2 (Day 2)

Nagisa no CHERRY

For the first time ever, ‘Nagisa no CHERRY,’ the first unit Acchan led, and the unit that is used to promote each Team’s most popular member, is used for comedic purposes.  At the time CinDy was the only original Team A member to not be a selected member in a PV.  While she finally has ala ‘Iiwake Maybe,’ during her stay in AKB48, she was always hoping for a position within the senbatsu.  Here, she actually takes Acchan’s position, and even better: you get to see Acchan and her substitutes getting stuck with some of the worst positions in a unit ever.  I kind of wish that they would have included Mayu, but after the next song, I’m glad they didn’t.  Also, if they were to include Mayu, I’d hope they would include Reina, too, since she has filled in for Mayu when Mayu was busy during B2.  That way they could have all of the Teams represented, A, K, B, S, ex-RS.  Team KII hadn’t started their first Stage yet.

It’s cute how CinDy really goes all out here.  You can tell that she’s just awe-struck to be leading such a famous unit.  The fact that now the front girls are stuck behind her rather than the opposite way arround just adds to it.  If you didn’t notice, Jurina took the back position, which means she gets the center during the bridge.  This position is usually given to the best dancer of the blue girls.  Jurina obviously deserves that position.

After the song ends, CinDy stays on stage and laps up all of the attention.  Suddenly, the rest of Team B comes out with their costumes for ‘Shounichi’ on.  CinDy is wearing the wrong outfit!  Wait… could this be yet another first-ish for AKB:  A girl wearing the wrong costume in a song?

Shounichi

Other than CinDy’s costume, Team B’s most popular song is done just about exactly like it does any other time it is performed.  I’m glad that they’re back to the original costumes rather than the A5 opener costumes they wore at JCB.  These just fit much, much better.  Also, I’m glad to see Uchida take up a spot, as she’s had the RS position in B4 since the Stage began.  All of the pretty, colorful lights help the song almost seem like it’s at the AKB48 Theater as they fill up the stage.  One great thing about ‘Shounichi’ is that it really pumps up the crowd.  There are spots for mixes and chants and everything galore.  Even the simple dance is a great one to get the audience excited and moving.  And I love the lyrics.  They’re so touching and heart-warming and fun and perfect for Team B.  Sadly, the lyrics depicting the girls working hard to be as awesome as their seniors is still true today as Team B is least revered.

RUN RUN RUN

I’ve decided that Team A has ownership of the Himawari Stages.  Here, they perform a song from H1, and in the August Team A concert, they performed a few from H2.  Regardless, here they did what must be a fairly popular, as I think it probably got a good spot at one of the Shibuya AX concerts, and it was performed at the Natsumatsuri Hibiyaon concert last summer with a smattering of random Team A and Team K girls.  Personally, the shiny winter-themed costumes and lack of pretty lights really brings this down a notch.  On the H1 DVD, I always love watching it because while it may not be the most interesting song, it’s a fun one to watch being performed and it has a nice melody.  If I remember correctly, Rui of Stage48 was one of the women picked to be in the audience of the ‘Oogoe Diamond’ PV, and when she described the song, as no one had heard it yet, she said it was something like ‘RUN RUN RUN.’  Most of the time after that when we had gotten a leaked version of ‘Oogoe Diamond,’ I compared it to ‘RUN RUN RUN’ and liked the H1 song more.  But now I like ‘Oogoe’ more… so…

Melos no Michi

Next up is Team K’s powerful K4 song, ‘Melos no Michi.’  I have to confess that I’m not that big of a fan of the song.  The only things I really like about it are that Nonti gets to have a fight with Sae in the very beginning and that Natsuki’s voice is really easy to pick out from her group.  In general, though, I think it’s a bit generic.  I mean, it’s super powerful and high energy and has great vocals, but it doesn’t have a defining factor like other songs have.  It just kind of seems bland to me.

They used the ‘Hitei no Requiem’ costumes!  Although I don’t like how the red fabric doesn’t go onto the back of the costumes, I love these.  They’re so shiny and skimpy. Oddly enough, those are some excellent qualities of a costume in my opinion.

Natsuki is just fierce.  Period.

As usual, Natsuki looks gorgeous here.  You can really tell that she’s lost some weight since the K4 days.  She might even be near Sae-sized, as the measurements currently released say she should actually be skinnier than Miyazawa.

Oh, and Yuko, who’s re-covering from surgery, joins Team K for the MC with Aika’s ‘Tenshi no Shippo’ costume!

Glory Days

Jurina gets to show off her unit along with Kuwabara and Nakanishi.  This one is totally dance-based, and I really think that the composition is very much different from AKB48’s music.  SKE’s too, I guess.  I love the yellow-ness of the costumes and how flamboyant they are.  The lighting throws in even more yellow at the beginning of the chorus with the entire stage being engulfed in yellow spotlights.

My favorite part has to be the bridge with its robot dance-break.  It’s so random and fits the music.  The girls do a good job with it, and give it a slightly better ranking in my mind than Kuwabara’s turns at the end.  But, you know, she has the best of the three’s solo dances.

Pajama Drive

Moving right along from one front girl to another, ‘Pajama Drive’ is one of my favorite units, except for the lines distribution in the second verse, because it blends cute voices with strong music.  Kind of similar to Kasai in ‘Maria.’  Though we got Acchan, Kana, and Ayaka in the last NHK Hall concert, now we get the un-shuffled cast of girls.  Here, the over-the-top music and lighting help set a great tone for the song.

I love Harugon’s costume.  I would totally wear it.  Seriously.  Buy one for me.  Good choice from the wardrobe of pajamas used in B3 for the song.

Kimi wa Pegasus

I kind of forgot how amazing ‘Kimi wa Pegasus’ is before doing screen captures.

It’s intense.

Like woah.

I guess I just don’t have words to describe it.

And Natsuki’s in it… and it’s one of the two amazing units that she’s been selected to participate in.

I wish they would re-record the vocals for this song.

I mean, the girls had amazing voices back when this was done, but I think that by now, their voices should be off the charts.

Natsuki looks spectacular in this performance.

Also, I really wish they would have performed this at Natsumatsuri Hibiyaon just because it was raining.

It would be just so climactic it would be incredible.

Oh, and random: my dream is for these girls perform ‘Kimi wa Pegasus’ in ball gowns or even the ‘Ai no Moufu’ dresses so they can be princesses once and not just princes/pirates/quakers.

I think that would be super neat.

Don’t you?

Yay for Natsuki!  Go!  Go!

Tsundere!

I’m a huge fan of this unit.  Tomo-chin had been getting three sexy/strong units in a row, and finally she got one that fit her personality perfectly.  Not really cute, but not really sexy, not really cool, but not really kiddish.  It’s just so Tomo-chin.  The costumes are crazy puked-up neon collections of accessories and gal clothing.  Tomo-chin’s heels add a touch of her attitude compared to the other girls’ boots.  I’ll also say that no one who subs in for her gets to wear her heels and is stuck with boots.  I think it’s interesting how with the line distribution, Tomo-chin’s longer solo line in the second verse isn’t performed at these large scale concerts, but only Amina’s in the first and Rie’s in the build-up.

Rie and Amina make great supports, too.  Rie has a very consistent and confident voice, and Amina… sings, too.  She sings in her very own special way.  I’m in the camp that likes her voice, as it’s very, very pitchy, but at the same time it seems controlled.  I love how before the first chorus in the section when Rie sings, then Itano adds on, and finally Amina pops in there, Amina’s voice totally throws off the expected sound and you can hear way higher than the other two.  It’s just so cute.  It’s these little things like Amina’s voice (and I’m sure her wota-ness as well as rich fans) that can catapult a girl in the election to a better spot.

Junai no Crescendo

I love the costumes used in this song.  They’re pretty midnight blue bodices with pink skirts and an overlay of blue tulle.  The details like the pink straps I think really make the outfit.  I don’t really know what they were designed to look like, but they look kind of witch-like to me.  Anyway, the performance was pretty good.  I was disappointed that Kasai was in this again, as she’s already been shuffled in here.  Nito sounded good and Sasshi did a great job to boot.  Sadly, that last solo line in the dead space before the second chorus was not nearly as good as Kashiwagi’s from the NHK08 concert.  But that one was pure gold and I don’t really expect anyone to live up to it.  I want to note that I still don’t understand how Moeno and Sasshi are paired up so often.  And usually Rie is in there, too.  That trio is resembles each other so much it astounds me and still gives me trouble figuring out who’s who when watching them.  Thank goodness Moeno dyed her hair!

Ame no Pianist

I really need to watch an S2 LOD again… (I may or may not have a clue what two of their names are… but I know that I used to.) Anyway, great song.  Again, it feels very not-AKB.  Similar to ‘Glory Days.’  Luckily, though, it isn’t AKB, but SKE.  I can’t wait to see shuffles of some of these unit songs.  I’ve found that I love ‘Ame no Pianist’ due to… the girl on the right’s voice… and the fact that they mention “Chopin.”  I have very little understanding of who “Chopin” is, but I know he was a famous pianist or composer or something.  The point is that I actually heard the mangled name of the European musician within the lyrics.  I was proud.

One thing I like is the bridge.  The girls go all mad-scientist-meets-an-organ with their dancing.  It’s very all-out like the robot dance in ‘Glory Days.’  One thing I don’t like are the costumes.  They just look really unbalanced or something.  I’m not sure.  Rena’s is definitely the best, though.  Maybe they all need corsets?  I don’t know.  And the long skirts are really off-putting.  And the awesome boots of the two that aren’t the Matsui don’t match the costume at all.  Oh, and the lighting was all off.  The S2 LOD in the AKB Theater had really nice lighting, but this was completely generic.  Boo.   I like how I didn’t really talk about the performance.  (It was fine.)

Glass no I LOVE YOU

Bah.  Bad casting.  Acchan shouldn’t be in this.  This is the non-Acchan song.  I’ve always thought of this as the every-front-girl-but-Acchan song, as it really used to be that way.  But they ruined it.  Erena’s perfect here, as she fits the bill for a non-Acchan member and she hasn’t performed in it.  I think Miho performed this at Natsumatsuri Hibiyaon… but I’m not sure.  I hate it when bloggers don’t do their research when writing something, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it takes too long to find the DVD and check.  So we’ll assume she was in it.  That means that I don’t like her in it here because I hate repeat shuffles.  Kashiwagi’s new… I think.  So that means she’s fine. So yeah, bad group here.  Only half get the okay from me.  Anyway, it seems like all of the girls from AKB love this song, even though very few foreign fans like it.  Usually their enjoyment of the song is derived from the obnoxiously pink and fur-trimmed costumes.  I guess that’s a valid reason then.  Also, please note that Acchan doesn’t get her usual lead position.  She gets Rina’s, which makes sense since they always tended to share lines.  (And that makes me wonder if Rina had stayed for longer if she would have subbed for Acchan in ‘Kuroi Tenshi’ in a shuffle concert.)  Anyway, the girls do perfectly fine, despite my dislike of the cast choices.  I like how this is definitely more of a “Let’s have RSL talk about AKB songs and who’s in them” instead of a review.  My excuse is that most people know a lot of these songs anyway.

(Insert No Sleeves and Watarirouka Hashiritai)

Squall no Aida ni

Yay!  Another good song!  Even though there aren’t any umbrellas here, the girls put on a great show.  The lyrics about a boat house and a sudden summer rain are oh so cute and really fit with the un-official Team A image of being cute and pretty.  In this performance, I love the entrance of half the Team from the middle opening just casually walking forward.  That way, it seems to be much more exciting when they start dancing.  And when I say dancing, I mean when they start walking around with stylized arms and shoulders and sporadically hopping around.  It’s just cute.

Strut it Chiichan (and Mariko)!  I’m so glad they changed the choreography from the original.  This is so much more exciting.

The sparkle meter is off the charts.  The combination of the sequined dresses and the rain drop-inspired lights blow my mind.

Shamu Neko

My favorite K4 song strikes again!  (And I wish that position above made it to the DVD cover.  It is perfect.)  I love how this song seems to be addressed to and lead by Erena, but the lead vocals are by some of the best singers in Team K: Nonti, Ayaka, Natsuki, and Asuka.  The song started out fine, with the ‘Tenohira’ outfits.  I loved when they used the senbatsu costumes from Kohaku in the JCB Hall concert (mostly because Natsuki’s body was /is ravishing), but these seem like they’re nice and updated school uniforms from the K4 encore ones, so I like these two.

Anyway, after Nonti sang, I was ready for Ayaka to sing, but alas, some weird girl with a nicely proportioned body and a circular head started singing.  At first I was all “Where’s Umechan!?” but then I realized she was absent due to her other job.  Then I was like “Who’s she, then!?”  And then I realized that it was in fact Sumire.  And I calmed down.

I wish they would have done both verses so Natsuki could sing her amazing solo line (and you know, Asuka, too).

Suifu wa Arashi ni Yume wo Miru

“Ah!  Magical fairies of destruction!  Whatever shall we do?”  Seriously, who picked these costumes for this song?  Their hands must be slapped.  I wonder if they feel ridiculous, or they think they’re part of Milky Way.  Probably the latter… because they might as well me.  The costumes may confuse me, but the performance is great, especially the section where they come into the rank pyramid.  I still think that my favorite version of the song would be the one from the last NHK Hall concert with the ‘Two Years Later’ costumes.  It seemed more appropriate.  Now, if only they had sailor costumes to fit the song. (Oh wait!  They could just use the new Team A concert costumes!)

(Insert AKB48 Continuous Single Collection)

Nante Suteki na Sekai ni Umareta no Darou

One of my favorite AKB ballads of all time.  Probably my favorite right behind ‘FAN LETTER.’  It has some of the most calming music and lyrics and it’s such a great song in so many ways.  It’s a shame A4 might never be released.  I’m kind of disappointed by this one, to be honest.  I pictured there to be much more room for the girls to wander around, probably onto the stairs or something.  They’re all so compact here.  Also, I’d prefer they wear a simple outfit like the RS.  These are just too much.  Also, I’d prefer that Team A didn’t lead.  How about giving everyone else a chance?

Bubble power!

(Insert Encore)

(Note lack of encore performance of ‘BINGO!’)

Concert 3 (Day 2)

Amai Kokansetsu

The third concert opens up with Ohori’s solo single song, now a fan favorite.  Just as she turns around, it is revealed that it is Maimai, not Ohori in the cowboy-inspired get-up.  I was thrilled when I heard that she who had previously been the “sexy bunny” of Team A got this solo, as she really hadn’t been in many sexy songs in her career in AKB.  Just Kiss wa Dame yo, and that’s really not too inappropriate.  I think it kind of sucks for Ohori with her solo being used to help celebrate someone else’s graduation, but she seems to be proud of Mai and is happy for her to perform it.  Now this makes me wonder if this opens up other sub-units to shuffling (Chocolove, No Sleeves).

I have to say that I’ve always loved Mai’s voice.  It’s a really nice balance between being mature and light, and she can work with it in so many ways to fit many situations.  Her performance here was outstanding, and I think all of her fans were proud.

Saishuu Bell ga Naru

I guess they tried saving some of the best recent songs for the end.  K4’s title song brings in Team K and a certain amazing Kenkyuusei Suzuki Mariya!  I love how this is not only a very energetic song, but it also has a great melody going for it: something I must hear before liking a song.  Unrelated, but I didn’t notice how much screen time Sae had in this performance till now.  I guess with Yuko gone, she gets her camera time.  Because, you know, it works that way.

I’m kind of sad that they didn’t perform both verses, but it certainly would make this last show go over time (more so than it did.)  This way, Natsuki didn’t get to sing her duet line with Meetan.  Oh well.

Shiroi Shirts

Bleh.  This is not the song to continue with.  Just about anything would fit better.  They should have saved Shounichi for this concert.  Dislike of the song aside, I can’t get over how they wore the least attractive Team B costumes to date.  I mean, I understand that yes, they do have white shirts on, but it does not fit.  It’ be cute if they just wore any random Team B costume with the ‘Shiroi Shirts’ white shirts over them.

I like how the dancing and fierceness of the previous song contrasts so much against this one, as they seem to just clap, wave, and pose the majority of the song.  Seriously, I don’t know what AKS was thinking here.  The bow at the end seriously cemented my thought that this should not be at the start of a concert.

Dear My Teacher

And after that foul selection comes one of AKB’s best songs period!  (Natsuki says this is her favorite song, but that’s probably just because she has a cheer set up in the second verse just for her!)  This really is the quintessential Team A song.  Not ‘Sakura no Hanabiratachi,’ not ‘Skirt, Hirari,’ but instead the one about teachers and students… getting along really, really well.  Also, it fits well with Mai’s graduation as she has so many lines in this shortened version.  Interesting to note: they didn’t use any RS, even though the other performances used them to fill up empty spots in Teams.

I don’t want to rant about how Rie got Rina’s part, so I’ll make it quick.  Rie is great.  I’m glad she’s getting pushed so much, but I’d prefer Chiichan gets Rina’s lines.  Seeing that Chiichan gets Ohe’s lines is great, so instead, how about Reina?  Her voice would fit pretty well.  Or, another idea, just give them to Mariko, since she missed out getting lines when they originally did A1.

Oh, and Nozofisu pops out for the MC.  I’m pretty sure this was a surprise.  She had written a few blog entries or some of the other girls did about her participation in rehearsals, but there was no official announcement that she would be there that I know of.  I was under the impression that she had her graduation at the AKB Theater and that she was done a while ago, but I guess not.

Blue Rose

They continue with more fan favorites, this time with the most popular Team K rock unit.  The quartet seems to be doing their usual thing, which tends to get the fans really excited in their cheering.  The only difference being that that night, all of the girls wore their jackets done up.  I had not thought that was possible with these, as I thought they were made to be always very much open, but I guess not.  So they kept on singing and dancing their little hearts out till the bridge when…. (To kill the suspense, I’ll ask a simple question that I’m unsure of: During Meetan and Sae’s lines, do they chant for Sae for the first line and then for Ohori in the next ones?)

Sayaka’s wearing a tiger-print bikini!  The other girls are wearing the normal tube tops and shorts or a skirt.  In other performances, it would be Ohori taking off her jacket to reveal her famous gold bikini, so I guess that they needed something new this time since Meetan’s done her thing in two different concerts that I know of by that time.  I kind of want Yuka to be next.  She can strip off her jacket to reveal something funny… like a big gown or something, you know folded up into the jacket for the surprise.  That’d be neat.

Temodemo no Namida

In my mind, this unit was built to show off how great Kashiwagi is.  Maybe even to show Hello! Project what they’re missing out on, as this has been an incredibly well received unit by AKB fans.  I believe that Mika was added to show how a talented RS-turned-member can sort of challenge the soon-to-be second most popular Team B girl (after the Ayarin scandal).  Though it’s easy to see how Kashiwagi leads and in some ways, owns, the unit with her extra solo lines, I’ve decided that this won’t be the unit Kashiwagi is known for, but instead it will be un-officially labeled as Mikachii’s song.  Already, it’s been performed with her as the main feature of the song.  She has possibly performed this song the most out of any Team B songs besides maybe ‘Shounichi,’ as she couldn’t dance for many Team B shows or AKB concerts.

Here, Mika performs the almost-legendary unit with the help of a stool.  I’m quite positive that she doesn’t really need this, but instead it represents that she can’t really dance like she used to due to chronic knee problems.  This way, I’m okay with them giving her a sort of handicap and they even changed a little choreography to work with it.

(Insert ‘Glory Days’)

Heart Gata no Virus

I guess they had to give the popular Team A girls a unit in this show since they didn’t get to perform in the first number.  Acchan takes Mai’s position, Mariko takes Haruna’s, and Itano takes Nozofisu’s.  I think there kind of is a weird, but in a good way, line distribution in this song.  In the first verse, all three girls get two lines, except one who gets two and then a couple extra before the other two members sing their duet lines right before the chorus.  Those remaining two’s lines include one slightly longer solo.  In the next verse, the same thing happens, but with the roles rotated.  This way, there is a lead for the first verse and a different lead for the second verse.  The third girl gets a longer line in both verses and doesn’t get any sort of lead.  With this line pattern, Usually the most popular member of the unit gets less lines than the second most popular girl in the group, but gets to be in the center just as much.  I don’t know… I just find that really interesting.

Acchan gets the speaking part in the bridge, and she says something about how she can’t believe Mai is graduating that night.  Apparently backstage, Nozofisu is talking to Yukari and upon hearing this, she asks why she isn’t included there.  (Natsuki note: Our favorite member got to perform this unit as well as ‘Itoshiki Natassha’ in the recent concert tour during the same concert.  Most likely, she performed these units because two Team K members, Mocchi and Yuka, respectively, were unable to perform due to a possible swine flu scare.  I’m not sure which position she got in either song, but I’m assuming that she takes the Nozofisu position in ‘Heart,’ even though she gets to wear Mai’s costume, and she probably takes Tanamin’s part in ‘Itoshiki,’ as she wears that costume.  We’ll see, though.  Those are the worst parts she could have gotten in both songs, but hey, this way she at least gets in a unit (or in this case two)!)

(Insert ‘Ame no Pianist,’ No Sleeves, and Watarirouka Hashiritai)

Sougen no Kiseki

Yay!  A K3 song!  I think AKB gets too hung up on Team K being the “cool” and “powerful” Team, so I love when they go back to being fun like in their K2 and K3 days.  Luckily, I think K5 has a nice balance of the two types, and it’s nice to hear both in the same Stage.  ‘Sougen no Kiseki’ is performed in the ‘FAN LETTER’ costumes, which I absolutely adore.  I love that they’re all different and most say something about the member wearing the costume.  My favorite is Natsuki’s, but I’m not sure if that’s just because I’m biased or not.  Although they’re not used here, often times the Nacchinon duo will wear matching glasses in these costumes.  Back on the subject of who gets lines, this is another song that I don’t like the distribution in.  Sayaka begins by singing the chorus, then half the Team sings the first verse.  Since this is a big concert, we don’t get to see the second verse, and thus miss out on the other half of the Team singing.  There’s a new break-down of members in the bridge.

First is the ‘End Roll’ unit with Natsumi and Nonti.  Yuko is still recovering and Umeda is at her other job, so the ‘Mushi no BALLAD’ unit fills in… with Sayaka being the only one in that unit.

Next up is the ‘Wagamama na Nagareboshi’ unit with Erena and Kana.

Third is Chikano, Meetan, Sae, Naruse, Yuka, and Oku for ‘Ai no Iro.’  This is the first and only time that Naruse is sort-of, kind-of officially acknowledged as being part of ‘Ai no Iro.’

The last of the unit lines is ‘Dakishimeraretara’ with Kasai, Asuka, and Natsuki.  The two on the outside hug their lead.  But wait, isn’t there one last girl on stage?

Oh yeah!  Kaoru, who got a ‘FAN LETTER’ costume just for this performance, doesn’t have a unit for K5 as she is graduating!  She gets to twirl around and bow for the rest of the music leading up to the chorus.  I can not tell you how amazing this section was with Kaoru finally getting all kinds of attention.  She was doing just as she should, shining.  The audience’s call for her were intense and literally brought tears to my eyes.  I never would have thought that this would have made such an amazing performance in this concert.  This was just spectacular.

Minasan mo Go Issho ni

Putting this song directly after such a classy pre-graduation song has it’s share of pros and cons.  On the good side, it continues the idea of being happy and having fun and forgetting about anything negative.  On the flip side, it conveys a completely different message from the previous song.  Instead of singing about a nostalgic spring-ish day, they’re singing about how you should forget about the economy and just enjoy the AKB girls.  In a way though, I guess it fits.  Nevertheless, it was performed and so I’ll write about it.  Ever since I had read the set list for this concert the first time, I knew this would be an epic performance, even before I knew about the surprise in the bridge.  The colorful costumes with the fun and exciting choreography and the sparkle and lighting of NHK Hall really makes his a nice light-hearted performance that is great for the song.  Now you’re wondering, what surprise?

There’s a Saeki in my B4!  That’s right, the only Team B member to not perform in a B4 song!  Yes, she gets wheeled out on a blinged-out chair by CinDy to do the MC section.  And she does an incredible job complete with some sort of echo/fade-out sound-mixing technique at the end.  I had heard about this before seeing the DVD, but regardless, it was such a surprise to watch.  I love it.

Only Today

I’m pretty sure that Mai has stated that this is her favorite song (or at least something about the lyrics), so this is a nice addition for a soon-to-be graduate.  It’s one of the newer Team A-only songs that is used often in concerts, similar to Team K’s ‘Saishuu Bell ga Naru.’  I’m a bit disappointed by the lack of kick-lining used here.  It’s great that they did their own little kicks and hops, but I want full-fledged crazy-swiching like in the NHK07 concert.  I mean, that was epic.  This is kind of very bland… at least comparatively speaking.

I’ve always loved this song.  It reminds me of my first month or two when I was an off-and-on AKB fan.  I remember my first favorite song was ‘Nagisa no Cherry’ and then it changed to be ‘Only Today.’  As you can see, I started out as an Acchan fan.  I just love how bittersweet the lyrics are and how the contrast with the up-beat melody and the overpowering wota chants.

(Insert AKB48 Continuous Single Collection)

Aozora no Soba ni Ite

I wish they would have used a different ballad for the last night.  I was hoping that they sort of would ‘retire’ this one after the last NHK Hall concert with the five Team A graduates.  But, I guess not.  In my head, the song with the elongated instrumental would be to commemorate those five, or maybe even just Team A.  I mean, they’ve never lengthened a song like that before.  (I like how I have to talk about assumed AKB ethics rather than the emotions around them.)  While yes, the song is just as much Mai and Nozomi’s as it was Rina, Hana, Ohe, Hiichan, and Risa’s, (I wouldn’t count Kaoru, just because she performed it after those seven), but it would be nice if they reserved the song a little.  You know?  It certainly doesn’t have to be the new graduation-only song or something.  That all being said, I’m not a huge fan of the song in general.

In the last capture, did you notice how the SKE48 girls stayed on stage?  Did you like how they were separated?  I did.  I’m glad that was done.  Except then they’re integrated during the last chorus.  Boo.

Oh!  Poor Fujie!  She’s losing her mentor!  You have to wonder what’s going on in her head right now.  And to think, she didn’t know that Mai was planning on graduating until it was announced on stage at the AKB Theater, while the original (plus Mariko, probably) members looked as though they had known about it for a little while.

(Insert Encore)

Namida Surprise!

Technically, this performance wasn’t done until after the graduation ceremony, but on the DVD, it’s out of order, so we’ll just stick with that.  This is the first showing of ‘Namida Surprise!’ and also the first time the fans got to hear it.  I can’t imagine how awesome that would be, as the single hadn’t even been announced yet.  Apparently beforehand there was a video played about the girls who don’t get senbatsu often/ever, and how they wanted it.  If my memory serves me correctly, Nonti, CinDy, and Ohori were the three that were interviewed.  I guess CinDy made a big deal about her working so hard and leading Team B and being the only original Team A member to never to get into senbatsu.  Also, there was a video counting down which girls would be in ‘Namida Surprise!’ (and then performing it that night) and it showed Komori Mika, which I guess everyone was surprised about, since she’s so far the only RS to make it into senbatsu.  Having seen the PV and everything by now, it’s kind of fun to watch the closest thing to dance shot we’ll ever see for the single.  It looks like it requires a lot of stamina, but not much in terms of actual dancing abilities.  Singing abilities seem like they might be optional as well.  I’ve come to the conclusion that I only like singles that are from their indie days, or singles that have Sayaka in them.  Seriously.  That’s what it works out to be for me.  The Sayaka-less performance here was cute, but it’s certainly not one of my favorites.  Oh well, there’s always the next single (‘Iiwake Maybe’ is wonderful).

(Oshima M, Kawasaki, and Hayano Graduation Ceremony)

Hayano Karou.  (There’s so much going on in this graduation that I can barely figure out what to say.  So, I’ll divide it up into three sections with one screen capture each.)  They decided to order the girls from least popular to most popular.  You know, do the whole “save the best for last” idea.  This bites them in the end.  Kaoru’s graduation is simple.  Sayaka will read a letter she wrote, put it in a box, and then each member of Team K will give Kaoru a flower.  This plan is perfectly fine and reasonable considering she’s already had a great graduation at the AKB48 Theater.  Somehow, someone important screws up.  Sayaka, who’s letter does not fit in the box that was specially made by Team K for it to go in, calls Hayano “the fourteenth sister” ala ‘16nin Shimai no Uta.’  This is all fine and dandy, but she isn’t the fourteenth oldest member.  She’s like the thirteenth or something, I forget.  Regardless, Sayaka is incorrect.  After Sayaka’s speech, Kaoru corrects her.  As the flowers get passed to her, the other girls reveal that they are either the actual fourteenth sister, the new fourteenth sister, or even say that they are the thirteenth member.  Really, this ceremony is completely chaotic by the end of it.  While yes, there are tons of tears involved, I’m sure that this graduation has earned the position of being the funniest, and most likely trumped the amount of laughter in the just-for-giggles performances of ‘Honehone Waltz’ and ‘Nagisa no CHERRY’ in the other two performances. Personally, my favorite part is probably either when Nonti says that she’s the fourteenth sister, or when Erena randomly has four flowers and doesn’t know how to get them to their rightful owners… or maybe when Naruse admits being the fourteenth sister and Yuko scolds Erena for not being able to count.  Eventually she graduates.  Really, you have to watch this.

Kawasaki Nozomi.  Next is the random graduation.  I guess they decided that since Kaoru would get a big deal graduation, Nozofisu should get one, too.  Instead of the un-official Team leader, Yukari comes out with a letter to read to Nozomi.  She enters on stage right and says something to the effect of “Tonight’s graduation of Kawasaki Nozomi is…” pause “canceled.”  Everyone is confused, and Yukari tells the the auditorium that they have time constrictions and they had to cut someone’s graduation out, so they chose Yukari since they had plans for Maimai.  At some point, Nozofisu mentions that that means that they’ll have to take her to France.  So far, she has yet to go to France and she has yet to have that delayed graduation.  Nozomi comes down, and at some point Fujie goes and tells the friends to hurry up, since next is Maimai’s event of the evening.

Oshima Mai.  Immediately after Takahashi announces that Mai will be graduating, she calls out Hoshino Michiru and Orii Ayumi to sing ‘Yuukan no Bokura’ to Mai.  Mai is a big fan of ballads and she was visibly shaken during the performance just for her.  I’m sure I would enjoy this a lot more, but I’m just not really attached to any of the girls involved in this one.  It’s great that Mai got a graduation gift like this, though.  She certainly deserved it.

Eventually, the graduating girls leave the stage, since a few of the under-aged girls need to get out as soon as possible in accordance with Japanese child labor laws.  That, along with paying for a certain amount of time for the use of NHK Hall and its crew, led AKS to quicken the ceremonies.  I believe that they still ended up having to pay lots of fines.  Later on in the night I guess Team A, Nacchan and CinDy, and Ayumi and Chiru all got together for one last MC to share their feelings and the like.

And that was NHK09.  I hope you enjoyed it!  I’m thinking about possibly “reviewing” the AKB concerts that I’ve missed (there’s like five, since I refuse to do Shibuya AX 2008 or 2009), so if you’d like to read those, please comment and say which one(s).  I know these aren’t really that deep or interesting, and it just turns into me talking about costumes, Natsuki, and lines, along with a bunch of blurry screen shots, but I do enjoy writing these, and it gives me some more text-heavy content to put up on the blog.  It’s kind of odd for me to just want to do concert reviews instead of Stage reviews (unless it’s a brand new Stage) since Stage performances are really what AKB fandom should focus on, but I just like to see how they are presented as an entire group, however rare that may be.  Along with my possible concert reviews planned, I’m determined to do some sort of review for each of the new Stages coming out in December with the new Teams.  I plan on writing these as I watch them for the first time, right after an AKB-black-out, which is when I shut myself away from the idol community and download/watch a LOD of the new Stage without seeing or reading anything about it previously.  I recommend it.  Anyway, I’m planning on doing that and I’d love for any input as to what you’d like to see on my blog here.  I’d like to gain a larger reader base and eventually I’d like to help convert fans of other idols or music groups into AKB fans.  And of course I’m going to continue waving my Natsuki flag.

(written by: Willy Yanto Wijaya)

As a leading country in Asia in term of economy, Japan has become a magnet to draw attention of foreign countries to study how it conducts the management of its economy, how the economy system and management styles of the companies being conducted, as well as what strength and weakness those systems might possess. This is actually not an easy question, yet it worth so much to be studied. The studies of the economy and especially the management style of Japanese people, as a matter of fact, are so closely linked with the cultures and perspectives of the Japanese people. In the following paragraphs, we’ll go through several management styles (employment practices and financial characteristics) which are very uniquely Japan. We shall also consider some plus and minus points of those management styles.

1. Employment Practices

One of the most couldn’t-be-understandable employment practices in Japan is the “life-time” employment, or we can say that employees are expected to stay or loyal to a certain company until he/she retire. This is so typically unique in Japan which could hardly be found in other countries. Actually, there is a very interesting story about this “life-time” employment practice. This is about Matsushita Electric Company in the years when Japan got defeat at wars and economic slump.¹ Many peoples lost their jobs, social riots and poverty increased significantly, unemployment rate swelled to the peak. At that time, the founder of Matsushita strived to maintain the employees by negotiating with the employee some cuts of the salary; and urged them to endure the time of crisis and difficulties. Having a job was so precious that time, even though got salary-cut, the employees were so heartily grateful to the commitment of the company for maintaining the employment. Since that time, they even worked harder to struggle the crisis and became even more loyal to company. This practice of “life-time” employment later inspired more and more companies to follow the same path.

“Life-time” employment, with the care to the employees even after retirement, will undoubtfully be a strong point in the emotional aspects and loyalty of employees to the company. By this, the companies will not worry about the company-secrets transfer to other companies through the work-force mobility, as well as saving much time in the matter of training new employees. However, on the other hand, this might also give certain disadvantages to the employee, such as less freedom and flexibility. To mention a vivid example, say, that an employee working for several years in a company feels bored and wants to gain a different atmosphere in another company, it will be difficult for him/ her to do so, since the new company where he/ she would like to join also already has the mind-set of “life-time” employment and will feel doubtful to accept this new employee. Another worse case is when there’s a change in the management board of a certain company, and then this board implements bad policies to the workers. The workers have to think twice before deciding to quit, since it’s gonna not easy to find a new job at other companies. This “life-time” employment policy could also become serious problems when the company stop growing and have to re-organize its work-forces. “Life-time” employment policy might also, in certain extends, make the employees lazy and not efficient since they think that in what-so-ever conditions, the company will still maintain them as employees.

Other typical employment practices in Japan are the seniority system and company-based union. These two aspects will also give plus and minus sides as well. Since the salary and promotion in Japanese companies are mostly based on Seniority, this will urge the employees to be loyal and stay longer in a company. However, this kind of system could hamper the achievements of brilliant and talented persons.

Company-based union in Japan, so far as been observed, will cooperate so well with the company. This is certainly good for the productivity of the company (very seldom work-strikes). However, in case the company treats the employees badly, here the employees don’t have much power to resist.

2. Financial Characteristics

The economy of Japan is highly influenced by Keiretsu, a set of companies with interlocking business relationship and shareholdings², which we can view as a type of business groups. It has a long history originating from Zaibatsu (conglomerate) pre WWII which highly dominated Japanese economy. However, while Zaibatsu is more family-controlled vertical monopolies; Keiretsu are controlled by groups of professional managers.

In my opinion, Zaibatsu system will pose an unhealthy mechanism of a Nation’s economy even though I realized that a well-governed Zaibatsu could contribute very well to the development of Nation’s Economy. Too strong Zaibatsu could interfere with political world, monopoly and suppression to small and middle scale companies, and could form the sharp and centralized wealth distribution. When the power of Zaibatsu is being mis-used, or the management system is poorly conducted; a fall of Zaibatsu could destroy severely a nation’s economy. Keiretsu possess some similar characteristics, though with a better sense and more professional management.

Several famous Zaibatsu were: Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, and Yasuda. These four later transformed into several Keiretsu up to now; and even some of them had merged further such as Mitsui-Sumitomo with the core bank SMBC; Mitsubishi with UFJ (formerly Sanwa Bank/ Group) to form MUFG.³ Then why these gigantic corporations still want to merge to form an even bigger giant? One of the reasons, I think, is to consolidate the asset and market segments, as well as to face the challenges from other foreign companies/ corporations. By synchronizing the strategies, the merging Keiretsu hope to better anticipate any further threat from other gigantic companies. This is also pushed by the more growth-oriented and market share orientation of Japanese perspectives, compared to the profit-orientation. This is one of reasons why Japanese products could penetrate many parts of the worlds, which will automatically pushed further the asset capitalization of those companies.

3. Further Analysis

So far, we have discussed several aspects of the strength of Japanese companies that make them succeed, as well as some of the possible weakness/ disadvantages of those characteristics. Then, is there any possibility that some characteristics of Japanese style management might fit very well to some kinds of projects, while not well to some others?

Some of the characteristics such as seniority-based salary might not be so suitable in the creative industries, for example, where ideas, talent do matter the most. Projects that involve a lot of out-sourcing, ideas, and innovations or projects that have short-term period might also don’t fit so well to the several Japanese-style employment practices. However, since the Japanese people are so smart, ideas can be generated to tackle this disadvantage. For example, a major camera company, CANON always asks feedback from all its employees and gives rewards to innovative ideas and creations.

With its typical low cost of equity (low dividend payment), cooperative company unions, less hostile share-holders; the management board of a company could feel more peace of mind and concentrate with the development. This is really one big advantage of Japanese management characteristic. The production will run smoothly, not so much working-strike by employees, and thus increased efficiency and performance.

As if I am an investor, it’s not so appealing to invest money on equity in Japan (low dividend payment). If I am a supplier or employee, it’s very important to choose a company whom you could give trust to (since it might become your “life-time” bond). While thinking of joint research project with a Japanese company, it is very important to:

• Understand the culture of the company and Japanese people.
• What kind of project it is and which type of Japanese-style managements that will not be so suitable.
• Possible ideas to tackle some of the disadvantages of Japanese systems.

References

¹ John P. Kotter. Matsushita Leadership, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1998.

² http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keiretsu

³ Kenichi Miyashita, David Russell. Keiretsu: inside the hidden Japanese conglomerates, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995.

Ramli have met Ramli Sarip aka Papa Rock many times and like Ramli ,he loves to sing and make good money from doing that for so many years since his early days with Sweet Charity….pls see some of the videos Ramli filmed himself on Papa Rock…Rock On!……..

Ramli have involved in this Quality Journey since 1976 when he started work with Matsushita (now rebrand worldwide as Panasonic.)

Building a World Class Brand cannot be done overnight or in a few days,weeks or months..but need many years to make your brand well known and loved by all.However to destroy a brand just need a shorter time frame especially when your products are of bad quality and become harmful to human consumption or usage.Remember the milk powder problems etc…
In this video,you can see Ramli and others appearing in TV3 Money Matters Programme on QCC..now it is known as ICC (Innovative and Creative Circles..)You can also see the “Father of Malaysian QCC” ie.Allahyarham Tuan Hj.Ruslan bin Khatib -the former Deputy Director General of NPC (now branded as MPC)
For more infos,contact:
Ramli Abu Hassan
hp:+6019-2537165
email: ramlipromoter@yahoo.com

Dear Malaysians (and all Global Citizens -maybe about 7 Billion now..)

Ever since Prophet Adam a.s. set foot on earth there was abundance of food to eat and fresh water to drink for him,his wife and later his growing immediate family.Later,through many thousands of years or so the situation changed dramatically.
And now in 2009,we the children of Adam and Hawa (Eve) a.s. are living dangerously and poorly with lack of fresh water to drink,contaminated food almost everywhere,dirty air to breathe,unsafe places to visit,diseases and all kinds of new sicknesses popping out from nowhere and so many other disorders that one can think of….
What Ramli is trying to emphasise here which many of you smart and hard working people already know is the problem of “people in greed” and also “people in need”
LIke Malaysia,we have plentiful of lands filled with paddy fields,tin mines,rubber and oil palm plantations plus jungles of timber and other natural trees growing handsomely through many centuries….suddenly we are shouting that we are having an environmental crisis,food crisis,financial crisis,rempit,bohsia,corruptions,no accountablity or integrity,poor corporate governance,slow service deliveries and worst still lack of talented people to manage our government and businesses.
Who to blame?Why all these happened?What is the root cause?Where are the solutions?When can we take actions? How to do?How much it will cost us?
Yes,lots of the 5W2H Methodology but maybe in a simple analysis we can see some theories for all these negative factors in our country or what our New PM (YAB Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) emphasised by our 1Malaysia mission.
The main problem and maybe still is,is those Rakyat and their accomplices (maybe those pendatang) who love to live and managed their lives in GREED.They want more and more even though their hands are full with wealth,projects and opportunities or favours.They think nobody else exist around them and what they see,smell or sell are all theirs for the taking..others are not important maybe they think they are stupid or slow…so they are the chosen few!
Living in a capitalist way or “rat race” society than maybe all these GREED is OK and accep table or a norm for them BUT Malaysia cannot afford to think like this,not now or anymore…we had enough problems when people think like this…this was not the case before 1957..where we invite all kinds of people to come to Malaysia to enjoy the bountiful of harvests or opportunities for all that are willing to sweat,inspire and share for a living..
Malaya and later Malaysia grew and grew as a result of all these people discipline,good thinking and doing a service to the nation and people…
Malaysia is enough for all in need BUT not enough for those in greed..do you agree?
WE have many thousands of graduates every year but still many have no jobs and many become disappointed with the government and entrepreneurs who do not have the great vision and mission to create new growth areas and well as open new factories and businesses like what other Great People have done in Malaysia and around the World before.To name a few of them are like Lee Plantations,Federal Bakeries,Globe Silk Store,Selangor Pewter,Genting Highlands,AMBank,Hameed Restaurants,so many infact..please provide Ramli your examples or candidates…
In the global front we have Great People or Companies like Matsushita,WalMart,Honda,GE,Fiat,Cannon,Texas Instruments,Motorola,INTEL and so many more that have created millions of jobs for all…..
These are the great examples of people who saw the need to develop,innovate,improve and most of all provide their social corporate responsibilties to improve mankind or their rakyat needs to a better life,continual income,food on the table for their families and a hope for a great future for their children and grand children to come….this are examples of people who are not in GREED…
People who are in GREED will only create more destruction and unhealthy marketplace with no proper system,talented management or CSR opportunities…it is just reaping the harvest for their selfish needs and living in excess that are bound to waste and not benefitting the Rakyat….
Maybe the current financial crisis happening in Malaysia and more so in US and EU are the results of actions by People in GREED!
Suddenly banks,big businesses all collapsed or disappear from the stock exchanges due to their bankruptcies and poor management.Millions of people suddenly become jobless,no money and just cannot meet their daily needs to feed their families…this is the worst crime we can dare to think when government or businesses behave as such…because a crime like this does not kill one person but can kill the hopes and future of many millions of people effected by such trajedies…can you name some companies in Malaysia or around the world that have gone bust or nowhere to be seen anymore….
This is the result of People in Greed who have forgotten their true mission of their work and business.They think more of whats for me than whats for my people….
The best example that humans on earth must learn is the great prophet Muhammad pbuh.Prophet Muhammad pbuh live so minimally with great conciousness that any act of wastefullness or greed can endanger his people (ummah)Prophet execellent leadership and altruistic baehaviours have ensured that Islam is a Great Religion with lots of blessings and happiness if one were to follow his teachings which Prophet Muhammad pbuh received from Almighty Allah SWT .
Living with the basics of management as stated by the Top Business Schools like honesty,frugality and trust is the road to prosperity,peace and happiness for all BUT many business leaders forget these essential basics and rather “jump” to being wealth crazy,demand with great excess and perform with selfish interests and hidden agendas.
So,as a summary Ramli wish to highlight this point again that “the world is enough for people in NEED BUT never enough for people in GREED.”Think about it and tell Ramli what do you think and can do better to help save our world now and in future.
Thank You
Wassallam.
Ramli Abu Hassan
email: ramlipromoter@yahoo.com
Hotline:+6-019-2537165

Profil Perusahaan

Dengan pengalaman lebih dari 75 tahun di industri rokok, Grup Bentoel adalah salah satu perusahaan rokok terkemuka di Indonesia.

Perusahaan induk adalah PT Bentoel Internasional Investama, perusahaan publik yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Jakarta. PT Bentoel Internasional Investama memiliki dua anak perusahaan, yaitu PT. Bentoel Prima dan PT Lestari Putrawirasejati. PT. Bentoel Prima memiliki tiga anak perusahaan yaitu, PT. PDI Tresno, PT. Taman Bentoel, dan PT. Subur Aman. PT. Subur Aman memiliki anak perusahaan yaitu PT. Amiseta

Menyadari pentingnya profesionalisme dalam operasional perusahaan, Grup Bentoel telah mentransformasi dirinya dari sebuah perusahaan keluarga menjadi perusahaan yang dijalankan secara professional.

Awal Berdirinya

Perjalanan Bentoel bermula pada tahun 1930-an ketika Ong Hok Liong, yang memperoleh keahlian ayahnya di perusahaan penjualan tembakau, memutuskan membuka perusahaan rokok kretek sendiri. Bersama istrinya, Liem Kiem Kwie Nio, ia memulai perusahaan rokok kretek kecil- The Strootjes Fabriek Ong Hok Liong.

Keyakinan Ong di bisnis pengolahan tembakau, digabung dengan kemampuan manajemen istrinya, membawa bisnis rokoknya tumbuh, yang kemudian tahun 1951 berubah menjadi perusahaan PT Perusahaan Rokok Rokok Tjap Bentoel.

Menjelang akhir tahun 1960-an, Bentoel menjadi perusahaan rokok modern dengan memperkenalkan rokok filter olahan mesin ke pasar, yang kemudian diadopsi menjadi standard industri rokok di Indonesia.

Dalam dua dekade berikutnya, Bentoel tumbuh dengan pesat dan menempatkan dirinya di garda depan industri olahan tembakau di tanah air.

Dalam usahanya untuk melakukan ekspansi bisnis, tahun 1984 Bentoel bekerja sama dengan perusahaan rokok putih Amerika Phillip Morris Inc. Bentoel mendapat kepercayaan untuk menjadi pembuat dan penyalur tunggal rokok terkenal di dunia, Marlboro.

Tapi jalan tidak selamanya mulus karena depresiasi rupiah pada akhir tahun 1980-an menimbulkan kesulitan keuangan kepada perusahaan. Sesaat sebelum Indonesia mengalami krisis moneter, Bentoel menginvestasikan uang dalam jumlah besar untuk memperbarui sistem manufakturnya dengan menghadirkan mesin-mesin primer dan sekunder yang baru dan otomatis, serta mesin-mesin cetak terbaru pula.

Langkah tersebut membuat perusahaan terbebani utang besar, sampai akhirnya pada tahun 1991 Grup Rajawali mengambil alih manajemen Bentoel.

Bentoel Sekarang

Pada tahun 1991, Kelompok Rajawali ditunjuk sejumlah kreditor utama lokal untuk mengambil alih manajemen Bentoel sekaligus menangani proses restrukturisasi utang Bentoel. Posisi-posisi manajemen penting ditempati sejumlah professional dan eksekutif yang berkompeten di bidangnya, momen ini menjadikan Bentoel mengalami transformasi dari perusahaan keluarga menjadi perusahaan yang dikelola secara professional.

Tugas pertama manajemen baru adalah mengurangi beban hutang Bentoel terhadap kreditor lokal dan asing sekaligus membenahi masalah keuangan perusahaan. Setelah berhasil merestrukturisasi hutang perusahaan pada tahun 1995 dan 1997, manajemen Bentoel akhirnya dapat berkonsentrasi untuk melakukan pengembangan bisnis dan perubahan struktur perusahaan.

Tahun 1996, Bentoel memposisikan dirinya di pasar rokok rendah tar dan rendah nicotine, dengan meluncurkan merek Star Mild. Perseroan kemudian berturut-turut meluncurkan sejumlah produk di segmen ini termasuk Bentoel Mild (1999), Country (1999), X Mild and Country Light (2004) dan Club Mild (2006).

Bentoel memasuki pasar rokok putih pada tahun 1984 ketika Philip Morris masuk ke Indonesia dan sekaligus mempercayakan produksi dan distribusi rokok terkenal Marlboro kepada Bentoel. Dari tahun 1984-1998, Bentoel adalah produsen dan penyalur tunggal produk-produk rokok Philip Morris Indonesia, sebuah bukti akan posisi Bentoel sebagai salah satu manufactur tembakau kelas dunia. Di akhir tahun 1998, Philip Morris mendirikan perusahaan produksinya, yaitu PT Philip Morris Indonesia (PT. PMI) , dan mulai memproduksi rokoknya sendiri, akan tetapi Bentoel tetap memiliki hak eksklisif untuk mendistribusikan produk-produk Philip Morris.

Bentoel kini telah menjadi salah satu perusahaan rokok yang disegani di tanah air. Konsep portofolio brand manajemen yang berimbang baik dalam segment SKT (Sejati, Rawit, Prinsip), SKM (Bentoel Biru, Inter Biru, Star Mild, Bentoel Mild, X Mild, dan Club Mild), maupun SPM (Country) telah menjadikan Bentoel sebagai perusahaan yang selalu siap menghadapai tantangan pasar.

Dengan terbukanya pasar regional, Bentoel juga melakukan ekspansi dengan memasuki pasar regional dan tetap optimis untuk dapat melayani permintaan pasar regional dan intenasional sekarang dan di masa depan.

Visi & Misi

Visi
Menjadi perusahaan besar yang terpandang, menguntungkan dan memiliki peran dominan dalam industri rokok domestik

Misi
Menyediakan produk-produk inovatif bermutu tinggi yang memenuhi, bahkan melebihi harapan konsumen sekaligus memberikan manfaat bagi semua stake holders

Laboratorium R & D yang Canggih

Sertifikasi ISO dapat meyakinkan patner perusahaan dan konsumen bahwa Bentoel selalu menjaga kualitas, jaminan mutu hasil uji dan telah mengelola aktivitas laboratorium sebaik mungkin.

Laboratorium perusahaan telah menerima akreditasi nasional bulan Januari 2004, dan ini merupakan satu dari sedikit laboratorium yang mampu melakukan test terhadap kadar nikotin dan tar dalam rokok. Lingkup akreditasi telah diperluas pada bulan Agustus tahun 2006 dengan tambahan untuk parameter-parameter uji fisik rokok dan kimia tembakau.

Kami memiliki Smoking Machine untuk menguji parameter kandungan asap rokok, Cigarette Test Station untuk menguji parameter fisik rokok, dan Rapid Flow Analyzer untuk menguji kandungan kimia tembakau.

Selain itu kami juga telah dilengkapi dengan laboratorium untuk menguji Non Tobacco Material cigarette dan packaging. Peralatan yang telah kami miliki untuk menguji paper dan board antara lain permeability meter, crease and board stiffness tester, sun test, ink rub tester, hazemeter, friction/peel tester dan beberapa peralatan pendukung lainnya. Beberapa peralatan baru yang telah beroperasi awal tahun 2006 tersebut telah secara signifikan meningkatkan kualitas dan kinerja produk kami. Di laboratorium kami, kemajuan teknologi menjadi pendukung dan kunci kreativitas untuk inovasi produk

Sistem Informasi Terintegrasi

Bentoel memahami bahwa keberhasilan suatu perusahaan juga harus didukung oleh sistem informasi dan komunikasi yang terintegrasi. Pada tahun 2003 Bentoel mencanangkan untuk menjalankan bisnis Bentoel berbasis desain teknologi digital (Digital Bentoel Design) dengan cara membangun sistem informasi terintegrasi yang dimulai dari implementasi sistem ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).

Inti dari sistem ERP yang dipilih menggunakan SAP, yang kemudian system ini dikenal dengan kode nama (code name) Be-One Enterprise Selanjutnya system informasi yang digunakan diberi kode nama awal dengan B-1 yang mempunyai makna “Sistem pemersatu” dimana seluruh elemen sistim informasi yang ada masing-masing akan terintegrasi satu dengan lain menjadi suatu system informasi enterprise yang terintegrasi secara total dengan media data, suara dan video yang terkonvergen (convergence) secara digital.

Sistem B1 telah membantu efisiensi melalui penguatan kemampuan manajemen perusahaan untuk memonitor dan mengontrol secara dekat proses yang ada. Karena semua proses, mulai dari pembelian, inventori, produksi, dan distribusi dikontrol dengan baik anak perusahaan dapat melihat setiap biaya dan selalu dalam keadaan tahu untuk menentukan waktu dan strategi yang tepat untuk efisiensi.

Kami melakukan tahapan persiapan tahun 2004 dalam lingkup Keuangan dan Control, Manajemen Bahan, Rencana Produksi, Distribusi dan Penjualan, Manajemen Dana, dan Konsolidasi.

Sebelum akhir 2004, Bentoel mengenalkan system SAP penuh. Satu tahun setelah implementasinya, sistem baru ini sudah beroperasi penuh mendukung berbagai departemen. Sistem baru ini telah meningkatkan produktivas dengan memangkas beban administrasi manual dan meningkatkan system kontrol sehingga pada akhirnya secara keseluruhan meningkatkan efisiensi.

Setelah mengalami masa transisi yang melelahkan, staf dan manajemen akhirnya menjadi piawai dalam menerapkan sistem yang terbukti mampu membangun platform yang kokoh untuk mencapai tujuan jangka panjang Bentoel dalam Desain Bisnis Digital.

Pada tahun yang sama, untuk memaksimalkan potensi B1 system, departemen penjualan dan distribusi serta sistem informasi membawa ide tentang perluanya bantuan komputerisasi pada jalur distribusi dan penjualan di lapangan yang pada akhirnya dipilih untuk menggunakan Personal Digital Assistants (PDA).

Pendekatan terbaru ini, dikenal dengan sebutan sistem B1 Mobile dan B1 ASMO yang membuat tim penjualan mampu mengkompilasi dan memonitor informasi penjualan sampai ke level retailer. Sistem in melayani manajemen dengan statistik market yang berkualitas dan akurat.

Dengan pelaksanaan sistem baru, efisiensi meningkat signifikan karena beban administrasi dikurangi. Setiap anggota tim bisa mengevaluasi kinerja mereka dengan melihat informasi harian yang terekam di PDA mereka.

Strategi ini menempatkan Bentoel sebagai garda depan industri yang pertama menggunakan PDA untuk tim penjualannya.

Sementara itu, Bentoel juga terhubung dengan semua kantor cabang secara online melalui Wide Area Network dengan teknologi IP – VPN. Sistem ini menghubungkan seluruh kantor cabang dengan kantor pusat Bentoel di Malang, Jawa Timur dan membuat semua data tersedia untuk semua kantor cabang. Selain itu Bentoel memanfaatkan ketersediaan jaringan tersebut untuk komunikasi suara antar kantor di Bentoel yang dikenal dengan B-1 Communication yang mulai penggunaannya awal tahun 2006.

Sistem baru ini telah meningkatkan produktivas di berbagai departemen dengan memangkas beban administrasi manual sehingga meningkatkan efisiensi. Dan penerapan sistem ini terbukti mampu membangun platform yang kokoh untuk mencapai tujuan jangka panjang Bentoel dalam Desain Bisnis Digital (Digital Business Design).

Fasilitas Manufaktur High – End

Karena teknologi selalu bergerak kedepan, perusahaan manufaktur yang mumpuni akan selalu memperbarui fasilitasnya.

Tahun 2005 kami memperbarui fasilitas produksi kami saat kami membeli mesin-mesin yang lebih modern. Peralatan terbaru ini mampu memperbaikin konsistensi dalam non-conformance consumer index (NCC) atau indeks ketidaksesuaian konsumen sebesar 10 percen dibandingkan tahun sebelumnya.

Bentoel juga memperbarui kualitas sistem pengawasan (surveillance) dan fasilitas yang akan menaikkan pemantauan secara primer dan sekunder atas kesempurnaan produk.

Kehadiran mesin-mesin baru yang lebih mutakhir untuk mengolah tembakau krosok, mampu meningkatkan efisiensi produksi, sekaligus menjaga secara lebih stabil dan konsisten kualitas dari rokok gulungan tangan maupun mesin.

Departemen penelitian dan pengembangan juga mengadopsi teknologi case bale blend (CBB) untuk standarisasi dan memudahkan inventori tembakau dengan cara mengirim tembakau yang sudah terpotong ke proses Green Leaf Threshing (GLT).

CBB dimulai dengan pengenalan technologi Star Blend untuk produk Star Mild. Sampai saat ini, CBB sudah diimplementasikan pada semua produk. Produk terbaru yang telah menggunakan sistem terbaru tersebut seperti X Mild, Sejati, dan Rawit yang telah meraih popularitas di kalangan konsumen.

Kami menyadari bahwa rokok yang dibuat dan dicampur secara sempurna tidak akan mencapai pasar dalam kondisi prima jika tidak dikemas secara sempurna pula. Produk kami dikemas secara hati-hati untuk menjamin kualitas isinya.

Untuk menjaga kesempurnaan, pada pertengahan tahun 2005 kami menambahkan mesin cetak flexography yang memiliki garis cetak rotogravure kecepatan tinggi dan lebih mapan. Ini membuat Bentoel termasuk dalam pioner dalam industri pencetakan dan pengemasan.

Mesin ini mampu melakukan pencetakan kecepatan tinggi online tanpa mengorbankan kualitas dan jenis warna. Mesin ini juga sempurna untuk membuat pengemasan ‘food grade’ untuk konsumen yang sadar kesehatan.

Bagi Bentoel, seri peralatan baru ini menghadirkan peluang untuk meningkatkan produksi dan menciptakan produk yang lebih baik dari hari ke hari. Usaha-usaha ini memberikan image perusahaan sebagai pembuat rokok yang terdepan dalam mencari kesempurnaan melalui inovasi.

Tradisi & Teknologi

Di Bentoel, kami percaya pada keseimbangan tradisi warisan lama dan karya teknologi dalam proses pembuatan rokok melalui sentuhan tangan para ahli.

Selama proses pembuatan, peralatan mekanik memainkan peranan penting. Kami hanya menggunakan mesin yang terbaik yang menjamin efisiensi, akurasi dan produksi yang tepat waktu.

Dari dalam ruangan kontrol yang berfungsi sebagai inti proses produksi, semua tahapan produksi di monitor secara teliti. Hanya melalui proses monitoring yang hati-hatilah kami bisa menjamin kepuasan konsumen.

Kebutuhan untuk mengaplikasikan teknologi terbaru tidak terelakkan untuk menjawab tuntutan pasar.

Namun sekali lagi, kami tetap menghargai sentuhan manusia.

Meskipun hampir semua proses pabrik sudah otomatis, sentuhan manusia tetap berperan penting dalam menangani produk yang belum maupun sudah selesai.

Dalam proses pembuatan rokok, adalah penting untuk menyorot cara mencampur tembakau, cengkeh dan bahan-bahan lainnya. Sebuah seni tersendiri, karena proses mencampur ini bisa memberi rasa tertentu yang disukai konsumen kami. Kami melakukan hal tersebut dengan cara kami yang membuat orang mengakui bahwa cita rasa rokok adalah keseimbangan terbaik atas semua yang mereka suka.

Kami percaya bahwa kombinasi yang tepat atas seni, tradisi, dan teknologi akan membuat kami mempunyai keuntungan kompetitif yang luar biasa.

Jaminan Kualitas

Pemastian kualitas dimulai dari penerimaan raw material (bahan baku), dilanjutkan dengan work in process sampai pada end product yang siap dipasarkan, dimana dalam setiap tahapan pemeriksaan harus dipastikan semuanya sesuai dengan spesifikasi yang telah ditetapkan.

Pemeriksaan bahan baku tembakau, cengkeh dan flavor selalu mengacu pada standar kualitas yang tinggi. Karakter fisik (stalk position, warna, aroma), komposisi kimiawi (nikotin, reducing sugar, chloride), serta kualitas asap adalah parameter utama dalam penentuan kualitas tembakau. Tembakau kualitas tinggi dari Madura, Paiton, Jember, Temanggung, Weleri, dsb, serta tembakau impor (USA, Brazil, Izmir, China, Burley, dsb) merupakan salah satu bahan utama Bentoel Group kita dalam membuat rokok. Disamping itu pengadaan cengkeh berkualitas dari Manado, Bali, Jawa juga diperlukan untuk menjamin kualitas rokok kretek yang dihasilkan. Ketersediaan flavor yang berkualitas berdasarkan karakter aroma, asap, dan komposisi kimiawi juga merupakan salah satu modal untuk menjamin kualitas rokok.

Pemeriksaan bahan baku Non Tobacco Material ( Cigarette & Packaging Attribut Material ) dititik beratkan pada spesifikasi kritikal untuk disposisi dari masing-masing NTM, seperti Porositas Cigarette Paper, Pressure Drop/Draw Filter, dsb.nya.

Untuk material Work in Process ( Finished Blend Tobacco ), pemeriksaan meliputi kualitas physical ( Kadar Air, Struktur, Filling Power ), serta kandungan kimia ( Nikotin, Reducing Sugar, Chloride ). Untuk menjamin kualitas rasa dan aroma dari produk kami, produk diuji oleh tim Bentoel Internal Panelist (BIP). Hal ini akan menjamin bahwa kualitas rasa dan aroma produk kami konsisten dan memenuhi tuntutan konsumen dan standard organoleptic yang telah ditentukan.

Pemeriksaan untuk End Product ( Rokok ), meliputi physical parameter ( Berat, Pressure Drop/Draw, Ventilasi dan Diameter ); Smoke ( Tar & Nicotine Delivery ). Pengujian kualitas yang lain berupa pemeriksaan secara visual yakni Non Conformance Consumer’s Index (NCCI) atau indeks ketidaksesuaian konsumer dan pengujian Organoleptic (Sensory Evaluation).

Sebagai langkah antisipasi dalam perdagangan bebas ( era globalisasi ), saat ini kita telah mendapatkan Sertifikat Sistem Manajemen Mutu ISO 9001:2000 dan Akreditasi untuk Laboratorium Penguji Smoke ( SNI 19-17-25-2000), dimana hasil uji kita diakui secara International oleh laboratorium penguji lain yang termasuk dalam jaringan kerjasama dengan pihak Komite Akreditasi Nasional ( Mutual Recognition Agreement / MRA ), seperti APLAC ( Asia Pasific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation ), ILAC ( International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation ), EAL (European Accreditation for Laboratory).

Untuk menjaga kepuasan konsumen lebih lanjut, kami juga menjalankan Monitoring bulanan secara periodic dan benchmarking terhadap kualitas produk di pasaran. Selain itu, kami menyediakan berbagai sarana komunikasi dengan konsumen secara langsung. Konsumen dapat menyampaikan usul, saran, maupun keluhan (komplain) terhadap produk dan layanan kami. Sarana yang tersedia antara lain PO BOX CS 9999 MLG 65100, email Customer Service, dan hotline melalui SMS. Setiap usul, saran dan komplain yang kami terima akan kami pelajari dan kami tindaklanjuti untuk menjaga dan meningkatkan kepuasan konsumen.

Berdasar rekap data benchmarking & respon konsumen (PO BOX, SMS, product complaint) dapat menjadi pertimbangan dalam menentukan parameter keunggulan/kekurangan dari produk Bentoel secara kualitas.

Fasilitas Pabrik

Kami sangat paham bahwa produk berkualitas tinggi hanya dapat dihasilkan melalui system berkelas dunia. Karenanya Bentoel tetap berada di garda depan dengan meng-update perkembangan teknologi baru, mengikuti trend terkini dan juga mengadopsi praktik terbaik (best practice).

Di antara inisiatif itu adalah keputusan strategis kami untuk menerapkan the Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) atau Perawatan Produksi Total.

TPM adalah system produksi yang didesain untuk memperbaiki kinerja dan efisiensi dari peralatan pabrik melalui tahapan pengoperasian. Sistem integrasi dan komprehensif ini menjangkau seluruh aspek produksi dari mulai perencanaan sampai menarik semua karyawan untuk aktif berpartisipasi dalam proses tersebut.

Dengan aplikasi TPM, Bentoel meneruskan untuk memperbarui mesin-mesinnya. Tahun 2001, kami mengganti mesin dan peralatan primer dan sekunder kami. Kami memasang mesin Hauni Protos 80E dan Foche 350S dalam proses primer dan sekunder dari rokok kretek mild Star Mild dan menghubungkan Molins MKg dengan Foche 349 packer.

Peralatan primer terbaru ini akan membantu proses pencampuran yang lebih baik lagi antara tembakau, cengkeh dan pemberi rasa, sementara mesin sekunder akan menjamin produksi filter, pelintingan dan pengemasan rokok secara efeisien

Penelitian & Pengembangan

Kami percaya bahwa satu-satunya kunci untuk menciptakan terobosan baru dan produk yang inovatif terletak pada strategi penelitian dan pengembangan yang gencar dari Directorate Research & Development.

Kami meneliti preferensi konsumen dan menciptakan produk yang dapat memenuhi, bahkan melampaui harapan mereka. Kami meneliti produk dengan dukungan informasi dan data-data ilmiah, serta memenuhi tuntutan perundang-undangan yang berlaku.

Hal ini sudah terbukti dengan debut pertama kami sebagai perusahaan Indonesia pertama yang menjual rokok gulung mesin atau dikenal sebagai SKM (Sigaret Kretek Mesin)

Dalam menjamin kualitas produk kami secara konsisten, sebuah team yang berdedikasi secara konstan melakukan tes rasa, dan mengevaluasi setiap batang rokok dengan menggunakan metode penelitian dan teknologi maju. Team ini tergabung dalam Bentoel Internal Panelist yang didalamnya terdapat Expert & Trained Panelist.

Usaha menemukan produk terbaik tidak berhenti disini. Semua statistic produksi didokumentasikan, dianalisis, dan diproses secara hati-hati. Strategi penelitian dan pengembangan kami adalah bagian dari proses konstan yang didesain untuk memenuhi ekspektasi dinamika masa depan. Bergantung pada mekanisme ini, kami berharap mampu untuk menangkap pangsa pasar yang lebih besar.

Secara garis besar, kegiatan penelitian dan pengembangan kami meliputi Product Development dan Cigarette Non Tobacco Material (NTM) Development . Fokus kegiatan Product Development adalah melakukan pengembangan new product & melakukan maintain existing product. Dengan didukung para blender yang berpengalaman dilakukan kegiatan-kegiatan tobacco blending, flavor composing, dan cigarette designing.

Tobacco blending adalah kegiatan perancangan untuk memadukan komposisi dari berbagai macam tipe tembakau menjadi suatu tobacco blend dengan kualitas rasa yang diinginkan. Disamping itu komposisi cengkeh merupakan bagian yang tidak terpisahkan pula dalam kreasi rokok kretek yang merupakan rokok khas Indonesia.

Pada tahapan Flavor composing, berbagai macam tipe flavor rokok dipadukan menjadi suatu flavor compound yang memberikan kontribusi dalam rasa dan aroma rokok. Dari tipe flavor natural, natural identical, dan artificial, dikenal berbagai macam karakter antara lain fruity, spicy, sweet, brown, fermented, green, nutty, dsb.

Sementara itu dalam proses Cigarette designing, dilakukan perancangan non tobacco material dari rokok. Desain ini meliputi penentuan spesifikasi cigarette paper, filter, tipping paper. Keserasian ntm design akan menghasilkan kualitas asap rokok seperti yang diinginkan.

Kami di Product Development Bentoel Group mengillustrasikan kegiatan kami sebagai suatu pertunjukan orkestra. Seperti halnya orkestra, dimana dituntut keserasian/harmoni diantara alat-alat musik, dalam kreasi rokok juga diperlukan harmoni diantara tembakau, cengkeh, flavor & design, agar dihasilkan rokok berkualitas tinggi seperti merdunya suara orkestra.

Di samping itu, agar dapat dihasilkan produk rokok berkualitas tinggi dengan mesin high speed (making & packing) – produksi massal dan agar dapat didistribusikan produk tsb sampai ditangan konsumer (end user) dengan baik dan tepat waktu maka dilakukan Non Tobacco Material (NTM) Development yang terdiri dari 2 bagian utama yaitu cigarette material development dan packaging material development

Dalam Cigarrette Material Development atribut material rokok (filter tow, cigarette paper, plug wrap, tipping paper, lem, dll) dikembangkan dengan melakukan seleksi berbagai alternatif materials untuk menentukan tipe materials yang dapat memberikan kontribusi physical properties yang sesuai untuk design rokok dari tim Produk Development, yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan mesin cetak dan mesin cigarette making, aman dikonsumsi (sesuai regulasi pemerintah yang berlaku), mempunyai konsistensi kualitas material yang baik sesuai standar mutu yang diterbitkan oleh NTM Dev dan harga se-ekonomis mungkin (Cost vs. Benefits).

Kegiatan Packaging Material Development memiliki fokus pada pengembangan atribut kemasan rokok (flip, slof, overwrap film, tear tape, karton box, dll) dengan melakukan design kombinasi kemasan dan seleksi berbagai alternatif materials untuk menentukan tipe materials yang dapat meningkatkan nilai jual suatu produk / brand image, menjadi bagian dari marketing tools (promosi), melindungi produk rokok selama proses distribusi dan sales, dapat diproduksi dengan mesin cetak serta mesin packer, mempunyai kualitas yang baik sesuai standar mutu yang diterbitkan oleh NTM Dev dan harga se-ekonomis mungkin (Cost & Benefits).

Tim NTM Development juga perlu menjaga performance produk dari sisi Cigarette Materials dan Packaging Materials bersama dengan tim Produksi rokok dan tim Produksi cetak kemasan (internal) serta Vendors supaya dapat terjaga kualitas produk yang baik di pasar.

Our Brand

Bentoel menerapkan pendekatan profesional dalam mengembangkan brand-brand-nya. Pemahaman yang mendalam terhadap konsumen dan kondisi pasar merupakan landasan Bentoel dalam menjalankan strategi bisnisnya.

Marketing Standard

Bentoel menyadari bahwa produk olahan tembakau (rokok) mengandung resiko terhadap kesehatan. Dengan demikian kami sangat peduli dalam cara memasarkan dan mendistribusikan produk-produk tersebut.

Produk olahan tembakau atau rokok, adalah produk yang sudah ada sejak lama dan konsumenpun sudah mengetahui esensi dari produk itu sendiri. Kami tidak melakukan promosi dengan mengajak konsumen untuk mulai merokok atau untuk terus merokok. Bisnis kami adalah menawarkan konsumen dewasa sebuah brand dengan kualitas tinggi dan kami harap konsumen akan menjadikannya sebuah pilihan di antara padatnya kompetisi yang ada. Kami percaya tidak ada satu brandpun yang akan cocok untuk semua konsumen, untuk itu kami menghadirkan portofolio brand yang terfokus dan terdefinisikan jelas. Selanjutnya kami bangun kesetiaan brand (brand loyalty) dari konsumen yang sudah memilih, dan berusaha memenangkan persaingan pasar.

Marketing Support

Dalam memperkenalkan produknya di pasar, Bentoel melakukan upaya yang sistematis dan progresif mulai dari memahami kebutuhan dan keinginan konsumen sampai dengan pemilihan media maupun substansi komunikasinya. Upaya tersebut ditempuh melalui jalur riset pasar yang kuat dan dukungan field marketing dalam implementasi program yang sesuai dengan area dan kebutuhan target konsumen.

Untuk memenuhi kebutuhan dan keinginan konsumen, Bentoel melakukan riset pemasaran baik yang terkait dengan produk (product), harga (price), kegiatan promosi (promotion), maupun distribusi (place) yang diperoleh baik secara kualitatif maupun kuantitatif. Bagi Bentoel keinginan dan kebutuhan konsumen adalah hal yang utama dan riset pemasaran merupakan salah satu pintu masuknya.

Untuk memsatikan kinerja masing-masing brand, Bentoel juga melakukan proses pemantauan terhadap indikator-indikator bauran pemasaran, 4P – produk, pricing, promosi dan distribusi– pada setiap merk yang telah diluncurkan. Sistem monitoring ini memungkinkan Bentoel untuk mengukur performa produknya terhadap produk lain yang sejenis sehingga dapat mengambil tindakan antisipatif maupun korektif bila mana diperlukan.

Brand-brand Bentoel saat ini dikenal baik di mata konsumen. Hal tersebut merupakan hasil dari kegiatan pemasaran yang progresif baik kegiatan Above The Line (ATL), Below The Line (BTL), maupun dukungan materi Outdoor (dengan menempatkan billboard di spot-spot strategis) dan Merchandising. Semua kegiatan pemasaran tersebut tentu dengan mematuhi aturan yang telah ditetapkan pemerintah. Semua hal tersebut kami lakukan tidak lain untuk memberikan kebanggaan tersendiri dan selalu dekat dengan para konsumen kami.

Produk Khusus & Cut Rag

Bentoel sadar bahwa produk yang generik tidak dapat memenuhi ekspektasi konsumen internasional. Oleh karena itu, selain memproduksi dan memasarkan produk sendiri, Bentoel juga memproduksi beberapa produk khusus (menggunakan berbagai jenis campuran seperti Virginia dan Amerika) dan dengan label khusus (private label) untuk beberapa negara di bawah ini:

Laboratorium Penguji

Dengan fasilitas yang dimiliki laboratorium dan status akreditasi dari Komite Akreditasi Nasional (KAN) dengan nomor akreditasi LP-196-IDN, laboratorium penguji PT Bentoel Prima ditunjuk oleh KAN menjadi salah satu laboratorium yang hasil ujinya diakui oleh KAN untuk memenuhi persyaratan Peraturan Pemerintah no 19 tahun 2003.

Menurut Peraturan Pemerintah no 19 tahun 2003 mengenai Pengamanan Rokok bagi Kesehatan menyatakan bahwa setiap produsen rokok harus melakukan pemeriksaan kandungan kadar nikotin dan tar pada setiap produknya. Sebagian besar produsen rokok di Indonesia, terutama untuk perusahaan kecil belum memiliki fasilitas untuk melakukan pengujian tersebut. Untuk itu Laboratorium Penguji PT Bentoel Prima telah membantu produsen-produsen rokok dari wilayah Jawa Timur & Jawa Tengah yang belum memiliki fasilitas pengujian dalam pemenuhan peraturan pemerintah tersebut.

See Also : Prosedur Permintaan Pengujian

Printing & Packaging

Sebagai bagian dari nilai yang kami anut, kami berusaha mengembangkan kesempatan bisnis apapun yang sesuai dengan keahlian kami. Salah satunya adalah bisnis percetakan dan kemasan.

Selain dari bisnis inti tembakau, pada tahun 1972 kami memulai unit bisnis pengemasan. Menempati lahan seluas 33,000 meter persegi, divisi pengemasan terdiri dari dua unit utama yaitu unit percetakan Grafika dan unit produksi card board yang memproduksi karton bergalur untuk kemasan. Dalam perkembanggannya unit bisnis cardboardnya dihentikan.

Kami memiliki serangkaian produk kemasan yang sama beragamnya dengan produk rokok kami, di antaranya kemasan produk rokok, elektronik, makanan dan produk higienis lainnya.

Beberapa klien kami adalah PT Philip Morris Indonesia, PT Rothmans of Pall Mall Indonesia, Unilever Indonesia Tbk., PT Nestle Indonesia, PT Intiboga Sejahtera, PT Matsushita Lighting Indonesia

Kunci dari keberhasilan kami adalah tersedianya peralatan modern di tempat produksi seperti mesin cetak rotogravure, fasilitas cetak flexo.

Bentoel Medical Center
Membuka Layanan Kesehatan untuk Masyarakat

Untuk memberikan pelayanan yang prima Bentoel Medical Center hadir di jalan Raya Karanglo Singosari Kabupaten Malang dan jalan Niaga 25 Kota Malang.

Dalam rangka meningkatkan kesehatan masyarakat, Bentoel Medical Center memberikan banyak fasilitas penunjang untuk mempermudah akses kesehatan, berupa:

Kiprah BMC menjadi salah satu dari kegiatan usaha di bawah Bentoel Group yang konsisten berkomitmen untuk memajukan kesehatan masyarakat di sekelilingnya.

Aktivitas Sosial

Sengkaling Recreation Park
Setelah resmi diakusisi Bentoel pada tahun 1972, taman rekreasi keluarga Taman Sengkaling seluas 8 hektar ini telah dikembangkan menjadi tempat wisata yang terkemuka di Jawa Timur. Semenjak diakuisisi, perawatan dan perbaikan taman semakin digalakan.
Di antara fitur-fitur hiburan yang menjadi favorit masyarakat adalah taman tematik Pesona Primitif serta kolam renang yang luas.
Untuk melayani pangsa pasar anak muda, Bentoel membangun kafe Losta Masta di lahan perluasan taman. Tempat ini dipadati pengunjung pada akhir pekan dan menjadi tempat alternatif bagi remaja bergaul dengan sesamanya di depan layar luar ruang yang dipasang untuk menghibur pengunjung.
Taman Rekreasi Sengkaling telah menjadi tempat yang paling sering dikunjungi di Jawa timur. Taman ini memberikan kontribusi tersendiri dan menyediakan hiburan bagi komunitas setempat.

Arema Malang Football Club (FC Arema)
Seperti halnya rokok kretek, sepak bola juga menjadi suatu hal yang sangat penting untuk kebanyakan orang Indonesia dan khususnya untuk orang Malang.
Keprihatinan terhadap menurunnya kualitas klub sepakbola FC Arema mendorong Bentoel untuk mengambil alih manajemen klub yang memiliki lebih dari 400,000 penggemar di Jawa Timur dan sekitarnya ini.
Bentoel membangun fasilitas latihan baru, memperkuat manajemen klub, mengurangi jumlah keluar masuknya pemain, menyewa pemain asing dan merekrut pemain muda dalam usahanya membangkitkan kembali klub ini.
Usaha tersebut membawa hasil saat Arema memenangkan tempat pertama pada kompetisi Divisi I 2004, juara dua kali berturut-turut pada Copa Indonesia pada tahun 2005 dan 2006. Dan karena prestasinya ini, Arema menjadi wakil Indonesia pada kompetisi Liga Champion Asia 2007.
Dengan keterlibatan kami, Bentoel berharap dapat memberikan inspirasi dan mendorong pemain muda untuk memperbaiki keterampilan bermain mereka, mencapai level yang lebih tinggi dan membawa pulang piala berbagai kompetisi dan turnamen, baik tingkat nasional maupun internasional.

Pelayanan Medis dan Kesehatan
Pada awalnya, Bentoel Medical Center adalah klinik kesehatan yang dibangun untuk melayani karyawan Bentoel dan keluarganya. Seiring dengan kebutuhan akan fasilitas kesehatan yang makin meningkat, fasilitas ini akhirnya dibuka untuk umum.
BMC memiliki dua klinik, yaitu di Tenun dan di Karanglo.
Pada tahun 2004, BMC Karanglo diperbaharui dan dijadikan fasilitas kesehatan modern dengan sejumlah layanan spesialis seperti dokter gigi, internis, dokter bedah, dokter anak, dokter kulit, dokte syaraf, dokter kandungan dan spesialis Keluarga Berencana.
BMC juga dilengkapi dengan Unit Gawat Darurat 24 jam, departemen radiology, apotik dan layanan ambulan.

Kegiatan sosial lainnya
Perusahaan yang memiliki kepedulian sosial adalah perusahaan yang cepat tanggap terhadap kondisi apapun yang membutuhkan bantuan dan uluran tangannya.
Bentoel melakukan hal tesebut segera setelah ledakan bom Bali yang telah melukai begitu banyak orang sekaligus hati bangsa ini dan masyarakat internasional. Salah satu program khusus yang disponsori Bentoel untuk mendukung program pemulihan Bali adalah pergelaran musik “Bali for the World” pada bulan Desember 2002.
Saat Aceh dan Sumatra Utara diluluhlantakan oleh badai tsunami pada tahun 2004, beribu korban tersebar di daerah tersebut. Manajemen kami mengambil langkah dengan mengadakan acara pengumpulan dana, pakaian dan makanan untuk para korban melalui “Bentoel Peduli Aceh”.
Pada tahun 2005, dengan bekerja sama dengan Palang Merah Indonesia, Bentoel mengirimkan Bentoel Medical Team ke Aceh. Tim tersebut terdiri dari 25 orang tenaga medis professional yang membawa perlengkapan untuk didistribusikan dalam pelayanan gratis kesehatan selama dua minggu untuk masyarakat Lambaro, Aceh Besar.
Sejak saat itu, tim ini telah berpartisipasi dalam serangkaian tugas nasional termasuk membantu korban banjir di Jember pada awal Januari 2006. Pada ttahun itu juga, tim tersebut membantu korban gempa bumi di Yogyakarta dan Jawa Tengah.
Selain dari program tanggap darurat bencana, Bentoel juga mensponsori berbagai kegiatan olah raga, pergelaran musik dan kesenian tradisional, memberikan beasiswa untuk siswa kurang mampu dan serangkaian aktivitas lainnya.

Bentoel in News

Bentoel in News

Panduan Praktis Menyusun Training Need Analysis (TNA)

Display-ul este: Toshiba Matsushita LTD141EA0V. Click AICI pentru info

Specificatii:

• Manufacturer: Toshiba Matsushita
• Model: LTD141EA0V
• Size: 14.1″
• Resolution: XGA
• Pixels: 1024 x 768
• Aspect Ratio: Standard
• Surface: Matte
• Classification:Thin Film Transistor (TFT) Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Technology

Pret: 300lei click > POZA1, POZA2

IBM said Wednesday it won 4,186 U.S. patents in 2008 and became the first company to earn more than 4,000 in a year.

Big Blue also said it plans to increase by 50 percent the number of technical inventions it publishes annually in lieu of seeking patent protection. The company’s target is more than 3,000.

“Our goal is (to) help stimulate innovation as public investments in large infrastructure projects are being planned to boost global economies,” said John Kelly III, senior vice president and director of IBM research. “We also anticipate that adding additional transparency to the patent system will help tackle the continuing patent quality crisis, which is impeding inventors, entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes.”

Here are the 2008 patent leaders:
1. IBM                     4186
2. Samsung              3515
3. Canon                  2114
4. Microsoft               2030
5. Intel                      1776
6. Matsushita             1745
7. Toshiba                  1609
8. Fujitsu                   1494
9. Sony                       1485
10. Hewlett-Packard   1424

Data provided by IFI Patent Intelligence

Videosysteme, die auf Videokasetten/Tapes beruhen, können mit dem Bedarf an Speicherkapazität wesentlich besser umgehen als bandlose. Da im Jahr 2006 High-Definition langsam im Mode kam und inzwischen auch Hobby-Videofilmer hochauflösende Videos aufnehmen wollten, wurde ein neues Aufnahmeformat benötigt. Sony und Matsushita (besser bekannt als Toshiba) entwickelten deshalb AVCHD. Inzwischen verfügen auch andere Hersteller über AVCHD-Camcorder.

Was bedeutet AVCHD?

AVCHD bedeutet „Advanced Video Codec High Definition“. AVC? Richtig, darüber hatte ich bereits in einem früheren Artikel gesprochen (H.264, MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-4 Part 10 – was ist das?). Und – richtig vermutet, AVCHD basiert auf dem MPEG-4 Format. Das „HD“ bedeutet, dass es MPEG-4 in High-Definition ist.

Mit AVCHD wird das Video zunächst in MPEG-4 aufgenommen und dann in einen MPEG-2 Transport-Datenstrom umgewandelt. Die Wiedergabe erfolgt dann mit einer Datenrate von bis zu 25 Megabit/s. Der Sound wird in Dolby Digital AC-3 oder dem PCM (Pulse Coded Modulation) Standard aufgenommen, was bei verhältnismässig kleiner Dateigröße bis zu 8-Kanal Surround Sound bieten kann.

Bei den Bildformaten werden hochauflösende Bildformate, sowie das „Full HD“-Format unterstützt: 1440×1080, 1280×720 und 1920×1080 Pixel.

Welchen Vorteil bringt AVCHD?

Das Tolle an AVCHD ist, dass AVCHD durch die Benutzung des MPEG-4 Formats auf herkömmliche DVDs gebrannt werden kann und nicht extra ein Blu-ray Brenner angeschafft werden muss. Die Wiedergabe von „AVCHD-Discs“ kann natürlich auf Blu-ray Playern und der Playstation 3 erfolgen, doch auch moderne DVD-Player können mit AVCHD Dateien und Discs umgehen und diese umgehen.

Was die Videobearbeitung angeht, können inzwischen eigentlich fast alle semiprofessionellen Anwendungen mit AVCHD umgehen (manche besser, manche schlechter, versteht sich.)

Einen Vergleich von AVCHD-Camcordern gibt es auf Slashcam.

Va bene, ammetto che iniziare una serie di due post dal numero due possa sembrare strano, ma ci dev’essere una qualche connessione con le gallerie Melarancio 1 e 2.
Intendiamoci, non che possa iniziare a qualcuno, ma, percorrendo la A1 da Sud verso Nord, in quella che per me, romano, è sempre stata la “direzione vacanze”, si incontrano, nel tratto di valico degli Appennini tra Firenze e Bologna, due gallerie, chiamate “Melarancio 1″ e “Melarancio 2″: senonché, percorrendo il tutto in direzione Nord si incontra prima la “Melarancio 2″ della “Melarancio 1″, il che mi ha sempre dato piuttosto fastidio, un senso di star percorrendo l’autostrada al contrario.
Non so quale oscura connessione si nasconda tra il titolo del blog e la Melarancio, ma ci tenevo a precisare il tutto.

Comunque, si parlava del secondo “Bye bye party”, che mi hanno organizzato i miei amici di qui e che, anche se in ordine è stato il secondo, è per me quello più importante, perché non è stata un’obbligazione da parte della scuola – come fu il primo – ma un’offerta spontanea e a sorpresa dei miei migliori amici.

Con la scusa di andare ad un “Sushi-ya”, mi hanno fraudolentemente condotto a casa di Yuuto-kun, che ha generosamente offerto sushi e nabe (nabe = pentola al centro della tavola dove si mette a bollire di tutto e che, oltre ad essere delizioso, fa molto “atmosfera invernale”) a volontà.

ìta-dà-kimààsu! (itadakimasu detto alla maniera dei bimbi giapponesi che si apprestano a divorare un lauto pasto

Dopodiché, ci siamo diretti al karaoke, dove, pur cessato lo stupore della prima volta, mi sono divertito moltissimo a cantare canzoni in giapponese – assieme all’immancabile “Dragostea din tei”, che in Giappone è ancora in voga e che è, mio malgrado, diventata il mio cavallo di battaglia (me tapino).

tutti (ehm, in effetti manchiamo io, che sto facendo la foto, e Masahiro, che è al bagno, ma vabbè) al karaoke!

Un’altra foto per commemorare l’epica resistenza di 5 ore alle martellanti melodie non sempre interpretate come sarebbero dovute essere state [ma che ***** scrivo? E'tardi.] interpretate.

ecco il trio Haruki-Masahiro-Maruko dopo il bis della strabiliante performance - riuscita nonostante i due microfoni - della già citata Dragostea din tei che si prepara ad un più consono "One Love" di Arashi

Stremati – e un po’rimbecilliti – da 5 ore di karaoke, ci siamo poi trascinati dentro un “Soba-ya” (ristorante specializzato in soba, tagliolini alla giapponese in brodo) per concludere il tutto in bellezza.

Minna, arigatou neeeeee!

Failure is a label that often we connect with an action that is not successful, and so applied, the label is to make people who said we could not afford. This is the spirit lower our people to become successful. At the moment we are still small, the failure does not have meaning, because we do not have the concept of “failure”. If we have the concept of failure, then we will not be able to speak, will not be able to write and will not be running. Due to speak, write and walk through failure that must be incalculable amount. Similarly in the business world can also emulate a failure in our infancy and we can learn from the failure.
Coca-Cola experienced a failure in the first year of sales. Sales made by Coca-Cola beverages in place in the front desk and spend 73.96 dollars to the campaign through banner ads and coupons. Failure to make the Coca-Cola to create awareness of other media, the mass media, which have more strength disbanding other media at that time and promote Coca-Cola with the atmosphere of merriment.
Matsushita to produce the first plug adapter. Indeed, this adapter has been proposed to the leaders earlier but did not get a response. To make these products, Matsushita with four friends take four months. Once the product is so, it appeared that no one would buy this product.
In 1993, Compaq, which at the time as the sale of the PC market leaders, through cutting the price to rival Dell. The result Dell Computer suffer losses 65 million dollars in the first six months, which caused nearly bankrupt. Dell to learn from failure. He tried to find other ways to sell computers. Dell eventually make a very fundamental change in business process re-engineering that is called. in the business introduce the E-Commerce. In 1999, Dell can sell 1.7 million dollars per day through the site E-Commercnya. Dell shares rose 2,000 percent in two years. Dell is able to compete with world-class companies such as IBM, Compaq, HP, and Bell-NEC. Even the market share and profits continue to increase and eventually become the largest PC seller in the world.
When I started the business with friends, I experienced repeated failure of the back. I started with the failure of a book salesman, salesmen telex by phone, and car salesmen pengkilap materials. Primagama that only get 2 students in this campaign has been doing quite frequently. CV. Wijaya, the company that serves the car care services, which eventually die. Similarly start a business center computer education “IMKI”, only 3 students and AMIKOM trusted by only 6 students. I’m with friends to try to learn from failure, and then make corrections and try to fix the reach of success.

Earlier this week, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co marked its 90th anniversary.  For those of you outside Japan, you may not be familiar with this company, but you will probably know its famous brands called Panasonic and National.  The company has also decided to unify under a brand name and selected Panasonic, due its greater global recognition as it competes with other brands such as Sony and Toshiba.

I took a picture of a Panasonic display (with a cafe) in the Roppongi Hills shopping area which was set up to coincide with this announcement.

More news can be found in Japan Today:

• Matsushita becomes Panasonic
• Panasonic chief issues rallying cry to 300,000 workers around the world

Do you own any Panasonic or National products?

Resumo Notícias de Terça-feira, 30set08‏

Nacional:

Bancos em greve de 24:00 e com término indefinido em algumas localidades.

Economia:

Crise das Hipotecas Imobiliárias Podres

Fonte CBN as 10:00. Resumo da fala:
O Presidente Bush fala ao vivo apelando para que o Congresso, não deixe o prejuízo se alastrar.

Fonte “Estadão”

Prevaleceu o interesse lobista individual, tentando salvar banqueiros e supostamente, na demagogia das eleições locais que se aproximam nos EUA. A votação na Câmara de Representantes foi de 228 x 205.

O que já veio acontecendo desde a semana passada, os próprios correligionários Republicanos do Presidente Bush se desuniram, inclusive os Democratas.

Triste é a Política no Mundo Inteiro!

Quem ainda teve a sorte de não ter aplicações em papéis que desabaram, corre o risco e a quase certeza de que todos os papéis atrelados à Economia vão cair mais ou menos nestes dias.

Assim resta segurar o dinheiro, pois ele vai servir de remendo.

Por exemplo, o VGBL ainda não refletiu, pois está lastreado em títulos do Governo Brasileiro. Na época em que o VGBL foi fechado, em maio, eu contava que ações eram incompatíveis com o problema imobiliário dos EUA, e que a única!, saída disponível, não muito saudável pelo lastro em papéis públicos, era o VGBL. No Brasil, títulos públicos nunca foram confiáveis, mas agora com uma Economia mais firme, não graças ao Governo, mas sim á demanda mundial e local, espero que estes papéis decepcionem menos que outros ‘assets’.

Um fato está claro, o Governo dos EUA está sem força, ao menos neste assunto, frente aos bancos.

Pela CBN – notícias incertas, por exemplo, na Bélgica um banco com pesado lastro imobiliário foi afetado e sua direção pediu demissão.

A CBN, Mauro Halpern, informa às 08:19 que duvida que o mercado fique nesta baixa e que os EUA não reajam rapidamente! Reagir eles reagem, mas 228 x 205 é pesado! O Povo e não os Políticos tem que se mobilizar!

‘Assets’ valores de ontem e % em relação a sexta-feira

Ouro 56,000R$/g +7,69

Dow Jones 10.365,45 pontos -6,98%

NY-Nasdaq 1.983,73 pontos -9,14%

Bovespa 46.028,06 pontos -9,36%

Dólar 1,967R$ +6,15%

Na Ásia os fechamentos da manhã de hoje foram para em torno de -1 até -4%.

Marca:

A Matsushita abandona de vez o seu nome de fundador para o Mercado e adota sua marca mais popular: Panasonic, e com um caixa de US$ 11 bilhões enfrenta os concorrentes Samsung Electronics e Sony.

Internacional:

Líbano & Síria

Dois atentados nos dois últimos dias marcam a ação dos Alauítas, uma camada mais pobre da população, mas que é fomentada pelo Alauíta e Presidente Sírio Bashar Al Assad. Na Síria o atentado foi forjado pelos próprios Sírios para acusar os Libaneses, e ter uma desculpa para invadir o Líbano. No Líbano foi atacando o Exército Libanês que faz frente à Síria e aos Alauítas mortos em campos de concentração Libaneses.

Trípoli, no Líbano, onde ocorreu o último atentado, é majoritariamente Muçulmana Sunita, mas tem Cristãos Ortodoxos e minoria Alauíta.

Índia (Fonte: Terra)

Uma costumeira reunião gigante religiosa Hindu causou também costumeira mortandade (aproximadamente 144 mortos) devido a tumulto e correria de origem desconhecida (alguém se assustou).

São Paulo:

Irresponsabilidade Jornalística

Noticiar que os radares de trânsito estão desligados, pois não estão e só pelo fato do contrato entre operadora e Prefeitura ter vencido, o Jornal garante que a Prefeitura não vai pagar e exigir as multas retroativamente? Isto induz ao desrespeito ao trânsito.

Tempo

Até sexta sol e chuva. Hoje nublado e chuvas.

Polícia Civil

Greve continua.

panasonic-aluminum-logo

Originally uploaded by impactimageviewer

Matsushita Electric Becomes Panasonic Corporation(October 1, 2008)

Osaka, Japan – Effective today, October 1, 2008, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. has become Panasonic Corporation and its ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange has been changed to PC from MC. The name change also took effect for some of the group companies that used the names Matsushita or National. Along with the name change, Panasonic is working on the brand changeover from National to Panasonic in Japan, aiming to complete by the end of March 2010.

What change is brought by the change of the name of the company into Panasonic from Matsushita Electric?

It is interesting.

Panasonic-Logo

Originally uploaded by mafik66

Matsushita changed the name of the company to Panasonic to become a world company.

The brand name is important for aiming at the global company.

The brand named Sony and Samsung passes in not only Japan and Asia but also Worlds.

However, because the brand had divided into three brands named Panasonic, National and Matsushita, the brand value had been distributed up to now.

It is an aim to concentrate the brand value on the “Panasonic” brand by this company name change.

How does Panasonic in the future move aiming at the world?

And, how much effect does having adjusted the brand name to one several years later bring?

It is very interesting.

The recent trends of how MNCs are using various types of strategic alliances include:

1. Technology Exchange
R&D is expensive, and payoffs don’t always come quickly. This factor is the most significant element to the other trends following, as today’s products life spans are very short, and time is of the essence in business.

2. Global Competitors
A large dominant player with deep pockets such as IBM causes smaller players such as Fujitsu to scramble for partners. Big players such as GE and Fanuc causes other players to join together to compete more effectively against the big boys.

3. Industry Convergence
High-tech is about convergence. Applications and production greatly overlap. Again, time is of the essence, and alliances of existing players can help block out new entrants.

4. Economies of Scale and Reduction of Risk
Pooling resources and focusing activities can raise the amount of activity, or the rate of learning, and also avoid duplication. Risk-hedging could be another benefit resulting from sharing the risk with another party.

The relative pros of collaboration exploded in the ‘80’s, where “Triad Power” and “Stick-to-Your-Knitting” management concepts seduced many companies. Triad Power focused on the need to develop strong positions in the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan. Stick-to-Your-Knitting focused a company’s efforts on its strengths, and other operations would be outsourced to alliances. DEC and Ericsson, Chrysler and Maserati tried this with some success.

The cons of collaboration are obvious: one firm may use the opportunity to develop competitive advantages; the complexity of organization and strategy managing these alliances are significant; “learning by doing” is a valuable experience which adds knowledge to the company which is lost in collaborations; short-term solutions may cover up long-term problems. Xerox and Fuji-Xerox faced some of these issues, as international partnerships often face: economic, political, social, cultural. American companies are accustomed to expectations of Wall Street and watching for hostile takeovers, and are quite short-term in vision; whereas Japanese companies are seemingly insensitive to stock fluctuations, and more long-term in vision.

The rationale for the collaborative strategies is that in today’s global economy, the types of alliances above are critical to survival. Timing is everything, and if your competitor has something you need, and you have something your competitor needs, and you can agree on friendly competition, this is better than gaining no market share at all against all the other competitors in the field – especially if there’s a Goliath in the field, Davids need to band together. At the end of the day, the longer a firm goes without gaining more or new market share, the greater its chances of being squeezed out by competition.

Today’s strategic alliances are generally between companies in industrialized nations. The focus of these alliances are on creating new technologies or other products, instead of hashing over old ones. Most importantly, today’s alliances are usually made during industry transitions, when positions and advantages are being redefined. Unlike traditional JV’s, today’s alliances are widely varied, from formal JV’s, to sharing R&D, to minority equity participation.

My view on alliances is that generally they seem to be beneficial in some way. For example, in Japan, strategic alliances are certainly beneficial for both parties. For example, KFC and Mitsubishi, Philips and Matsushita, Mitsubishi and Caterpillar benefited in ways as discussed above:

- KFC and Mitsubishi
KFC-J got a strong established partner with government connections and financial and real estate resources, Mitsubishi got an outlet for its poultry operations.

- Philips and Matsushita
Philips needed a hot growth area other than stagnating Europe, Matsushita had trouble finding an American partner and admired the Philips organization. A technology exchange and licensing agreement helped both.

- Mitsubishi and Caterpillar
Cat realized that industrially developing countries would grow their own Cat competitors unless Cat was there already. Komatsu turned down Cat’s overtures, but Mitsubushi accepted, fulfilling a domestic demand during Japan’s high construction years.