The last day of Shibuya AX 2010 is over!

For fans of Natsuki, this isn’t a very exciting setlist.  She only performed in Aitakatta and Korogaru ishi ni Nare, as well Sakura no Shiori in the encore.  This brings her total to sixteen songs.

The winner of this year’s popularity contest is Iiwake Maybe, the single that allowed fans to decide which girl got which position.  Today’s encore was AKB48’s new single Sakura no Shiori and the B-Side that was performed last night, Majisuka Rock’n'Roll.  The only full group song from SDN48 to make the list was Kodoku no Runner, which in this performance not only featured the usual sixteen girls but brought out the extra two Stage members and the five unders to put all twenty one girls on stage.  No3b performed two songs, including 3 Seconds, a song that has been exclusively performed on the TV drama they were featured in, Men-dol.  Last year’s number one, Shounichi, dropped to eight place, and this year’s runner-up song was the Under Girls’s Kimi no Koto Suki Dakara.

Announcer – Maeda At

25 – Kuroi Tenshi (Fujie, Maeda At, Takajo)

24 – Kodoku no Runner (Akita, Ito, Imayoshi, Umeda H, Urano, Okochi, Ohori, Kato, Kochi, Kondo, Sato Y, Serina, Qu, Nishikunihara, Noro, Hatakeyama, Mitsui, Kaida, Kohara, Tezuka, Nacchu) (SDN48)

23 – Tenshi no Shippo (Nakatsuka, Oota, Nakaya)

22 – Kataomoi no Taikakusen (Komori, Nito, Yonezawa with Maeda Am, Oya S, Ishida H, Matsui S, Suzuki M, Iwasa dancing)

21 – Aitakatta (Itano, Kitahara, Sato A, Shinoda, Nakata, Maeda At, Miyazaki, Akimoto, Oku, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Kobayashi, Sato N, Chikano, Masuda, Miyazawa, Kashiwagi, Katayama, Sashihara, Tanabe, Hirajima, Watanabe M)

20 – End Roll (Matsubara, Oshima Y, Umeda, Noro)

18 – Relax! (Takahashi, Kojima, Minegishi) (No Sleeves)

MC – Umeda, Oshima Y, Matsubara, Noro

18 – Only Today (Team A + Iwasa, Suzuki M, Nonaka)

17 – Zannen Shoujo (Nakatsuka, Watanabe M, Uchida)

16 – Kuchiutsushi no Chocolate (Oota, Kashiwagi, Hirajima)

15 – Korogaru ishi ni Nare (Team K + Kikuchi)

14 – Tsundere! (Sato A, Itano, Kitahara)

MC – Akita, Qu, Kato, Umeda H, Serina

13 – Baby! Baby! Baby! (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Sato Y, Shinoda, Takahashi, Maeda At, Minegishi, Miyazawa, Akimoto, Umeda, Oshima Y, Ohori, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Chikano, Miyazawa, Nito, Watanabe M)

12 – Temodemo no Namida (Kashiwagi, Takajo)

MC – Fujie, Miyazaki, Matsui J, Matsui R, Chikano)

11 – Naki Nagara Hohoen de (Oshima Y)

10 – Bird (Shinoda, Takahashi, Miyazawa)

MC – Shinoda, Maeda At, Masuda, Akimoto

09 – 3 Seconds (Takahashi, Kojima, Miyazawa) (No Sleeves)

08 – Shounichi (Team B + Uchida, Komori)

07 – Heart Gata Virus (Kitahara, Kojima, Takajo)

MC – Nacchu

06 – Namida Surprise! (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Shinoda, Takahashi, Fujie, Maeda, Minegishi, Miyazawa, Oshima Y, Ono E, Kasai, Miyazaki, Kashiwagi, Sashihara, Nito, Watanabe M, Matsui J, Matsui R, Komori)

05 – RIVER (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Maeda At, Shinoda, Takahashi, Minegishi, Miyazaki, Akimoto, Oshima Y, Ono E, Kasai, Miyazaki, Kashiwagi, Watanabe M, Matsui J)

04 – Oogoe Diamond (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Sato Y, Maeda At, Shinoda, Takahashi, Minegishi, Miyazaki, Fujie, Akimoto, Oshima Y, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Miyazaki, Kashiwagi, Sashihara, Watanabe M, Matsui J)

MC – Takahashi

03 – 10nen Zakura (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Shinoda, Takahashi, Fujie, Maeda T, Minegishi, Miyazaki, Akimoto, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Miyazaki, Kashiwagi, Sashihara, Watanabe M, Matsui J, Matsui R)

MC – Sato Y, Urano

02 – Kimi no Koto Suki Dakara (Sato A, Takajo, Fujie, Oku, Kuramochi, Oota, Katayama, Sashihara, Nakagawa, Nito, Matsui R, Ishida H, Kikuchi, Komori, Sato S, Maeda Am) (Under Girls)

MC – Noro, Ohori

01 – Iiwake Maybe (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Sato A, Sato Y, Shinoda, Maeda At, Takahashi, Minegishi, Miyazaki, Akimoto, Oshima y, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Miyazawa, Urano, Oota, Kashiwagi, Watanabe M, Matsui J)

E1 – Sakura no Shiori (all 50 members)

MC – Takahashi, Maeda At, Noro, Urano, Ohori, Sato Y

E2 – Majisuka Rock’n'Roll (Itano, Kojima, Shinoda, Takahashi, Maeda At, Akimoto, Oshima Y, Ono E, Kashiwagi, Watanabe M, Matsui J, Matsui R)

Announcer – Takahashi

Team A – (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Sato A, Sato Y, Shinoda, Takahashi, Takajo, Nakata, Fujie, Maeda, Minegishi, Miyazaki)

Team K – (Akimoto, Umeda, Oshima, Ohori, Oku, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Kobayashi, Sato N, Chikano, Noro, Masuda, Matsubara, Miyazawa)

Team B – (Urano, Oota, Kashiwagi, Katayama, Kohara, Sashihara, Tanabe, Nakaya, Nakatsuka, Nakagawa, Nito, Hirajima, Yonezawa, Watanabe)

Team RS – (Iwasa, Suzuki M, Ishida H, Oya S, Uchida, Sato S, Nonaka, Matsui S, Kikuchi, Komori)

Team S – (Matsui J, Matsui R)

SDN48 – (Akita, Ito, Imayoshi, Umeda H, Urano, Okochi, Ohori, Kato, Kochi, Kondo, Sato Y, Serina, Qu, Nishikunihara, Noro, Hatakeyama, Mitsui, Kaida, Kohara, Tezuka, Nacchu)

Source: Memolist

The third day’s selection included five songs with Natsuki: Sasae, Saka Agari, Sougen no Kiseki, Saishu Bell ga Naru, and Hikouki Gumo.  Also, she was featured in an MC with three other AKB48/SKE48 members that have the ‘Natsu’ kanji in their first names.

Today’s highlights include a performance by Chocolove with Kuramochi Asuka replacing the currently hospitalized Nakanishi Rina, an eleven girl version of Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka?, three graduates (Naruse Risa, Kawasaki Nozomi, and Tojima Hana)  perform, two more SKE48 songs, songs by Nattou Angels, Theater Girls, and No3b, and the first ever performance of Majisuka Rock’n'Roll.

Announcer – Takahashi

50 – Ashita wa Ashita no Kimi ga Umareru (Akimoto, Kuramochi, Miyazawa) (Chocolove)

Graduates – (Naruse, Kawasaki, Tojima)

48 – Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka? (Itano, Kojima, Takahashi, Maeda At, Minegishi, Oshima Y, Ono E, Kasai, Kashiwagi, Watanabe M

MC – Kashiwagi, Maeda At, Watanabe M, Itano

48 – Sasae (Team K + Naruse)

MC – Deguchi, Sato A, Naruse, Kuramochi

47 – MARIA (Umeda, Masuda, Kasai)

46 – Junjou Shugi (Nakaya, Katayama, Nito)

MC – Tanabe, Yonezawa, Nakaya, Katayama

45 – Kinjirareta Futari (Oshima Y, Kasai)

44 – AKB Sanjou! ( Kitahara, Kojima, Sato A, Sato Y, Shinoda, Takajo, Takahashi, Nakata, Fujie, Maeda At, Minegishi, Miyazaki, Chikano, Nonaka, Sato S, Matsui S)

43 – Faint (Kawasaki, Itano, Tojima)

MC – Kawasaki, Tojima

42 – Dear My Teacher (Team A + Urano, Kohara, Hirajima)

41 – Saka Agari (Team K + Ishida H)

MC – Miyazawa, Ono E, Oshima Y, Chikano

40 – Renai Kinshi Jourei (Minegishi, Takahashi, Miyazawa)

39 – BINGO! (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Sato A, Sato Y, Shinoda, Takajo, Nakata, Maeda At, Oota, Kashiwagi, Nakagawa, Nakaya, Nito, Watanabe M)

38 – Itoshiki Natassha (Tanabe, Sashihara, Katayama)

37 – Sougen no Kiseki (Team K + Kikuchi)

MC – Matsubara, Hirajima, Sato N, Mukaida

36 – Tonari no Banana (Kasai, Ono E)

35 – Junai no Crescendo (Minegishi, Kojima, Takahashi)

MC – Minegishi, Kojima, Takahashi

34 – Saisshu Bell ga Naru (Team K + Kikuchi)

33 – Pajama Drive (Watanabe M, Nakagawa, Hirajima)

32 – Sakura no Hanabiratachi (Kitahara, Kojima, Sato A, Sato Y, Shinoda, Takajo, Takahashi, Nakata, Fujie, Maeda At, Minegishi, Urano, Oota, Kashiwagi, Katayama, Kohara, Sashihara, Tanabe, Nakatsuka, Nakaya, Nito, Yonezawa)

31 – Ame no Pianist (Oya, Matsui R, Matsushita) (SKE48)

30 – Nattou Punch (Kasai, Miyazaki, Itano) (Nattou Angels)

29 – Hikouki Gumo (Nakata, Umeda, Kobayashi, Sato N, Chikano, Masuda, Matsubara, Tanabe, Nakatsuka, Nakaya, Hirajima, Yonezawa, Iwasa, Uchida, Oya, Suzuki M, Nonaka, Matsui S) (Theater Girls)

28 – Tane (Minegishi Kojima, Takahashi) (No Sleeves)

27 – Te wo Tsunaginagara (Oya, Ono H, Kuwabara, Takada S, Deguchi, Nakanishi Y, Matsui J, Matsui R, Matsushita, Mori, Yagami, Iguchi, Ishida A, Saito, Furukawa, Mukaida) (SKE48)

MC – Oya, Ono H, Kuwabara, Takada S, Deguchi, Nakanishi Y, Matsui J, Matsui R, Matsushita, Mori, Yagami, Iguchi, Ishida A, Saito, Furukawa, Mukaida

26 – FIRST LOVE (Ono E)

MC – Ono E, Akimoto

EC – Majisuka Rock’n'Roll (Itano, Kojima, Shinoda, Takahashi, Maeda At, Akimoto, Oshima Y, Ono E, Kashiwagi, Watanabe M, Matsui J, Matsui R

Announcer – Itano

Team A – (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Sato A, Sato Y, Shinoda, Takahashi, Takajo, Nakata, Fujie, Maeda, Minegishi, Miyazaki)

Team K – (Akimoto, Umeda, Oshima, Ohori, Oku, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Kobayashi, Sato N, Chikano, Noro, Masuda, Matsubara, Miyazawa)

Team B – (Urano, Oota, Kashiwagi, Katayama, Kohara, Sashihara, Tanabe, Nakaya, Nakatsuka, Nakagawa, Nito, Hirajima, Yonezawa, Watanabe)

Team RS – (Iwasa, Suzuki M, Ishida H, Oya S, Uchida, Sato S, Nonaka, Matsui S, Kikuchi)

Team S – (Deguchi, Nakanishi, Matsui J, Matsui R, Matsushita, Takada S, Oya M, Ono H, Kuwabara, Mori S, Yagami)

Team KII – (Iguchi, Ishida A, Saito, Furukawa, Mukaida)

Source: Memolist

Day two of the Shibuya AX concert has now ended, and we’re halfway through the list!

Today only three songs included Natsuki: Kimi wa Pegasus, Dakishimeraretara, and Takeuchi Senpai.  This means that she has performed all three of her Team K Stage units, but no Himawari-gumi Stage units as of yet.

Also performed were three songs from Watarirouka Hashitirai, the Chuu Shiyouze! single (using AKB members instead of Idoling!!! members, the Men-dol single Christmas Present by No3b, two more SKE48 songs, the upcoming Team YJ B-Side, and the SDN48 title Stage unit.

Announcer – Oshima Y

75 – Kimi ni au Tabi Koi wo Suru (Team A + Nonaka, Sato S, Matsui S)

74 – Kimi wa Pegasus (Miyazawa, Akimoto, Sato N, Noro)

MC – Akimoto, Miyazawa, Tanabe, Nakaya

73 – Dareka no Tame ni ~What can I do for someone?~ (Team A+ Nonaka, Sato S, Matsui S)

72 – Kioku no Dilemma (Masuda, Kuramochi, Noro, Matsubara)

MC – Masuda, Kuramochi, Noro, Matsubara

71 – Nagai Hikari (Team A+ Nonaka, Sato S, Matsui S)

70 – Shiroi Tulip (Oota, Nakagawa, Hirajima, Watanabe) (Watarirouka Hashitirai)

69 – Tanpopo no Kesshin (Oya, Ishida, Iwasa, Kikuchi, Suzuki M, Maeda Am, Ueki, Sano, Ishiguro, Oba, Shimazaki, Shimada, Nakamura, Fujimoto, Mori A, Yamauchi)

67 – Tobenai Agehachou (Yonezawa, Ohori, Masuda, Sashihara, Hirajima, Matsubara, Matsui M, Katayama, Takajo) (Under Girls)

MC – Ono E, Nakata, Takahashi, Ohori

67 – Wasshoi B! (Team B + Uchida, Komori)

66 – Minnasan mo go Issho ni (Team B + Uchida, Komori)

MC – Kitahara, Takajo, Sashihara, Nito, Komori

65 – Hatsukoi Dash (Oota, Nakagawa, Hirajima, Watanabe) (Watarirouka Hashitirai)

64 – Yaruki Hanabi (Oota, Nakagawa, Hirajima, Watanabe) (Watarirouka Hashitirai)

63 – Chuu Shiyouze! (Itano, Kojima, Nakata, Fujie, Maeda At, Miyazaki, Umeda, Oshima, Ono E, Kasai, Chikano, Matsubara, Miyazawa, Kashiwagi, Nito, Matsui J)

MC – Hirajima, Oota, Watanabe, Nakagawa

62 – Oshibe to Meshibe to Yoru no Chouchou (Ohori, Kasai)

61 – Christmas Present (Minegishi, Kojima, Takahashi) (No Sleeves)

MC – Sato Y, Noro, Shinoda

60 – Bye Bye Bye (Minegishi, Kojima, Takahashi)

59 – Dakishimeraretara (Kuramochi, Kasai, Sato N)

58 – Wimbledon e Tsureteitte (Mori S, Matsui J, Yagami) (SKE48)

56 – Wagamama na Nagareboshi (Ono E, Kobayashi)

56 – Takeuchi Senpai (Itano, Kojima, Sato Y, Shinoda, Takahashi, Maeda At, Minegishi, Akimoto, Oshima Y, Oku, Kasai, Kuramochi, Sato N, Noro, Masuda, Miyazawa)

MC – Kuramochi, Kasai, Oshima Y, Kojima, Itano

54 – Mushi no BALLAD (Akimoto)

54 – Nagisa no CHERRY (Maeda At, Minegishi, Fujie, Hirajima)

53 – Yuuwaku no GARTER (Akita Kazue, Kato Mami, Sato Yukari) (SDN48)

52 – Blue Rose (Ohori, Akimoto, Masuda, Miyazawa)

51 – Tsuyokimono yo (Team S + Iguchi, Ishida A, Saito, Furukawa, Mukaida) (SKE48)

EC – Choose Me! (Kitahara, Minegishi, Kasai, Kuramochi, Sashihara, Nakagawa, Kikuchi) (Team YJ)

Announcer – Watanabe

Team A – (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Sato A, Sato Y, Shinoda, Takahashi, Takajo, Nakata, Fujie, Maeda, Minegishi, Miyazaki)

Team K – (Akimoto, Umeda, Oshima, Ohori, Oku, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Kobayashi, Sato N, Chikano, Noro, Masuda, Matsubara, Miyazawa)

Team B – (Urano, Oota, Kashiwagi, Katayama, Kohara, Sashihara, Tanabe, Nakaya, Nakatsuka, Nakagawa, Nito, Hirajima, Yonezawa, Watanabe)

Team RS – (Iwasa, Suzuki M, Maeda Am, Ishida H, Oya S, Uchida, Fujimoto, Sato S, Nonaka, Matsui S, Kikuchi, Komori, Takeuchi, Ishiguro, Shimazaki, Shimada, Ueki, Sano, Oba, Nakamura, Mori A, Yamauchi)

Team S – (Deguchi, Nakanishi, Matsui J, Matsui R, Matsushita, Takada S, Oya M, Ono H, Kuwabara, Mori S, Yagami)

Team KII – (Iguchi, Ishida A, Saito, Furukawa, Mukaida)

SDN48 – (Kato Mami, Akita Kazue)

Source: Memolist

Last night was the first show for the third annual Top 100 at AX.

Natsuki performed in five songs: Kaiyuugyo no Capacity, Boku no Taiyou, Nounai Paradise, 16nin Shimai no Uta, and RUN RUN RUN.  The only other song she could have sang was Yume wo Shinaseru Wake ni Ikanai, but most likely due to the G-Rosso shows of H2R,  they decided to use a selection of girls from all three Teams instead of Himawari-gumi’s Team 1.  Also, she was featured in one MC that included all of the current AKB48 members with the last name of ‘Sato.’

Other highlights include nine graduates in attendance (seven from Team A and two from Team K), a performance of Tadaima Renaichuu with the RS from 2008’s A4R Kenkyuusei shows, a never-before-seen performance of No3b’s Girls’ Talk, four ninth generation Kenkyuusei perform Glass no I LOVE YOU, two SKE48 songs, and a performance of one of Sakura no Shiori’s B-Sides, Enkyori Poster by Team PB.

The setlist was as follows: (Please note the abundance of ties.)

(Announcer – Shinoda)

MC – Akimoto, Takahashi, Kashiwagi

100 – 7ji 12fun no Hatsukoi (Maeda At, Ohe, Komatani, Masuyama, Narita)

99 – Namida no Shounan (Orii, Shinoda, Oshima M, Watanabe S, Sato Y)

MC – Ohe, Komatani, Orii, Masuyama, Narita, Watanabe S, Oshima M

98 – Koike (Team A + Iwasa, Suzuki M, Maeda Am)

97 – Kaiyuugyo no Capacity (Team K + Ishida H)

MC – Kashiwagi, Shinoda, Umeda

96 – Tadaima Renaichuu (Kitahara, Sato A, Takajo, Nakata, Fujie, Miyazaki, Chikano, Kohara, Sashihara, Nakatsuka, Nito, Oya, Ishida H, Uchida, Fujimoto, Nakanishi Y)

94 – Boku no Taiyou (Itano, Kojima, Maeda At, Minegishi, Akimoto, Oshima, Ohori, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Sato N, Noro, Miyazawa, Oota, Katayama, Watanabe)

94 – Higurashi no Koi (Takahashi, Masuda)

93 – Manatsu no Christmas Rose (Shinoda, Sato Y, Nakata, Kohara)

92 – Glory Days (Matsui J, Kuwabara, Nakanishi Y) (SKE48)

MC – Matsui J, Kuwabara, Nakanishi Y

91 – JK Nemurihime (Team A + Nonaka, Sato S, Matsui S)

90 – Nounai Paradise (Team K + Kikuchi)

MC – Sato A, Sato Y, Sato N, Sato S

89 – Girls’ Talk (Minegishi, Kojima, Takahashi) (No Sleeves)

88 – Glass no I LOVE YOU (Takeuchi, Ishiguro, Shimazaki, Shimada) (9th Gen RS)

87 – Sobakasu no Kesshin (Team B + Uchida, Komori)

86 – Chime wa LOVE SONG (Team S + Iguchi, Ishida A, Saito, Furukawa, Mukaida) (SKE48)

MC – Team S + Iguchi, Ishida A, Saito, Furukawa, Mukaida

85 – Idol no Yoake (Team B + Uchida, Komori)

83 – Gomen ne Jewel (Kuramochi, Umeda, Miyazawa, Masuda)

83 – Confession (Ohori, Oshima, Nakata, Itano)

80 – Yume wo Shinaseru Wake ni Ikanai (Kojima, Sato A, Sato Y, Minegishi, Maeda At, Takahashi, Ono E, Kasai, Kashiwagi, Katayama, Kohara, Sashihara, Tanabe, Nakaya, Yonezawa, Oya)

80 – Himawari (Noro, Shinoda, Akimoto, Kuramochi)

80 – Kurkurupaa (Kobayashi, Ohori, Matsubara, Oku, Takada S, Hayano)

79 – Squall no Aida ni (Team A + Nonaka, Sato S, Matsui S)

MC – Hayano, Kobayashi, Takada A

78 – Skirt, Hirari (Itano, Kojima, Maeda At, Takahashi, Shinoda, Oshima, Watanabe)

77 – 16nin Shimai no Uta (Sato N, Kobayashi, Matsubara) (with Team K + Hayano, no Chikano)

MC – Urano, Hirajima, Takeuchi, Ishiguro, Shimazaki, Shimada

76 – RUN RUN RUN (Itano, Kojima, Sato Y, Shinoda, Minegishi, Maeda At, Takahashi, Akimoto, Oshima, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Sato N, Noro, Masuda, Miyazawa)

EC – Enkyori Poster (Takajo, Miyazaki, Miyazawa, Oota, Kashiwagi, Nito, Maeda Am) (Team PB)

Announcer – Kojima

Team A – (Itano, Kitahara, Kojima, Sato A, Sato Y, Shinoda, Takahashi, Takajo, Nakata, Fujie, Maeda, Minegishi, Miyazaki)

Team K – (Akimoto, Umeda, Oshima, Ohori, Oku, Ono E, Kasai, Kuramochi, Kobayashi, Sato N, Chikano, Noro, Masuda, Matsubara, Miyazawa)

Team B – (Urano, Oota, Kashiwagi, Katayama, Kohara, Sashihara, Tanabe, Nakaya, Nakatsuka, Nakagawa, Nito, Hirajima, Yonezawa, Watanabe)

Team RS – (Iwasa, Suzuki M, Maeda Am, Ishida H, Oya S, Uchida, Fujimoto, Sato S, Nonaka, Matsui S, Kikuchi, Komori, Takeuchi, Ishiguro, Shimazaki, Shimada)

Team S – (Ono H, Kuwabara, Takada S, Deguchi, Nakanishi Y, Matsui J, Matsui R, Matsushita, Mori, Yagami)

Team KII – (Iguchi, Ishida A, Saito, Furukawa, Mukaida)

Graduates – (Ohe, Komatani, Orii, Masuyama, Narita, Watanabe S, Oshima M, Takada A, Hayano)

Source: Memolist

http://www.jaims.org Considering study in Hawaii? JAIMS could be the perfect fit for you. The JAIMS East-West Knowledge Leaders Program can be attended as a primer before entering an MBA program, or more often as a stand alone intensive “crash course” that will help you transition to the next level in your international business career. This 3 month graduate diploma program is offered in addition to the AACSB – accredited Japan-focused MBA offered in conjunction with the University of Hawaii at Manoa Shidler College of Business.

Since I wrote my thesis on Knowledge Management back in 1999 a lot has happened in terms of technology. However, my experience is that many organizations still struggle with the same basic challenges in terms of identifying, capturing, and sharing knowledge.

I recently gave a lecture on Organizational Learning at Copenhagen Business School. One of my favourite models is Nonaka & Takeuchi’s SECI Model, and during the lecture I had a great discussion with the students around “socialisation” which is the transfer of tacit knowledge in a tacit form.

The discussion made me realise an important point of why social media is increasingly being used in knowledge management: It’s ability to create trust and to transfer tacit knowledge through virtual socialisation.

I’d definitely like to learn more about social media knowledge management case stories…

http://www.jaims.org The JAIMS East-West Knowledge Leaders Program (EWKLP) can be viewed as a primer before entering an MBA program, or more often as a stand alone intensive “crash course” that will help you transition to the next level in your international business career. This 3-month graduate diploma program is offered in addition to the AACSB – accredited Japan-focused MBA offered in conjunction with the University of Hawaii at Manoa Shidler College of Business.

More information has been unveiled about AKB48 KageKidan ‘Infinity.’  I definitely thought I’d have to wake up early Friday morning to check out what all happened in the first show, but it looks like we got a ton of information already.  This is super exciting for me!

One major piece of awesomeness that came out was the correlation diagram:

And another is the list of songs they’re using… and who sings them!

Aitakatta    - all members
Yakusoku yo – all members

Saishuu Bell ga Naru – “staff”
Tomo Yo – “staff”
Mori e Ikou – “staff”

Renai Kinshi Jourei – Tanabe, Nakaya
Hone Hone Waltz – Tanabe, Nakaya
Ame no Doubutsuen – Sato N, Nakatsuka, and “staff”
Fushidara na Natsu – Sato N, Nakatsuka, and “staff”
Virgin Love – Yonezawa, Iwasa, and “staff”

109 – Takahashi and “passerby”
Leo no Kakumei – Takahashi
Naki Nagara Hohende – Takahashi
Kimi wa Pegasus – Akimoto
Blue Rose – Akimoto
MARIA – Akimoto
Hizukehenkousen – Akimoto and Takahashi

Finally, here are some extra pictures that have been found!

This is just going to be amazing.  Sources and more information:

The Offical Site

Stage48.net’s Thread

Some more pictures I’ve gathered of Natsuki… just to tide you over for my upcoming JCB review which MUST come out before the Budokan DVDs come out.  I might even try to get the Natsumatsuri Hibiyayaon review done before then since it’s so short.

Starting KM in your organization also means starting to learn a new KM language among your members. A simple tool towards this end is an FAQ on KM (FAQ=frequently asked questions) which can be circulated among members or placed in the KM webpage in your intranet.

Download CCLFI’s FAQ on KM by pressing “Ctrl” while clicking HERE. The FAQ will appear in a new browser tab.

-
-

Thanks to Wordle for the above “word cloud” of the FAQ

—

=>Back to main page of Apin Talisayon’s Weblog
=>Jump to Clickable Master Index

“AKB Musical [Infinity] cast

Double cast:
1 – Akimoto Sayaka, Takahashi Minami
2 – Miyasaya Sae, Kashiwagi Yuki

10 AKB48 members:
Katayama, Nakaya, Sato N., Yonezawa, Tanabe, Nakatsuka, Iwasa, Nonaka, Nakata, Uchida

出演:
Wキャスト
１、秋元才加(AKB48チームK)・高橋みなみ(AKB48チームA)
２、宮澤佐江(AKB48チームK)・柏木由紀(AKB48チームB)
AKB48 メンバー10名
片山陽加・仲谷明香・佐藤夏希・米沢瑠美・田名部生来・中塚智実・岩佐美咲・野中美郷・
中田ちさと・内田眞由美

Show Date: 2009/10/30 – 2009/11/08
Price: 5500 JPY
Place: Theater G-ROSSO
Ticket:
http://www.cnplayguide.com/evt/evtdtl.aspx?ecd=CNI28461
http://ent.pia.jp/pia/event.do?eventCd=0947147
http://eplus.jp/sys/T1U14P0010163P0108P … 01P0030001“

source: Makistar of Stage48

Yes, that’s right: Natsuki was selected to be in the new AKB48 musical, ‘Infinity.’  I’m SO excited for this now.  Especially since I love six of the other girls that were selected.  I’m sure I’ll warm up to the rest just due to association.  We don’t know anything other than that the plot has to due with vampires and an all girls school, but I’m hoping this’ll be amazing.  LODs would be great, as would a DVD.  Seriously, The end of October can’t come quick enough!

Songs that I’m guessing may be featured.  (Complete Speculation!)

MARIA, Furishite Manishite, Virgin Love, Vampire Keikaku, Innocence, Kinjirareta Futari, Oshibe to Meshibe to Yoru no Chouchou, Deja Vu, Dakishimeraretara

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.

Le jour des élections japonaises, j’ai failli écrire un billet sur le changement au Japon pour dire que je le trouvais nébuleux. Les Japonais ne semblent pas savoir où aller, ils rejettent un parti sans avoir aucune confiance en son remplaçant (DPJ), totalement inexpérimenté… Maintenant, je crois que les Japonais opèrent un complet changement de modèle ; que le DPJ a de sérieux atouts ; qu’il a un large consensus derrière lui.

1. Le Japon était construit comme une machine d’exportation ultra-performante. Toutes ses forces étaient tendues vers cet objectif, comme une nation en guerre : parti unique de gouvernement, bureaucratie d’élite et grande entreprise (fort parallèle avec la France d’après guerre). Mais, après plus de 40 ans de succès, la machine a cafouillé. Il y a quelques années, le premier ministre Koizumi tente une réforme libérale, elle cause inégalités, laissés pour compte…, ce que la culture japonaise (une sorte de culture de classe moyenne universelle) ne peut accepter. Depuis, les réformes échouent, peut être parce que le gouvernement n’a pas le pouvoir de faire bouger parti, bureaucratie et grande entreprise, peut-être aussi (c’est une question que je me pose) parce que le dispositif ne peut faire que ce pourquoi il a été conçu.
2. Ce que veut le nouveau gouvernement est une société solidaire : amélioration du système de sécurité sociale – plus généreux et qui dépendra de l’état non plus des grandes entreprises ; salaire minimum augmenté ; réduction ou suppression de l’intérim ; moindre dépendance des exportations et plus de la consommation interne ; écologiquement impeccable.
3. Les atouts du DPJ sont importants : sans lien avec la bureaucratie ou avec un parti puissant et paralysé par ses habitudes, il n’est pas soumis aux mouvements de rappel qui ont certainement contraint ses prédécesseurs. Surtout, je crois reconnaître une technique classique de changement, utilisée notamment par IBM pour inventer le PC. Une organisation tend à faire toujours la même chose (initialement IBM était incapable de produire un PC, elle ne savait faire que de gros ordinateurs) ; pour sortir de ce piège, on demande à un « hybride » de créer l’innovation de l’extérieur. C’est comme cela que les fabricants de voitures japonais renouvellent les modèles qui ne se vendent plus : ils transforment de fond en comble leurs équipes de concepteurs en y plaçant des gens (souvent peu expérimentés) à qui doit ressembler la nouvelle voiture. C’est pour cela que je pense que le DPJ pourrait avoir un large appui, y compris, paradoxalement, de son opposition.

Compléments :

• La base de la réflexion : The vote that changed Japan, New bosses, Lost in transition.
• Innovation au Japon : NONAKA, Ikujiro, Toward Middle-Up-Down Management : Accelerating Information Creation, Sloan management Review, Printemps 1988.
• Sur IBM. CARROLL, Paul, Big Blues: The Unmaking of IBM, Three Rivers Press, 1994.

Introduction

Business models and trends are borne from the minds of a generation’s best academics. In some cases, like Smith’s theories on labour and production in The Wealth of Nations, a trend can become ingrained into the best practices of running a successful business. However many theories become ineffective over time as later generations look to improve or disprove the work of previous scholars-one such example being the sea change of opinion in recent years of Machiavelli’s theory that fear is the most productive method of leadership. Whilst Scott A. Snook (2008) believes that Machiavelli’s work makes some points that are still salient to the modern manager, he does say that:

“Acceptable models of leadership have shown their softer side. This shift in the predominant leadership model reflects the move from an industrial to an information economy. In factories, you need strict rules and you reward people based on very simple and clear productivity metrics. Knowledge workers don’t respond well to such rigidity, and fearful service employees would have trouble putting on a good face for customers. “

(Snook, 2008, p.1)

The graveyard of discredited business practices is large. It appears here that theories, trends and models applicable to Knowledge Management in a post-industrial economy are trying to bury Machiavelli’s practice of leadership by fear. Quite clearly, I feel, the ideals of one generation are fighting to discredit, disprove and remove the practices that built and maintained the economies of previous generations. With that in mind, how will the latest generation-Generation Y-react to the Knowledge Economy and can the practice of Knowledge Management adapt to the changes that are to sure to come under their tenure?

The rise of the knowledge economy

The largest shift towards a Knowledge Economy was in America where the workforce began migrating away from the industrial, ‘blue-collar jobs’ in to ‘white-collar jobs’ which required them to become, as Drucker (2005) termed it “knowledge workers”. These employees were college educated and worked with intangibles, using data, information and knowledge to make educated decisions. Rather than subscribe to previous generations’ belief that in order to become a good manager, an employee should rise through the ranks of a corporation owing to hard physical labour, knowledge workers preferred to educate themselves to increase the speed of their rise to management-in some cases moving in to management immediately after furthering their education.

Drucker believes that the roots of the Knowledge Worker can be found in the years following World War II, stating:

“One possible factor may have been the GI Bill of Rights after World War II, which by offering a college education to every returning American veteran established advanced education as the ‘norm’ and everything less as ’substandard’”.

(Drucker, 2005, p. 232)

Drucker theorised that America’s shift to a Knowledge Economy was completed around 1990. By no co-incidence, it is suggested that around this time came the first theories that focused on creating the theological concept that is currently known as Knowledge Management. The first theory of Knowledge Management came from Japan, rather than America, with Ikujiro Nonaka in his seminal 1991 article The Knowledge-Creating Company. Nonaka felt that Western managers understood the importance of the concept of knowledge, but didn’t comprehend that knowledge was larger than just the data that is in the company’s possession. Using the example of Ikuko Tanaka’s work on a bread maker for Matsushita Electrical Corporation, Nonaka introduces the notion of tacit and explicit knowledge to explain that knowledge is a much deeper concept that must explore the behaviours and processes of employees to understand how the data is relevant to the aims of the company. Nonaka explains tacit and explicit knowledge as:

“Explicit knowledge is formal and systematic. For this reason, it can be easily communicated and shared, in product specifications or a scientific formula or a computer program. But the starting point of Tanaka’s innovation is another kind of knowledge that is not so easily expressible: “tacit” knowledge, like that possessed by the chief baker at the Osaka International Hotel. Tacit knowledge is highly personal. It is hard to formalize and, therefore, difficult to communicate to others.”

(Nonaka, 1991, p. 3)

By understanding the tacit knowledge that employees have in order to carry out their roles efficiently, Nonaka believes that a manager can fully understand how to manage that knowledge and focus the company in a direction that would serve the objectives of the organisation. However, once a manager understands these concepts, there are more, complex challenges they must overcome. The main challenge was how to extract the tacit knowledge and use it productively in the company’s infrastructure, creating further knowledge. Nonaka’s model of Knowledge Creation and Transformation details 4 methods of extracting this knowledge:

Whist these were first shown as four methods, to extract knowledge, I feel that a manager would extract more use in creating a Knowledge Management strategy that involves all four methods. It is important to keep the strategy balanced ensuring that the manager does not ignore any of the methods because of any weaknesses they may perceive in it. In a balanced strategy, each can be integral to creating and managing a company’s knowledge. Tacit to tacit may be too individual, however the one on one tuition can ensure tacit knowledge is passed accurately and effectively. Tacit to tacit also ensures that the knowledge can be fed in to Tacit to Explicit knowledge sharing. Once the information has been understood, it can be assimilated with explicit knowledge available around the company.

In practice, it could be argued that most managers feel that explicit to explicit is not an important area of the Knowledge Management process, feeling that it doesn’t expand the company’s knowledge base and, therefore, of little use. I believe this could not be further from the truth. Explicit to explicit Knowledge Management ensures that information can be streamlined, keeping knowledge relevant. It is also vital to ensure that the explicit to tacit stage of Knowledge Management is utilised as efficiently as possible. Once all aspects of the strategy are balanced, it should be clear that each stage feeds in to another creating a cycle, shown overleaf:

As would be expected, technology has played a large part in the growth of Knowledge Management. A number of software programmes specifically designed to help manage the knowledge cycle have been emerging and, in some cases, fading over time. Managers have the issue of deciding how much technology should be integrated in to their strategy. Hansen, Nohria and Tierney (1999) detail two Knowledge Management strategies that they have seen in consulting firms; Codification and Personalization. The driving factor in Codification appears to be delivering data heavy explicit knowledge, whilst Personalization focuses more on the tacit, supporting creativity and individual expertise. The strategies are almost at odds at each other and, in the opinion of Hansen, Nohria and Tierney, differ in their technology requirements. Of the differences, the authors state:

“The two knowledge management strategies require different IT infrastructures as well as different levels of support. In the codification model, managers need to implement a system that is much like a traditional library—it must contain a large cache of documents and include search engines that allow people to find and use the documents they need. In the personalization model, it’s most important to have a system that allows people to find other people.”

(Hansen, Nohria and Tierney, 1999, p.7)

They go further, as the diagram overleaf shows, recommending that managers reduce investment in technology infrastructure if they wish to follow a Personalization strategy as opposed to investing heavily in technology for a Codification strategy. In the time of Lotus Notes, Microsoft Office and SharePoint, where large software firms would create standardised solutions for Knowledge Management, Hansen, Nohira and Tierney were correct to discourage over-investment in technology if it does not suit your strategy (as Gilmour (2003), later agreed). However, it could be argued that this advice has lost weight in the current Knowledge Economy which has been affected heavily by Generation Y’s maturation and subsequent arrival into modern corporate boardrooms around the world.

(Hansen, Nohria and Tierney, 1999, p.7)

The Development of Generation y

Generation Y were born in 1982, following on from the hardworking, post-war Baby Boomers and Generation X who arguably killed industrialisation in the West to herald it in to the Knowledge Economy. Generation Y, who have also been referred to as the ‘Echo-boomers’ or the ‘Millennial generation’, were cynically derided in early articles, portraying them as spendthrifts with an attention span even shorter than Generation X and no interpersonal skills. As the concept of Knowledge Management grew, so did the influence of Generation Y, although it wasn’t always welcomed. It could be argued that those that preceded Generation Y were fearful of where they would take the economy. Gen-Xers were concerned as to whether Generation Y would proceed down the Knowledge Economy route, return to industrialism or be destined to be an underachieving footnote to their generation, slowing down the speed of achievement and innovation that started with the Baby Boomers and continued, after a stutter and a change of economic direction, with their generation. The media were looking for the catalyst that would launch Generation Y’s business ambitions; that generation’s equivalents to Bill Gates, Donald Trumps and Steve Jobs.

On February 4^th, 2004, earlier than anyone could have foretold, Generation Y’s first business icon, Mark Zuckerberg launched Generation Y’s first flagship product, ‘Facebook’. Zuckerberg appears to be the perfect representation of Generation Y, if a recent case study from the Harvard Business Review is to be believed. He had launched ‘Facebook’ from his Harvard dorm room before he had even graduated, with colleagues  Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. At only 24, Forbes valued his worth to be approximately $1.5bn. As Generation Y’s figurehead, Zucckerberg had achieved what the stereotypical Echo-Boomer dreams of: quick and rewarding success through personal creativity doing something that he loved and the ability to mix work with his social life.

Tamara J. Erickson’s fictional 2009 case study for Harvard Business Review looks at GenerationY’s increasingly significant role in modern business and focuses on how Generation X managers interact with Generation Y, which commentator Ron Alsop calls,

“A classic case of impatient Generation Y meets ‘pay your dues’ Generation X”

(Erickson, 2009, p.5)

The study revolves around the relationship between a Sarah, a 37 year old Marketing Director in the film industry, and Josh, a young and eager Marketing Associate. The commentaries objectively evaluate Generation Y, giving an insight to their key traits. Of the case, one commentator, Jim Miller, states:

“Josh isn’t doing much here to disprove the theories that some people have about Generation Y: a life experienced through machines, no respect for what’s gone before, and a constant need for praise, entertainment, and instant gratification. Josh is intelligent and tech-savvy, sure, but he won’t get very far by trying to make a name for himself on the backs of his boss and the members of his work group.”

(Erickson, 2009, p.8)

This description of Generation Y as being impatient, arrogant, attention starved yet with a short attention span and reluctance to communicate tacitly displays not just the widely held view of the millennial generation by its predecessors, but also makes what I feel are disparaging suggestions as to the direction that the this generation may take the Knowledge Economy. I believe that within the case study ‘Gen Y in the Workforce’ are clues as to how the Echo-Boomers will be progressing the Knowledge Economy in future years. Josh seems focused on using free, multimedia platforms to launch a marketing plan-a strategy regularly exploited by Generation Y employees to capture the attention and desire of their peers. The use of online, open source, social technology platforms seems prevalent not just in Josh’s suggestions but in modern business practice. Could this be the direction that Generation Y is taking the Knowledge Economy?

Interestingly, Peter Drucker, in the ‘Post-Capitalist Society’, predicted how the Knowledge Economy will need to progress in order for anyone to gain an advantage over their peers. He states that:

“The productivity of knowledge is going to be the determining factor in the competitive position in a company, an industry, an entire country. No country, industry or company has any ‘natural’ advantage or disadvantage. The only advantage it can possess is the ability to exploit universally available knowledge. The only thing that increasingly will matter in national as in international economics is management’s performance in making knowledge productive.”

(Drucker, 1993, p.193)

I feel that Drucker perfectly predicted the rise of open source technology-a resource that has become widely available and encouraged with the maturation of Generation Y. The concept behind open-source technology is to release the explicit knowledge of an individual or workgroup for others to explore and use to create new technology. The best example of this practice is in the mobile phone industry. Apple has been known to make open elements of their iPhone and iPod operating systems codes so that developers can create applications for the products. As Drucker predicts above, by managing the productivity of the knowledge released, the developer can earn money by creating a new, innovative way for the product to be used and Apple benefit by being able to publicise the extended uses of their product. The consumer benefits by having a more personalised, effective product, developers in small publishing houses, some of whom are self-employed individuals, have a platform for their creativity and ability to profit from the tacit knowledge in their possession and explicit knowledge they produce.

In this example, the knowledge itself is not important. Instead, increasing the productivity of that knowledge creates benefit for the developer, the consumer and the original manufacturer of the product. Current trends appear to show that open source programming will continue to grow and become the cornerstone of Generation Y’s Knowledge Economy, as we see the productivity of knowledge coming to the foreground, making the original knowledge itself a bit player.

This open source programming will also have a deep impact on social networking. Drucker highlighted how important the ability to connect would be in order for the Knowledge Economy to continue creating knowledge, stating that:

“‘Only connect’ was the constant admonition of a great English novelist, E.M. Forster. It has always been the hallmark of the great artist, but equally of the great scientist-of a Darwin, a Bohr, an Einstein. At their level, the capacity to connect may be inborn and part of that mystery we call ‘genius’. But to a large extent, the ability to connect and thus to raise the yield of existing knowledge (whether for an individual, for a team, or for the entire organization) is learnable.”

(Drucker, 1993, pp.192-193)

The latest generation has clearly made the ability to connect a priority, taking it away from being a talent related to genius and making it a standard skill of the generation. The advent of social networking sites will be vital to Generation Y’s Knowledge Economy and I predict that we will see networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, mySpace and Bebo continuing to expand their applications through open source development to add an additional dimension to the social networking sites with Knowledge Management. Microsoft have already set the pace, as have Google with their online document management systems, however whilst these are indeed innovative ideas, one could argue that they have not been attached yet to large scale, open source social networks. The widespread use of these networks will mean that the Knowledge Management software, when integrated in to it, will be gradually integrated in to the society as a whole so that Knowledge Management will no longer be the purview purely of the economy, but now a sociological tool to exchange knowledge explicitly and, perhaps as technology advances, tacitly.

A counter-argument to this theory would be that with the expansion of the internet in recent years, this technology and these uses are already available and currently in use by number of companies, one example being the open-source CRM programme, SugarCRM, however I would dismiss that as a shallow evaluation of the current landscape. The progress made so far has been done under the watchful eye of Generation Y and it has been integrated in to their daily lifestyle. As such, I believe the more we witness the maturation of Generation Y to the working population, the more we shall see this technology, Knowledge Management and knowledge productivity as a whole moving away from companies and corporations and into the society at large-products like SugarCRM will stop being business tools to increase profits and will evolve in to becoming a social management tool to increase life-worth.

Through this evolution of Knowledge Management, we will no longer be able to say we are living in a Knowledge Economy, but we will be able to state that we live in a fully connected and integrated knowledge society. This future movement is, I feel, Generation Y subconsciously continuing Drucker’s Post-Capitalist Society and moving it towards areas that he implored we explore, when he said,

“Our experience in making knowledge productive has so far been gained mainly in the economy and technology. But the same rules pertain to making knowledge productive in society, in the polity, and with respect to knowledge itself. So far, little work has been done to apply knowledge to these areas. But we need productivity of knowledge even more in these areas than we need it in the economy, in technology, or in medicine.”

(Drucker, 1993, pp.191-192)

It’s my belief that recent events in Iran were the catalyst for Generation Y to meet Drucker’s request. Twitter became more than a social networking tool but also a Knowledge Management tool, imparting information of a situation many did not understand and creating a movement that acted to help the protesters in Iran. On the basis of the knowledge made available, those who were able to create proxies did, so that Twitter could still continue to be available to the people. Those that didn’t were simply instructed to change their locations to Tehran and show support is small ways which, when circulated, saved lives. The knowledge on Twitter was used by journalists to report to the wider media and used productively to help a movement find its voice and contact the outside world. I am certain we shall see more instances like this in Generation Y’s society.

My only concern on the evolution theorised above is a concern felt by many others. I worry that whilst Generation Y will create platforms unlocking tact to explicit, explicit to explicit and explicit to tacit knowledge management to the masses, I worry that tacit to tacit knowledge management skills may decline and be lost. The integration of knowledge management in society can only be successful if Generation Y understand the important of tacit to tacit knowledge management and endeavour to maintain their skills in this area.

Conclusion

Generation Y were born in to a technologically literate society and grew up during the birth of Knowledge Management as a theoretical concept. Knowledge Management and the technologies surrounding it have not always garnered the favour of academics in business. David Gilmour (2005) said,

“It’s time to abandon the fiction that knowledge management technology is working. Last year, U.S. companies spent $4.5 billion on software and other technologies that claim to foster information sharing among employees. Where’s the payoff?”

(Gilmour, 2003, p.1)

I could not disagree more. Whilst I agree that the most of the money spent was wasted, I believe that by looking at the economy only, Gilmour has ignored the potential for larger sociological changes that saw simple social networking evolve in to Knowledge Management technology moving the technology in to society and away from just business.

In my opinion it is clear that the large sociological event in Iran detailed above was the graduation of Knowledge Management from being a tool for companies to work efficiently to becoming a sociological movement and a clear indication of the manifesto of Generation Y and the new, technology centric knowledge society. In the hands of the new generation, Knowledge Management as a concept or theory may subside but not because it is irrelevant. I believe we will see the value of Knowledge Management thrive and integrate itself so closely to Generation Y’s lifestyle that it will become a part of mainstream culture. Knowledge Management has no danger of being discredited by the latest generation, we have only seen signs of embracing the concept and helping it grow and reach it potential. It is becoming too big to be defined by business and economy alone and I believe that Knowledge Management is on its way to becoming a staple part of the sociological make-up of Generation Y.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Drucker, P.F. (1993) Post-Capitalist Society. New York, HarperCollins

Drucker, P.F. (2007) The Essential Drucker. Oxford, Elsevier

Erickson, T.J. (2009) Gen Y in the Workforce. Boston, Harvard Business School Publishing

Glimour, D. (2003) How to Fix Knowledge Management. Boston, Harvard Business School Publishing

Hansen, M.T., Norhira, N. and Tierney, T. (1999) What’s Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge? Boston, Harvard Business School Publishing

Nonaka, I (1991) The Knowledge-Creating Company. Boston, Harvard Business School Publishing

Snook, S.A. (2008) Love and Fear and the Modern Boss. Boston, Harvard Business School Publishing

Ahh, the ubiquitous Post-It^® Note.  My workspace is covered with lovely multi-coloured notes, or it was until I discovered Digital Notes. The unassuming Post-it has become a legend but I wanted to  share it again, as told in The Knowledge-Creating Company by Nonaka, and Takeuchi.

“Art [Fry] sang in the church  choir and noticed that the slips of paper he inserted to mark selected hymns would fall out.  He decided to create a marker that would stick to the page but would peel off without damaging it.  He made use of a peel-able adhesive that Spence Silver at the Central Research Lab had developed four years previously, and made himself some prototypes of the self-attaching sheets of paper.

Sensing a market beyond just hymnal markers, Fry got permission to use a pilot plant and started working nights to develop a process for coating Silver’s adhesive on paper. When he was told that the machine he designed could take six months to make and cost a small fortune, he single-handledly built a crude version in his own basement overnight and brought it to work the next morning.  The machine worked.  But the marketing people did some surveys with potential customers, who said they didn’t feel the need for paper with a weak adhesive.  Fry said, “Even though I felt that there would be demand for the product, I didn’t know how to explain it in words.  Even if I found the words to explain, no one would understand…” Instead, Fry distributed samples within 3M and asked people to try them out.  The rest was history.  Post-it Notes became a sensation thanks to Art Fry’s entrepreneurial dedication and dogged persistence.

(Nonaka I, Takeuchi H. The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. 1995)

That entrepreneurial spirit has been part of 3M’s corporate culture almost since inception.  As stated in the William L. McKnight Management Principles:

“As our business grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to delegate responsibility and to encourage men and women to exercise their initiative. This requires considerable tolerance. Those men and women, to whom we delegate authority and responsibility, if they are good people, are going to want to do their jobs in their own way.

“Mistakes will be made. But if a person is essentially right, the mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell those in authority exactly how they must do their jobs.

“Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative. And it’s essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.”

Chris touched on this when he blogged about Failing Should be Easy and even Why don’t people like my ideas?!.  Art Fry was given the opportunity to fail.  When people didn’t like his idea, he proceeded to find a way to prove that his idea truly was great.

I’m proud that we here at Point2 allow people to fail; in fact, using Test Driven Development we ensure that everyone fails at first.

We give people time to explore and experiment, and everyone has some time for professional development.

Incidentally, Ken Schwaber’s early paper, “SCRUM Development Process” references heavily the work of Takeuchi and Nonaka and their description of a rugby organization style.

By: Kevin Bitinsky

A lively discussion is now going on after I opened a new page on “Will KM Disappear?” and posted it too in the Linkedin group “Knowledge Management Experts” (to read the comments, click that page on the panel to the right or click HERE).

Some are saying that we cannot really manage knowledge. Others are saying we have been doing it all the time. I have my own views but I wanted to listen and learn (see my previous blog post on Listening) and really understand the thinking behind the comments posted. Why are the views so widely divergent? What does each commentor mean?

I think we need to be clear and precise what our referents are when we say the words “manage” and “knowledge”. Otherwise, confusion and fruitless debates will follow. Some say that labels are unimportant and let us just get on with the work. In this particular instance, we need precision of communication. In a work team, unclear labels will lead to communication gaps and then to performance gaps.

First, note that people do not talk about “managing an idea or concept”. Rather, they talk about “managing a process” involving ideas and concepts. Similarly, some are sceptical of the term “managing knowledge” but instead say “managing knowledge processes”. Nonaka prefers the term “knowledge-based management” instead of “knowledge management” (read Nonaka’s talk in Bangkok last January 2007).

Accordingly in the table below I detailed a range of knowledge processes that we actually refer to when we say we “manage knowledge”.

DECONSTRUCTING THE PHRASE “MANAGING KNOWLEDGE”

From the above deconstruction of the phrase “managing knowledge” we can better —

• Understand why some KM practitioners say that only explicit knowledge (or “knowledge artifacts” or “knowledge objects”) can be managed, and insist that tacit knowledge of employees cannot be directly managed (by managers and executives);
• Understand why other KM practitioners who equate KM solely with organizational KM will say that mankind has been managing knowledge all the time (even before the term KM was invented) and will equally insist that asking whether knowledge can or cannot be managed is asking a silly question;
• Understand why KM practitioners who include also personal knowledge processes in KM will say that managers and executives cannot really manage knowledge in employees; they will also insist that managers and executives can only facilitate, support, motivate or incentivize the knowledge and learning processes going on inside the heads (and hearts) of their employees;
• Understand how the above (often unstated or unconscious) differences in referents inside the heads KM practitioners (who are all well-intentioned) set up or predispose them towards miscommunication and fruitless debate (I wrote this blog post to avoid this); and
• Understand why change management and similar behavioral tools — which address personal knowledge processes (nearer the bottom of the table) — must often accompany KM.

Here is my 2 cents worth:

The most important knowledge process in the above table is knowledge use/application/practice (the bottom one in red text). There are only two value-creating steps in the knowledge cycle, and knowledge use/application/practice is one of them. If this step is missing or faulty, all other knowledge processes would amount to useless expenditures. Since this value-creating step is affected most heavily by personal factors, KM must include “personal KM” or personal knowledge processes in its scope of concern and therefore also scope of definition.

Therefore, personal KM cannot be optional because personal knowledge processes in each employee are at the foundation of effective organizational KM.

What do you think?

(My thanks to Fernando Goldman, Skip Boettger, Jim Coogan, Harold Jarche, Douglas Weidner and John Tropea for their comments, which made me think this issue through.)

—

Note that there are embedded links in this blog post. They show up as colored text. While pressing “Ctrl” click on any link to create a new tab to reach the websites pointed to.

=>Back to main page of Apin Talisayon’s Weblog
=>Jump to Clickable Master Index

My friend and colleague Joitske Hulsebosch of Netherlands commented today on the previous blog:

“Hi Serafin, very interesting. Did you hear about Daniel Pink? He wrote about the left-brainers ruling the western world, but thinks it is time for right-brainers now. Though he writes from a western perspective, it is interesting to see him explain both sides of the brain.”

I promptly called my favorite bookstore in Quezon City and they are readying a copy of Daniel H. Pink’s “A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future” for me to pick up this Friday. (Thank you Joitske!) According to author Daniel H. Pink’s website, the main argument in his book is that “the era of ‘left brain’ dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which ‘right brain’ qualities — inventiveness, empathy, meaning — predominate.”

In 1981 Dr. Roger W. Sperry won the Nobel Prize for discovering that the left and right hemispheres of our brain think differently:

Left brainers (or people whose left brain is overdeveloped while their right brain is underdeveloped) tend to go for engineering, computer science, information technology and mathematics. Right brainers tend to go for creative and entrepreneurial activities, designing, relationship building, strategic sensing and pursuit of adventure. In knowledge management, KM guru Karl Erik Sveiby observed that KM practitioners either adopt the “technology side” of KM or its “people side”. Left brainers are best in using IT for KM, but they tend to misunderstand the more tacit aspects of KM such as KM guru Ikujiro Nonaka’s “ba” and SECI model. I have read many criticisms of Nonaka that reveal to me more about the mindset of the critic than about what Nonaka is writing about.

“Ba” is the communication and interpersonal space built and nurtured between two or more people; it is characterized by trust, empathy and shared meanings. Practice of “ba” belongs to the indigo quadrant. It is an area of practice that right brainers are good at.

Remember that for centuries, the Japanese have been creating and transfering tacit knowledge from master to pupil through their traditional “iemoto.” Japanese iemoto schools have produced great masters in tacit knowledge of kendo, kabuki, ikebana (flower arrangement), chanoyu (tea ceremony) or chado (way of the tea), yakimono (pottery), sumo wrestling, Zen practice, Noh (a drama form), etc.

An example of a tool that helps a person shift from left-brain thinking to right-brain thinking is the “koan” in Zen Buddhism. Koan is another Japanese innovation. A koan usually takes the form of a question or riddle that quickly befuddles the left brain and thereby exposes the very limitations of the left brain to itself.

An example of a koan is: “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!”

What are your thoughts upon reading this koan? What do those thoughts tell you about how your mind usually works?

A left-brainer trying to understand this koan is like a left-brain KM practitioner criticizing Nonaka’s “ba”. After Googling, here are some actual examples of left-brain explanations I found in the Internet:

“A logical interpretation of ‘kill him’ is ‘cease to cling to his footsteps if you wish to match his wisdom,’ but I would never claim that this is what the passage means.”

“I think that this is saying that if you meet the Buddha by the road (an actual road, i.e., a man preaching where there are people), he probably isn’t the real Buddha.”

“…you do have to ‘kill’ your master to surpass him.”

Those remarks reveal the left-brain empirical orientations of the writers.

Let me attempt at one answer that illustrates the point I wrote about in my previous blog:

“Buddhist” literally means “internalist” because the aim in Buddhist practice is for YOU to attain the INTERNAL state of Buddhahood or enlightenment. Hence, you don’t look for the Buddha on the road or anywhere outside of yourself; you discover the Buddha WITHIN you. You don’t walk and look around; you WAKE UP to a larger reality. What the koan is saying is that you should “kill” the very idea of trying to meet the Buddha on the road (or anywhere outside yourself). That idea is an obstacle to your growth; get rid of it.

How about you; what is your answer to the koan?

—

(Note that there are embedded links in this blog post. They show up as colored text. While pressing “Ctrl” click on any link to create a new tab to reach the websites pointed to.)

=>Back to main page of Apin Talisayon’s Weblog
=>Jump to Clickable Master Index

Let us review the four critical tasks of a learning organization (numbers 1-4 refer to the figure below):

1. Build those tacit knowledge in workers that contribute most to value creation;
2. Convert useful tacit knowledge into explicit forms that are easier to reproduce, replicate and reuse; this explicit knowledge is collected in an organized fashion into a knowledge repository or Organizational Brain;
3. Provide the right explicit knowledge to be reused or practiced by the right knowledge workers; if substantial volumes of explicit knowledge have been collected, it becomes possible to recombine, digest, analyze, correlate and otherwise “mine” the collection to generate new insights and conclusions that are actionable;
4. Procure needed expertise or knowledge from outside.

The tasks revolve around the green quadrant because (a) it is the quadrant where most value creation takes place, and (b) most of the knowledge in an organization is located in the green quadrant.

According to Laura Birou, only 10-20 percent of an organization’s knowledge is explicit. Robert H. Buckman of Buckman Laboratories estimates this fraction at only 10 percent. William H. Baker Jr. estimates it at 20 percent. Furthermore, not all of this explicit knowledge is captured in the organizations’ IT-based information systems. What IT does well is facilitate the replication and transmission of explicit knowledge so that more knowledge workers can use/practice them, convert them to their tacit knowledge, and create value for the organization.

Notice that the well-known SECI model of Nonaka addresses all four critical tasks of a learning organization:

1. Socialization: tacit-to-tacit knowledge transfer from expert to learner
2. Externalization: conversion to explicit group knowledge
3. Combination: combining new explicit knowledge with other existing explict knowledge
4. Internalization: conversion back to individual tacit knowledge

The SECI model is not the only mix of knowledge pathways that performs the four critical tasks. In the previous blog post, notice that the Case Study 3 organization also addresses all four critical tasks of a learning organization. The mixes of knowledge pathways do vary from organization to organization.

In Case Study 3, the explicit group knowledge is in the form of a Learning-Oriented Systems Manual (=organizational brain), which at this point in time is not yet web-based. This illustrates the fact that although information technology can be an excellent enabler, it is not an absolute necessity for a learning organization.

—

(Note that there are embedded links in this blog post. They show up as colored text. While pressing “Ctrl” click on any link to create a new tab to reach the websites pointed to.)

=>Back to main page of Apin Talisayon’s Weblog
=>Jump to Clickable Master Index

Ken Wilber pointed out that there are four fundamentally distinct types of knowledge, which he calls the “Four Faces of Truth”. Based on his framework (see previous blog on “KM and Trans-Societal Megatrend #1 and “Tacit-Group Processes in KM”), we therefore see four types of memory:

Transactive memory is what a team informally develops among themselves after working closely together over time. The team informally develops a group tacit knowledge of “who knows what,” “who knows who,” “who does what best,” “who cannot do what,” “how team member A thinks,” etc. This transactive memory is lost to a team member who leaves and joins a new team.

Collective unconscious is Carl Jung’s term to refer to the accumulated experiences and memories of mankind. The collective “national pain body” and “racial pain body,” according to Eckhart Tolle, are accumulated memories of violence and suffering that underlie the consciousness and behavior of a group.

I have written about the “Organizational Brain” in my Overview chapter in the book “Knowledge Management in Asia: Experience and Lessons” published in 2008 by the Asian Productivity Organization, Tokyo, Japan. If you wish to receive a copy of this chapter, send me an email. In this book I used the descriptors “embodied knowledge,” “embedded knowledge” and introduced the new term “enculturated knowledge” for human capital, structural capital and relationship capital, respectively. In parallel, we can use the descriptors “embodied memory,” “embedded memory,” and “enculturated memory.”

In the next blog, I will use Ken Wilber’s framework to delineate important knowledge pathways in a learning organization, and provide a way to understand the specific knowledge pathway called the SECI model of Nonaka.

—

Thanks to clker.com for the free use of a clip art. (Note that there are embedded links in this blog post. They show up as colored text. While pressing “Ctrl” click on any link to create a new tab to reach the websites pointed to.)

=>Back to main page of Apin Talisayon’s Weblog
=>Jump to Clickable Master Index

We are looking for our belove Father/Grandfather in Japan. 64 years never meet. Details of Hiroshi Nonaka are attached below :

Full Name                  :   Hiroshi Nonaka　博　野中
Wife Name                 :   Rohani (Indonesian)

Address of wife        :   Kampung Upas, Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Island. INDONESIA
Son Name                   :   Hiromi Nonaka 広見　野中 (Born January 27, 1945)
Hiroshi Caracter      :   Use glases with height around 167 cm.

Summary of  the story  :

Hiroshi Nonaka had been duty In Pangkal Pinang, Bangka island – Indonesia as an military milisi of Japan from 1942-1945. At the time his age around 27 years old. Hiroshi Nonaka leaved his wife “Rohani” and his son “Hiromi Nonaka” as well as Bangka island on mid of January 1945. At the time he promised to his wife and his son to pick  them up and will bring them to Japan, live together. But, it wasn’t happened. 15 years already me and my father (Hiromi Nonaka) keep work hard to finding Hiroshi Nonaka. We never give up with this true our effort. May God give my father one more chance to see his father (Hiroshi Nonaka) before his (Hiromi Nonaka) pass away.

For anybody in Japan who knowing Hiroshi Nonaka or his familly info, please call me or email me.

just_nonaka@yahoo.com
Phone. +62.812.20605003 (Donny Rommy Nonaka)

In the name of Nonaka’s familly, we would like to say Thanks so much and really appreciate it all.

皆さん　は　教えて　ください、どうも　ありがとう　ございました

広見　野中　四歳　です

広見　野中　二一歳

Rohani when she was 19 years old

1
In July 2006 one of the modules in a KM workshop CCLFI facilitated for top executives of a mining company in Mongolia was on “Mining Tacit Knowledge.” The workshop participants were the two senior VPs, all the VPs and senior directors.

We invited three managers who are known in the company to be excellent motivators. One of the them was the CEO. We arranged an informal setting where the three, sitting comfortably in sofas facing the participants, were asked to tell their stories on “How I motivate my people.” A Mongolian lady served as my interpreter in the course.

As their stories unfolded, I could see how interested and engaged were all the participants. The stories showed vignettes of their difficulties and victories in motivating their subordinates. From the faces of the participants and their responses (interpreted for me) the process was obviously a moving experience for everyone. At some point I asked my lady interpreter to stop and we just listened and allowed the interaction to proceed without the interruptions when she interprets for me. It was such a solemn deeply-felt group experience that the CEO later asked, “Has my management team changed so much after one workshop?”

2
In January 2007 I personally met Prof. Ikujiro Nonaka. I served as Conference Rapporteur and Editor of conference proceedings for the International Productivity Conference 2007: From Brain to Business sponsored by the Asian Productivity Organization. He read a paper on “Strategy as Distributed Phronesis: Knowledge Creation for the Common Good.” He introduced a new term “phronesis” and defined it as “the virtuous habit of making decisions and taking action that serves the common good, the capability to find a “right answer in a particular context.” He added that phronesis is “practical wisdom or prudence” or the experiential knowledge to make context-specific decisions based on one’s own value or ethics (high-quality tacit knowledge).”

3
In 2002, CCLFI documented best practices for UNDP in sustainable community development. Our first intention was to produce a manual or “How To” booklets (structural capital), but we discovered that manualization is not enough. The success of a sustainable community development project is also attributable to a talents of the community leader who ran the project. Now, how do one capture those talents in a document? We produced “vignettes” to accompany the “How To” manuals. A vignette consists quotations and pictures of the community leader as he or she tells stories about the project. The vignette shows glimpses or snipets of the leader’s character (human capital) that contributed to project success. We also shot videos. We invited ten of the best practitioners to a face-to-face Lessons Learned Meeting (LLM) where together they shared their stories, compared notes and learned from each other.

When you meet a best practitioner-leader of a successful sustainable community development project you notice immediately that he or she has “it” — that mix of qualities I can describe as a compelling sense of purpose, quietly inspirational, a “can do” attitude that is infectious, humble but strong in will, a deep kind of reflectiveness that shows in how he or she views the world and the people in it and a persona that naturally motivates people. It is a mix of intrapersonal and interpersonal qualities. We at CCLFI chose the term “sophia” to denote this mix of core personal qualities of a successful community leader.

From our expanded KM framework, I believe that the above stories are touching on a core of human capital and relationship capital where these two forms of capital intersect motivational factors. It consists of an inner drive or enthusiasm (an intrapersonal quality) and an ability to lead or motivate (an interpersonal quality).

Have you encountered a similar experience with exceptional leaders? Tell us about it.

=>Back to main page of Apin Talisayon’s Weblog
=>Jump to Clickable Master Index

Tacit-group processes and factors in the lower left quadrant in the expanded KM framework (see diagram below reproduced from the previous blog post) are often the weaknesses in KM initiatives.

Expanded KM framework at the planetary level

The following are examples:

• An e-group for knowledge sharing is set up, but knowledge sharing hardly occurs because the intended users hardly know and trust each other and do not share similar goals.
• A knowledge fair organized by a vice president is hardly attended by staff under another vice president because of factionalism between the two vice presidents.
• A know-it-all CEO shoots down new ideas, generating an organizational culture of anti-suggestion and anti-innovation.
• Communication and productivity of a team suffered after an egotistical new member started to ruin the working relationships among the team members.
• An organization-wide KM program was not fully accepted by all senior managers and started to falter; a mid-course evaluation by an outside consultant diagnosed the problem as lack of change management that should have accompanied the processes of design and roll-out of the KM program.

The lower-left quadrant is about TACIT-GROUP processes and factors: trust, shared goal or mutual agreement, unity (or factionalism), shared vision (e.g. Gaia consciousness), organizational culture, teamwork, mutual understanding of a group work process, general acceptance, etc. “Ba” of Ikujiro Nonaka belongs to this quadrant.

According to philosopher Ken Wilber’s integral framework, there are four types of knowledge. There are “Four Faces of Truth.”

Compare Ken Wilber’s integral framework with the expanded KM framework. The two frameworks are consistent (I wrote about this in a paper to be published by EADI/IKM).

Now, back to the importance of tacit-group processes. Without Gaia consciousness among earth’s inhabitants, I doubt how they can solve common problems such as the global environmental crisis. Ken Wilber said that resolution of this crisis lies in tacit-group processes:

“Before we can even attempt an ecological healing, we must first reach a mutual understanding and mutual agreement among ourselves as to the best way to collectively proceed. In other words, the healing impulse comes from championing not functional fit but mutual understanding and interior qualitative distinctions. Anything short of that, no matter what the motives, perpetuates the fracture.”

Peter Senge summarized his best-seller book “The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization” by affirming the fundamental importance of tacit-group processes:

“The central message of The Fifth Discipline is… that our organizations work the way they work, ultimately, because of how we think and how we interact.”

With apologies to Peter Senge, what is the message when we replace the word “organization” with “planetary society”?

The central message of The Fifth Discipline is… that our planetary society works the way it works, ultimately, because of how we think and how we interact.

Is ours a “learning planetary society”? If not, are we getting there?

=>Back to main page of Apin Talisayon’s Weblog
=>Jump to Clickable Master Index