Good Salesmen Do Not Sell Their Product.. They Sell Solutions for Customer's Problems

Never forget: Everyone is a salesmen. Everyone is a salesman every waking moment of every day of the week. Good salesmen sell what the customer needs and wants to buy. 


Always think about the needs of others and what they want and provide solutions for them and you will succeed.


I got a phone call from my oldest daughter the other day. She is a professional Jazz vocalist in a very famous company here in Japan. In her company are some of Japan's top stars. That company is getting ready to release her debut album.


She phoned me, and in a nervous voice, said, "Daddy! I am at this giant meeting of music industry presidents and executives. They are listening to my songs. Things are getting really serious now. It is exciting but very scary. What shall I do?"


I wrote back to her: "Imagine that your life is a movie and that you are the star actress. What would she do in the movie? She'd 'wow!' those people. Give them what they want. They want a star, and they want you to be that star. So, give them what they want. It's simple."


She later wrote and email to me and thanked me and said, "It went great!" 


What did she sell them? Did she sell them what she wants to sell (herself) or did she sell them what they wanted to buy (a dream)? She did both. But she was smart enough to put their wants and desires first!


A few days ago, I got a call from a very dear friend who is a salesman. He wanted my help. He called me and, in a nervous voice, said, "Mike! I need to go meet the industry people. I want them to buy our products. This is really serious now. It's exciting but the pressure is on. What shall I do?"


I wrote back to him: "Imagine that your life is a movie and that you are the star actor. What would he do in the movie? He'd 'wow!' those people. Give them what they want. They want a star salesman, and they want you to be that star. So, give them what they want. It's simple."  


I hope he takes my advice to heart.


To be more specific, in the case of a salesman (and who isn't a salesman?), always remember what the client wants. If you go to the client with the purpose of saying, "I want you to buy my product!" Then you will most certainly fail.


You must always give people what they want. A good salesman will not go to meet clients and say, "I want you to buy this!" They will, instead, say, "How can I help you?"


Think about it. A good salesman at a clothes shop walks up to you and says, "How may I help you?" He  does not approach you and say, "I want you to buy this shirt." If he did say such to you, you'd feel offended and walk out.


Why do salesmen, when the shoe is on the other foot (pun intended), think they can do the same when they are selling their wares? No one cares what you want to sell. People are selfish. People are only interested in their own problems. They are not interested in yours. Good salesmen know this and, instead of selling what they want to sell, they provide solutions for clients. 


The other day, another friend called me and asked me if I would introduce him to my other friend who is the chief editor for the oldest, most widely read and famous women's magazine in Japan.


I asked him why he wanted an introduction. He told me that he wanted to promote his new online service to the magazine and, perhaps, have the magazine promote that service.


I asked if he was going to pay for the promotion or advertising. He said, "No!" I then told him that my editor friend is approached, I'm sure, dozens of times every week from people wanting him to use this powerful marketing tool to promote their product. But, if I introduce him to the editor, what is the benefit for the editor?


He couldn't answer. He hadn't thought of the editor's needs. He thought only of his own needs. 


Let's look at this simply. What do these two parties need?:


Mr. A owns a new social media service. He needs promotion. He wants Mr. Editor to promote his service in a famous magazine. 


Mr. Editor runs a famous magazine. He needs advertising revenue. He needs to increase readership. He needs to generate future income. Does he need to promote a new web service? No. And, if he does, will that help him achieve any of his goals? No. If he does or does not help Mr. A, will he make more or less money or will readers increase of decrease? Nope.


Mr. A needs to be thinking more about Mr. Editor's needs before he can even hope to get anywhere.


I haven't introduced Mr. A to Mr. Editor. Mr. Editor is my dear friend and will always pick up the phone when I call because he knows I am always thinking about how I can help him. I never "Take. Take. Take." He knows that. He knows that, if I call him, it's always to his benefit to answer.


After all, I am a salesman too. 


Whether with an introduction or none, the good salesman will always be able to open doors and start conversations when their approach is totally geared upon providing a solution to the prospective customers needs.


The client is not interested in what you want to sell. The client is only interested in finding a solution to their problem.


If you can be a part of that solution, you will be a great salesman and make big money. So remember to always think of your prospective customer needs first. Never meet a new client and start discussing your product. Always start discussions on their problems and needs. Sell people what they want to buy. Sell them a solution to their problems.

Entrepreneur Association Of Tokyo: Worst Marketing & Promotion of 2011 Award "No Riff Raff!"

Ladies and gentlemen the Worst Marketing and Promotion Award of 2011 goes to.... Envelope please... A Linked in group in Japan called the Entrepreneur Association Of Tokyo!


Clap! Clap! Clap!

The flunky association with the funky title gets the award for an extremely lame attempt at building their data base by obtaining contact information and details of company owners and executives. Then they can use this information to market those people and probably use/sell this data to obtain sponsors. How clever! How original! Took a page right out of Marketing 101.


Fantabulous and superbulous are words that come to mind..


Hello? Guys! I think that most people, who would matter to you, for this sort of thing (a thinly-veiled crass attempt at data-mining), are pretty protective of their personal information.


But, that's just me, I suppose.  


First, let's look at what the commotion is all about:


The Entrepreneur Association Of Tokyo plans on holding a "Shacho Night" (President's Night) at a bar in Tokyo. The charge for the event is ¥10,000. The invitation, in its hoity-toity, manner claims that:


"This is a “members only” event. Attendees must be a Company President, Owner, CEO or Country Head and an approved member at www.tokyoexecutives.com or our Linked in Group "Tokyo Executives."


Wow! High-powered clientele! There must be some great speaker and entertainment lined up for this event, right? Or, heck, maybe even some hot belly-dancers? Well, if you thought so, you thought wrong. Go to the back of the class!


At the top of the invitation it says:


"We are pleased to introduce the first ever “Shacho Night” – A Special Dinner Event especially for Company Presidents, Business Owners, and CEOs. This event will be organized and hosted by Tokyo Executives.

This will be a great opportunity to meet with other CEOs and we expect the dinner discussions to be lively and engaging."

No entertainment? No famous speakers? "Expecting the dinner discussions to be lively and engaging"?! Not much of a killer line up there. No wonder they didn't try to book Tokyo Dome for this gala event.

And just who are Tokyo Executives? Must be a well known and long established company in Tokyo, right? Wrong. A look at their web page reveals that the company was established way back in (August?) of 2010 - ancient! Coupled with  that long and storied history, the company also boasts a staff of three people.

Count them: One, two, three.

Far be it from me, though, to trash some small businessmen trying to make a buck, but, guys at least have some basic manners - as well as a tiny bit of common sense - before you go off acting like the King of Siam. 

I showed this invitation to my friend Roger Marshall. Roger, of course, is merely a rookie only having been living in Japan since 1971 and a managing partner at one of the most reputable executive search companies in the entire world. I sweep floors, empty waste bins and clean the latrine twice a week at Roger's offices. So while I am shining his shoes, sometimes Roger will talk to me. Roger laughed when he saw this invitation and this was how our conversation went,


"Mike?" Roger said as his lips curled on a hundred dollar Cuban cigar.


"Yes, boss?" I muttered.

"It's OK what they are trying to do. How they are doing it is idiotic." He added.


"Yes, boss." I replied


Roger then tipped me a dollar and walked off in the rain towards the train station. 


The qualifications listed on the Tokyo Executives web page might be good enough to get an teaching job or job at a restaurant (nothing at all wrong with gainful employment). May I suppose that it stretches the imagination to think it  qualifies these people to decide who is "presidential enough" to fit into their little club? Does, say, the president of a large car manufacturing company have to apply too? How about someone who has received funding from a major Japanese corporation for their project? Or does the application requirement and approval process only apply to small businessmen and riff raff like me?

Let me allow you, dear reader, to decide if I am just over-reacting to some pompous nonsense from some amateurish clowns or is this really insulting? Here's their email notice:

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW

There's several problems here that I'm sure Miss Manners would take offense to. Please refer to the amateurish writing skills and redundancies as designated by the arrows 1 & 2. 

#1 says: "Please Note: This event is for Company Presidents, CEOs, Business Owners, and Japan Country Heads only. All participants must RSVP in advance. There are a limited number of spaces available. "

#2 basically says the same thing: "This is a “members only” event. Attendees must be a Company President, Owner, CEO or Country Head and an approved member at www.tokyoexecutives.com or our Linked in Group "Tokyo Executives"

This invitation made me laugh at just how preposterous it was. I suggested to these eager beaver business men on their Linkedin page:


"...You should have added to the invitations, 'No riff raff allowed and only pompous twits need apply.'" 


My error! I should have written:


"...You should have added to the "insultations", 'No riff raff allowed and only pompous twits need apply.'"

This is a crass and shallow attempt to data mine information for marketing purposes. And just how does one become an "approved member" pray tell? Well... Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! They must register at the Tokyo Executive website and/or register by sending in their email and contact information. Like I said crass, low class, no common sense, poorly written (redundancies) and pretty transparent what they are trying to do. 


When I went back to see what other people had responded to my own comedic and low class remarks, I found that I have been blocked from the site!

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW

It says, "Sorry! You're not permitted to view the information you requested."


Oh for shame. I guess I'm out of the club! What'll I ever do?

I guess, though, that I can console my devastated pride by remembering the words of that great and genius businessman Groucho Marx when he remarked about club memberships:


"Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member!"


Actually, I wouldn't. I would, though, think that people would take some common sense advice on manners and professionalism when it is obvious that they have been very amateurish and lacking in writing and marketing skills with this very poor presentation.


If they can't do that, they could at least have a sense of humor... But, nope. Doesn't seem like a sense of humor is what these guys are strong in.


Sounds like it's going to be a fun night!


NOTE: Of course, on this blog, I rip these guys. They deserve it for this   neanderthal effort. It is unfortunate that they are the target of my derision today. Recently, I have been saving such criticism for high-fliers like Groupon, Linkedin, Twitter, etc. So, in a way, I am complimenting Entrepreneur Association Of Tokyo by putting them in with such a big name crowd... As if it actually matters what I think anyway... 


Whenever I write a post and blast some big name company, that article will get at least a few hundred and, sometimes a few thousand reads - especially if they are rewritten and posted on Lew Rockwell where they will get several hundred thousand reads. Alas, that won't happen with with this article as Entrepreneur Association Of Tokyo isn't a popular enough name to justify an article like that. (And my piddly reputation isn't big enough to carry it alone...)


So, let's let bygones be bygones. May I suggest to Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo that, had we met in private, of course I wouldn't be blasting them in public like this. But, as this is a blog, readers are not interested in niceties and pretty things. It seems they are interested in cutting straight to the chase.


They blew it big time with this arrogant effort. They used public media to promote their effort, they get blasted in the same public media for doing so poorly. It's called the "Free Market". By the way, it is laughable that they block me from visiting the page that they sent me. I guess the free market only goes so far... Perhaps they should write to Linkedin and try to have me banned? (But don't think I am complaining, you can freely associate with whomever you wish)

Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo? All entrepreneurs are equal. Some are more equal than others.

I find it astounding that I should have to recommend this to people who supposedly head an organization called "Entrepreneur Association Of Tokyo" but may I suggest reading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnagie? 


If we all would read and practice the wisdom of that book, we could most probably double our response and, most certainly wouldn't, at least, have people thinking we are stuck-up, rude or incompetent.


Good luck. 


(I wonder if I'll get invited to this year's Christmas Turkey dinner?)

Linkedin Japan FAIL! Stuff I've Been Thinking About: Video Mashups & I Told You So

Monday morning (Sunday for most people who read this blog). I've got a ton of things to do but here's a few things I've been thinking about... Especially how, even a few days after press release, you can see proof of how messed up a company Linkedin Japan is. Linkedin Japan is a FAIL!


First up, though, before the bashing begins, for your enjoyment, a very cool video Mash-up by Hexstatic of Nancy Sinatra's sixties smash hit "These Boots Were Made For Walking"

And speaking of getting walked on... It seems that is what's happening in Europe right now. It seems the Euro is collapsing right in front of our very eyes. Also, if you read between the lines, I'm getting the impression that we could see the bankruptcy of Greece very soon (as soon as this week or next?) Read this from Mish Shedlock, EU Finance Ministers Decide to Force Banks to Take Bigger Greek Bond Losses, Recaptialize by $140 Billion; Amount Insufficient, Few Other Details

The picture in Greece, whose troubles kicked off the crisis almost two years ago, is bleaker than ever. A new report from Athens' international debt inspectors -- the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- proved that a preliminary deal for a second package of rescue loans reached in July is already obsolete.

The report showed that in the past three months Greece's economic situation has deteriorated so dramatically that for the bank deal to remain in place, the official sector would have to provide some euro252 billion ($347 billion) in loans. Alternatively, to keep official loans at euro109 billion ($150 billion), banks would have to accept cuts of about 60 percent to the value of their Greek bonds.

….

100 Million Euros is insufficient. The IMF pegged the amount between 100 million and 200 million. There is absolutely no reason to suspect the minimum is needed. Indeed, there is every reason to expect 400 million euros is insufficient.

….

I believe 400 million Euros will prove way insufficient once Portugal, then Spain, then Italy get into trouble.

Read more at Mish.

Like I said, I think we could see the bankruptcy of Greece any day now. If that happens, all bets are off and it's every man (family) for itself. I think people would be wise to draw out a good sum of money from the banks and have it at home for a few weeks just to be safe until we can see what is going to happen. I fear a "bank holiday" where it might not be possible to withdraw money (or possibly even use credit cards) from banks for a few days or even a week or two (or more?)

I always follow my own advice and I think I've done pretty well. I always mess up dates, though... But I predicted a bad situation in Autumn on 2011 and, well, here it is, autumn. Please refer to: Japan's Financial Armageddon is Coming in 60 Days?

I warned people in October of 2008 to buy gold and silver and to stock up on food (click the links for proof). At that time, gold was $724.08 an ounce (today gold is $1562.30) and silver was $9.11 an ounce (today silver stands at $47.40).

If you had taken my advice, you would have easily more than doubled your investment in gold and taken over a 520% profit on silver. It's still not too late to get into gold and silver but a price correction is coming so wait a bit.* There will be no price correction on food. Stock up now, while you can. 

After the big Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, when the stores shelves were bare for a week or so (and no one knew at the time how things were going to turn out on the food and water situation) my family was fine; we had 6 months of food and water, enough for 5 people, stocked up and ready to go. When people panicked and ran away from Tokyo or when they were fighting for parking spaces at the local grocery store, or fighting for bottles of water, I only watched and shook my head in disbelief.

How can people be so gullible and foolish? How can people be so negligent and irresponsible not to be prepared?

…..

Let me give you fair warning again. Especially if you live in Japan: 

1) Store up enough water for at least 2 months (6 months preferable)

2) Fill your bathtub with water every night (if water stops you can use for cleaning)

3) Today or this week, buy at least 2 months of canned food (6 months preferable)

4) It is still not too late! Start saving money every month by buying gold and silver. If you have some savings, take 33% of it out of the bank and buy gold. Take the other 33% and keep it at  safe place at home.

It looks like we are headed for some really rough times. Better be prepared to stay out of the way.

The point I am ultimately making is that of course no one can predict the future but just because of that fact not being prepared is just plain foolish. I'm sure that there were many people in Tohoku before the earthquake and tsunami who could make the same claim that "No one could have predicted the future" so that's why many did not have food or water or the means to escape (same as many in Tokyo)... But this is not about predicting the future, this is about protecting yourselves and your family.

If you think this is about predicting the future, then use that same logic next time you buy auto, car, fire or life insurance. Don't need them, right? No one can predict the future.

While I mention Greece, another curious thing about the situation there is that it is not being mentioned on the MSM. There's lots about demonstrations in the USA, where things are peaceful for the most part, but in places like Greece, where the sh*t is about to hit the fan? Not a peep.

I had been looking at many videos on Youtube and others showing some very heavy fighting between rioters and police. I wish I would have bookmarked them. This one, though, give a good idea. This is not a friendly party. 

The most worrisome point about the situation in Greece is that the government needs the police and military to stand by them to protect them from and increasingly angry and militant civilian gathering, yet, at the same time, even the Greek police and civil servants are furious about getting pay cuts and massive slashes to their pensions. I wonder how long until they switch sides?

What would that mean for Greece and the other countries in immediate danger (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland?)

And, finally, I see the ridiculous announcement from Linkedin that they finally "launched their Japanese site". Well, that's one big strike against them; they're lying. The service was actually launched sometime before May of 2010. 

Why is that important for Linkedin? Well, when dealing or considering new companies trying to penetrate the Japanese market, please refer to How New Companies Can Succeed in Japan and How They Fail

How to correctly handle a new product or service release? (in Japan)

A new company/product/service will need to appoint somebody in Japan to handle PR for them in Japan and work with that company to make a plan. 

A necessary part of any good plan of attack would be that the representatives in Japan arrange meetings with major media at least 1 - 2 weeks before Japanese release day, as pre-press release. This is critical.

If this sort of ground-work is not fully prepared by the company and their reps in Japan, I strongly suggest that the company postpone the release of the product/service (and fire their  representatives and hire a competent company) and then get properly prepared. If this sort of pre-press release is done correctly, the Japanese media will then follow-up and prepare and study the circumstances of the product/service and company so that they may be able to publish and provide better information for the Japanese audience (don't forget that the Japanese media are competing with each other, too, to provide up-to-date concise information, so this has to be done. No short-cuts here). This is critical for the success of any new company in Japan.  

Even after years of repeated failures by various companies, to this very day, foreign companies come to Japan and repeat the mistakes Pepsi Cola and Seven-Up made decades ago. Some recent examples are Linkedin; E-Bay Japan, Google.jp, and a few others. (I strongly suspect Sugarsync is about to make the same mistake too!)

Take, for example, Linked-in. Linked-in came out with a Japanese version quite a while back but no one here in Japan uses it because no one knows about it; they had no local representation; no pre-press release information. 

Kind of shocking, when you think about it; a supposedly forward thinking company coming to Japan and making such an amateurish mistake. 

Well, Linkedin made that mistake. I also am quite familiar with this as I wrote a letter to Linkedin twice in early 2010 offering them a partnership with some companies that suggested tying up with Sony and placing the Linkedin software with all new Vaio computers sold. I sent them the letter twice. Twice, no response. Chuckle. Now, they've realized almost 1.5 years later that no one uses their Japanese language product (and probably won't). They blew a golden opportunity to tie up with one of the biggest companies in Japan... Now, what are they going to do?

You don't penetrate the Japanese market on the cheap and you usually have only one chance to get it right.

Let me make a prediction that I will stand by completely: Linkedin Japan will be a flop and failure along the lines of E-Bay in Japan.

Well, it's the start of another week. Keep positive. Write down your goals and smile.

The whole world loves happy people.

Legislating Morality - a Yakuza Case?

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it 
not for themselves." - Abraham Lincoln

Just a short post today about how I think people are confused with their ideas on how the government should legislate what we do and do not do in our daily lives. The idea that the government is here to help and protect the population flies against the historial record and defies common sense and the public's common experience. Examples? Need I remind dear reader of WWII? Minamata, TEPCO, Fukushima, tainted HIV, etc. etc. Oh! I could go on and on!


It's been decades of constant government growth and legislation (in Japan and elsewhere) on how we act, what we eat, who we associate with, what we put in our bodies, how our money is to be handled and who we go to war with... 


Decades of this and look at what we have today!


In Japan alone, a short list of recent debacles would include a graying and dying Japanese economy with no good prospects for the future; crippling debt that the Japanese people will never be able to repay; over 15.7 percent of the Japanese population under the poverty line; an increase in crime and a decline in morals... Do I even need to mention inept government handling and a constantly rising tax burden?


And yet, even with this record of repeated and consistent failures over the last two-plus decades, people still wish to legislate the behavior of others!!! 


Astounding.

Being a true anarcho-capitalist and a true conservative at the same time, let me state my opinions in a few points:

1) No wars

2) Limited and decreased taxes

3) Small government (#2 fixes that)

4) People are free to do as they please as long as they do not interfere with others

#4 means that people can do whatever they want - anything they want - as long as they do not bother or burden other people. That includes drugs, gay marriage, abortion, worshipping Zoroastrianism, dressing like Sailor Moon, driving drunk, drinking in public, smoking in public, refusing to serve anyone you wish in a private establishment, buying AKB48 CDs... etc. etc.

As an aside: I know many will say, "But drunk drivers kill people!" Yes. They do. It's illegal to drive drunk now, but people still do it. 

I suggest, instead of criminal court, these things are settled in civil court... Instead of going to jail for killing someone while drunk driving (and becoming a cost burden to others) I think, should you lose in civil court, you could be fined millions of dollars. Perhaps you'd pay 25% of your income for the rest of your life if so deemed in court, perhaps your wife and kids would lose your house and a place to live. I think that might motivate people to have insurance and think twice about drinking before driving.

The current laws prove that legislating this sort of behavior has had limited success at best.

But, this post is not about legislating drinking and driving, it is a complaint about how I still, to this very day, read curious stuff from people asking "Why doesn't the government outlaw this or that?" These questions are often asked by the very same like-minded people who, last March after the nuclear accident at Fukushima, asked "Why doesn't the government take over Fukushima Dai-ichi?" Sure. They ask this question a few sentences after they had just, moments before, complained how the government was in bed with TEPCO and allowed TEPCO to do shabby work and cut corners on safety.

Am I the only one who doesn't see this huge contradiction?

One group arbitrarily will stop you for no reason whatsoever.

The other won't talk to you unless they have a reason.

Today, I read an interesting blog about Yakuza in Japan. The writer posted;

"The yakuza, Japan’s organized crime groups, have close to 79,000 members. It’s very hard to understand why they are tolerated in Japanese society and not simply banned."

I wrote: 

Mike in Tokyo Rogers says:

23 October 2011 at 9:58 am

“It’s very hard to understand why they are tolerated in Japanese society and not simply banned.”

Am I the only one in the room who finds this sentence completely ridiculous and absurd? What the writer is asking is “why doesn’t the government outlaw an underworld organization?” Duh? If they weren’t outside the law already, they wouldn’t be underworld, would they? Or do you think they need to file a business permit with the government to run a Yakuza organization?

This writer confuses issues here. Seems like another socialist who thinks the government can legislate morals, habits and associations… You know, like how drunk driving is banned or driving without a seatbelt or even eating Fugu not prepared by a pro or even gambling?… Wow! You mean even though those are against the law, people still do it?

Who’d a thunk it?

And, to be fair, the writer of the article, Jack Adelstein graciously replied: 

Jake Adelstein says:

23 October 2011 at 10:06 am

The yakuza are recognized organizations by the Japanese government. They are regulated and monitored but their existence is not illegal per se. You note: “why doesn’t the government outlaw an underworld organization?” That’s not what I wrote.
If you’d like to understand more about how the yakuza are semi-legitimate entities please go to the National Police Agency Website and download the following file. It should answer most of your questions.
It may be that regulating organized crime groups rather than banning them works better at maintaining public order than banning them and driving them completely underground.
http://www.npa.go.jp/hakusyo/h22/english/White_Paper_2010_5.pdf

Thanks Jack. You are a good guy! I guess my writing must be poor because that wasn't really the point of my comment at all. My point was - what I consider to be - an absurd notion that anyone would even want to government to pass anymore legislation on anything? Especially if that something has any isues to do with our daily lives? Haven't the government passed enough laws already? Haven(t they done enough damage already?

(I am of the thinking that whenever these laws are passed, they create far too many bad effects. It's the law of unforeseen consequences as written in Henry Hazlitt's classic, "Economics in One Lesson." This is, after all, not really a legall question but an economic one....

But I digress.

Jake Adelstien is a well known (and excellent writer). He is an expert. Of anyone, he knows that the Japanese government and police have traditionally had many ties to the Yakuza too. I am thinking that, whenever I hear about this sort of thing, I am reminded of the great quote by Thomas Pynchon from Gravity's Rainbow:

"If they can get you to ask the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers."

In short, what I mean is that Japan has so many huge problems that affect people's daily existence and lives, worrying about the Yakuza is a side-show and just another excuse for the the police to insist that their budgets are kept up for next fiscal year... Just like prostitution, drugs, seat belt laws, blah, blah, blah. 

This is a very broad topic. Please refer to: "Sex Services in Japan First to Get Back to Business After Earthquake." 

Prostitution and the free exchange of time and services between two consenting adults is a free market ideal and a business that's been around since the beginning of society. No amount of government legislation will ever change that. Making laws that makes these activities illegal is pure nonsense.

You cannot legislate morality.

I applaud these businesses for getting back on track early and creating jobs for people. The economy needs it.

Anyhow, my point is back to the government interfering with our daily lives too much as it is already. Enough is enough!

If more government control and legislation over our lives were the answer to our problems then the Soviet Union would have been a very successful country.

The mere fact that the Japanese government has taken much more control over the Japanese economy over these last 20 + years - and the results of that control - shows that we need much less legislation and not more.

Writers who call for more legislation on anything just haven't been paying attention.

More: 

First They Came for the Smokers... But I Said Nothing Because I Wasn't a Smoker

Visit Jake Adelstien's wonderful blog, Japan Sub-Culture Research Center here: http://www.japansubculture.com

I also recommend Jake's great book: Tokyo Vice

http://www.japansubculture.com/tokyovice/