2. for the Japanese, business development is also fraught with uncertainty, and therefore care must be taken to avoid mistakes by collecting as much information as possible, avoid setting and then frustrating expectations by potential partners, and avoid a bad reputation by taking up a potential candidate's time with no positive end result. The end goal is forming a long term, strategic relationship. Yet, with no history whatsoever (that's what bus dev is all about isn't it? Starting something new), the chances of making mistakes are tangible. It is not esthetically pleasing, and could lead to a bad reputation, to have a beach littered with small, discarded, dying fish. Motai-nai - "waste not". So a relatively lot of planning and thinking is invested in deciding who the optimal partners are. When those few candidates are identified and approached for meetings, each one of them expects written material in advance, which will be read and discussed with the relevant people prior to agreeing to meet. Several people (experts) will be expected to join the meeting (once decided to meet you, they are serious about it) and schedules need to be coordinated. If you say you are coming during the week of October 10, then they will offer to meet you on those, say, two slots that are available for all the right people. It is very bad form, or at least leaves a bad taste, to ask for a meeting, being eventually answered in the affirmative, and then saying "no" because the schedules don't mesh. So the BA expert keeps all other potential partners on hold, waiting to set up the one meeting with Sony. Only after that, will the other meetings be set and confirmed. Voila - the frustration scenario.

Now obviously there are more complexities than I have presented above, but these are some of them. BTW OF COURSE I am not saying that one way is right, and the other wrong! The BA expert is being very professional and competent. The VP of Bus Dev from Western company is also being very professional and competent. The first step in mitigating the various frustrations that arise is to understand them.

Good luck out there!

Dan

***TRIANGLE TECHNOLOGIES NEWS***

Not this time

ISRAEL-JAPAN NEWS

No news, people of both countries enjoy summer vacaitons.

***BUSINESS NEWS***

+JAPANESE STOCKS EXTEND FOUR-YEAR HIGH

(http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/ August 23) - Japanese stocks continued their rally soaring to a fresh four-year high as traders snapped up shares sensitive to domestic demand on renewed hopes for the country's economic recovery. The Nikkei 225 index rose 20.42 points, or 0.16 percent, to 12,472.93. The broader TOPIX, which includes all issues on the exchange's first section, gained 2.18 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,272.00. its highest level since July 5, 2001.

+KOIZUMI CALLS SNAP ELECTION FOR SEPT 11 AFTER UPPER HOUSE REJECTS POSTAL BILLS

(Kyodo News, August 8) - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the House of Representatives on Monday for a national election as postal privatization bills, the centerpiece of his reform drive, failed to clear the legislature with a revolt by a greater-than-expected number of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers. Lower house Speaker Yohei Kono read out Emperor Akihito's edict to dissolve the chamber, which was issued under the Constitution upon the approval of the cabinet. Koizumi, who doubles as LDP president, also said he will not approve party members who voted against the bills in the lower chamber as candidates in the upcoming election. The upper house rejected the bills by 125 to 108 votes, as 22 LDP members joined the opposition camp in casting votes against them while eight other LDP members abstained from voting.

+KDDI SET TO ACQUIRE POWEREDCOM

(The Japan Times, July 30) - KDDI Corp. is engaged in final negotiations with Tokyo Electric Power Co. over its possible absorption of Tepco's telecom subsidiary, PoweredCom Inc., in January. A KDDI-PoweredCom merger would follow the acquisition of Japan Telecom Co. by Softbank Corp. last year. It would also reduce the number of major fixed-line telecom service groups in Japan to three - groups led by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Softbank Corp. and KDDI. KDDI, ranked third here in terms of fixed-line telecom services and second in the mobile phone business with its au services, plans to acquire all of PoweredCom's shares and give some of its own shares to Tepco (Japan's largest utility, owns nearly 84 percent of PoweredCom).

+GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES FOR PARENTAL LEAVE

(mainishi-msn.co.jp, Aug 19)In an effort to improve the birth rate, the Ministry of Health has said that it will decide in August whether to offer subsidies to companies with less than 100 people and which do not yet have a parental leave program. The amounts are JPY1m to a company which lets an employee return to work from parental leave, then another JPY500,000 for a second employee. The subsidies will likely be available from April, 2006, for a period of 5 years.

+1.3M MILLIONAIRES IN JAPAN

(nikkei.co.jp, Aug 18) Merrill Lynch-sourced statistic on changes in consumption by Japanese men features that there are now more than 1,300,000 people in Japan with financial assets exceeding JPY100m.

***TECHNOLOGY NEWS***

+JAPAN TO RESUME SUPERSONIC TEST FOR PASSENGER JET

(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS via www.dailybreeze.com, August 30) - Japan's space agency plans to launch an arrow-shaped airplane at twice the speed of sound high over the Australian outback in a crucial test of the country's push to develop a supersonic successor to the retired Concorde. The test follows a three-year hiatus since the first experimental flight of the unmanned aircraft, dubbed the next-generation supersonic transport, prematurely separated from its booster rocket and crashed into the desert. A successful mission will pave the way for additional experiments as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency wants to build a plane that can carry 300 passengers at Mach 2, It also will underpin a June agreement between Japan and France to jointly research such a plane over the next three years.

+WAKAMARU HUMANOID ROBOT IS NOW FOR SALE

(Kyodo, August 30)— Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will accept orders from Sept 16 to Oct 31 for the Wakamaru humanoid robot for use at home. Mitsubishi plans to sell 100 of the humanoid robots, 1-meter high and 30 kilograms in weight, for 1.58 million yen each.
Wakamaru is powered by rechargeable batteries and moves on wheels. It can work as a "secretary," taking note of the owner's schedule and announcing appointments. It can also serve as a "watchdog" by alerting the home owner in the event of a break-in.

+LAUNCH OF SPY SATELLITE POSTPONED

(Kyodo, August 26) - The government decided to postpone the launch of a third spy satellite from fiscal 2005 until fiscal 2006 due to a glitch in computer chips, government officials said. Replacing the chips and conducting tests on the new ones will take at least six months.

***LIFE SCIENCES AND ENVIRONMENT NEWS***

+BASOPHILIS PLAYS ROLE IN DEVELOPING CHRONIC ALLERGIES

(JCN, August 20) - Tokyo Medical and Dental University has disclosed the results of its latest research on chronic allergies. Specifically, the university's research group has discovered that basophilis plays a key role in the development of chronic allergies including atopic dermatitis and asthma. Basophilis is a kind of cell population that only accounts for 0.5% of leukocytes in the blood.

+CENTRAL GLASS TO RELEASE ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY LEAD-FREE MIRROR

(JCN, August 22) - Central Glass will bring to market an environmentally-friendly lead-free mirror, Mie Mirror Clean, does not use lead as a coating material. Moisture-, saline- and formalin-resistant, the mirror uses glossy float glass, giving distortion-free reflections. The mirror also has superb durability as it has silver coating, a reflection surface, copper-plated and has special protective coating over that.