Industry-Academic and Inter-corporate Collaboration in TAMA (Technology Advanced Metropolitan Area)

TAMA Industrial Activation Association Inc. (hereinafter the "TAMA Association"), was established by private companies, mainly product developing small and medium-sized enterprises, universities and other education and research organizations,industry associations,and local governments, in the western Tokyo metropolitan area. It is a practical example of an organization pioneering intermediation of industry-academic and inter-corporate collaboration and is viewed as a leading project of the Industrial Cluster Plan throughout the nation. Analyses of the cases of industry-academic and inter-corporate collaboration formed with the purpose of developing new technologies or products that are collected from the Association or in the region show that the TAMA Association is demonstrating its function as an intermediary organization. After that,this paper discusses requirements which enabled the TAMA Association and the collaboration cases to be successfully formed. In addition, this paper also tries to explain TAMA in relation to the concept of modularization.

The Nireco Poison Pill: The Impact of a Court Injunction

The emergence of a market for corporate control in Japan is a phenomenon that many commentators on Japan’s business and legal environs had been anticipating since the turn of the new millennium. A gradual decline in corporate crossshareholding and stable shareholding by financial institutions along with a concomitant increase in foreign and individual shareholders, a significant number of inefficient firms still being affected by Japan’s prolonged recession until recent years and trading at prices below their market value, and Commercial Code revisions making the legal environment more conducive to merger and acquisition activity and providing for more flexible restructuring mechanisms, all pointed to a potential hostile takeover trend akin to that which occurred in the United States during the 1980s. However, it was not until early 2005, when Takafumi Horie, CEO of the internet firm Livedoor, made an unsolicited bid for majority control over Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc., that the hostile-takeover era seemed to have officially arrived upon Japan’s doorstep. The ensuing media frenzy surrounding the rare hostile takeover attempt and the eventual decision by the Tokyo District Court to block Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc.’s issuance of stock purchase warrants to a friendly shareholder to thwart the takeover attempt compelled Japan’s government and business sectors into action. The result was a wide embrace of an ntitakeover mechanism commonly known as the “poison pill.” A Japanese manufacturer of hi-tech measuring devices was the first to officially act, when on March 14, 2005, just days after the Tokyo District Court’s first ruling in the Nippon Broadcasting case and a couple of months before the Japanese government would respond with its recommendations on the adoption of anti-takeover mechanisms, the board of directors of Nireco Co. voted to adopt a poison pill as a preliminary antitakeover device. The Nireco poison pill authorized the issuance of stock purchase warrants to the company’s current shareholders. These warrants could be exercised to dilute a hostile bidder’s shareholding in circumstances where the board of directors deems the acquisition not to be in the long-term interests of the company. However, the Nireco poison pill did not go unchallenged. On May 9, 2005, an investment fund owning 6.8% of Nireco’s outstanding shares filed a petition for a provisional injunction against the poison pill, arguing that the issuance of stock purchase warrants in the absence of a hostile bidder was grossly unfair because it would cause unforeseen financial harm to existing shareholders as well as to future shareholders. This Article focuses upon the attempt by Nireco’s board of directors to implement what would have been Japan’s first poison pill and the subsequent decision by the Tokyo courts to enjoin the preliminary anti-takeover device as grossly unfair. The authors examine the substantive and procedural characteristics of the poison pill, including the deficiencies prompting the Tokyo District Court to block Nireco its implementation, as well as the potential impact of the ourt’s decision on future business practice in Japan. By placing the court’s decision in the Nireco case within the history of jurisprudence relating to corporate issuances of new shares or stock purchase warrants challenged as grossly unfair under Japan’s Commercial Code, now the Company law, the authors seek to emphasize (1) the court’s shift away from the main purpose rule standard of judgment in favor of a reasonable means standard for evaluating anti-takeover mechanisms, whether adopted in the face of a hostile acquirer or simply as a preliminary anti-takeover device; (2) the court’s addition of pure economic harm to the list of potential harms to shareholders; and (3) lingering questions regarding the role of the general shareholder meeting in approving an anti-takeover mechanism. While the authors eschew any strong stance on the appropriateness of the poison pill within Japan’s corporate governance structure, they do predict that the judiciary will play a prominent role in the future development of anti-takeover mechanisms like the poison pill, in part due to the developments in the Nireco case

The Role of Product - Developing SMEs in Industrial Cluster Formation - Based on Empirical Analysis on TAMA (Technology Advanced Metropolitan Area) (Japanese)

This publication is in Japanese. Neither an English translation of the publication nor an English abstract is available.

The relationships between coping style, feelings for friends, and coping appraisal when college students feel interpersonal stress

The purpose of this research is to clarify the relationships between college students’ coping styles and their feelings for friends, and between coping styles and coping appraisal during their interpersonal friendship events. Initially, feelings for friends and coping appraisal were considered as variables in the process until coping affected mental health. Later, the differences between their feelings for friends and coping appraisal were explored by their choice of coping style. The results of cluster analysis of coping styles during interpersonal stress were divided into four groups. The variance analysis of coping styles and feelings for friends showed that the group using many positive relationship-oriented coping styles （e.g., “I tried to actively participate with the other party”） had higher “confidence/stability” feelings than did the other groups. The group with low use of negative relationship-oriented coping styles （e.g., “I tried to ignore the other party”） showed high “anxiety/concern” feelings, while the “rival” feeling was low in the group with lower use of positive relationship-oriented coping styles. The results of the variance analysis of coping styles and coping appraisal showed that the groups using positive relationship-oriented and postponed-solution coping styles （e.g., “I tried not to care about the other party”） more highly appreciated the efficacy of using these coping styles than did the other groups

Combination of high-resolution cone beam computed tomography and metal artefact reduction software: a new image fusion technique for evaluating intracranial stent apposition after aneurysm treatment.

We introduce a new imaging technique to improve visualisation of stent apposition after endovascular treatment of brain aneurysms employing high-resolution cone beam CT and three-dimensional digital subtraction angiography. After performing a stent-assisted coil embolisation of brain aneurysm, the image datasets were processed with a metal artefact reduction software followed by the automated image fusion programmes. Two patients who underwent aneurysm coiling using a Neuroform stent were evaluated. The reconstructed 3D images showed a detailed structure of the stent struts and identified malappositions of the deployed stents. Case 1 showed good apposition on the outer curvature side of the carotid siphon, while the inner curvature side showed prominent malapposition. Case 2, with multiple aneurysms, showed good apposition on both outer and inner curvature sides, although inward prolapse of the struts was observed. This new imaging technique may help evaluate stent apposition after the endovascular aneurysm treatment

The Effects of Job Entry Methods on Outcomes in Switching Jobs (Japanese)

From the 1990s onward, employment mismatching was a conspicuous problem in Japan and the development of an external labor market to enable the smooth allocation of the labor force became a pressing issue in order to promote structural reform and economic recovery. In that context, we examined job-switching trends, focusing particularly on the effects of job entry methods, which play an intermediary role in labor force allocation. In order to identify the effects of job entry methods, this paper analyzed the relationship between job entry methods and labor market outcomes for job switchers, based on a special aggregation of the Survey on Employment Trends published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and its regression analysis. Labor market outcomes were measured by the length of time required to find a new job ("no-job duration") and the change in wages between the previous and current jobs. The results of the analysis showed that the role played by information intermediation of the job entry methods is an important one, since "friends and relatives" and "introduction by the former employer" were more effective in producing favorable labor market outcomes than "public employment security offices"; that there is potential for "public employment security offices" to achieve better labor market outcomes by strengthening their information intermediation function; and that although "private employment agencies" are effective in producing favorable labor market outcomes and are expected to develop further, they cannot meet the needs of those who have difficulty finding employment, nor is their effect significant in provincial areas, so other job entry methods will continue to be important.

A Comparative Analysis of Job Entry Methods in Japan, the U.S. and Europe (Japanese)

Focusing on job entry methods used by job switchers, such as "employment agencies", "advertisements" and "friends and relatives," we conducted a study comparing Japan, the U.S. and major European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the U.K.) to examine the relationship between the job entry methods and labor market outcomes as indicated by the "no-job duration" (the time between leaving one job and starting another) and the wage change (the difference between wages in the former job and the current job), through descriptive statistical analysis and regression analysis of micro data from each of the target countries. We conducted the analysis concerning Japan ourselves, while analysis of the U.S. and Europe was conducted by Hashimoto (2004) and Fahr and Schneider (2004) in response to RIETI requests. This paper uses the results of these three analytical studies to compare Japan, the U.S. and Europe. The results of the comparison confirmed that in all three regions "public employment agencies" fulfill the role of providing a job search method for workers who are disadvantaged in the labor market, such as those who were separated from their jobs involuntarily, those with a low level of formal education, and older workers. They also confirmed that in most countries "private employment agencies" achieve relatively better labor market outcomes. Furthermore, as far as the data up to 2000 used for the study indicates, in Japan there is still room for improvement in labor market outcomes achieved by "public employment agencies" relative to other entry methods, compared to Europe and the U.S.

Lifetime reduction of a quantum emitter with quasiperiodic metamaterials

Enhancement of light-matter interaction of a quantum emitter with subwavelength quasiperiodic metamaterials is proposed and demonstrated. The quasiperiodic metamaterials consist of subwavelength metal-dielectric multilayers, which are arranged into a Fibonacci lattice. The influence of Fibonacci metamaterials (FM) on the dipole emission is analyzed with a semiclassical model. The local density of states near FM is evaluated and a characteristic mode in higher wave numbers is revealed; a strong enhancement of the decay rate was predicted. A lifetime measurement is carried out and a reduction of lifetime of quantum dots on the surface of FM is observed. The enhancement of light-matter interaction arises from the localized latticelike state inherent for self-similar quasiperiodic order