June 2011

William Keating & Interlink is who you may want to “link up” with when moving to Japan.

New Member Initiative

ACCJ Walkathon LetterWalkathon Chair Bryce Conlan expresses his appreciation

ACCJ Chubu introduces new membershipinitiatives and fees

Chubu Edition

Linking Up

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“Linking up” to make you feel at home, away from home

If you were suddenly asked to transfer to a foreign country, probably you would be at a loss about everything in such a new world. Interlink Relocation is always a supporter for those people. Moreover they have every answer for every lifestyle need.

Interlink Relocations is a Fushimi-based relocation firm that provides relocation services for many companies, such as Boeing, Denso, and Aisin, to name a few. Interlink’s services feature many services ranging from: real estate searching, driver’s license conversion, and departure planning for when clients return to their home country.

Simply put, they are responsible for finding a home for its busy clients, and making its clients and family feel at home while being placed in an extraterrestrial envi-ronment, and making sure its clients get home with a good experience during the stay in Japan.

We got a chance to speak with Mr. William Keating, director of “Interlink Relocations.” He explained not only the contents of his job but also Japanese owners’ xenophobia with sometimes his joke and fluent Japa-nese.

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By: Reika Akiyama, Haruna Arafuka, Ayano Tajima of Kinjo Gakuin University

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Newsletter (NL below): Could you please tell me about your company’s relocation process?

First, customers come to Japan for about a one-week just to find a place to live, and it is the most important part. We show them various properties based on their needs and their living conditions. After they decide on a place, they go back to their country. In the mean-time, we do everything for them such as furniture lease, connecting to all utilities including Internet, phone and television. Also, we prepare explanations of how they are used in English before they get there. About one month later, they move to Japan. We pick them up, take them to the property and teach them how to use the appliances and stuff there. We also have a welcome packet that tells them about local informa-tion such as shopping, transportation, maps and provide them little name card so they can get around comfort-ably.

NL: A name card? What is it like?

Yeah, it looks like a meishi to put in their wallet. It has their name, address, the closest station and little maps both in English and in Japanese, so you can utilize it when you get in a taxi or stuff like that.

NL: Wow, that’s amazing!

That one is actually a very little thing, but it is really help-ful. You know, I can read, speak and write Japanese, but I cannot remember my address sometimes, so it is very nice to have the reference.

www.interlinknagoya.com

NL: THat is real customer-friendly service...

Also, sometimes what we do is go to the supermarket or drugstore with our clients when they first get here. You know, if you are in a foreign country, you might get stuck like “which one is fat milk?” or “how do I find sugar and salt? “ So we assist their first shopping trip.

Now we move to the next step, registrations. We manage their immigration process, set up of bank accounts and cell phone service. The main thing is that we are able to get everything done very quick-ly. If you don’t know the system, it will take long. The companies want them to start on the job quickly so everything has to be done on time.

NL: You offer many kinds of support

Well… actually we offer more additional services. If they call us, we arrange a repairperson, delivery service, and anything like that.

We also have 5 cell phone numbers which serve as an emergency help line; which are available after 6pm and on weekends. Mind you, they are only for emergency. We don’t usually show up, but we some-times go to help them as an interpreter if they need. Also we provide another additional service called driver’s license conversion program. It’s like a hotel service isn’t it?

NL.. Absolutely. By the way, I heard that some Japanese owners refuse to rent to foreigners. In the process, have you ever faced any difficulties like that?

As you know, it doesn’t happen in America as it is against laws. But actually it does happen here. While most of our clients tend to live in downtown like Fushi-mi where there are many foreign people already, some clients choose to live out of town because of the location of their work place.

The thing is that some individuals or elderly owners tend not to be familiar with foreign people. Also, it tends to be more difficult in the countryside.

What we do is to contact them to explain our sup-port services and introduce the clients’ backgrounds, but some owners still say “no foreigners”. You know what, sometimes we get property sheets from the owners, and it has occurred only a couple of times, but it is said “No pets, No Gaijin”. Gaijin are some-times considered a pet! (joking)

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www.TheMeatGuy.jpinfo@TheMeatGuy.jp

What we do is to contact them to explain our support services and introduce the clients’ backgrounds, but some owners still say “no foreigners”. You know what, sometimes we get property sheets from the owners, and it has occurred only a couple of times, but it is said “No pets, No Gaijin”. Gaijin are sometimes considered a pet! (joking)

NL: In that case, do you usually continue to persuade them?

Well, we don’t waste of a lot of time and just try the next properties… you know we want to satisfy the clients without having them wait for long.

NL: You are always on the client’s side. I’m sure you have received so much good feedback from your cli-ents.

All feedback make me happy. My philosophy on cus-tomers is they are friends. It is important to make them satisfied here because they are disconnected to their family and friends in their home country.

I’m very impressed with your hospitable supports and they must reassure all clients.

www.nagmag.jp

For Lifestyle news, visit:

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Event Report|Walkathon

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to send out a big Thank You to Everyone who was involved or took part in our 20th Anniversary Walk-athon. I thought (from what i saw) it was a pretty good event, apart from that small hiccup in the middle of the day with the rain. I really hope everyone was able to enjoy the day and all the great activities that we had prepared.

There are so many people that I want to thank and I know I am going to miss someone, so please do forgive me but I do thank you:

I wish to Thank all of the Planning Committee for putting in so many hours and hours of your time in preparing for the event over the last 8 or 9 months. Great Job all round!!

I want to Thank all of the volunteers (and I know many will not get this email so if you know a group and can pass this on, that would be great) that helped on the day. There were so many of you and you all did a fantastic job. Espe-cially all the student volunteers that came and helped.

I want the Thank Irene Dewald for being our official MC for the day and sorry if I made you look bad. Irene, you did a great job for your first Walkathon and we really hope you can come back again next year!!

I also want to thank all the corporate sponsor, the ACCJ and Nagoya International School who made the event possible and also a big thank you to all the Golden Ticket supporters. And a very big Thank You to the Winner of the ticket from IMRA who very kindly offered to donate the car to the people of Tohoku as well. How amazing was that!! Thank you so much for your generosity.

Also Thank you to all the bands, performers, dancers, kids activity organizers/helpers who made the event so special and fun this year. You all did an amazing job. I just had to use this photo attached of the Storm Trooper taking part and enjoying the Drum Circle. How cool is that!!

Thank you also to the charities that came out and took part in the event and helped show where everyones money actually goes to. It was so good to see so many charities taking part this year and also to see so many people around the charity area.

If you are on Facebook, please check out the Walkathon page as we are putting some photos up and will continue to do so and will also be putting some up on the website so please keep checking back on that: www.Nagoy-aWalkathon.com

We will also be holding a “Hansei-Kai” or “Postmortem” to discuss this years event and what we can do to make next years better!! I will keep you updated on when that will be. We will also keep you updated on the final numbers for participants and ticket sales as soon as we know. This is a big reminder, that if you still have unsold tickets or money from tickets sold, please get it back to us as soon as possible. Please contact me by email (bryce_conlan@moreth-anrelo.com) or the ACCJ office on 052-229-1525 to let us know and ask about how to get it to us.

Thank you again for making the 20th Anniversary so special and so fantastic. Hope to see you all again Next year.

Kind Regards,

Bryce Conlan2011 Walkathon Chair

ACCJ Chubu

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Event Report|Walkathon

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Schedule of Events

Vivian Tokai heads the Diversity team at Citibank Japan, aunique position for a Japanese woman, as only 6% of women inJapan are in management positions. Previously, Vivian heldmany other leadership posts – as the Director of Government Relations at GE Japan, the Public Affairs Manager at UPS, and asa Sports News Anchor/Weekend News Anchor at TBS and NHK.And just last year she ran as an LDP candidate for the UpperHouse Election in the Japanese Parliament! All theseopportunities gave her first-hand experience on how to get things accomplished.

Vivian will talk about a hot topic in business today, Diversity, and its growing importance in the work-place. Diversity is important for both women and men, and for the future of Japan. Many hints will be offered on how companies and women can work together to be more successful and achieve more diverseworkplaces.

We are sure that you will be able to take awayinvaluable lessons on how you can be more confident in your approach to business strategy. Come join us for a stimulating conversation about your future!

The Women in Business Committee

*TO REGISTER: Please email chubu@accj.or.jp by Tuesday, May 31.

Please use the date of the event in the subject line of your email; 060211.

COST (includes light buffet and soft drinks)ACCJ Members: 5,000 yenANCZZJ, CCEA, and TJCS Members: 5,500 yenNon-Members: 6,000 yen

Please send cancellation before the signup deadline to avoid the full meeting fee.

If you have any questions, please contact Noriko Kato at:052-229-1525 or <chubu@accj.or.jp>.

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“Diversity and Succeeding in the Workplace”

Ms. Vivian Tokai

Chief Diversity Officer, Citibank Japan Ltd.

Thursday, June 2, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.6:30-7:30 (Business Program)7:30 - 9:30 (Light Buffet/Networking)Location: Hilton Nagoya, 4F SakuraMAP:http://go.accj.or.jp/hiltonnagoya

http://ameblo.jp/elitus

e-mal: academy@elitusnet.com| tel: 050.5532.9245

Courses Offered: Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced/Adult /

Corporate Programs & More

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www.casa-nagoya.com

e-mal: academy@elitusnet.com| tel: 050.5532.9245

http://heureuse.jp/central

http://heureuse.jp/central

Executive Annoucements

ACCJ ANNOUNCES NEW MEMBERSHIP PLANS

Academic Institution Accommodation to Company Membership

The ACCJ Announces new membership plans to welcome budding entrepreneurs and increase involvement with the community and local universities. We hope to see you soon at a nearest ACCJ event!

Basic RequirementMust be an accredited Japanese or foreign university or academic institution, or school/department thereof.

Specific Accommodations

- 180,000 Yen/year membership fee discounted to 120,000 Yen/year.- 1 member plus 3 guests (students, faculty, administration) from institution may attend ACCJ events at member price. - The time period during which the academic institution could sign up for this accommodation would be 1 year from the date of announcement by ACCJ.

Individual Academic Accommodation to Individual Membership

Basic Requirement

Individual must currently be employed as faculty member or administrative staff of an accredited Japanese or foreign university or academic institution, or school/department thereof.

“Budding Entrepreneur” Accommodation to Existing Membership

Basic Requirement

Must be a resident of the Chubu re-gion. Must be currently, or within the last three months, engaged in lan-guage teaching, international relations, or some other form of “non-business” related employment at the discretion of the Membership Committee.

Must be able to articulate an idea for a new business. Must agree to attend at least 6 events.

- 75,000 Yen/year membership fee discounted to 35,000 Yen/1 year.

(Non-renewable)

Specific Accommodations

- 75,000 Yen/year membership fee discounted to 50,000 Yen/year. - 1 member plus 3 students from the institution may attend ACCJ events at member price.

Corresponding with our chapter’s aim to encourage, promote, and foster entrepreneurialism we would like to create anew, limited, one year membership campaign aimed at individuals with aspirations to create theirown business.

We believe that if we can give them a discounted entry into the ACCJ, our programs and support can turn them into regular and engaged members. Our main target is foreigners involved in English teaching through the JET or ALT programs. We expect that we can sign up 20 - 30 new members in the next 6 months under this category, increaseparticipation at events, and retain close to 50% of those as Individual Members.

Specific Accommodations

A

B

C

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ADVERTISE ON THE

ELITUS DESIGN. FOR ALL YOUR CREATIVE NEEDS.

Ozone 3-17-5-903, Kita-Ku, Nagoya Aichi 462-0825E-Mail: jk@elitusnet.com

FOR MORE DETAILS, CONTACT: Jo Kurino (Elitus, K.K.) at: jk@elitusnet.com

or Ms. Noriko Kato (ACCJ Manager) at: nkato@accj.or.jp

Chubu

www.elitusdesign.com

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ACCJ ANNOUNCES NEW MEMBERSHIP PLANS

- 180,000 Yen/year membership fee discounted to 120,000 Yen/year.- 1 member plus 3 guests (students, faculty, administration) from institution may attend ACCJ events at member price. - The time period during which the academic institution could sign up for this accommodation would be 1 year from the date of announcement by ACCJ.