Chinese Fan Cools Japanse Summer

Hit by the worst nuclear energy crisis, Japan will now face another natural disaster, sizzling summer and soaring heat stroke patients.

Due to the shutdown of nuclear power generators, the government has imposed a limit on energy use, the directly impacted will be millions of citizens who face a summer that has kicked into a high gear since early May and has not shown mercy. Kumagaya in Saitama recorded 39.8C on June 24, and Japan authorities reported the heat wave is the highest in 50 years.

The number of patients who suffer from heat stroke and had to be delivered to hospitals are increasing by several folds, around 3,000 had been rushed to hospitals nationwide last week.

One relief is electric fans that were made in China. As Japanese makers have shifted the production to China, this May has seen 3.21 million fans cleared Tokyo Customs. Even so, residents in some areas of Japan still find no fans left in their electronic store shelves.

From rare earth ban to toxic frozen gyoza (dumplings), who could have think electronic fan become another hot item on Sino-Japan trade list. However, this time is different: Japanese are eager to embrace for made-in-china goods, either with little or no choice.

(I will soon hit the road, mostly in Ghana for the next one month and half. After that, I will transition to Dhaka, Bangladesh. The posting therefore will be sporadic, if none at all during this transition period. I wish everyone a good summer. Stay cool!)

China's Large Packaging Nation, follow Japan's lead

Coming back from a trip to China, I can't help noticing a sea change of packaging to everything, even the street vendor who were selling stick rice balls packaged his stuff in a gift package!

Heck, a few years ago, that would have been imaginable. Back then, substance was the king, how cared what it comes in, what mattered was the stuff inside.

What's happening reminds me of a ancient story, a Zheng Kingdom merchant packaged his peal in a scented wood box, decorated with all kinds of jade. One buyer purchased the jewelery, but returned the pearl later but kept the box. In Chinese, the so called Maizhuhuandu (buying the pearl but keeping the box) has since stayed in writings and speakings.

The importance of packaging to a product is not new, in Japan, people have long desired a gift bag that is from a well-known department stores in Ginza, Tokyo. Some times, people just like a gift simply because it came with a Seibu or Hankyu logo on it.

Now, China has followed up with a even fierce force. The gift-exchange trend is such that you have to carry a nicely printed package to go with everything. Street walkers during the New Year season all carried around various kinds of packages, whether they contain rice cakes or yogurt, they all come with a nicely printed bag.

Could it be a repeat of history or a new trend?