Itoki Corporation. (head office: Osaka, president: Kiyotaka Kaneko), LINC Media Inc. (head office: Tokyo, president: Terrie Lloyd), and Hitachi Information Systems Ltd. (head office: Tokyo, president: Iwao Hara) have formed a business partnership to operate Japan Concierge Service (http://www.japanconcierge.com/), which provides a variety of support services for overseas companies wishing to enter the Japanese market.

Hitachi Information Systems joins Itoki and LINC Media in the operation of Japan Concierge Service, which the later two companies have been operating together. Through the expanded partnership, Japan Concierge Service will offer full-scale one-stop support service for overseas companies conducting global business. Services for companies wishing to expand their business to Japan include introduction of business partners in Japan , establishment of business facilities such as offices and factories, and building of IT infrastructure such as network creation and system operation.

There has been a rapid increase in overseas companies entering the Japanese market in recent years. And with that, the market for providing support to those companies has also expanded. Japan Concierge Service was started in August 2005 by LINC Media, a corporate that provides consultation for overseas companies entering the Japanese market. In that service, LINC Media provides information from companies wishing to enter the Japanese market to Itoki, which then selects candidate customers and partners from its approximately 20,000 Japanese corporate customers and performs business matching. That and other services make Japan Concierge Service a one-stop source for the various services needed to start business in Japan , starting with office establishment.

Using this service allows overseas companies to develop business partnerships in Japan even before entering the market. It also allows those companies to start up their businesses in Japan in a short amount of time at low cost. To date, IT companies from places such as the United States , Australia , and New Zealand have used Japan Concierge Service to start up offices in Japan .

Hitachi Information Systems provides a wide range of IT services for global corporations including its NETFORWARD/GL services for building and running international networks and its server outsourcing services utilizing data centers. With the addition of Hitachi Information Systems services to the selection offered in Japan Concierge Service, the full range of necessary services can now be provided. That includes everything from setting up small offices for new market entrants to constructing large-scale facilities such as factories, logistics centers and research labs and building an IT infrastructure that can handle global-scale business. Furthermore, adding the Hitachi Information Systems business network (customer assets and clients) to the Itoki business network allows the introduction of a wide range of Japanese business partners such as the Hitachi group companies to overseas corporations.

With the opportunity provided by this expansion of the Japan Concierge Service menu, Itoki, LINC Media, and Hitachi Information Systems are now set to deploy this service in earnest to overseas companies entering the Japanese market.

The aim is to provide services to overseas companies entering the Japanese market and those already carrying out business in Japan (a total of 100 companies). Sales targets are for 2.6 billion yen in the coming three years.

Japanese market research

Translation and interpretation services

Introduction to possible Japanese customers

IT Support

Introduction to possible Japanese sales agents

PR/marketing

Recommendation of logistics services and logistics facilities

Other business-related support

Registration of subsidiaries in Japan

Business matching

Tax-related advising

Daily living support

Obtaining visas

Recommendation of hospitals where English can be used

Advising on Japanese laws

Recommendation of supermarkets that carry foreign products

Salary and personnel

Housing recommendations

Employee education

Recommendation of international schools

M&A

Japan Concierge Service makes it possible for companies entering the Japanese market to make efficient use of time by concentrating on their original business such as developing customers and negotiating with business partners.

In addition to setting up business meetings, explaining how to get to customers' offices, making reservations for hotels, bullet trains and airplanes, and providing interpreters, the service meets a wide-range of needs of companies that have recently entered the Japanese market.

The service also provides companies with an opportunity to market their business using our own network. We also aid foreign companies in their efforts to approach Japanese companies.

Hitachi Information Systems is an IT service corporate with strengths in providing a full range of solutions from design and development of systems that utilize packages to network building and data center operation. Under the slogan of “The Best Application Solution,” it provides highly reliable IT services in a wide range of fields including municipal governments, financial institutions, and the manufacturing and logistics industries.

LINC Media consults for overseas companies on entering the Japanese market. It also provides system integration in English and outsourcing of engineers skilled in both Japanese and English. LINC Media has further started a consultation service for municipal governments that wish to attract overseas companies. To date it has provided a variety of support for a number of municipal governments in attracting such companies.

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