Kohaku Utagassen 2015

The 66th edition of Kohaku Utagassen was won by the ladies (Akagumi) after four years of losing to the guys (Shirogumi).

We are in a time in Japan when there are no majorly outstanding stars in the music scene and both teams had to play strategically to make the most out of their chance to win. With the lack of new talent, once again the reliance on the long-standing stars was the only resource both teams had at hand.

The show started with an immediate loss from Shirogumi when Go Hiromi took the stage and was paired with Sakurako Ohara. If there were major highlights, this was a moment to point out. A 19 year-old girl took winning points from a long-standing veteran.

As things continued, Shirogumi recovered and gained some ground in the first half of the show, but they did so with no highlights and while using the boy bands with boys who are no longer boys. Kyoshi Hikawa scored with a good performance and everybody else didn't stand out apart from Arashi who did well.

On the side of the ladies there were a few performances that scored the winning points. Kana Nishino, Nogizaka46, and Miwa provided that overall higher ground Akagumi needed to win, but the people in charge of delivering the win are: E-girls with a good performance that could have been better, Ikimonogakari, and NMB48. Perfume can counted in the winning team, but they could have delivered a better performance with a better song. The definite moment when Akagumi won was when AKB48 performed and brought back Atsuko Maeda and Yuko Oshima. Everything else is really history that was enhanced by Seiko Matsuda and Akiko Wada as the show came to its final stages.

Other highlights that are important and worth mentioning are, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi in the stage as occasional MC and the Anime Kohaku which is something quite innovative for a show of this magnitude. This was a very good move that caught the attention of animation fans and therefore more votes.

A good strategic game dominated the whole show and in a way this year's Kohaku was matched in favor of the changing social reality of Japan. It was thought out to drive people to vote with timings that matched when both young people and the elderly were going to be in front of the TV with their remote control to vote. In a country that has more women than men, getting them to swing their vote to Akagumi was key for the latter to win. All timings were provided equally to the two teams at all the different stages of the show giving the highest moments of opportunity to vote for one or the other team. A good combination of young and old stars at strategic times during the first and second half of the show with a heavy focus during the golden time drove the overall activity towards deciding the win of Akagumi. At the end, especially the last hour, it was almost not necessary to watch the show with all the stars from 35 years ago performing and this is what made the decision in favor of Akagumi peak before the show concluded.

Congratulations to the ladies for winning the show and for doing so strategically and carefully turning obstacles in their favor.

Year in Review 2015

This year is all about numbers and meaningful statistics that have seen me in the air very often.

In 2015 I lived in many countries for short and long periods of time. With a total of more than 200 nights at hotels and over 6 months outside of Japan, I have been in Singapore, Hong Kong, The US, The UK, The Philippines, Malaysia and also in Korea.

With more than 80 individual flights boarded, 165,000 miles flown and 23 times outside of Japan, I can say that this is the year when my company has become truly global.

Looking after client relationships in many countries has opened new horizons that followed my overall trend in personal perspective and for all of you who know what I mean, changing places is not something I refer to as an unusual trend in my life.

As 2015 transforms itself into 2016, I here thank all of you who have made my own transformation possible. Both good and not so good relationships established this year allowed me to conquer the enormous achievements of 2015 that now take me to a new perspective in life.

Kohaku Utagassen 2014

For as long as there are more women than men in Japan Shirogumi is likely to continue to win, but this doesn't mean they have what it takes to do so.

This year's Kohaku can be defined in two ways. Originality and new songs in part of the ladies behind Akagumi and old songs represented by the gentlemen's side which at times resembled the return of the walking dead due to how old some of the selections made for them where.

The highlights were delivered by Yuriko Yoshitaka and her brilliant MCing for the ladies and all songs played by them. In a year where Ayumi Hamasaki was not in the show, the 48 formula delivered in all its variations was great. In addition, Miwa, E-girls, Ikimonogakari, Kana Nishino, Sayaka and Carry Pamyu Pamyu carried all scores.

On the men's side the only few highlights were delivered by Sekai no Owari and AAA. All else was old and boring.

The downsides and the wrongly done. Nagabuchi and his disaster appeals, Hiromi Go.....Why? Yakishimaru Hiroko...Why? And more importantly why was Seiko Matsuda paired against Arashi at the end of the show?

While rather entertaining, the 2014 edition of Kohaku tells us that the ladies drove the music industry in Japan last year, but once again the effortless have been rewarded for not having done much with a great appeal to the mass of voters.

Year in Review 2014

I always tend to think that a year is only 12 short months long and that in simplistic terms little change happens from start to end. While this may hold true for most people I must say that if there’s been a year defined by change this year has got to be it.

From the start of 2014 my company and I started at full speed being very active from the very first week of the year. As work got progressively busy, the company grew and the more it grew I made the decision to invest growth in more growth. Truth to the fact, a lot of money was invested in this and in what I now call the year of internationalization.

Always never comfortable sitting at a fixed place I made the most of my inherently nomad capability by working from anywhere anytime literally round the clock and of course having fun along the way. All this while keeping some sort of work/life balance in place for the sake of good sanity.

This year I travelled out of Japan 8 times for work and this tells a great story. It also goes without saying that the results behind the story have been great.

London, of course London to get started with travel and while in there my wifey and I got to see the football (soccer) world cup from different perspectives while of course being engaged in a dynamic business life.

London Technology week brought me to international stages by the hand of partner company Emarsys (that absolutely loves Adrian Roche KK). This propelled my exposure while my wifey and I strengthen new bonds in a city we absolutely love in much the same way we love Tokyo.

My later travels took me to Singapore and ad:tech ASEAN, to another stage with my partner company where my international exposure continued. From then on, Mumbai was next for busy work at beloved partner company Neosoft Technologies.

It was great to be in Mumbai and meet in person the best developers (on earth) I’ve ever had and it was even greater to feel welcomed with open arms to a city I never thought I was ever going to visit. Great admiration goes to Mumbai and his great people. And it goes without saying again and on this particular note that my passion for very spicy curry got on me like never before.

Soon after the start of the great discoveries that took place in mid year, a bumpy road arose. In looking back today I’m glad the bumpy road presented itself when it did since otherwise I would not have the life I have today.

At the end July 2014 I ended the relationship with my primary shareholder and regained control of my company giving me 100% of Adrian Roche KK. After a buy-back of shares we became privately owned and after the bumps, I can say things will stay this way for a long time and of course this is all in the spirits of no hard feelings to the former shareholder who so much had done to bring this company up to existence.

Summer found us in a great position to make things better and new markets opened in Hong Kong with new clients. Later on new opportunities in Ho Chi Minh, a city of dreams I deeply enjoyed which I am now bound to revisit because of the quality of work our design partners produce there.

From then on I re-discovered my passion for teaching and started developing the business of a Japanese client entering Singapore and this way Singapore has become my 2nd home.

With three more visits in the year to Singapore and now with real business connections driven by tangible results at a regional level, I am truly established as an international regional player. Adrian Roche KK is now a company that exists in other parts outside of Japan and my name is now being more recognized in the markets where I work today.

What a year this has been! I am deeply grateful.
I have put my name and the name of my company on the map, people in many countries and cities love us and I feel welcomed to tears every time I travel to all my countries.

As 2014 draws to an end I must say THANK YOU! Thank you, Japan, Singapore, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong and a very special thank you for all else said in the personal heart front to London! And also to the very many Brits who stood behind Argentina in the World Cup final game!

Kohaku Utagassen 2013

The 64th edition of Kohaku Utagassen held no surprises. The show was rather plain and less exciting than previous years. The gents won again and this time I give great respect to them for having delivered a win with nothing.

In general the music scene in Japan was rather boring in 2013 with no new artists standing out, no big-hit songs and no raise of existing artists. Perhaps all due to some structural changes at giant Avex Tracks.

Kohaku Utagassen reflected the industry trend and it was all up to the marketing efforts of each team to deliver an appealing show. The ladies made their effort with a good lineup which was not properly matched by their host Ayase Haruka who put a very tense performance filled with mistakes in enunciation and timings.

Overall and once again Kudos go to Arashi for great MCing, but that's to expect after four years in the job. Ayase made her effort, but in humble opinion, she lost in landslide the moment she cried when presenting the story she chose to produce and cover.

Emotional moments on both sides, Arashi delivered the goods and certainly a high number of votes with their story "furusato" which was one of the best moments in the show.

This year white won again with a conservative and safe approach filled with the right emotions at the right time and with great hosts. The ladies put a great show of innovation, new songs and effort, but were greatly not managed well by a host who seemed sometimes lost and full with hesitation.

Looking forward, we should expect the music industry to come to life again in 2014. For now, good job boys on having done it again!

Year in Review 2013

Anything that falls short of “Wow” with all that “wow” entails is an understatement at the time of defining the year in simple terms.

This year is full of learnings and professional development filled with great surprises.
Although with “downs” quickly turned into “ups,” 2013 was especially fantastic on the life side of things with of course the usual healthy mix of work intermingled heavily at all times.

Around March I discovered that I was going to become a father again later in the year. This was a pleasant surprise and everything that happened from that moment onwards took new meaning. It all went with a sense of urgency, a healthy sense of urgency filled with love and renewed passion for all things, passion I applied to every moment.

In April I traveled to London for Internet World 2013. This was a fantastic event where I discovered new knowledge and created new business relationships. I was also blessed with the longest sunny week in London which apparently doesn’t happen very often over there. I also reconnected with a friend I had not seen in a long time. This set the tone for a year filled with lots of international travel.

A week in Hong Kong in July followed London. I spent a good amount of time learning a great deal of Big Data and behavioral marketing there. Australia and the Gold Cost were next just to prove that a weekend escapade to Australia from Japan is possible. That is, if there is a three-day weekend. Later in the year my work took me to Hong Kong again for more business and learning.

In all I have been outside of Japan 4 times this year and this is a record in all my 14 years in Japan, especially so considering that in general I dislike flying.

My 2nd daughter Mine was born in November and with her my latest life of the last four years makes sense. With her I discovered more than ever than following my heart is not just something nice to do, but my human duty.

This year 2013 is a great year filled with great events and feelings, a great year to remember.

Kohaku Utagassen 2012

The 2012, edition 63 of Kohaku Utagassen ended with the win of Shirogumi.

Shirogumi won just barely and in a show that from the start set a rather strange retro tone.

Hamasaki Ayumi playing a medley of songs from ten years ago started a retro flavor that continued throughout the whole show and for both teams.

In this 63rd edition of the show, all performers were confined to one scenario that resembled a tunnel which was kept stable for all. With the exception of choreography, the singers did not have many possibilities of individualization and as a result all performances where rather plain and almost forcibly standardized.

In a year when women performed their best and sold records in high numbers it was quite puzzling to see some of the things that happened in the 4.5 hours of performances. Why were there artists like Nakajima Mika, Yuki, Ayaka and Koda Kumi in the show when they clearly were not top selling artists in 2012? Why was the whole Enka category so weak? and why was Missia in the show when she clearly did not exist in 2012?.....and why sending her to perform from a desert in Namibia?

On the side of the men things were slightly different and equally puzzling with songs being performed not by non-existent performers, but by current artists who appear to have benefited by the retro tone. This comes as no surprise since they never had a chance to win in the first place. Their overall performance and track record of 2012 was quite weak and there was clearly no real winner in their team. They all had to relate to old songs to make an impact forward.

Good performers from Akagumi with great performances this year were: AKB48, Momoiro CloverZ, Yui, Ikimono Gakari, Carry Pamyu Pamyu, Perfume, and Sakamoto Fuyumi.
Good performances from Shirogumi: Arashi, NYC, Golden Bombers, Sato Kazuyoshi, AAA, Naoto Intiraimi, and Tachi Hiroshi.

In summary, the overall retro trend helped the men and hadn’t it been for it Akagumi would have won rightly as they deserved.