I just attended the largest building show in all of Korea with over 700 exhibitors and 150,000 attendees in Seoul this week. The KH Fair had every building product conceivable and some very impressive exhibits from Korea and other parts of the world. Green building construction and healthy living seemed to be the biggest trend and was seen throughout the different exhibits at the show. As a result, the wood construction and building products section was well exhibited with new products and designs.

BC Wood partnered with CMHC International to showcase a variety of wood products at the event and promote companies through advertising efforts. Korea has typically been considered a raw materials market, our exhibit had several finished wood products including a Western Red Cedar Gazebo and some high end finished furniture from British Columbia. The end result was positive and many Korean buyers were impressed by the unique quality products from Canada.

Despite the downturn in the Korean economy, the show was very well attended and our booth attracted a lot of interest. Many of our exhibitors were new to the Korean market, but were very impressed by the people, wood culture and enthusiastic levels of interest in our wood products.

I just picked up the current edition of an interior design magazine called SUSU. Their reporters covered last fall’s 100% Design Tokyo show and were particularly impressed with Brent Comber’s work. It is great to get this kind of free exposure for our members and our office. I expect that other magazines will be publishing stories for us shortly. Stay tuned!

Download SUSU no 4 -Brent Comber

Today we visited two more companies that we thought would be good targets for our members coming to the Nikkei Show. It was our first time to visit these companies, but they proved quite receptive to our members' products.

The first company we visited is a custom kitchen specialist. They have been in business for 34 years serving the greater Tokyo market. They have a beautiful showroom with four full-time kitchen designers on staff in Tokyo's upscale Meguro Ward. Their head-office is near-by (we didn't visit it) where the rest of the staff are located. This office is mainly geared towards handling sales to developers of high-end condominium projects, while the showroom is for home owners.

All of the kitchens they do are custom. The units are supplied by two Japanese manufacturers, one that specializes in solid wood doors and another that does veneered doors. Solid door cabinets are popular with clients, but they have become difficult to handle as there are very few companies in Japan that can produce them and quality wood to make them is hard to come by (I smell a good opportunity here!). As a result, solid doors have become too expensive so clients have moved to veneered doors. Currently 5-10% of their business is in solid doors, 15% melamine, and the rest veneered. They are very fond of and mostly use Blum hardware, but sometimes also use Sugatsune/Lamp. Recently granite (40mm thick) and hybrid-granite (20mm thick) coutertops are the most popular. All installations are handled by a partner company they sub-contract to.

Their showroom is first class. The main display kitchen sells for over $40,000 despite its compact size. However, the point of their showroom is to only give clients an idea of what is possible and then design something from scratch. They rarely sell the "same kitchen" twice.

The second company we visited was a design firm in the fashionable Aoyama district. They design everything from houses to shops to parts of the new Haneda International Airport terminal. In the past, they imported Marvin windows and other products through Seattle and now they are looking at starting that again. Therefore, they were interested in a wide variety of BC Wood member products including flooring, wall coverings, windows, etc.. They just started working on a renovation of a 2,800 sq ft penthouse in Tokyo for which they need a stunning kitchen and lot's of flooring.

All in all we had two very good visits today and it looks like they will both visit our members at Nikkei.

I just received a letter from the organizers of the Nishi-Nihon Total Living Show which is held in Kita-Kyushu, just north of Fukuoka City. The show has seen declining attendance over the past few years, so it seems they are working on some new ideas to reverse the show's fortunes. Among these ideas, they plan to move the show up by a few weeks so that it is the week before the Japan Home Show. This might be of benefit to BC Wood members coming over for the JHS as they could easily hit both Tokyo and Kyushu on the same trip. If members are interested, I could organize a "communal" booth at TLS for everyone to share.

  Wow, how time flies! Only one week to go before the Olympics and more importantly just over four weeks before the Nikkei Architecture & Construction Materials Show. The BC Wood Japan Office is in full swing with preparations for the big show (Nikkei, not the Olympics).

As a part of our pre-show marketing activities we have been talking to Japanese companies to line up meetings with members at the show. This morning we had a great meeting with an importer/distributor catering to high-end condos and homes. They have been specializing in Italian products including doors, flooring, sinks, faucets, etc., but they are now interested in looking at importing similar products from Canada. The also handle uniquely designed, custom made kitchens. The import manager is looking forward meeting BC Wood members at Nikkei.

 We have also finalized the look of our pavilion. We are using the same modern take on the Canada Wood image that we used for the Japan Home Show. It should definitely stand out!

 The BC Wood Japan Office maintains a database of over 8000 building industry professionals. We built-up this database over the past 5 years through participating in various trade shows and placing ads in different industry media. However, the "Arch Card" direct mail-out campaigns have by far been the biggest contributor to this effort.

Today we got the first
batch of responses back from the January Arch Card ad we placed to promote our new
brochures. There were 90 today, but I expect that the total will be about 1000 in
the end. We’ll start sending out our new brochures showcasing 13 of our members to these responders once we have
the tickets to the Nikkei Show. Hopefully we can meet many of them at the show and start building direct relationships.

This weekend I am in Kita-Kyushu for the Western Japan Total Living Show. The Canadian Embassy arranged the space for us and I am down here with Chuck Tanaka of the Canada Tsuga Partnership.
In the past, this show was well attended by construction industry people from across Kyushu. Unfortunately from last year the organizers started putting more emphasis on attracting consumers which is not our target. As a result, things were very slow on the first two days. Things have picked up today, but the organizers will need to rethink their strategy if they want to keep this show going. Losing the TLS would be unfortunate as it is the last major building materials show west of Osaka.
The one benefit of the slow pace of this year's TLS has been that I have been able to spend time talking to the other exhibitors. Too bad they are all just complaing about the poor attendence!

Last night the Canadian Embassy hosted a launch party for our pavilion at 100%. There were over 80 guests who came out to see the latest works from Brent Comber, Judson Beaumont, and Martha Sturdy. Umbra from Ontario also took part with us.
Among the guests were many heavy hitters from the likes of Mitsu Design Tech to Tokyo Disney. I was so busy talking to the guests that I forgot to take pictures!
Thanks to our favourite Embassy, this year's 100% Design program is off to a great start. Now off to the show!

Today we did the set-up for the big show. Wow we brought a lot of stuff!
The piece that got the most attention was Brent's Serene. Not many pieces of art at this show have required forklifts to move them!
Jud is also a part of the special "eco" display at 100%. His Pine Beetle Welcome Wall needed at lot of hands to be put up.
Martha's booth is stunning as always and Pacific Rim is now definitely in the big leagues of cabinet design. I'm looking forward to a great show!

Today is the last day of the show and we are about to start takedown.
Many clients came to visit us today and I met several new contacts. One flooring distributor in particular seemed to be very interested in starting to import flooring from Canada.
I also took some time to walk the show. There several companies showing unique wall coverings. One even had "fake" tatami mats that looked and felt real. Another company was showing "stone" that was made from crushed glass. There were of course many wood products including beautiful keiyaki counter/ table tops.
Makino-san from the Canadian Consulate was again with us all day. As always, he was a great host and introduced many local contacts to Miyazaki-san and I.
Thanks for a great show Makino-san!

Today I had the opportunity to talk to a group of people in the market for new homes and that are considering building Canadian style homes. Miyazaki-san of Canada Tsuga joined me for this session. He covered structural materials while I focused on finishing materials.
Because of this semminar, I didn't get to spend much time on the show floor. However, I did get a chance to meet with Allan Edwards, the Canadian Consul in Nagoya. He was the one that was able to put together a budget for us so that Canada would have a presence at this important regional show. He has also been a great supporter of our other promotional activities like seminars in the Tokai and Kansai regions. Thanks Allan!

After being woken up by a powerful typhoon, I went to the Nagoya Show wondering if there be anyone there. In the end, it wasn't as bad as I had feared but a lot slower than usual.
Several important clients came by to see me and that made the day worthwhile. I also got an inquiry for packaged houses and learned that one of our clients is planning to set-up a showroom for Merit Kitchens. Way to go Merit!
The Consulate and Canada Tsuga held a seminar onsite, but the turnout wasn't too great.
After I got back to my hotel I was pleasantly surprised by an amazing view of Nagoya. The typhoon blew away all of the smog so I saw some mountains that I had never seen before!
Tomorrow will hopefully be a busier day.

Last week I visited an architect/ builder who took part in the 2007 GBM. Since then he has come to several of our in-market events and visited our members at the Japan Home Shows and Nikkei Shows. Through these interactions he has come to use a variety of BC products on his projects. 

The restaurant takes up the first three floors of the building with the owner's home taking up the 4th and 5th floors. It is quite typical for the family to live above traditional restaurants like this in Japan, but I haven't seen many made as extravagantly as this one. The restaurant has obviously done well and having eaten there I can see why!

In front of the 1st floor restaurant windows, there is a traditional style garden beautifully made to fit in the cramped space. Continuing with this theme, as you walk towards the entrance there is a hinoki water-wheel and then a water fountain made up of eel baskets. The baskets sit on top of WRC decking so the aroma of cedar fills-up the entrance way as it gets wet. This is a nice touch that helps you mentally separate yourself from the concrete jungle outside as you walk in. 

While Second-life is an online virtual world, through BC Wood's recently completed study into the Japanese resort market we have found that "second-life homes" are a real market opportunity.

Areas that were originally subdivided for cabins during the bubble years are highly desirable for “second-life homes” as they offer both the natural attributes the retirees are seeking and in many cases low land costs as the original developer has gone bankrupt or has simply been stuck with underutilized property for almost 20 years. Rural governments are also encouraging this migration as it will help rebuild their tax bases while also stimulating local demand.

While this shift is just in its infancy, there are at least two trends that seem to be emerging with respect to the “second-life homes” being built. One is that these homes are being built for long-term stays and thus must be of higher quality and better design than the weekend homes of the bubble era. 

The other trend is that while quality is seen as key to comfortable living, the physical size is not. Most baby-boomers have raised their families in cramped houses or condos so they do not see the need to have a large house now that there are only two people to worry about. Having spaces such as enclosed garages or sheds to do hobbies in is more important as is an attractive design. In talking to architects working on such projects, it seems that Whistler inspired "West Coast style" timberframe home designs have a very good chance to become the defining look of higher-end "second-life homes."

This is just one of the findings from the "Opportunities for Value-added Manufacturers in the Japanese Resort Market" report. The entire report will soon be made available to all BC Wood members so make sure to watch for it. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions about "second-life homes" and how BC Wood can help you seek opportunities in this market segment.

Last week I walked Interior Lifestyle 2009 to see if there would be any merit in BC Wood taking space at the show in the future. Hmmm.

The one section of the show that did focus on furniture was well done though. The show producer built walls around the support columns in one hall to create a real showroom feel. Usually the columns are just in the way, so this was a really good approach to take. The cafe/ bar in the centre on this area was furnished with many different pieces which again added to the atmosphere. It was just too bad that this section was so small.

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Sapporo to attend the Hokkaido 2×4 Association's AGM. I also visited several clients around this event in order to promote this year's GBM. The highlight of these visits though was visiting a new showroom for BC made kitchen cabinets.

While the GBM is still four months away, we are now in full swing recruiting Japanese clients for this year's trip. We started today by sending out a special edition of our Japanese e-Newsletter to over 3800 clients in our database and will have this followed-up tomorrow with a press release in the Nikkan Mokuzai, Japan's leading wood products newspaper.

I had heard so much about Twitter in the media over the last year, but I was never very interested in it as I didn't see the point in communicating 140 characters at a time. That was until a friend of mine who runs his own business explained how it had become an invaluable tool for him to communicate with clients.

Over the past two weeks I was able to visit
members all around BC, from Vancouver to Revelstoke with many stops in-between.
The point of this annual trip is to find out how members are doing and how we
can help them in Japan. However, with the global recession deepening, I was
worried that my visits would be rather sombre this year.

While the pain came through loud and clear,
I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of good news that I also heard from
many Japan Program participants. Despite the fact that the process of going
from introduction to orders usually takes quite a bit of time in Japan, some
participants of last month’s Nikkei Show have already shipped containers and/or
are in the process of booking shipments. Even a company that took part with us
for the first time has already landed several projects!

Another member who has been pursuing opportunities
in Japan with us for a few years finally scored the big client they were after
just after I arrived in Vancouver. Miho gave the client one more presentation
on behalf of the member at our Tokyo office (someone has to stay behind and
work!) and within days they committed to a big project. Enjoying a celebratory
beer after we got this news was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

I hope that I can enjoy many such celebratory
drinks this year with both new and old Japan Program members. 

The annual Total Living Show in Kita-Kyushu has been one of the three main regional shows BC Wood participates in. Being the largest show in Kyushu it used to attract a large number of the island's imported housing builders and importers. However, as the show has seen less and less industry traffic over the years, we have scaled back our presence there to just sharing some free space with the Embassy's local trade office. This year's show unfortunately continued this trend and even free is starting to look expensive.

First he had a large carport-deck made from sugi (Japanese cedar). As sugi is not as rot resistant as WRC, he designed the carport using modular panels so that all of the fence and floor panels could be interchanged. The president said it was like rotating tires on a car to keep the wear more even and make them last longer. 

The president showed two concepts for dealing with this problem: one was to use gaskets to try to make the joints completely watertight and another that is as tight as possible but also gives the water that does get in channels to escape through. The later is seen as a preferred method so far as the heavy-duty gasket concept failed during high pressure testing simulating typhoon force winds and rain.