This January’s cold snap has been blessing ski hills around the country with an abundance of snow after a slow start to the season. However, the Fukushima nuclear crisis still looms heavily over the prospects of resorts attracting foreign tourists. In fact, for 2011 the number of tourists coming to Japan fell 27.8%. Niseko has benefitted the most from inbound tourism over the past few years so it was safe to assume that it was also being hit the hardest by this steep decline in travellers. Therefore, I recently visited the area to find out what was happening and what the prospects were for a rebound.

The first thing that struck me driving around the area was the number of construction sites that seemed to be stopped. In meeting with local people I soon learned that developers quickly put the brakes on many projects after 3/11. However, unlike past boom and bust cycles the owners of these projects are now well financed professional developers. Therefore, they have both the capability to weather the tough short-term conditions and they also have the foresight to see that over the longer term the nuclear fears will dissipate and foreign tourists will return in large numbers. Everything that has made Niseko the most talked about ski resort in Asia is still there.

One positive outcome from the current downturn is that a central “village” may finally be built in the Hirafu area. Over the years many people involved with developments in the area told me that the shoddy shape of the main access to the Hirafu lifts and the lack of a Whistler type village area was holding Niseko back from reaching the next level as an international destination. Many of the old buildings lining the main road were owned by people waiting for the area to grow further but without the means to properly develop the properties themselves. It seems that several of them were persuaded by the bleak prospects last year to finally sell. Once that part of Niseko is redeveloped, the whole area will benefit greatly from it.

Another thing that seems to be changing is the attitude towards domestic travellers. One of the amazing aspects of the Niseko success story was how it could prosper while only catering to foreigners and completely ignoring the massive Tokyo market. Hokkaido was always seen as a clean and pristine area, but that image has been further reinforced by the fact that it was one of the few areas in Japan that was spared any fallout after the Fukushima explosions. By actively pursuing the Tokyo market, Niseko operators can not only fill more rooms now, they can also build a more diversified client based so that the area is less susceptible to future shocks from overseas.

While 2011 was a terrible year for Niseko developers and lodging operators, there is some optimism returning. Apparently the number of inquiries from Australia and ex-pats in Asia has been increasing recently. Hopefully the Japanese government’s declaration in December that the Fukushima plants have achieved cold shutdown will encourage the Chinese tourists to also comeback. At the very least, the Japanese government is looking positively at 2012 by aiming to attract over 9 million inbound tourists topping the previous record of 8.6 million. Let’s hope they are right!

StructureCraft Builders is a unique team of engineers and builders who work with clients and architects to design, fabricate, and erect carefully detailed building and bridge structures in timber, steel, glass, concrete, and other materials. Their staff of engineers, modellers, detailers, estimators, project managers, supervisors, and carpenters are all based in their 25,000 sq. ft. FSC-certified shop located in Delta, BC.

Thirteen years ago, Gerry Epp formed StructureCraft Builders to design and explore more building ideas with architects, often in conjunction with their associated firm, Fast+Epp Structural Engineers. The first project they took on was the stainless-steel-and-Parallam trussed roof of the Vancouver Aquarium expansion in 1998. Since then, StructureCraft has been engaged by architects and design-build teams for projects which require exposed structures, usually involving wood in a significant and innovative way.  These 50+ projects cover all types of structures including timber buildings, facades, atria, and hybrid footbridges, as well as WoodWave structural panels, timber panel systems, composite concrete-timber, lathe milling, and custom castings.

As design-build specialists in architectural timber structures, the StructureCraft Builders team combines their significant experience in structural engineering, 3D modeling, detailing, project management, timber procurement, shop fabrication, and site erection of complex wood structures to design and construct each project to the highest standards, throughout North America

They work with their clients from the design phase which begins with understanding both the vision and the overall project constraints. Working together, they introduce ideas which can both enhance the architecture and lead to efficient structural solutions. They also work with the client to develop concepts which, through 3D models and renderings, are eventually developed into drawings. Structural testing is carried out on certain projects before fabrication, which takes place in the controlled environment of their shop. They then erect all of their projects to ensure the final product reflects their high standards. Their unique methodology of pre-planned “constructible” design, timely material procurement, and creation of a custom kit of parts and assemblies results in a rapid and accurate installation for each project.

Many of their projects have won awards for both architect and design-builder, including the unique WoodWave roof of the 2010 Olympic Speedskating Oval; the Arena Stage Parallam-and-cable façade in Washington, DC; the “Footbridge of Dreams” in Princeton, BC; and the Central City timber structures in Surrey, BC.

They are currently wrapping up construction of the free-form, orchid-shaped roof for the VanDusen Gardens Visitors Center (picture to the left). The 71 unique all-wood panels of this Living Building Challenge project were completely pre-fabricated in their shop, including glulam beams, lumber rafters and ceiling joists, plywood skin, sprinkler piping, electrical conduits, thermal and acoustic insulation, and laminated plywood ceiling battens. The Center will open to the public this fall.

StructureCraft Builders are committed to creating excellence in architectural structures for their clients.  The results can be viewed on their recently updated website at www.structurecraft.com where you will find detailed descriptions of their design-build process, their staff, their products, examples of their completed projects, and their awards received.

This week I got a chance to visit The Grape Box in Burnaby and chat with Ruth Hoffman.  The Grape Box is a social enterprise supported by The Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion.

They have a triple bottom-line business model. First and foremost, they offer high quality products at competitive prices with excellent customer service. Secondly, on an environmental note, all of their products are made from reclaimed western red cedar and pine beetle wood. Lastly, their social mandate is to create training and employment for adults with intellectual disabilities.

They currently employ 6 adults with intellectual disabilities at their Burnaby woodshop.  “We are fortunate to have found ideal employees to perform the tasks of cutting, sanding, planning, and engraving and who do not mind the repetitive nature of our work.  Our employees are highly motivated and appreciative of the opportunities to learn wood-working skills and even more thrilled to be paid minimum wage and be able to be contributing citizens to our community. Successfully matching skills to tasks is a key factor to managing our personnel costs and ultimately a sustainable operation,” says Ruth.

The Grape Box started off as a program in the 1980′s run by The Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion (BACI). www.gobaci.com. With years of experience and a growing reputation for quality and service, The Grape Box was spun off into a separate social enterprise in 2007. Today they operate in Burnaby with over  4,500 sq ft. and an integrated workforce of 10.

Their name represents their flagship product – the wine box; however, they also produce outdoor furniture (Adirondack chairs, high and low-back chairs, planters and picnic tables); and a wide assortment of gift boxes for the corporate promotional market. Because they are a small shop, they are also able to accept requests for custom designs and have made table centerpieces, arbors, small bridges, coasters, and trays. They have a laser engraver on-site which allows them to produce high quality engraved products.

“Above and beyond our commitment to being fiscally and environmentally responsible, we chose this business because it offered employment opportunities to individuals with all types of abilities,” says Hoffman. Their philosophy is to build a society where everyone has the opportunity to be included, challenged and successful. “We want to be able to offer more jobs with barriers to employment and become one of BC’s prized business models,” says Ruth.

For more information on the Grape Box, please visit www.thegrapebox.com

After seeing the success from their 5S activities, the next step was to get training on Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to help them map out their process and make improvements to the flow of their products. VSM is a Lean manufacturing technique used to analyze the flow of materials and information currently required to bring a product or service to a consumer.

“We saw immediate payback after we finished the VSM exercise. With one of our products, we were able to reduce the number of processes from 18 to 7. This was a huge savings in the production”, commented Ken. “Because we have been looking at our products in depth with VSM, it helped us improve our consistency and our quality”.

Without buy-in of the staff, many of the Lean concepts won’t work. “Initially, I didn’t understand how Lean could be good for our staff”, says Ken. “After all, if you can do more production with less staff, how would your employees feel? People tend to think that if you look at efficiency in production it means jobs are on the line”.

Vintage began by making small changes that let the staff experience the improvements. For example, convincing the moulder operator that he was going to save money by doing lots of shorter runs rather than setting up once and doing bigger runs was difficult at first.

However, after witnessing that the machines were not tied up and the set ups were happening three times faster, employees began coming around. Says Ken, “with less inventory we did not have our cash tied up and it kept what inventory we did have clean and fresh”. “Reduced work in progress cleared the floor, kept the staff focused and reduced the possibility of damage to the products as they made their way through the shop”.

The next steps for Vintage Woodworks include creating the framework so that its staff can sustain the Lean improvements they have already done, and getting ready for further Lean implementation.

Adds Ken,” I have been really lucky to have an Operations Manager in our company that truly believes in the Lean journey. Working together, our staff is looking forward to future changes and the benefits it will result for them”. “We anticipate it will take Vintage some time before we meet our goals, however each step we take we should realize an improvement on our productivity”.

Brian Ehrecke is a manufacturing specialist for FPInnovations. FPInnovations is a company with over 25 years of experience providing technical and manufacturing support to the wood products industry in Canada. He can be reached at (250) 462-4000 or brian.ehrecke@fpinnovations.ca.

Norelco Cabinet Solutions opened their doors almost 40 years ago in Kelowna, BC.  They now have two manufacturing plants in Kelowna with Cucina Del Re Cabinetry, specializing in high-end custom cabinetry.  They have a team who designs and builds all types of different cabinets that suit the individual customer’s needs, including two very skilled, hand-crafters who carve intricate details on the cabinets.  Norelco’s primary cabinet division uses innovative European technology and high quality materials to design and construct cabinets for residential and commercial buildings.  They distribute all over Western Canada and the US including Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California.

Norelco has actively participated in a number of Business Innovation Partnership (BIP) activities over the past two years.  Along with attending workshops, they have completed a Lean program as well as a sales and marketing project.  When the current owners purchased Norelco, they were told that the facility would not be able to exceed a certain amount in sales due to the limited production space.  At that time, Peter Raja started the lean program with the help of FPInnovations, one of the BIP partners, in hopes of increasing their productivity, and thereby their sales and margins.  After implementing the new program, they are now producing at well over the previous limitation in sales and have the capacity to keep growing.

Recently, Norelco has completed a sales & marketing project with sales guru, Neil Godin.  They were instructed on how to set up a Facebook account, Twitter account, a blog through WordPress, joined LinkedIn, and developed an e-newsletter.  Norelco has fully immersed themselves into the world of social media.  Their first newsletter was sent out to 800 contacts last month and since then, 300 additional people have signed up for the newsletter.  They have 111 followers on Twitter and 70 on Facebook.  They also optimized their website for search engines to display them as the very first result when “Kelowna kitchen cabinets” is searched; whereas before, they were listed on the 25^th page.  In a very short time, they have greatly increased their brand awareness.

Social media is a powerful tool for companies to use to strengthen their relationship with clients and potential clients, while increasing their company’s profile.  However, you must learn to use it correctly to yield results; otherwise, you might do more harm to your company’s image than good.

Not only is Norelco establishing their presence online, they are also expanding into the Hawaii market.  As a BC Wood member, Norelco has had the opportunity to attend tradeshows in Western US and Hawaii to meet with prospective clients that they normally would not have the opportunity to get in front of.  Peter says “If it wasn’t for Dave [Farley] and BC Wood, I would never have gotten these clients, or even gotten in the door to talk to the executives.”  BC Wood has in-market representatives in the US, Japan, China and Korea.  If you are considering expanding into these markets, contact BC Wood at 604-882-7100 for more information on how to access our knowledgeable representatives.

For more information on Norelco, visit their new and improved website at www.norelcocabinets.ca.

For more information on instigating a company project like the ones Norelco has successfully participated in, contact Scott Thompson, Manager, Business Innovation Partnership (BIP) at 604-882-7100 or sthompson@bcwood.com.

Last week, BC Wood along with FPInnovations and CAWP went to Victoria to discuss the Business Innovation Partnership program and meet with value-added wood manufacturers.  I got a chance to visit Swifsure WoodWorkers, M-Time Developments, Vintage Woodworks, and Douglas Grant Cabinetmakers with Randi Walker from BC Wood and Brian Ehrecke from FPInnovations.

The first company I visited was Swiftsure Woodworkers in Victoria with Randi Walker and met with Peter McCutcheon, the President of Swiftsure Woodworkers.  Swiftsure Woodworkers designs and manufacturers cabinetry for fine homes in the greater Gulf Islands region of BC.  They have received multiple CARE awards and GEORGIE awards.  The CARE award recognizes the winning efforts of Vancouver Island’s professional builders, developers, architects, interior designers, and sales and marketing professionals.  The GEORGIE award by the Canadian Home Builders Association of BC recognizes excellence in home building.  We also got a chance to check out the shop and see a CNC machine at work.  This was the first time I saw a CNC machine at work and I was amazed.

Peter also mentioned they employ Joiner and Carpenter Apprentices from Vancouver Island University’s apprenticeship program.  This is a great way to get hardworking and enthusiastic workers, and help develop the skill of the next generation of craftsmen.  I do encourage all of the value-added wood products manufacturers to follow Peter’s footsteps in employing BC apprentices.

For more information on Swiftsure Woodworkers, please visit their website: www.swiftsurewoodworkers.com.

The next morning, I met with Dave Miller of M-Time Developments with Brian Ehrecke. They produce a number of different value-added wood products including panel wall homes. Their goal is to operate an ecologically and socially responsible milling operation which purchases the bulk of its logs from local, sustainably managed (and certified) sources. Dave talked to us about some interesting projects he has worked on and is currently working on.  I don’t think I have ever met someone so enthusiastic and passionate about what they do as Dave Miller is.  It was great meeting someone with so much enthusiasm.

For more information on M-Time Developments, please visit their website: www.m-timedevelopments.com.  Also be sure to check out Dave’s new website: www.bamfield-millworks.com.

I then visited Vintage Woodworks with Brian Ehrecke which is located in what used to be a hotel decades ago.  Vintage Wookworks is BC’s heritage millwork supplier.  They specialize in providing restorations and restoration products for historic windows, doors, moulding, and brackets.  Brian has been working on a technical project through the Business Innovation Partnership program with Vintage.  I got a chance to go on a shop tour and see all of the different machines they use for producing different products.  The most interesting part was seeing all of the improvements that were made through the project.

For more information on Vintage Woodworks, please visit their website: www.vintagewoodworks.ca.

The last company I visited was Douglas Grant Cabinetmakers in Victoria with Brian Ehrecke.  This is another company located in a unique building.  Douglas Grant Cabinetmakers provides quality finished kitchens, bathrooms, built-in furniture, and more.  Douglas gave us a tour of his shop and showed us a gorgeous cabinet he was working on that showcased his attention to detail.

For more information on Douglas Grant Cabinetmakers, please visit their website: www.douglasgrantcabinetmakers.com.

I want to thank all of these companies for their time and interesting stories.  I also want to thank Randi and Brian for taking me with them to visit the companies.  I learned a lot about the value-added wood products industry look forward to meeting more companies!

Last week I got the chance to visit some truly unique BC Wood members with David Pao.  We visited Brent Comber Originals and Straight Line Designs.  This was my first time in a shop and I had an amazing experience.

We started the day by visiting a non-BC Wood member, Francis Lemieux & Co. We got a chance to check out some of Francis’ products and chat with him about the Wood Co-op that recently shutdown.  Francis was a board member for the Wood Co-op that was located on Granville Island.  If you would like to know more about what happened to the Wood Co-op, visit Francis’ blog: http://relevantwoodworking.blogspot.com/.

We then visited BC Wood member, Brent Comber Originals.  Brent Comber showed me his unique designs and took me behind the “Staff Only” doors.  I had a sensory overload as I entered the shop, from the warm scent of wood and sawdust embracing the air around me, to the sounds of craftsmen sawing, cutting, and carving big pieces of wood, bringing Brent Comber’s visions into reality.  All around me I saw piles of raw wood and pieces of Brent Comber’s designs.  I learned a lot about how wood is prepared and made into a finished product.  I even got a little souvenir!

The next company we visited was Straight Line Designs.  On the way up to shop, we dropped in on Christian Woo at Christian Woo Woodwork & Design.  Christian was busy preparing for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York this May.  We then went up to Straight Line Designs, conveniently located in the same building.  As I walked into the shop, I felt like I walked into Dr Seuss’s workshop.  There were all different shapes and colours, and to set the mood, whimsical music was playing in the background.  It looked like a really fun place to work.  Jud Beaumont gave me a delightful tour of his shop and showed me some really unusual pieces of furniture.  It made me wish I was a kid again so I can have some really unique furniture pieces!  Jud also shared some pretty interesting stories about tradeshows he has done in the past.  If you ever run into him, ask him about his Tokyo adventure involving his Elvis Whale.

This was my first taste of the value-added wood industry and I learned a lot.  I got a chance to see all of the effort and processes that go into making a finished wood product.  I look forward to visiting more BC Wood Members and learning more about this industry; but, next time I will bring a camera so I can show you what I got to see!

The “Lehman Shock” has had a major impact on wide swaths of the Japanese economy, ranging from exports to the US to the domestic housing market. One segment that was particularly hard hit was the resort market. Foreign investment funds that were driving new developments from Okinawa to Hokkaido dried up overnight leaving many to wonder if Japanese resorts had just been caught up in America’s housing/development bubble. The final verdict on this is still out, but there are some positive signs now that suggest that it wasn’t a mini-bubble and that Japanese resort developers are getting their shovels warmed up again.

For me the positive news started in February when I was able to stop in to visit some developers in Niseko catering to foreign buyers. They told me that land prices in Niseko didn’t drop much after the “Lehman Shock,” but this was because no one was buying or selling. The real estate market just hibernated for a year! These developers are happy now just to see transactions taking place as it means overseas investor confidence has returned. They are also busy quoting homes for the some of the new visitors who came to enjoy this winter’s phenomenal snow.

And speaking of land sales in Niseko, the biggest news this winter was the recent $67 million sale of the Niseko Hilton/Niseko Village development to Malaysia’s YTL Hotels and Properties. Citibank, the previous owner, has of course been in serious trouble since the “Lehman Shock” and has been selling assets around the world to help turn itself around. In addition to a luxury hotel in Saint-Tropez, France, YLT owns various resort properties across Asia and is looking to expand further. In Niseko Village they will get two hotels, two 18-hole golf courses, 155 ha of ski hill, and 462 ha of freehold land that Citibank already master-planned to encompass an entirely new commercial village center and a combined 1000 units of detached homes and condos. TYL president James McBride has also confirmed the company’s intention of modeling the development on chic resorts like Whistler, Aspen, Vail, and St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Over the years of watching what has been happening in Niseko, I have always maintained that the area would really begin to take off once Tokyo’s wealthy regained interest in it. During the bubble-era Niseko was one of many resorts that popped up only to fade away just as quickly leaving bad memories of bad assets. Perhaps not wanting to get burned again, the Japanese have been happy to leave all of the fun and excitement in Niseko to the foreigners. However, it seems that at least some of them have taken notice of the big developments being pushed ahead there now even after the “Lehman Shock.” The developers I met with told me that this winter was the first time that they had received inquiries from prospective Japanese clients and several are at advanced stages of negotiations.

While Niseko is the poster-child for current resort developments in Japan, good news is coming from other areas as well. Most notable was a report last week in the Nikkei Newspaper announcing the March 22nd opening of Resorttrust’s XIV Hakone Rikyu mountain resort hotel. Memberships for this luxury hotel that boasts hot spring water pumped into bathrooms of the higher-end suites were 82% sold out by February despite lingering concerns related to the “Lehman Shock.” Overall the company is seeing renewed demand for its resort properties from Japan’s wealthy especially since the fall in real estate prices has convinced many of them that it is a good time to buy. Resorttrust says that it will now focus on resort properties that are within a few hours’ drive of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka.

   Today was the start of the 2nd Disneyana Festival at Tokyo Disneyland. This is special event for hardcore fans costs $2000 per person and includes a one night stay at the Disneyland Ambassador Hotel. The main purpose for most of the participants is to be able to purchase Disney goods that are otherwise unavailable in stores. The first Disneyana in 2008 attracted 170 people, but this time over 320 took part!

   The special collections include decorations and figures that had been previously used in the park as well as limited edition items. Most of these items are put up for auction after a special dinner show. Disney also offers items that they collaboratively designed with other companies/designers especially for this event. This year they had unique bags and cushions in addition to a high-end line of crystal ware and of course furniture from our very own Judson Beaumont! These items have their prices set, but due to the limited number for sale buyers are chosen through a lottery system.

   The people at Disney were very pleased with Jud's pieces and this project should lead to future opportunities. I just wish I could have been there tonight when the lucky guests were drawn to buy Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy! 

Last Friday Judson Beaumont & Brent Comber arrived in Tokyo. There was no time to rest as an important client of theirs invited them to his hometown in Toyama for some pre-100% Design meetings. He also wanted to introduce the dynamic duo to some traditional Japanese culture.
The first stop was at a regional design festival that is known for combining traditional crafts with modern design. Along with our famous Canadians, famous Japanese designers, Yukio Hashimoto, Kengo Kuma, & Naoki Sakai were also taking in the sights. After looking over some amazing glassware, pottery, etc, we were treated to an outdoor tea ceremony. While the service was traditional, the Kengo Kuma designed aluminum furniture was definitely not.
Our next stop was a traditional washi (Japanese paper) maker. He is one of only about 10 people stil using the traditional methods to make washi. He even cuts down the trees and brings them down from the mountains himself!

Tonight I am having dinner with a major WRC buyer. We are at a Kyushu style restaurant with an amazing view of Tokyo Tower near our office. There is a lightning storm in the area so I am waiting for the Tower to get hit. Very cool!

Over the past few years there has been a lot of talk in Japan to make roofs green in order to reduce the heat-island effect. Cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya in particular have become a lot hotter in summer as the concrete used in buildings absorbs heat and then releases it at night. It is amazing how there is so little difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures in August.

Over the past two years we have been able to meet many key people in the Japanese design community through our marketing efforts to support BC Wood's presence at 100% Design Tokyo. One of these key contacts invited me to attend the 11th anniversary party of the major interior design shop Wise Wise last Friday.

On this night though, the shop was packed with the elite people of top design firms like A.N.D. Aoyama Nomura Design, Cafe Co., Hashimoto Yukio Design Studio, ICE, Nomura Kougei, Noriyuki Otsuka Design Office, Super Potato, and Tanseisha. Even the president's of Wise Wise's rivals like Sempre and Time & Style were on hand to honour Sato-san's accomplishments over the past 11 years. Twenty of the distinguished guests were each asked to say a few words during the evening and many were treated like rock stars by screaming and picture snapping fans. Wow.

Last week I had the privilege of visiting two Hamill Creek timberframe projects in Nagano prefecture. Both projects were by the same builder, but they were quite different in nature.

The first was a commercial building. Half of it will be used as a workshop/ gallery for jewelry and accessories made from real flowers. The other half will be a stylish cafe and office for the builder. I couldn't imagine a better showroom than this. The timberframe structure is stunning and it is located on the main road going into a large resort development containing 3,500 units. The flower accessory gallery will undoubtedly become a major tourist attraction as the designer is quite famous. The cafe is also well done so it too will attract a lot of visitors especially the wealthy people who own cabins up the road.

The second project was actually inside the resort and was in fact a timberframe home to replace an old cabin. While it was not finished yet, you could already see how its beautiful timbers will make the home stand out from all the neighbouring old style cabins and log homes. This project will serve as a great promotion of how timberframe designs can be incorporated into smaller Japanese homes.

During the last two weeks I met with two different Japanese companies that perhaps by coincidence were looking for the same thing, small packaged homes from Canada. While one company was a building products importer and the other an import housing builder, both were confident that there is a new market in Japan for stylish homes of about 600ft2.

I spent most of last week visiting clients around Tokyo and Kansai to promote this year's GBM. Despite meeting with a wide variety of companies, a common theme of developing new business emerged in almost all of my discussions.

The first event was a casual get-together of interior designers and supplier companies in Tokyo. It is a regularly held event to share information and enjoy good food (this time it was fresh crab flown in from Hokkaido). Much of the talk during the evening was about how to overcome the current market weakness while also preparing for the inevitable long-term drop in Japanese housing starts as the population shrank. 

Of course the companies that are making these investments into new business ventures are the ones with strength to survive the current downturn anyway. However, they really do see this as an opportunity to get ahead of their competition and grow once the economy recovers. In this sense, it really reminded me of a picture I took last month of a double rainbow over Tokyo. Even on a dark and nasty day, there could be such a wonderful sight as long as you are willing to go outside to look for it.

Before and after big shows, we try to spend
as much time as possible taking around members to visit clients and see job
sites. We again did this for Nikkei 2009 and I feel as if I did an all Japan
tour!

Of the places I went to, the most
interesting was Naha in Okinawa. While I was only there for 8 hours before I
had to fly off to Fukuoka to set-up for another show, I was able to learn a lot
from talking to builders and looking around the city.

The typical home in Okinawa is built out of
concrete which I knew, but I was surprised to learn that traditionally homes
were built from wood and not brick or stone. The switch occurred after the war
as a result of the American fire-bombing of the island that burnt down all of
the forests. Without a local timber supply, concrete became the only option.

Unfortunately as concrete became the norm,
consumers developed an image that wooden homes were not suitable for Okinawa.
Now the 3 main wood frame builders in Naha are joining forces to raise the
profile of wood construction amongst consumers. This new association is also
looking to Canada Wood to help them in this effort.

Going around Naha I got to see many
examples of the concrete homes as well as the traditional tile roofs. Tile
roofing is common throughout Japan, but in Okinawa they are a lot more
colourful. The use of bright colours extended to even mid-rise condominiums.
Bright orange condos are almost unthinkable in Tokyo these days, but fit
perfectly with Okinawa’s tropical image.

As BC Wood Japan is a founding/supporting member of the Imported Building Materials Forum, last week I attended a board meeting. This association was formed 2 years ago to give importers a stronger voice in dealing with government agencies over regulatory issues. The F**** debacle of several years ago still haunts most people handling imported materials.

Today I met with one of the large import housing builders in Japan. As is it seems to be the custom these days, at the beginning of our meeting I asked how the global downturn was affecting their business. Not surprisingly they see their new home sales decreasing this year. However, despite this their renovation business, or "reform" as it is called in Japan, is up and they expect it to keep growing through the year. As a result, they are putting more energy into that side of the business. 

For this reason I recently made a trip to Nagoya to attend the Architect’s Association’s New Year’s reception and to meet with other companies. The most stunning thing on this trip for me was to learn how fast the times have changed in this region. As Toyota surged to become the world’s #1 car maker, so did Aichi Prefecture. However, now that Toyota is feeling the pinch of the downturn in European and North American markets, the once mighty area surrounding Nagoya is for the first time in a long-time experiencing large scale layoffs and economic uncertainty.

These problems have already spilled over into our industry. Many people told me about large spec house developments being put on hold in this area. The situation was punctuated by the fact that Toshin Jutaku, a large 2×4 apartment builder in the region, went bankrupt on the day of the reception.

However, I also received some very positive news from talking to clients. One client who came to the GBM in 2008 told me that they are now getting ready to place their first order with a BC Wood member. This client had been importing building products from the US for many years, but after taking part in the GBM and then following-up by meeting members at the Japan Home Show they are now Canada fans. Yeah team!

I was also pleased to hear that a major lumber importer in the area is planning to look at Canada again for remanufactured lumber products after moving on to Europe and Asia a number of years ago. The section chief of the importing division told me that the weak Canadian dollar has made BC products competitive again. He also expects that with the slow US market many producers will be more willing to look at metric and special sizes for the Japanese market. While he sees weakness in the Japanese housing market, he is eager to find new suppliers and is excited about going to the GBM this year.

As with anything, you have to take the good with the bad. We are definitely in for a tougher year in 2009, but there are still many success stories to be created by matching up BC Wood members with new Japanese clients. Maybe our members will buy a few more Toyota’s this year and help out Nagoya as well!

By Jim Ivanoff

BC Wood Japan Office