The FCCJ October luncheon meeting was held on Tuesday the 13th with the theme "Lingonberry". Speakers on the subject were Mr. Hiroto Kato of Marubeni Corporation and the Chairman of the Japan Lingonberry Promotional Association, Mr. Taiji Watanabe.

Marubeni is planning to import lingonberry, its juice and extracts from Finland in fairly large volumes. The speakers talked about what lingonberry is, lingonberry production in Finland, the health benefits of lingonberry and potential products in Japan using lingonberry. Mr. Watanabe and Mr. Kato also explained about the purpose of their association.

The meeting was attended by 31 members and guests, including a group of representatives from Finnish companies participating in Health Ingredients Japan, held in Tokyo this week.

For more about the meeting, click link at right.
Friday, 6 November - Stora Enso Cup
Sweden-Finland Golf Challenge Autumn 2009
The 15th Sweden-Finland Golf Challenge (team competition between the Swedish and the Finnish Chambers), the Stora Enso Cup, is played on Friday, 6 November for a trophy donated by Stora Enso Japan K.K. FCCJ is defending the cup.

FCCJ has won the cup six times, SCCJ has 8 victories.

Details:

Date & Time:	Friday, 6 November 2009 (start from no. 1 and 10, first tee-off at 9:45)
Venue:	Taiheiyo Club Gotemba West 1044-1 Inno, Gotemba-shi, Shizuoka 412-0008
Cost:	18,700 yen (incl. green fee, caddie, lunch and party after play) to be settled directly to the club
Registration:	by Friday, 30 October 2009, by enclosed form or mailing  mailing me
Note 1: Remember to give your HCP Note 2: If you want to go to the course the previous evening, the course has a nice lodge. See flyer for details.

For a flyer of the event, which also includes the access map and registration form, click link below.

 EVENT FLYER 

Friday, 13 November
FCIJ Business Confidence Survey Presentation Luncheon with Jesper Koll

Join us to see the results of the most recent Business Confidence Survey conducted by the Foreign Chambers in Japan (FCIJ). After lunch we are delighted to present Jesper Koll who will give us his analysis and commentary on the results.

Jesper Koll is president and CEO of Tantallon Research Japan, part of Singapore-based Tantallon Capital. Koll, who was chief economist for Merrill Lynch Japan for eight years before joining Tantallon in June, 2007, is one of the few non-Japanese members of the Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives. He is a columnist for Asia Insight.

Date & Time:	Friday, 13 November, 12:00-14:00
Venue:	Westin Tokyo, Ebisu    MAP
Cost:	Members: 6,000 yen, non-Members: 8,000 yen, including the full survey report (collected at the door)
Registration:	by Monday, 9 November

The Foreign Chambers in Japan (FCIJ) Business Confidence Survey has become a widely accepted bi-annual barometer for the sentiments of foreign business leaders in Japan, their views on the Japanese economy, and their own business performance.

Participate in the Survey
The 16th survey (Fall 2009) has begun.
If you are a Finnish affiliated company, to complete the survey, visit: http://www.fcc.or.jp/survey/fccj.html
Note: Mombers of other chambers, change "fccj" in the above URL to the acronym of your chamber.
The deadline for your input to be included in the results is Friday, October 23.

 REGISTRATION 

Wednesday, 25 November
FCCJ Luncheon Meeting with Dr. Fang He, Takanashi Milk Products

At our luncheon meeting in November we will have Dr. Fang He, Research & Develoment Dept. Manager, at Takanashi Milk Products Co., Ltd. as our speaker.

Takanashi Milk Products have had a long and extensive co-operation with Valio, the leading Finnish dairy company and Dr. Fang He has been instrumental in this co-operation. He was also Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Department of Biochemistry and Food Chemistry, University of Turku from March 1999 to March 2000.

Date & Time:	Wednesday, 25 November, 12.00-14:00
Venue:	Hotel Okura, Kensington Terrace (South Wing 12F) MAP
Cost:	7,000 yen for members, guests 8,000 yen (collected at the door)
Registration:	by Monday, 23 November
About Dr. Fang He Dr. Fang He was born in 1961and is a Chinese national but permanent resident in Japan. He became Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Tsukuba in April 1992 after which he had technical training in Germany. In April 1992 he joined. Takanashi Milk Products and has spent his career there except for his Research felowhip in Turku and in Oklahoma, USA in 2003. About Takanashi Milk Products Co., Ltd. Takanashi was established in 1946 by Yoshiro Takanashi. Since then, the company has seen three generations of Takanashi sons lead the company as President. Our founder and his successors have all strived to achieve their ultimate wish; that is customer satisfaction. Takanashi's mission is to manufacture products that are of superior quality, beneficial to one's health and, very importantly, in an environmentally friendly manner.

 REGISTRATION 

Friday, 11 December
The 17th Scandinavian Christmas Party

The social highlight of the year of the Nordic Chambers in Japan, the Scandinavian Christmas Party, is this year held on Friday, 11 December, at the same venue as last year, The Westin Tokyo.
The committee has been working hard on a new and exciting program for this year's party. Together with the staff at The Westin Tokyo, the committee is confident that all participating chamber members, and their guests, will experience a party better than ever before!

We open registration for the party on Monday, 9 November.

Currently, we are recruiting sponsors for the party. Without the continuous support from a large number of companies and organizations, we could not have made this event as enjoyable as it has been throughout the years.

If you sign-up as a sponsor now (click link below for online sign-up), before we open registration and announce the site to all chamber members, you will get most benefit of your contribution.

 XMAS PARTY SPONSORING 

News from Finland

Finnish employers crack down on social networking sites

A number of Finnish employers are planning restricting the use of social networking websites in the office, regional daily Keskisuomalainen reported on Wednesday.

The paper added that many employers had blocked access to social networking sites like Facebook.

Kalevi Tiihonen, the head of corporate security at the Confederation of Industries (EK), was quoted as saying that many employers were in the process of drafting groundrules on access to social networking sites during working hours.

According to Keskisuomalainen, based in Jyvaskyla, the local hospital district banned Facebook after a member of staff posted jokes about patients on the website.

 MORE BIZNEWS 

Grin of the Week

Supermarket Mother

A young man was walking through a supermarket to pick a few things when he noticed an old lady following him around. Thinking nothing of it, he ignored her and continued on. Finally, he went to the checkout line, but she got in front of him.

"Pardon me," she said, "I'm sorry if my staring at you has made you feel uncomfortable. It's just that you look just like my son who just died recently."

"I'm very sorry," replied the young man, "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yes," she said. "As I'm leaving, can you say 'Goodbye mother'? It would make me feel much better."

"Sure," answered the young man. As the old woman was leaving, he called out, "Goodbye mother!"

As he stepped up to the checkout counter, he saw that his total was $127.50. "How can that be?" he asked, "I only purchased a few things!"

"Your mother said that you would pay for her," said the clerk.