Uchikura & Co Blog
Why Business Cards Still Matte...
2026-03-22
Why Business Cards Still Matter in Japan   In today’s world, many technologies are trying to replace traditional business cards—RFID cards, QR codes, and digital contact apps. They are efficient and ...
Why Coffee Chains Struggle in ...
2026-03-19
Why Coffee Chains Struggle in the U.S. but Thrive in Japan   Recently, I noticed something interesting.Tully's Coffee is gone in the U.S., Seattle's Best Coffee is no longer visible as a retail chain...
The Security of...
2026-03-19
The Security of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s Nuclear Issue Cannot Be Separated   For Japan, the security of the Strait of Hormuz is critically important to both its economy and daily life. Japan r...
Why PSPINC Is Giving Away a To...
2026-03-19
Why PSPINC Is Giving Away a Tool We Have Used for 20+ Years   At PSPINC, we do not wait for customers to tell us something is broken.   If a website stops responding, if an email server slows down, o...
38 Years Without a Fare Increa...
2026-03-19
38 Years Without a Fare Increase — What That Really Means   On March 14, 2026, Japan Railways (JR) raised its fares by 7%.At first glance, 7% may not sound like a big deal. But what caught my attenti...
Japan’s EC-2: A...
2026-03-19
Japan’s EC-2: A New Era in Electronic Warfare   Japan recently marked an important milestone with the first flight of its new stand-off jammer electronic warfare aircraft, the EC-2. Based on the Kawa...
Why LINE Matters More Than SMS...
2026-03-18
Why LINE Matters More Than SMS in Japan   When American companies think about customer communication, they usually think of email and SMS. In Japan, that approach does not work.   Japan runs on LINE....
Ken Uchikura Newsletter Vol. 3...
2026-03-18
Nothing Changes If You Do Nothing   "If you do nothing, nothing changes. But even if you do something, it doesn’t guarantee improvement. That’s why you need to start when you still have some leeway.” ...
10 Screws in the Plastic Bag
2026-03-17
A Story About Quality — And How We Define It   I once heard an interesting story.   A U.S. manufacturer placed an order with a Japanese company for 100,000 screws. Along with the order, they added a ...
Coffee, Conversations, and Con...
2026-03-17
Coffee, Conversations, and Connections — A New Beginning at PSPINC   This morning, we hosted a Coffee Meetup Networking meeting at PSPINC, and I would like to sincerely thank everyone who took the ti...