N EW A FFI L I AT E Japans crowning glory New Affiliate Japan-based Crown Moving Service aims to make the most of opportunities to expand its services to customers around the world. Koh Tsunemi, its Director of Business Development and Partnerships, discusses Japans moving market and how the company will tackle the challenges to achieve its goals Koh Tsunemi, Director of Business Development and Partnerships, Crown Moving Service FIDI Focus (FF): What are the characteristics of Japans moving market? Koh Tsunemi: Generally, there are two separate markets for movers in Japan; one for Japanese employees of Japanese companies working abroad, and another for employees of global firms. This makes two distinct target groups: Japanese customers and businesses; and foreign customers and global companies. There are some businesses that are targeting both, but very few. Peak moving season for Japanese companies is between March and April. There are currently a rising number of moving refugees customers unable to move at this desired time, because of high demand and moving companies being unable to fulfil all the jobs. FF: How has the Japanese moving industry evolved? KT: Those working in the industry are ageing, particularly on-site workers. Because of this, we need efficiency to increase. Adoption of customer-facing systems, such as total collective management from on-site work and shipping to delivery, are increasing, while digitalised operations are developing gradually. There are more firms in the Japanese market hiring overseas and the proportion of moving firms involved in overseas work from these clients has increased. FF: What impact did the pandemic have? KT: At the onset, overseas workers who had returned to Japan temporarily were unable to get home, and many had to stay in the country. In these cases, their belongings overseas had to be brought back to Japan. Domestic relocations fell, however, and relocations fluctuated depending on the COVID-19 situation. FF: Where are the biggest opportunities for growth? KT: Although the Japanese economy has stagnated The team at Crown Movings Tokyo office From left: Crowns Warehouse Manager, Shinya Ogino; Kobe Branch Manager, Satoshi Yamauchi; President, Hiroaki Kobayashi in recent years, there is demand for high-quality, meticulous services. Promoting these well, we believe, can attract more companies and human resources from overseas. The Japanese government is promoting this actively with policies, too. We expect significant growth when more overseas workers come to Japan in the near future, and we will develop new services for them. FF: What is Crowns business ethos? KT: Making our services convenient and usable for our customers is our top priority. We aim for our services to be thorough and respectful of clients needs, so all our transferees enjoy their moves. FF: What are your main strengths as a company? KT: Crown can offer all services, comprehensively and using our own staff, in foreign and Japanese markets. Many of our staff in sales, operations and on site are highly skilled and have worked in overseas moving for many years; they have knowledge of customs clearance, understand moving procedures, and have a high level of packaging skills. For these reasons, we can meet the needs of all customers with highquality services. FF: Why did you join FIDI? KT: We are aiming to build our high-quality moving services to serve not only Japanese people but other customers, too. Joining FIDI helps us to expand into the global market and work with clients around the world. The real pleasure of this job is connecting with people from all over the world, carrying out our services and wishing them all the best. These feelings became even stronger when we signed up to FIDI. FF: What are the future challenges for your company? KT: We aim to enhance the status and popularity of the moving industry in Japan. To improve convenience and usability for clients, we are looking to accelerate digitalisation which is still lagging behind. And, we want to improve recognition of the Crown name in the worldwide market. 74