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II. Process of Learning and Growth
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―From the Tokyo Classified, then you started to expand into another magazine?
Mary: In those days, as Mark said, our company structure was more like a branch in Japan. A few years later the Internet was coming. We wanted to be at the forefront. We knew it was going to be very important for the international community with the communications to the rest of the world and for getting in contact with each other. We were one of the first Internet provider company. We had at one time about 10,000 subscribers, and at that time we changed our company to a Japanese Kabushiki Kaisha. We established a K.K. because we knew that we wanted to be seen more solid in our business in Japan. For example, when we were dealing with Japanese banks and large companies, they would consider you as just a foreign company.
―So this was in which year?
Mary: In 1995. We just completed 10 years of our Kabushi Kaisha.
Mark: So let me show you something, the progression of things. Actually it was only 4 pages.
―Now you have quite a few pages...
Mark: Later there were 12 pages.
Mary: Sounds very slow. After a year...
Mark: But you can see now that we have real advertisers. We have more staff.
―That is unusual to have photos of staff.
Mary: We did that for a long time, so that people would have affinity with us, and to have a feeling that we were not remote. We felt very strongly in those days that we did not want to be a one-way media, just broadcasting. We wanted to be seen as receiving. That was our first message, “The content is coming from you. Please tell us what you want.” It was very much a two-way communication.
 Mark: We added colors. We put small features. This issue has about immigration policy, an important subject for our readers. This issue has 16 pages.
―Two years later...
Mary: We were very patient. We started the company without any capital or knowledge. We had no experience of media or running a company. To be honest in the beginning, we had no idea what we were doing. All along the way it has been very much a learning process, how to run a company, how to hire staff and work with the staff, how to make a magazine, how to find advertisers, and how to do all of that. Everything was a learning process right from the beginning. So in some ways, it might seem slow but for us that was the best way, because it was evolutionary, a step-by-step learning process.
―Currently your company is a Kabushiki Kaisha so that means you have some capital.
Mary: Yes, over the years. By the year 2000, I think the market was good in Japan, and we had expanded a lot. The magazine had expanded, we had our Internet provider business, and we were doing more publishing on the Internet. We were broadening our scope gradually.
―Currently your number of staff including yourselves is about 30-40. What is the ideal size of your company in the near future? What is the target you wish to achieve?... mid term and long term.
Mary: Obviously we are always looking to increase our business.
―To the different fields or...?
Mary: We always look for new business opportunities. Recently we started a creative agency. Last year we had 2, and now we have grown up to 5 people.
―You mean consulting?
Mary: No, itfs creative. We make brochures for companies. We do designing, printing, websites... We work with the United Nations University, and we work with big ad agencies for NEC, and with a lot of different agencies.
Mark: We have many clients who want to do things. Japanese clients want to make things in English, and English clients want to make things in Japanese. We are a gateway. We want to see how it will evolve.
Mary: We would like to be hiring more people. Probably over the next year, we would expect to hire 10 people. If business goes well, we would hire a lot more. We are very evolutionary and take a step at a time.
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