Japan: Tradition and culture Features 25/11/2015 Hurrairah bin Sohail talks to Vega Project K.K. regarding the state of the Japanese professional AV industry and finds out how the integrator tackles this unique market.Japan’s history, tradition and culture differentiate the market from its neighbours and the region as a whole. In fact, manufacturers looking to conduct business activity in Japan treat the island nation as a separate and distinct market, often tailoring their strategies and approach specifically to the country. Vega Project K.K. is an integrator that entered the Japanese market in February 2011. It started off by working on AV installations for IT and financial institutions and has since expanded to undertake projects in numerous vertical sectors. Richard Johns, country manager for Vega Project K.K., notes that there are similarities between the Japanese professional AV industry and the wider Asia Paci?c market. He says: “In Japan, some AV integrators are also distributors, which means they are not neutral when it comes to designing the AV system for the client as they will always specify in the products they distribute. If the products they distribute are speci?ed by the client into any given project, it can make it dif?cult for us because it means our competitor (who is also the distributor for it means our competitor (who is also the distributor for the product) refuses to sell to us. This means we need to go through other channels, which in turn pushes our costs up and lowers our margins considerably.â€Read now in the InAVate APAC digital edition. If you are not already registered then follow the quick sign up for your free subscription and immediate access to this article and the InAVate archive.