Object World Expo/Tokyo 95, run by IDG Communications, was held at Makuhari near Tokyo late last year. According to a foreign exhibitor, the Japanese object-oriented market has matured considerably since last year: all the foreign products are in the market, and the Japanese big three computer companies, NEC Corp, Fujitsu Ltd and Hitachi Ltd, are also trying to develop and sell their own object-oriented database products and tools. Attendance at this year’s Object World Expo/Tokyo 95 numbered over 10,000 people. A conference run in parallel featured the likes of Bud Tribble, SunSoft Inc’s vice-president of Object Technology, Ivar Jacobsen from Rational Software Corp and Mike Potel from the ill-fated Taligent Inc, among Japanese speakers from IBM Japan Ltd and software houses selling object-oriented products. Anita Byrnes met with the representatives of two object-oriented product companies at Object World and discussed their approaches to business in Japan. The products Matisse, from French company ADB SA, and ObjectStore from Object Design Inc, contrast in their target markets but the representatives concur in looking forward to success having observed the golden rule of making a long-term commitment to the Japanese market.
