Mapping the Industries

Which body establishes the Japan Standard Industrial Classification (日本標準産業分類)?

1. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (経済産業省)
2. Japan Exchange Group (日本取引所グループ)
3. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (総務省)
4. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (厚生労働省)

Which describes the level structure of the Japan Standard Industrial Classification correctly?

1. 3 levels made up of gyōshu (業種), gyōkai (業界) and gyōtai (業態)
2. 3 levels: divisions, major groups and groups
3. 4 levels: divisions, major groups, groups and industries
4. 2 levels, divisions and major groups, with no groups or industries below them

Which is the correct range of letters used for the divisions (大分類) of the Japan Standard Industrial Classification?

1. Numbers from 1 to 99
2. 20 items, from A to T
3. 26 items, from A to Z
4. 10 items, from A to J

According to the general principles, what is the unit to which the Japan Standard Industrial Classification is applied?

1. The company (会社)
2. The establishment (事業所)
3. The municipality (市区町村)
4. The worker (従業者)

When a single establishment carries out economic activities falling under more than one classification item, how is its industry decided?

1. By the principal economic activity, the one with the largest value added
2. By whichever activity has the fewest workers
3. By whichever activity it has been carrying on the longest
4. By working up from the industry level to the levels above it

An establishment of a so-called pure holding company (純粋持株会社), which carries on no business activity of its own but holds a management function over companies whose control it has acquired, falls under which division?

1. L Scientific research, professional and technical services
2. E Manufacturing
3. I Wholesale and retail trade
4. R Services, not elsewhere classified

Which is a correct description of division E, manufacturing?

1. An establishment that sorts and packs agricultural, forestry and fishery products for shipment
2. An establishment whose only line of work is repairing products
3. An establishment that sells goods it has purchased, unchanged, to other businesses
4. An establishment that manufactures and processes new products and mainly sells them wholesale

What is the main criterion separating wholesale trade from retail trade?

1. Who the goods are sold to
2. Whether the business keeps a shop
3. How long ago the company was founded
4. The kinds of goods handled

How is an establishment treated when it bakes bread at its own factory and sells it in a shop to individual customers?

1. As an industry unable to classify
2. As manufacturing and retail trade at the same time
3. As retail trade
4. As manufacturing, because it makes the products itself

Which combination of code lengths in the Japan Standard Industrial Classification is correct?

1. 2 digits for major groups, 3 digits for groups, 4 digits for industries
2. 1 digit for major groups, 2 digits for groups, 3 digits for industries
3. 3 digits for major groups, 4 digits for groups, 5 digits for industries
4. 4 digits for all of them

In a description of a supply chain, what does kawakami (川上), the upstream side, refer to?

1. The retail stage, close to the consumer
2. The logistics stage, where goods are carried
3. The upper stage, close to materials and raw inputs
4. The advertising stage, where products are promoted

Which is the most appropriate description of a BtoB business?

1. A business that sells directly to consumers
2. A business that sells only to government offices
3. A business that sells to businesses such as companies
4. A business that sells only overseas

What is the most appropriate attitude when researching a company that is mainly BtoB?

1. Decide that a company the public hardly knows is not worth researching, and narrow the search to companies with consumer products
2. Judge the scale of the business by how often you see its advertising, and do not check who it trades with
3. Assume there is no point reading the annual securities report because there are no consumer products
4. Even if public name recognition is low, check its role through who it trades with and the products and services it provides

Which is not generally one of the functions performed by a trading house (商社, shōsha)?

1. Financial functions that go with a transaction, such as advancing payment or deferring it
2. Acting as an intermediary connecting sellers and buyers and arranging terms for both sides
3. Taking selling directly to end consumers in shops as its sole line of work
4. Arranging logistics such as customs clearance for imports and exports, warehousing and transport

Which is the most reliable way to check where a company sits in a supply chain?

1. Guessing its position from the sound of the company name and the impression its advertising gives
2. Judging from the ranking tables in a commercial industry map book alone
3. Guessing from the list of job categories on a recruiting site alone
4. Reading the business description and the business system chart in the annual securities report

An establishment that manufactures nothing itself and delivers large volumes of purchased industrial machinery to factories falls under which category?

1. Manufacturer-retailing
2. Wholesale trade
3. Retail trade
4. Industries unable to classify

Which is a correct understanding of the industry labels used in job hunting, such as maker, trading house and finance?

1. They are customary labels and do not necessarily match the statistical classification
2. They are categories set by the Tokyo Stock Exchange
3. They correspond one to one with the divisions of the Japan Standard Industrial Classification, letters included
4. They are formal categories defined by law, and every company necessarily belongs to exactly one of them

Which term comes closest to the position of a company that supplies parts to a finished-goods maker whose product then reaches consumers?

1. CtoC, where individuals trade with each other
2. BtoBtoC
3. A pure retailer selling directly to consumers
4. BtoG, dealing only with government offices

Which division contains the businesses of electricity, gas, heat supply and water?

1. Division H, transport and postal activities
2. Division R, services, not elsewhere classified
3. Division F, electricity, gas, heat supply and water
4. Division S, government, except elsewhere classified

Which division is assigned the letter G?

1. Living-related and personal services and amusement services
2. Education and learning support
3. Information and communications
4. Finance and insurance

Which is the correct description of a subsidiary (子会社) under the Companies Act (会社法), Article 2, item 3?

1. A company with less stated capital than its parent that has its head office in the same building
2. A stock company in which a company holds a majority of the voting rights of all shareholders, or another entity whose management that company controls
3. A company that has a stock company as its subsidiary, or another entity prescribed by Ministry of Justice ordinance as controlling the management of that stock company
4. A company in which a majority of the voting rights is not held, but with which business ties are close through seconded officers or loans

Which is the correct description of an affiliate (関連会社) under the Regulation on Financial Statements (財務諸表等規則)?

1. A company with a record of continuous past dealings whose name is known as a trading partner
2. A company in the same industry with similar business, whatever the share of voting rights held
3. A company in which a majority of the voting rights is held for one's own account and whose decisions on financial and operating or business policy are controlled
4. A company other than a subsidiary over whose decisions on financial and operating or business policy material influence can be exercised

Which is not included in related companies (関係会社) under the Regulation on Financial Statements?

1. Another company that the filing company treats as an affiliate
2. The parent company of the company filing the financial statements
3. A subsidiary of the company filing the financial statements
4. A company belonging to the same industry association

Which is the correct definition of a holding company (持株会社) in the Antimonopoly Act (独占禁止法), Article 9, paragraph 4, item 1?

1. A company in which the total acquisition cost of the shares of its subsidiaries exceeds 50 percent (100分の50) of the amount of its total assets
2. A company that has at least one subsidiary (子会社)
3. A company with Holdings (ホールディングス) in its name that has once resolved at a general meeting of shareholders to become a holding company
4. A listed parent company (親会社)

Which is the correct way to calculate the HHI used in the merger guidelines (企業結合ガイドライン)?

1. The sum of the squares of the market share of each business operator in a particular field of trade
2. The number of business operators divided by market share
3. The sum of the market shares of the top 3 companies
4. The largest operator's market share minus the smallest operator's market share

For a horizontal merger, which case is not one of those in which the merger guidelines say competition is not normally substantially restrained?

1. The HHI after the merger is over 2,500 and the increase in HHI is 300
2. The HHI after the merger is over 1,500 but 2,500 or less, and the increase in HHI is 250 or less
3. The HHI after the merger is 1,500 or less
4. The HHI after the merger is over 2,500 and the increase in HHI is 150 or less

Which is least likely to count as an example of a barrier to entry?

1. Needing a licence or approval from national or local government to run the business
2. Needing large-scale capital investment to start the business
3. Having to pay a fee for the registration that incorporates the company
4. Taking time to build a distribution network and customer relationships from scratch

Which market segments has the Tokyo Stock Exchange applied since April 4, 2022?

1. Three segments: first, second and third sections
2. Two segments, the main market and the emerging market
3. First Section, Second Section, Mothers and JASDAQ
4. Prime Market, Standard Market and Growth Market

Which is the stated concept of the Growth Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange?

1. A market for companies that make timely and appropriate disclosure of a business plan for realising high growth potential and of its progress, and that command a certain market valuation, while carrying relatively high risk in terms of business track record
2. A market for professionals, where those able to invest are limited to specified investors and the like
3. A market for companies with a certain market capitalisation as an investment target on an open market and with the basic standard of governance expected of a listed company
4. A market for companies with a market capitalisation large enough to be an investment target for many institutional investors and with a higher standard of governance

What is the most appropriate attitude when using a commercial industry map book?

1. Treating it as the current situation without checking the year of publication or the date of the data
2. Using it as a ranking table for deciding which companies are better
3. Stating the market share figures printed in it as fact in an interview, without checking the source or the date
4. Using it as a way in to the overall picture, and checking individual facts against each company's published materials