The French semiotician Roland Barthes called Japan, "a paradise for the great student of signs", but it can also be a treacherous labyrinth of alien signifiers.
In this spirit Carter Associates believes that, particularly in Japan, it is crucial that research includes an appreciation of context. No amount of data, no matter how intensive or exhaustive, is going to be of use if the user doesn't understand the context of the market that data was drawn from. Many expensive mistakes have been made because of a failure to interpret research in a manner appropriate to the cultural and social contours of the market.