Kijuro KawakitaBy Joseph Greenberg -- The business of invention -- Kijuro Kawakita, patent attorney and inventor, tells his students when he visits schools and colleges to teach young entrepreneurs and inventors how to make inventions and protect any success they might have with them, “Many people have inventive capability but they don’t know about the patent system—it is vital for young people and inventors to protect their inventions otherwise they will never be able to compete with big companies.” Kawakita is evangelical about the benefits of thinking through the IP angles early on: “It’s important to think about ways in which the invention could be used in the future.

By Matthew Heath -- For the expat resident Japan has a lot going for it; within a couple hours in winter there’s skiing, in summer the beach and a variety of interesting weekend excursions, whatever may tickle one’s fancy. What may be less obvious is skydiving in Japan. There around only 500 active skydivers here so it is still very much a minority sport. In under an hour from Asakusa one can be at Fujioka Station in Tochigi Prefecture and five minutes from the drop-zone.

By Louise Calvert -- In terms of national costume and dress, there can be nothing so quintessentially Japanese as the kimono. These often beautiful and elaborate garments became widespread during the Edo period (1603- 1867) and the craft of creating them tended to be passed down from mothers to daughters in the home. However, during the Meiji era, many Japanese reformers adopted Western style clothing, much to the disgust of the Confucian rulers of China. As Western dress was thus a ‘top-down’ phenomenon, it created within Japan a growing demand for domestically produced garments in the new fashion and by the early twentieth century, it was clear that this emerging industry would need well-trained craftsmen, designers, tailors and machine workers.

By Ken Worsley -- Back and Forward is a regular column that takes a slightly irreverent look at some of Japan’s biggest business stories. -- Tough first month... -- ...and tougher translators -- Oops! -- Not Oops? -- Re-branding of the year... -- Blindness might set in before on-demand content finally gets here...