By Anna Kitanaka -- J@pan Inc takes a look at the secretive developer, Minoru Mori, his business dealings and his controversial ‘vertical garden cities.’ -- In September 1, the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) finally opened after 17 years of tumultuous development. Initially constructed to be the tallest building in the world, unfortunately for Minoru Mori, 73-year-old property tycoon and owner of half a dozen skyscrapers, the tower failed to retain the title.

Closer to home, Mori had also faced problems, namely due to its controversial Roppongi Hills complex. Opened to the public in 2003, the mega-complex incorporates office space, apartments, shops, restaurants, cafés, movie theaters, a museum, a hotel, a major TV studio, an outdoor amphitheater, as well as a few parks.

By Gordon Jones -- As China moves into the continent, how is Japan positioned? When former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda addressed the crowd of dignitaries at this year’s Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TI-CAD-IV), he did so with bold predictions and promises. “In the future, Africa will become a powerful engine driving the growth of the world,” Fukuda said as he stood before the dignitaries of 52 African countries and a multitude of international organizations.

By Sarah Noorbakhsh -- In times of economic woe, we find out that the best way to cheer up staff is to throw a party. Tokyo may now be one of the world’s prime locations for extravagant corporate galas and employee parties, but it hasn’t always been that way. While the bubble era meant that companies had more than enough free-flowing cash to treat employees to overseas trips and all-you-can-drink karaoke bashes, the industry as a whole has since evolved, and there has been a renewed surge of demand from companies both domestically and internationally for a new breed of employee- oriented parties hosted at some of Tokyo’s finest hotels.

By Karryn Miller -- Japan struggles to draw the line between entertaining guests and bribery. Playing golf in Japan doesn’t come cheap. With green fees starting at around 10,000 yen a person, and reaching anywhere in the region of 50,000 yen for luxury courses, it’s a sport that has long retained an image of affluence. Over the years the pastime has been used to impress many a client, and in some cases a day of play has even been a tool to sway people’s actions and opinions.