Retail Focus: Smart Cards

Convenience stores see the highest volume of smart card users.By Sarah Noorbakhsh

The plastic revolution continues.

In almost any busy retail space, a harmony of blips, beeps and hums can be heard as customers slide cards and mobile phones across the colorful pads of smart-card readers to pay for transactions.

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The Deal: Right Place, Right Time

James GowJames GowBy Shaun Davies

The sale of currency trading Website FXOnline to IG Group will come to epitomize the dream of the foreign entrepreneur in Japan.

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Technology: I Want My 1seg TV

Robert SanzaloneBy Robert Sanzalone

If Japanese consumers don’t even really want TV on their cellphones, why has it been such a hit?

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Edge of Communication -- Executive Interview: Frank Sanda

Frank SandaFrank SandaBy Chris Betros

Frank Sanda founded Japan Communications Inc. as the world’s first Data Mobile Virtual Network Operator (D-MVNO).

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Creating Credit

Tadatoshi SenooTadatoshi SenooBy Anna Kitanaka

Freshly launched in October, Maneo.jp is Japan’s first social lending site, providing an online auction platform for borrowers and lenders to create their own customized loans.

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Economic Outlook: Rounding the Corner

Illustration: We aren’t out of the woods yet...By Michael Condon

So the banks have been saved, what’s next?

After weeks of headlines about the “Nightmare on Wall Street,” one thing has become clear—it’s good for headline writers. But for all the news and analysis, the true nature of the financial meltdown and what will follow has remained decidedly murky.

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Bank Buyouts: The Circle of Strife

The return of Japan to Wall Street.By Hugh Ashton

In the bubble years, Japanese companies roamed the globe, seeking status symbols to adorn their corporate portfolios. Now, is history repeating itself?

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Inside Out: Thailand

ThailandBy Ellen Bee

A regular column concerning business in an emerging market, and its relationship with Japan.

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Eye on Trade: More Than Just Pistachios

PistachiosBy Sarah Noorbakhsh

Although under increasing pressure from the US to sanction Iran, Japan has upheld steady ties with the controversial nation.

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High Expectations

Fusion Systems founder Michael Alfant.Michael AlfantBy Darius Jones

When opportunity knocked Michael Alfant took notice, building success from scratch not once, but twice.

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