Back in November, the government released statistics stating that Japan's unemployment fell a full 9% from 4% to just 3.7%. When I first saw this, I had just finished watching the latest TV news installment about how many more part-timers had just been fired by Japan's leading electronics and automobile makers. Talk about a contrast!

Michael CondonBy Michael Condon

On the cover, we are running with an issue that is flooding the forums and chatrooms on the Japanese Web. We put illegal downloads and the wider issue of copyright infringement under the microscope as new laws are debated in Japan. Will your average 14-year-old, caught downloading ringtones, be hit with a civil lawsuit? J@pan Inc talks to some new media experts as well as the music industry to get their opinion.

In their latest bid to gain consumers’ attention, Dentsu, Fujitsu, and Advanced Communications have announced that they have developed a new distribution model for Internet advertising using a “license code system.”