We know from practical experience that swimming in Japan is not a particularly pleasant activity, due to the way that swimming pools are policed by imperious lifeguards.
Dentsu is paying a huge 48% premium over the last closing price for the object of its desire -- marketing group Aegis, making the takeover deal worth about US$5bn.
Japan's established parties should be worried about mayor of Osaka Toru Hashimoto's popularity, especially after his earlier strident anti-nuclear stance. He is quite smart, although prone to some bizarre personal values.
Now that the rise in Consumption Tax is all but assured, we think there are some very interesting changes in store for how the Japanese Government and Japanese companies think about making money.
Apart from the size, what made this demo unusual is that it wasn't organized by a specific political group. You had moms with babies, salarymen, senior citizens, Buddhist priests, and people from all walks of life.
There is one lawyer per 250 people in the USA, one per 390 in New Zealand, 590 in Germany, 1,000 in Hong Kong, 4,119 in Japan, and one for every 5,000 people in China.
"showrooming" -- web-savvy consumers check out products in physical show rooms, only to turn to their favorite shopping and price comparison websites to see if they can buy the same product cheaper elsewhere.
After the Tokyo High Court finally agreed to a retrial after new DNA evidence, Govinda Prasad Mainali, a Nepalese who has been in prison on and off since 1997, has been released.
As much as we don't like DPJ politician Ichiro Ozawa and his money-tainted politics, we have to agree with him on one thing, that raising the consumption tax in Japan could be harmful.
Get the latest info on Japan delivered to your inbox absolutely free. Subscribe to our newsletters and join over 6,800 subscribers. We do not sell our mailing lists to spammers.