JIN-477 -- J@pan Inc Magazine, August 2008

Find out what's in the latest J@pan Inc magazine - includes our legal special, top-level executive interviews, changing employment patterns, the latest green technology, HDTV, beer and taxation issues, retail trends, economic analysis and much much more. Keep up to date on Japanese business Read Now

TT-480 -- Yohan Goes Bankrupt, ebiz news from Japan

Last Thursday, Japan’s largest independent distributor of foreign books and magazines, Yohan Inc., went bankrupt. The company has shutdown completely, firing all of its staff, closing the office, and leaving a reported ¥6.5billion of debt. We take a look at what possibly went wrong and what could’ve been done better.

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GW-308 -- The Hottest Gizmos and Gadgets from Japan

This week's Gadget Watch checks out two new cams (video and still) plus a handful of miscellaneous geeky peripherals.

WW-176 -- Mobile Content Search – Can Niche Players Play A Role ?

This week's Wireless Watch covers the paid search and how US firm MCN are try to capitalize on their experience in the field in Japan.

JIN-476 -- Toto, going over the rainbow?

Japanese toilet maker Toto is the fourth largest company of its type in the world. The company sees water saving innovation as critical to global success and has been making strides in Europe and the US. But are there some flaws in its understanding of energy saving technology? Read Now

Terrie's Job Tips -- Exchanging Holidays for Pay

For many people in the IT sector, life is a flurry of activity from morning to evening. There is an acknowledged shortage of IT engineers in Japan, and an even bigger shortage of bilingual ones. So it’s not that unusual for bilingual IT people in Japan to have to work long hours and get few holidays. Today’s reader letter is from just such an engineer.

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TT-479 -- Progress on Electric Car Li-ion Batteries, ebiz news from Japan

Japanese automakers have made some huge strides in the development of Lithium Ion batteries for use in electric cars. If Mitsubishi's i Miev is a hit, demand for such batteries could go through roof and Japanese companies look well placed to overcome supply issues and make good profits on this exciting new industry trend.

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GW-307 -- The Hottest Gizmos and Gadgets from Japan

This week's Gadget Watch mirrors the past few days of the Japanese gadget scene: no big announcements calling for long write-ups, but plenty of interesting short items - a super-thin TV phone, a super-high-res pocket camera, yet another strange mouse, and more.

JIN-475 -- Worked to death

The phenomenon of death caused by over working, 'karoshi,' has been recognized since the late 1970s. Do recent court cases signal a deepening of the problem or do they reflect positive alterations in corporate cultural norms? Read Now

Terrie's Job Tips -- The Power of Stories as a Recruiting Tool

Apart from money, the main reason people join a company is because of an emotional resonance they feel after reading or hearing about some particular aspect of that company which indicates that it would be a good place to work. This aspect of recruiting is very important, because it causes good candidates to choose companies that otherwise aren’t sufficiently mainstream or famous enough to normally attract them.

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