* * * * * * * F R U G A L W A T C H * * * * * * * *
Last weekly roundup of how to be frugal in the world's most
expensive country to live (unless you read this!), written
and compiled by Wendy J. Imura.

March 21 2008 Issue No. 107
+++ INDEX

Dear Frugalites,

The Frugal Finale!

As you have read from the good folks at Japan Inc., the Frugal
Watch newsletter will be retiring as of this issue. In fact, I
should have written this farewell letter several weeks ago.

This week's Gadget Watch takes a look at the FOMA NM705i cell
phone, two record players from EXEMODE and SONY for taking your vinyl into the digital age, and SONY's MDR-NC500D digital noise-canceling headphones.

In the last of our profiles of people who have become successful in Japan without speaking fluent Japanese, we cover entrepreneurs. Now I realize that I've skipped R&D professionals, English professors, golf course designers, sports coaches, priests, and no doubt a slew of other professions. However, I hope that by picking up on multinational executives, Geeks, and now entrepreneurs, that I have been able to establish a pattern for creating a successful career despite some obvious handicaps - a pattern that not only works in Japan but also in other countries as well.

In the wake of a recent suicide pact in Aomori, JIN looks at the issue of mental health in Japan, particularly clinical depression. What can account for the dramatic increase in the numbers of people diagnosed as clinically depressed? Read Now