In 2012 the mayor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, came out "full blast" with a policy that outlawed tattoos -- in the Osaka government at least. Specifically, he ordered a stop to city employees getting inked.

The Country Manager of a foreign company starting up in Japan is more than just a manager, he/she also has to be an entrepreneur and salesperson to run the minutiae of a new business for the first 3-5 years.

A newer global self-help entrepreneurial business organization, TiE, has appeared on the Japan scene, and this one seeks specifically to develop new entrepreneurs, although the networking aspect is there as well.

The first edition of Terrie's Take for 2014. We take a peek into the future and ask ourselves what trends or macro developments might happen and what impact they will have on doing business in Japan.