Jean was nothing if not dedicated to helping others and during her more than 40 years in Japan, 36 of them were spent writing regular, meaning weekly, reader advice columns (1964-2000) for the Japan Times.

We heard a story a few years ago about just how autocratic and strict the management methods of Mr. Funai were, which in the beginning no doubt contributed significantly to his success.

It was with some interest that we saw several articles and one investor presentation about one of Japan's largest bedrock IT companies, Fujitsu.

The Parliament passed legislation that will legalize home-sharing, otherwise known as "Minpaku". Initially the main beneficiary will be Airbnb, who now becomes the first U.S. sharing economy company to make it big in Japan.