Probably the biggest consideration for most people in wanting to set up a company is the issue of having the money to pay for it. As I teach in my entrepreneur classes, starting a company with any number of employees will always cost more than you think. In fact, my rule of thumb is to set aside about JPY5m for each person employed, quite apart from the cost of any office move, furniture, tools of the trade, company registration, licenses, etc.

This week's Gadget Watch covers the new Sony ICD-UX70, UX80 digital voice recorder, the Buffalo RSDC-GC6 new memory card and the Mustardgiga Visuals PC Peripherals. Read Now

This week's newsletter outlines the content of J@pan Inc's latest magazine including articles on software for J-SOX, virtual machines, travel in Okinawa, fashion trends, finance, Second Life and more. Read Now

Even if you live permanently in Japan, own property, have chidren at Japanese schools, own a company and pay taxes to the Japanese government, changes to immigration procedures at Narita airport will require you to go through new rigourous checks and balances including eye-scanning and finger printing. Aside from the inconvenice, what messages is the Japanese government sending to potential foreign investors and business people? Read Terrie's Take Now