Message from the Editor

A real estate issue and the move to bi-monthly

Dear Readers,

It is a very exciting time to be taking the editorial position at J@pan Inc. Japan’s economy is looking confident, and its interaction with the rest of the world is at an unprecedented level. In no case is this more so than in real estate, the theme for our summer edition.

In May the Financial Times reported on its front page that, “direct investment by foreigners in Japan’s commercial property market more than tripled last year as low interest rates created money making opportunities.” Our cover story turns the spotlight on CBRE, the world’s largest real estate services company, to see how they have made the most of the new opportunities here as well as including wider analysis of the real estate market in Tokyo. On other pages Simon Jackson has taken us to Niseko to have a look at the property bubble there while J@pan Inc also interviewed four resident foreigners about how they found or bought their properties.

But it is not only because of the economic situation that times are exciting for us over at the J@pan Inc offices. As a result of popular demand and constant inflow of high quality unique content, from September we become a bi-monthly publication. This allows us to broaden our horizons and incorporate more of the ideas and interests of our readership than we have been able to at present.

J@pan Inc comes from an IT/technology tradition and we are very much committed to covering developments and innovations within the industry, as our article on Web 2.0 marketing in this edition illustrates. However, business is the soul of the magazine and in going bimonthly we aim for each issue to focus on a particular industry as well as featuring our usual quality pieces on culture, politics and society. We are also your publication. If you have an idea for an article, or just want to make a general comment about our style and content, we are all ears. Send an email, post something on our website or pen a “letter to the editor,” your voice will be heard.

Personally, I’m already geared up for our September issue – the legal special. As a taster of things to come we are running Willhemina’s impressively researched article on Intellectual Property in this edition. With major changes happening in the legal world in Japan, from its justice system to electronic commerce legislation, it’ll be an issue pertinent to all of our readers.

I’d like to thank all readers for their continuing support and I look forward to hearing from you.

Peter Harris MA (Oxon)
Chief Editor

Peter Harris is a British citizen who graduated from the universities of Oxford and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He first came to Japan in 1999 and has lived in Okinawa for 2 years on the Japan Exchange & Teaching (JET) program. He has a varied experience of writing and editing and is happy to hear your thoughts. He can be contacted at: peter.harris@japaninc.com