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Businesses Adapt to “Self-Restraint” Tokyo’s parks, usually packed with throngs of Japanese celebrating the hanami season, were noticeably emptier this year as consumers embraced the concept of self-restraint in an effort to show solidarity for tsunami victims up north. While these efforts have had some positive effects—such as the suspension of planned blackouts—many businesses fear ...

Global Yentervention In the first few days following the Tohoku Earthquake, one needed to look no further than the Japanese yen to understand its economic impact on a global scale. On March 17, the yen reached an all-time post-World War II high of 76.25 yen to the dollar. Within 24 hours, the Group of Seven ...

Location-Based Boom The latest Japanese social media trend can be described in three words: location, location, location. Known for their addiction to their mobile phones, Japanese have shown their preference for social media that easily ties into an on-the-go lifestyle. In early February, Japan’s second largest telecommunications company, KDDI announced that they would partner up ...

U.S., Japan Voted Among Most Innovative Countries Despite increasing concerns regarding economic prosperity, a new study by General Electric has found that in the eyes of business executives around the world, both the U.S. and Japan remain the “innovation champions” of the world. Released on January 26, the “Global Innovation Barometer” report is the first ...

The Cellular Connection Globalization has finally shrunk the world to fit inside a 3.5 inch screen. As smartphones grow increasingly popular, more and more companies are looking at mobile phones as a viable way to expand their businesses overseas. Japanese mobile gaming company DeNA announced on December 15 that it would team up with Samsung ...

Transitioning into a New Year The end of 2010 was marked by heated debate about how to jump start Japan’s stagnating economy. As world leaders gathered in Yokohama for APEC 2010, thousands of protestors lined up outside the venue to voice their opposition to Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s plan to “open” Japan. Kan, a vocal ...

Rakuten vs. Yahoo Japan The rivalry between Rakuten and Yahoo Japan Corp. intensified in October when Rakuten filed a petition with the Japan Fair Trade Commission against Yahoo’s planned tie-up with Google. The tie-up will see Google power Yahoo Japan’s search engine, effectively giving it a monopoly over 90 percent of searches in Japan. Yahoo ...

Yentervention: Yes, He Kan Naoto Kan fended off political maverick Ichiro Ozawa in an election for DPJ party leader on September 14 to retain his position as Prime Minister. Ozawa is famed in Japan for his role as a behind-the-scenes power broker, but was forced to resign his post as DPJ Secretary General last year ...

Yahoo Japan-Google Tie-Up From early September, Yahoo Japan Corp. and U.S. firm Google Inc. will widen the scope of their video delivery services as the brawl for eyeballs in the Japanese market intensifies, according to a Nikkei report. As of September, Yahoo Japan subsidiary GyaO Corp. reached an agreement with public broadcaster NHK and TV ...

Gearing Up For Green Miles The Japanese auto and auto-related industry is fast circling in on the U.S. green car market. Honda Motor Co., which is working on a hybrid car that can be recharged at home and an electric car, is considering building the hybrids in the U.S. Honda aims to roll out these ...

Three’s A Cloud For Big Blue Three of Japan’s top information technology companies, Fujitsu Ltd., NEC Corp and Hitachi Ltd., are joining forces for a global marketing offensive in cloud computing in a bid to take on industry leader IBM Corp. In a shift from hardware to software, the trio is counting on their cutting-edge, ...

Good Wheel Hunting In a move that may improve Toyota Motor Corp’s somewhat battered image in the U.S., Japan’s largest automaker is partnering with California-based Tesla Motors to make electric cars in a joint venture that will see the reopening of a defunct auto plant and the creation of thousands of jobs. The deal, which ...

Together In Electric Dreams Japanese carmakers are serious about turning over a new leaf, and the shoots of recovery for the industry are undoubtedly green. (Particularly in the case of Nissan Motor Co., which plans to roll out an electric car called Leaf.) But while all signs point to a green future, the necessary infrastructure ...

Deflation: Shop Like It’s 1992 If you’ve been putting off getting that new futon or carpet, hesitate no more: They’ve never been cheaper. With creeping deflation, Japan’s consumer prices in 2009 rolled back to 1992 levels, with many household items and apparel goods sinking to 1970s and 1980s prices, and some even plummeting to new ...

Toyota Prius: If It Don’t Brake, Fix It—Or Trade It In Just as it seemed Toyota Motor Corp. was power-steering its way out of the woods, sticky accelerator pedals and misaligned floor mats are threatening to veer the company off course. The world’s largest automaker is in the midst of a global recall for its ...