Move over, Mussolini!(Blowfish)
A BANNER YEAR for rice crooks. During 2003, says the Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, cases involving theft of fruit,
agricultural produce and sea products reached approximately . . .
Beyond the classics: a New York publisher is bent on selling
Japan's fiction.(Feature)(Cover Story)
While Japanese anime, manga and pop art creep into the North
American mainstream, most of the nation's novelists remain virtual
unknowns in the West. Beyond Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto . . .
Spaces designed in Tokyo--just for you: interiors for the
discriminating Tokyo business traveler.(Style)
SPACE DESIGN is a leading Tokyo-based serviced apartment hotel
company, providing professionally-designed furnished and unfurnished
apartments for short and mid-term stays in Tokyo. Available from . . .
Auction procurement: a new trend? Foreign firms are bringing
savings to Japan via auctions.(InDepth)
THE ability to procure raw materials and parts cheaply has always
been a competitive weapon for major companies in Japan. Traditionally,
large brand-name manufacturers have dictated terms and . . .
Love hotel fund gets started: first specialist pink RE fund for
Japan.(Upfront)
ALTHOUGH a taboo subject, many of Japan's 20+ million couples
have experienced the pleasures of one of Japan's estimated 17,000
love hotels at some time or other. Whether a loss of innocence with . . .
Out of the Ice Age: Technology to freeze by.(Upfront)
HE serves fresh carrot juice, the real stuff, which smells like it
has just been pulped. It tastes great, full bodied, and I am thinking
that he must be using those special juicy lbaraki organic . . .
Victor InterLink MP-XV831.(G-Spot)
Victor's World First entry is a spanky new laptop PC, the
InterLink MP-XV831, the smallest portable in the world to incorporate a
multi-DVD drive. At a positively dwarflike 235 X 214 X 43.2mm . . .
Sanyo Hapish.(G-Spot)
Sanyo Electric Co. has released a new line of super-lightweight
electric toothbrushes. Hapish, a combination of the Japanese words for
"teeth" and the sound of the brushing action, weighs just . . .
Sony network audio system NAS-A1 and 5V LCD display
AUDP-A1.(G-Spot)
NAS-A1, dubbed "NET JUKE," is an audio system connected
to the Internet--so it can download music and obtain information about
artists displayed on AUPD-A1. NAS-A1 also pre-installs Web browsers . . .
Sharp Auvi.(G-Spot)
Auvi provides better sound quality and longer battery life than
rival products. The portable MD recorder features a mobile 1-bitdigital
amplifier. Auvi can play music for up to 135 hours if it uses . . .
Olympus CAMEDIA AZ-1.(G-Spot)
CAMEDIA AZ-1 is the world's first digital camera that uses a
mobile ASV liquid crystal display monitor, technology that allows
digital cameras to have large screens. The CAMEDIA AZ-1 has a . . .
Panasonic Let'snote.(G-Spot)
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has begun selling Let'snote
R3 series, T2 series, W2 series and Y2 series. The series have a liquid
crystal display measuring between 10.4 and 14.1 inches. The R3 . . .
Can't be beet.(Buzz)
WHEN celebrated French chef Stephane Gaborieau popped up at the
Tokyo Hilton this spring, we were treated to an evening of stellar
surprises.
Gaborieau's five-day guest appearance at Twenty One, . . .
Hitachi and Omron join together.(Buzz)
In mid-May, Hitachi, Ltd. and Omron Corporation, a leader in
sensing and control technology, announced the outline for a joint
venture combining their ATM and information equipment businesses. . . .
Chicken Soup for Japan.(Buzz)
JAPANESE bestseller lists are routinely topped by self-help books.
These are so popular here that it was only a matter of time before the
Chicken Soup franchise came calling. Chicken Soup for the . . .
We hate hawking!(Blowfish)
GENTEEL POVERTY. Spa! questioned 100 salarymen in their 20s and 30s
about which situations conjure up the image of poverty. First on the
list, according to 86 percent, was having one's electric . . .
Spiderman: the Web wizard of Japanese search engine
optimization.(Feature)(Cover Story)
WE don't normally focus on specific IT products, because,
frankly, there's something "new" out every day. But
occasionally a true breakthrough product comes along that we know our
readers will want . . .
Reflections on rice.(Look!)
Japan's rice paddies are full of vigor. They will flourish in
the humid monsoon weather of the tsuyu rainy season to follow. It's
easy to forget that rice is native to tropical latitudes. Basing . . .
From jobs to inflation: between a rock and a hard place.(Investor
Innsight)
DURING 2002 and 2003, the world's central banks--the US
Federal Reserve in particular--laid the groundwork for significant
inflation as they desperately tried to revive faltering economies . . .
Livedoor CEO Takafumi Horie: is livedoor Japan's next
Softbank?(Voice)
IN the first three months of 2004, a company that few people have
heard of went on a spending spree, buying up the controlling shares in
four companies for more than [yen]10 billion, effectively . . .
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