Can Japan Overcome the Innovation Dilemma?
What should we learn from Steve Jobs and Sony’s Akio Morita? By K. Ohno Interview with Clayton Christensen Clayton M. Christensen is a professor at the Harvard Business School. He holds a BA with highest honors in economics at Brigham Young University, an MBA at the Harvard Business School, and a DBA at the Harvard […]
Ozasa: 70 Years in Business Selling Only 2 Items at 3.3m2-SHOP in Size With $3.3 Million in Sales
Long-standing Small Shop Business in Japan Kichijoji, the number one spot in the “place in Tokyo I’d like to live” rankings. Three minutes’ or so walk from Kichijoji Sation, the focal point of the area, is “Ozasa,” a tiny Japanese sweet shop, founded over 60 years ago. For over 40 years, a line of people […]
Who is Eiichi Shibusawa?
The 1,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 10,000 yen bills (Bank of Japan notes) will be renewed by the first half of 2024. The 1,000-yen and 5,000-yen bills will be the first new banknotes in 20 years, and the 10,000-yen bill will be the first in 40 years since Prince Shotoku was replaced by Yukichi Fukuzawa […]
SDGs in Japan: Japan’s wise investment in people
ARI: Training Local Leaders from Emerging Nations to Create a Peaceful and Sustainable World By Ryoji Shimada, staff writer “In my community, people earn a living through agriculture, fishing and livestock breeding. Some of their biggest obstacles to sustainability include limited knowledge and insufficient time to focus on future plans. I want to receive agricultural […]
Akio Toyoda: Thinking about cars whether awake or asleep
Interview with Akio Toyoda Now is the time we should go back to the basics of “wanting driving to be more fun!”: “Akio Toyoda” and “Morizo” are car-loving kindred spirits. Although a lot of top business managers have appeared in this magazine to date, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a top manager […]
The Globalization of Japanese Business: What Is the Challenge?
By P. Pringle Recent Interest in Globalization Not too long ago, globalization and Japanese responses to it were the province of Japanese government think tanks and large multinational companies, but recently it has become a hot topic in Japanese media and at the dinner table. Why now? Gradually the Japanese public has become aware that […]
THE TRUTH ABOUT Japanese People’s WELLNESS
By D. McCaughan It’s a very personal subject and yet one that has great social consciousness and public awareness. Maybe it’s not surprising that the discussion of what is “wellness” is definitely a thought-provoking subject. A sticky topic that people find interesting, one on which they want to hear others’ opinions and share ideas about. […]
Saving Money in Japan: Japanese Love Saving
What Is Chokinbako? By Ryoji Shimada, staff writer “A man takes aim at a bear and shoots a coin into it.” “A dog with a coin in his mouth jumps through a hoop and tosses it into a barrel.” “A clock stops unless it is fed some money regularly…” All these gimmicks work in coin […]
The Best-selling Book in Japan: Saka no Ue no Kumo (Clouds above the Hill)
Giving a New Angle on Japan: “Blockbuster Historical Novel Depicting Japan’s Rise Now Available in English” By Ryoji Shimada Celebrated Among Business Managers “Many business managers or company presidents list Saka no Ue no Kumo (Clouds above the Hill) as their favorite book,” says Yoshikatsu Morikawa, office manager at Saka no Ue no Kumo Museum. […]
Japan-Malaysia Relationships: What Comes After the Look East Policy? Japan and Malaysia from Vertical Relations to an Equal Partnership
Look East Policy Still Alive By Ryoji Shimada Mahathir bin Mohamad, Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, began to espouse his country’s “Look East Policy” 30 years ago. That policy called for learning from countries in the East, especially Japan. Since then, however, the region and the world at large have undergone numerous changes, particularly in the […]