Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
Online Utilization by Age in Japan

According to the results of a survey conducted in April of this year, the most popular form of media accessed by all subjects was TV (terrestrial broadcasting), stated by 89.0% of respondents. This was followed by YouTube and other video-sharing sites, with 51.6%, followed by newspapers (49.3%). However, considerable discrepancies were found between age segments. […]

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Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
Japanese Elderly People Are Going Online: Reasons Why Seniors Are Glad to Be Wired

As a result of a one-year survey released last January, without reference to specific equipment or manner of usage, it was found that Internet utilization among people in their 60s and 70s continues to increase, with 57.0% of the former and 23.3% of the latter making use. When asked to identify good points about the […]

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Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
About Moms (Mothers) in Japan

How Are Japanese Moms Different from Other Countries? Recently, McCann Truth Central, McCann World group completed a global research on mothers with children aged zero to 12. They talked to them about a wide range of issues as they tried to explore what might be common about the way they they are influenced, and influencing […]

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Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
Most Common Breakfast Staples in Japan

Source: Pal System Consumers Cooperative Union survey of 1,000 people who eat breakfast at least once a week, conducted in March 2012 In a survey of 1,000 people who consume breakfast at least once per week, a slight majority, 51.1% said that bread tended to be their main breakfast staple. This was followed by rice, […]

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Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
Reasons Why Parents in Japan Encourage Their child’s Use of PC

Source: Cross Marketing (Conducted 500 mothers of children of between ages 4~12), February 2012 In a survey of mothers of children in age groups between kindergarten through primary school, the survey found that 13.6% of children used their computers every day, whereas 32.6% were said to use them occasionally, 29.2% on rare occasions and 24.6% […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
Japan's Recycling Technology

From Products to Products: Catch word is “Treasure Hunting” By Ryoji Shimada, staff writer “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature --- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring […]

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Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
“No other country is more unique than Japan.” by Miguel Angel Navarro, Spanish Ambassador to Japan

By Ryoji Shimada, staff writer After a hiatus of 26 years, Ambassador Navarro returned to Japan last January, but he didn’t see that many changes. “Maybe Japan’s youths have become less constrained about expressing themselves. It appears in their fashion and all. They were more restrained before. And certainly, new and modern buildings have appeared, […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
How to Cut Cost in a Japanese Company?“ Everyone’s Participation” Is the Key

Japanese business practices are different from those of other countries. Cost cutting practices may be unique. Turning off lights during lunch break, using the back side of copy paper, reusing batteries, etc… But there's also a purpose to raise everyone's awareness. Cost-Cutting Initiative Chuck is a software engineer who works for a multinational Japanese company […]

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Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
Lars Vargö, Swedish Ambassador to Japan: “I felt I’ve come back home”

By Ryoji Shimada, staff writer So said Ambassador Vargö, who has been assigned to Sweden’s Tokyo embassy since last September. He is a big fan of Japan, a haiku lover and a renowned researcher on this far eastern country which he described as his “second home.” Vargö, born in 1947, explained that he became interested […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
Origin of Japan’s Business Philosophy: Righteous Merchants of Ohmi

The Omi merchants were merchants from Omi Province (present-day Shiga Prefecture) who were active from the Middle Ages to the modern era. They are one of the three major merchants in Japan along with the Osaka merchants and the Ise merchants. Even today, entrepreneurs from Shiga Prefecture are often referred to as Omi merchants. Normally, […]

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