Japan as the World’s Most Rapidly Aging Society (1) Elderly Business
Japan, the country with the most aged population The Japanese economy averaged a 9.1% increase in real GDP from FY 1956 to FY 1973. In 1968, it overtook West Germany to become the world’s second largest economy in terms of GDP, and while it maintained an average growth rate of about 5% through the 1980s, […]
Machikon: Revitalizing Local Economies and Raising the Birth Rate in Japan
What is "gokon"? By Ryoji Shimada, staff writer “I haven’t had a chance to meet a romantic partner since I started to work full-time,” is a common complaint heard from young businesspeople. They try friends’ introductions, social events and gatherings, parties, various online and offline match-making services, social-networking services and so on. They use many […]
What Is Your Image About Japan? SUSHI, ZEN and TOTO
What Is the Image About Japan? Mention a country’s name and I bet stereotypes come to mind. When I ask Japanese friends what they think of my native Australia, they think “lots of space” followed by koalas and usually the thought that I must love beer. Try it yourself. Think of another country and we […]
Special Interview with Roland Berger on Japanese Companies
Quantitative Easing only Good for a Short Term Q: What’s your take on the quantitative easing by the Bank of Japan and resulting depreciation of Japanese yen? I think it will help Japanese industry and Japanese business, especially Japanese exports. But it helps only for the short-term, because the real issue in the end becomes […]
What is Menko?
めんこ Menko Menko is a children’s game which dates back to the early 17th century. The rules are simple. Players place their cards on the ground and take turns trying to flip the other players’ cards over by throwing another card at them. One of the cards may be flipped by a gust of wind […]
What is Ukiyoe?
浮世絵 うきよえ Ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a kind of woodcut print which flourished from about the 1680s to the 1850s. It depicts the everyday life of common people, and portraits of actors and beautiful women are also among its themes. Many foreign artists have been influenced by this unique style including Van Gogh. Among the most […]
What is Noren?
暖簾 のれん Noren Noren are curtains with vertical slits hung in front of restaurants, bars, and shops during business hours. The name of the shop or a symbol indicating the products sold there may be dyed into the cloth, so the noren also functions as a shop sign. Since a shop’s noren symbolizes the shop, […]
What Is Division System?
Konosuke Matsushita: Vitalizing the Division System (divisional system) By M. Emi The Konosuke Matsushita Museum (Osaka, Japan) is currently presenting a special exhibition entitled "Konosuke Matsushita: Vitalizing the Division System", which will be available to the public until June 29, 2013. “This is one of the major exhibitions at the Konosuke Matsushita Museum in 2013. […]
Business Training in Japan Is Not Popular. OJT Is Popular. Why?
By R. Kopp Allow me to share three recent incidents related to training that took place at Japanese companies in the U.S.: An American discovered that his Japanese colleague wasn’t happy for him leaving the factory floor to come attend a training session. A training session was scheduled that seven Japanese were supposed to attend, […]
Japanese Go Online More and More
Online Percentage of Japanese People By D. McCaughan So how connected are you? In the previous column, I introduced the results of the “Truth about Connected You,” -- a global study into the way people use and think about their mobile and digital connections and how these things are changing and forming their personalities – […]