Magazine No 83

Winter 2008/09

On the Cover:

Inside
- The Economic Crisis Hits Automakers
- China’s Secretive Investment Fund Spreads its Reach

CSR SPECIAL
- Is Japan Doing Enough to be Sustainable?
- CSR: The new PR

Who's Right?
Is the Time Running out for Illegal Downloads?

Winter 2008/09
No. 83

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Terrie LloydBy Terrie Lloyd

Where to earn cash in times of economic woe.

Governments around the world are announcing the advent of a recession. At the time of writing, economists in Japan are saying that we’re already in one. The meltdown happened so quickly that many companies are still trying to come to grips with what the changes mean for them.

Michael CondonBy Michael Condon

On the cover, we are running with an issue that is flooding the forums and chatrooms on the Japanese Web. We put illegal downloads and the wider issue of copyright infringement under the microscope as new laws are debated in Japan. Will your average 14-year-old, caught downloading ringtones, be hit with a civil lawsuit? J@pan Inc talks to some new media experts as well as the music industry to get their opinion.

Both your publisher’s message and Bank Buyouts article make some good points regarding the recent Nomura acquisition of Lehman in Japan. How could it possibly work? Sure, by matrixing some financial statements perhaps it looks good. It certainly made a great headline for the Nikkei.

In their latest bid to gain consumers’ attention, Dentsu, Fujitsu, and Advanced Communications have announced that they have developed a new distribution model for Internet advertising using a “license code system.”

By Rebecca Milner - CScout Japan

World’s smallest portable karaoke machine

Toy maker Takara Tomy has come out with Hi-Kara, a miniature portable monitor and headphone set. The device can also be hooked up to your computer, enabling the download of new hit songs.

By Kevin Mcgue

Foreign branding takes on new life in Japan

One of the first Japanese companies to learn the power of foreign branding started life under the not-so-catchy name of Shokosha Watch Research Institute in 1918.

By Shaun Davies

Sanyo’s eco-friendly technology proved too good for Panasonic to look past.

The biggest deal in town in November was without doubt Panasonic’s proposed tie-up with smaller rival Sanyo.

By Robert Sanzalone

Can technology help grandparents fight wire fraud?

An elderly woman walks towards the ATM with a worried look and a mobile phone to her ear. She believes it’s her grandson who is in trouble and is in desperate need of cash. As she punches the numbers on the machine, a warning flash in the booth tells her to please turn off her phone ...

By Ian Copsey

And now the seasonal exchange slowdown begins.

The past few months have seen the Forex trading profile raised as the US dollar shot higher by between 20 and 40 percent against all currencies except the yen, where it made equally dramatic losses of around 18 percent. This forced the yen to appreciate by between 35 percent and 45 percent against currencies with high interest rates.