by Simon Jackson, Project Director, RidgeRunner Architectural Design & Development
How Niseko looks like a great investment with a dose of sustainable development

The rapid rise in Niseko real estate prices are being described as a bubble by some, but with the number of overseas visitors continuing to grow strongly, and large tracts of inexpensive land still available, the region’s investment potential looks strong if we develop sustainably.

Masatoshi ShiotaBy John Dodd
Nikko Inc Creates an Ubiquitous and Safe Surface Treatment

As any visitor to Japan will testify, Japan is the land of construction and concrete. It seems that few rivers, beaches, or mountain roadsides have been left untouched by the hand of bureaucracy and concrete trucks. Indeed, during the heyday of Japanese public works, from 1991 through 2000, the Japanese government tried kickstarting the moribund economy by pumping an unprecedented JPY430trillion (US$3.6trillion) into public works projects! Most of this went on people, corporate profits, some alleged kick-backs, and of course the basic raw material – concrete.

Takeshi NagahamaBy Terrie Lloyd
Lighting the Way to Cheaper Building Maintenance

The humble light bulb is so ubiquitous that we seldom give it a second thought, except when one burns out while you’re half way through an evening bath – then it’s a hurried trip down to the convenience store to buy a new one. The average incandescent lamp lasts about 1 year and costs just JPY200 to buy in Tokyo. Unfortunately, while cheap to buy, they are highly inefficient and only about 5% of the electricity flowing in is used to create visible light, while the other 95% gets wasted as heat and infrared light.

By Arthur Stern and Chie Wakabayashi
A must-read for anyone with a stake in the future of consumer behavior

“Telling and selling” is dead and there is the potential for “complete irrelevance of what we call traditional media”. These provocative statements came in a recent advertising convention keynote speech by Procter & Gamble’s Global Marketing Officer, Jim Stengel, as he called for a “shift in mindset.”

By David Hodgson

For fifteen years the TOPIX Index, a capitalization weighted index of all companies listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, has struggled to break above the 1750 level. Rather like a whale, it has occasionally briefly surfaced, only to dive again. What are the prospects that, this time, the TOPIX Index can break out through 1750 and move into ‘blue sky’ territory?

By Chris Cleary

After two decades of commodities bust, this decade has seen commodities rehabilitation. Not that we ever stopped using them – it would be a fair bet that the average person in a developed economy utilizes in some form or other the produce of at least half the world’s listed commodities contracts every day: oil, iron, nickel, gold, cotton, orange juice, rubber and so on. But rehabilitation as an investment class is recent, with gold turning the corner in 1999 and most commodities following from 2003.

By Nicole Fall
Potential opportunities for business in Japan's fitness craze

Consumer trends and fads can be puzzling for marketers. Where do they come from? How long do their last? What risks or opportunities do they present? In identifying social shifts or 'Change Points' this columnattempts to zoom in on a particular trend and trace its potentialcon sequences on consumer decision making processes. Using research developed by the Bates Asia advertising agency, as well as a range of media reports, this issue's Change Points are related to Japan's fitness craze.

By Willhemina Wahlin

In April this year, Japan saw the first group of retirees put their feet up en masse. The ageing population poses more of a threat to Japan’s economy, however, than merely the provision of pensions.

By Arjen van Blokland

In Japan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is amongst others responsible for the telecommunications policy. A good example was the introduction last year of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in an attempt to make it easier for mobile end-users to switch carriers.