Terrie's Take

Question: outside of California, which US state is home to the greatest number of Japanese companies in the USA? The answer is Ohio, a mid-Western state tucked right below Lake Erie, which is probably better known for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, than it is for its 380+ Japanese corporate citizens. For the low-down on the Ohio-Japan connection Read Terrie's Take Now

The long holiday Japanese traditionally have looked forward to, Golden Week, just isn't as "golden" as it used to be. This week Terrie takes a look at the various factors contributing to this holiday lull. Read Now

Taking a look at Japan's "Hatsumode economy;" how much are blessings worth to temple and shrine visitors? Religion can be a booming--and tax free-- business. Read Now

The Japanese government has tried to push both Japanese society and the construction industry to build more permanent homes, hoping to move away from the building of homes with an average lifespan of 26 years. Are attitudes changing? How does this affect the environment? What does it mean for the industry? Read Now

Terrie takes the pulse of Japan's cyberscape from new SNS sites for the elderly to old favorites such as Yahoo and Mixi. How are these business making their money and what are the latest trends? Read Now

Japan has long been touted as the bringer of alternative energy sources. Focusing on several companies that have invested in new energy products, including toilet manufacturer ToTo, Terrie explains why stocks in this industry are set to rocket in the near-to-mid term Read Now

Fujifilm's share price has been in a slump for the last 18 months, partly due to pessimism about its acquisition of Toyama Chemical. However, when the strategic context is filled in, there are grounds for saying that Fujifilm is headed for a revival of fortunes in the near future. Read Now

What's the color of your money? Against the backdrop of global economic volatility Terries explores how yen-dollar fluctuations might further hamper those trying to steady the boat. Read Now

Take takes issue with the claim that the Internet is not a popular resource for socializing in Japan. On the contrary, he sees a growing trend for online social interaction, particularly in field of dating. Read Now

Terrie looks at Hikari Tsushin, Japan's first and largest reseller of mobile phones. He focuses on the firm's entreprenerial fouder/CEO Yasumitsu Shigeta, what has he been doing since the dotcom bubble and where has he got to since establshing Hikari at the age of 21 back in 1988? Read Now