Terrie takes a look at what the government is doing to encourage young enterprises to start businesses in Japan and considers an exciting opportunity for foreign entrepreneurs: Japan Market Expansion Competition (JMEC). Plus, foreign residents to join the regular foreigner visitors' line at immigration. Read Terrie's Take Now

Starting life as Tokyo Classifieds when it was launched by Mark and Mary Devlin back in 1994, Metropolis magazine has grown to become Japan's largest periodical both in terms of distribution volume and advertising revenue. Last week Metropolis was acquired by another publishing group. To find out who and why Read Terrie's Take Now

In the last week of August, a private equity firm that few had heard of, MBK Partners, won an auction to buy the accounting software firm Yayoi from Livedoor Holdings for an estimated JPY71bn (US$617m). Was this figure worth it? What does this say about M&A culture in Japan? Read Terrie's Take Now

This week focuses on the tobacco industry in Japan. As the local market becomes increasingly difficult how has Japan Tobacco managed to keep its profits up? What lies ahead for smoking policy in Japanese localities? Read Terrie's Take Now

Will the rise in M&A numbers continue? While the subprime mess in the USA appears to be drying up the type of leveraged financing needed for M&As overseas, it is our view that the trend to buy companies here, and especially buying on credit (LBOs) will not only continue but in fact increase. Read Terrie's Take Now

As the Bank of Japan announces that it won't be raising interest rates, Terrie considers the past and future of rates in Japan focusing on the variables of US concerns, govenment debt and currency trading. Read Now

Find out about the health food drink named Aojiru, "a reconstituted juice made from the powders of dried vegetable leaves such as Kale, Barley,Wheat, and Komatsuna sprouts." Includes industry analysis and even a suggestion for how to improve the taste of this bright green, healthy brain & body fuel. Plus news summaries and feedack for Terrie's Take on the lay judge system. Read Now

For those who claim that Japan falls behind in terms of its number of original inventions, we decided to do some research of our own, and have come up with a list of 10 modern inventions, not just improved products, that we think lend some evidence that the Japanese do have what it takes. Read Terrie's Take Now

Terrie delves into the implications of the recent IPO of Chinese online gaming company Nineyou. Why was the share price so low? What are the consequences of Chinese entrepreneurs' lack of market experience? How big are the risks for those speculating on similar Chinese companies? Read Terrie's Take Now

With the jury system due to be implemented in Japan in 2009, Terrie explores some of the criticism of and problems with the proposed system as well as wider reflections on business, justice and democracy. Plus, the usual must-read round up of Japanese business news. Read Terrie's Take Now