By Anna Kitanaka

Japanese consumers have been slow at catching onto IT trends, with a monopoly from big name brands like Yahoo!, Rakuten, Mixi and YouTube taking places in the top ten most visited sites in Japan. However, slowly but surely, smaller IT companies are hammering their way through, all competing for a slice of the pie. We take a look at the established IT companies’ methods of surviving in a competitive and fluctuating market, plus the up-and-coming companies’ innovative ways of gaining a share of the market.

Alcoholism is a growing problem in the world. What is the situation with problem drinking in Japan and what support is available for those suffering from alcoholism? To find out: Read Now

Probably the biggest burden that any new company owner can take on is the act of hiring and supporting their first couple of staff members. For a start, it requires quite a change in mindset. One minute you are looking after yourself: devoting all of your attention to your customer's needs and having the satisfaction of giving them 100% effort and effectiveness. Then, as you hire in another person or two, you find yourself having to provide training, execution support, personnel management, as well as salary and legal administration.

By Peter Harris

J@pan Inc’s column concerning business possibilities outside of Japan

“Open a nightclub, sell jewelry, become a land speculator; the choice is yours to make.” No, not the text of one of Donald Trump’s entrepreneur seminars, but the opening invitation on the business page of virtual community Second Life’s website. Increasingly, Second Life (SL) is becoming a place where businesses naturally want to extend their operations to, or entrepreneurs decide to try out one of their latest ideas.