The Nikkei reported in November that Nikko Cordial Securities was planning to substantially reduce its 7,000-person work force by offering employees “early retirement” packages, otherwise known as redundancy packages in the West. Apparently employees aged 40 are the main target and given that the company has a strong seniority culture, it is understandable that it would make the offer to the older, more expensive employees first.

With a decrease in demand from China, Japan's waste trade is going downhill.

The emerging recession looks like it could be bad. So bad in fact, that some economists are saying it will be the worst in a lifetime - certainly the worst in 50 years anyway. As with all recessions, this one features a spectacular loss of confidence on the stock markets and a number of market corrections before things settle down. But what’s different this time around, from, say, 2002, is not only is there a loss of confidence in Japan, the contagion is global - meaning there is no where safe for international investors to park their money and wait things out.

It'll be a long winter for some of Japan's tourist operators.