October 2003 Issue

On the cover: A handwritten sign on the door of a bar behind Toyohashi station makes its unequivocal point. Photograph by Tony McNicol "With a swelling community of immigrant workers, how long can Japan maintain its self-image of a country united by race?" -- Future Imperfect

October 2003
No. 48


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October 2003 Issue

Upfront

  From the Editors
Tough issues and tough revelations after a long hot summer of barbecues, beaches and booze
 
 
  Contributors
The Editor's page
 
 
  The Pulse 1
The Word on the Street from the Heart of Tokyo
 
 
  The Pulse 2
Technology and Finance News
 
 
  The ETC System Stalls at the (Toll) Gate
Electronic Toll Collection slowly gains traction in Japan
 
 
  China's Rise Lifts Japan
Why a rising China is less threat than savior
 
 
  The Cost Killer Cometh
Celebrity CEO Carlos Ghosn on his MO, the China challenge and the future
 
 
  Rethinking Telecommunications Regulation
Deregulate and promote competition -- or face global irrelevance, argues Lisa Suits
 
 
  Southeast Asia's "Tiger Cubs" Roar
The region's smaller nations are outpacing the big cats, notes Gordon Feller
 
 
  To the Editor
The Editor's page
 
 
  Kobe's Quandary: Robots versus Revolution
Dominic Al-Badri visits a Kansai conference on population and foresees signs of social revolution in an aging Japan
 
 

Features

  Future Imperfect
Visit Toyohashi, a medium-sized city at the very center of the Pacific Belt, and you may find a model social template for the future of the nation: immigrant workers from South America working side-by-side with their Japanese neighbors. But there's a hitch: Japan's future immigrants will be Asian
 
 
  Banking on a Tourist Boom
Tokyo's global brand hotel boom is just another sign of the multinationals zeroing in on Japanese real estate, writes Matt Wilce. But can Japanese style, service and hospitality be replicated? And will the government's ballyhooed tourism campaign be enough to fill all those rooms?
 
 
  Slick Operators
"Upstream" business activities such as oil exploration and drilling are notoriously costly. But the government's mismanagement of its 30-year-old oil operations -- and its recent moves to dissolve them -- have resulted in black holes of debt and enraged investors.
 
 

News & Info

  Is Japan Recovering?
A Global Logistics Company tells the Real Story
 
 

Blowfish

  A school of fish?
This past summer's most stimulating stats, foods and females -- plus: rankings of Japan's scholarly halls.
 
 

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