By Anna Kitanaka -- Mitsuo Sawada - Inventor climbs mountains one step at a time -- Excellence in two areas of natural ability and an obsessive tendency seem to be a regular formula for the personality of an inventor. A deep-rooted sense of mechanics on the one hand, combined with a burning creativity on the other, is common to a number of the world's most celebrated inventors-add to this natural mix an obsession with making things and we have it, a simple flowchart for a highly productive innovator. Often these three ingredients of inventors manifest themselves in childhood-Galileo apparently made his own toys as a child while the boyhood Alexander Graham Bell reportedly used to experiment with his pet dog's vocal faculties by pressing on his pet's voice box.

Seto-Ohashi bridgeBy Andrew Cockburn -- Surreal landscapes in Shikoku -- Stretching out on the deck of a ferry as it glides serenely across the Inland Sea, it seems as if spring has finally arrived. All around, the islands which the ferry passes on the way to its destination are blooming white and pink with plum and cherry blossoms. The temperature having finally risen enough for it to be a pleasure to be outside, it was time to take a break from the city and get away for a while to enjoy a bit of natural scenery and fresh air. For me, that means heading to Kagawa Prefecture, and getting out to the hundreds of islands that spread out across the sea between Shikoku and Honshu.

Tim Coghlan reviews Japan Fashion Week and ponders its failure to establish Tokyo on a par with Paris or Milan. -- Japan Fashion Week (JFW) in Tokyo was held from March 10-15 in various locations around Tokyo. After attending a fair portion of the 50 fashion shows held during JFW it was clear that it has a long way to go before it becomes truly international and part of the world fashion week circuit which is dominated by cities like Paris, Milan and New York. JFW—the country’s ‘official’ fashion week, has been attempting to gather momentum since it started in 2005. Yet, despite Tokyo being the fashion capital of Asia and certain Japanese brands being very popular overseas, JFW has been struggling to gain international attention for several reasons.

Brief biographies of who's coming and going in the foreign business community. -- In collaboration with Santa Fe Relocation Services Japan KK, the J@pan Inc Arrivals & departures column takes a look at some of the key figures of Japan's expatriate business community who are either just landing in Japan or flying off to new places. -- Denis O’Sullivan -- Guy Prendergast -- Anil Dwivedi -- Jan Stuve -- Tim Lester

Ken Worsley's nuggets of economic wisdom -- Domestic mobile handsets just not worth it... -- ...but TVs and camcorders are -- Toshiba reeling... -- Beware the Internet Service Providers -- Cut out the credit... -- Down the pan

Compiler: Burnaby -- J@pan Inc is offering a prize of two free tickets to see Tokyo Sinfonia—Japan’s finest chamber orchestra conducted by Robert Ryker. All correctly completed entries will be entered into our prize draw. Please send answers to: J@pan Inc Communications, 3F Maison Tomoe Building, 3-16-1 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062

Jobs -- Services -- Groups/Events -- Support

Derek SchneidermanBy Alan Malcolm -- A former recruiter looks at the industry in Japan asking the question, has the bubble burst? -- With the need for strong, foreign executive recruiters having been created through the demand to move high-caliber professionals, often within tightly knit industries, a lot of the demand has come on the back of strong financial optimism and forecasted growth. -- Interview with Derek Schneiderman, Recruitment Industry Investor, Chairman and CEO, IA Global Inc.

A useful list of recruiting companies to help you find the personnel you need to succeed in Japan. Or if you are looking for a high powered job in Japan these companies are the ones to approach.

By Peter Harris -- Three views of the human resources process: candidate, recruiter, employer -- We explore the job-hunting game from three different perspectives and expose five sneaky tricks that some recruiters employ.