• Everybody Wants To Be a CEO
    August 26th, 2010By Category: Work Tips
    The Wall Street Journal, via its Japan Real Time blog, has an interesting post that looks at both the effect that newspapers still have in Japan and the current situation in the job market. Japanese company U-shin recently posted a job ad in two major newspapers look ... » Continue Reading
  • Soaring yen could threaten disaster for jobs, but profits for some
    August 25th, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    Sections of the Japanese press have been warning that Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s “economic tone deafness,” demonstrated by his failure to take countermeasures against the steady appreciation of the Japanese yen, may result in “hellish unemployment” for folks living he ... » Continue Reading
  • Companies struggle to deal with workers’ Twitter addiction
    August 25th, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    Users of Twitter in Japan are said to be up to 10 million and rising. Unfortunately, its convenience and accessibility have spilled over into the workplace, causing headaches for some employers out there. J-Cast news takes up one such example. It seems the sales depa ... » Continue Reading
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    The end of the JET program?
    August 23rd, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    As part of the cuts being driven by Renho, the government minister in charge of reigning in Japan's huge public spending, there is a possibility that the JET program may be canceled, ending over 20 years of government-sponsored English-language teaching in Japan. If ... » Continue Reading
  • Why Japan matters: iPad mania, cloud computing and social intelligence
    August 19th, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    Editor’s note: Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, really loves Japan. And if you are a startup founder or tech executive, he thinks you should too. He explains why in this guest post, culled from observations from his most recent visit. The article has ... » Continue Reading
  • The man who launched a thousand chips
    August 18th, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    Wally Amos isn’t one to waste a moment of any day. The creator of the popular cookie brands Famous Amos and Chip & Cookie always exudes a passion for whatever he does, whether he is baking cookies, reading to children, giving motivational talks around the world or ... » Continue Reading
  • Working in the Field of TESOL
    August 12th, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    First, it is important to note that most foreign language teachers in the world today are not native speakers of the language they are teaching. For instance, in Japan, the vast majority of English teachers are Japanese nationals. This is generally not considered a pr ... » Continue Reading
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    For English speakers in Japan – New opportunities are coming
    August 11th, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    During a recent press conference, Rakuten President Hiroshi Mikitani again called for executives working for his all-powerful online shopping megasite who cannot speak English by 2012 to leave the company. This, as we have covered here and here, has caused ripples am ... » Continue Reading
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    Smoking ’em while you’ve got ’em
    August 9th, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    Yesterday, I got to be a gaijin extra in a TV drama for NHK (the Japanese equivalent of the BBC, or Australia's ABC). It’s not like I was a wet-behind-the-ears extra — earlier this year I worked for 4 days on Watashi wa Kani ni Naritai, which focuses on the same time ... » Continue Reading
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    iPad and the change in Japanese Business
    August 9th, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    ‘‘The impact of the iPad on the information and communication industry has been extremely big (in Japan)...the iPad (business) will likely spread fast to other sectors,’’ said a senior researcher of the information and communication industry and finance research depar ... » Continue Reading
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    Best Foreign Business Plans in Japan
    August 6th, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    In June, the Japan Market Expansion Competition (JMEC) announced the winners of its 16th annual business plan challenge for aspiring entrepreneurs and executives, with 18 different nationalities among the 55 participants. This year, nine project clients received indiv ... » Continue Reading
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    Dangers of Entrepreneurship in Japan
    August 5th, 2010By Category: Uncategorized
    Japanese prosecutors indicted the founder and former chairman of the Incubator Bank of Japan, Takeshi Kimura, recently. The Bank he established and which was once designed to help the Japanese economy pull itself up by loaning to innovative and new companies is now i ... » Continue Reading

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