ASEAN-Japan Innovation Network formed to create new linkages

KUALA LUMPUR -- Private business groups from Southeast Asia and Japan sealed a new alliance on Friday in Tokyo to promote economic cross-pollination. The ASEAN Business Club, a group of top companies in Southeast Asia, signed a memorandum of cooperation ... ( read original story ...)

Noah Smith: Japan can teach U.S. how to overcome national rot

There is one large, developed country that has managed to mostly pull itself out of a long period of paralysis. That country is Japan. Much ink has been spilled about Japan’s seemingly endless dysfunction following the bursting of its real estate and ... ( read original story ...)

Abe adviser: Japan should push back any US attack on yen policy

JAPAN should push back against any US suggestion that it is suppressing the yen’s value for trade advantage, an adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, in a bid to pre-empt criticism of Japan’s currency policy. Koichi Hamada, Cabinet adviser and ... ( read original story ...)

Consortium mulled for Toshiba unit bid

Talks about forming a public-private consortium to buy a major stake in Toshiba Corp.’s flash memory business are underway, informed sources said on Saturday. The idea is to secure around ¥500 billion from dozens of Japanese companies through a new ... ( read original story ...)

Japan's megabanks to cut 2018 hiring class by 25%

TOKYO -- Just over 3,300 new college graduates are expected to start working at Japan's three megabanks next April, a roughly 25% decline from the current fiscal year, as financial institutions rethink their hiring priorities in a difficult business ... ( read original story ...)

Pricier Japan tops for Thais

Hotels.com said three cities in Japan -- Tokyo, Osaka and Sapporo -- were in the top 10 most-visited destinations by Thais last year. Tokyo ranked first, Osaka fourth and Sapporo eighth. It was the first year that Sapporo, home of seasonal Hokkaido cuisine ... ( read original story ...)

Japan business confidence rises again

Confidence among Japan's biggest manufacturers has risen for the second straight quarter, a key central bank survey showed Monday, a welcome boost for the world's third-largest economy. The report comes after a batch of government data on Friday showed ... ( read original story ...)

Bank of Japan survey shows uptick in business outlook

TOKYO — A quarterly survey by the Bank of Japan shows business sentiment among large manufacturers has brightened since late last year. The "tankan" report released Monday put sentiment among big manufacturers at 12, up from 10 in December. The outlook ... ( read original story ...)

Understanding Japan's unique 'scrap and build' design culture

Sarah Ichioka, a Japanese-American urbanist currently based in Singapore and former director of the Architecture Foundation in London, explains how earthquakes and tsunamis forge a unique context: "This unstable environment has created a culture that ... ( read original story ...)

Why Is Japan Prone To Earthquakes And Tsunamis?

Japan is extremely vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis due to its location in the Pacific Ring of Fire. The “ring” is a horse-shoe shaped basin along the Pacific Ocean. About 90 percent of all seismic activity in the world takes place in this region. ( read original story ...)