Japan Inc. articles from October 2004

Japan Inc. archives from October 2004

Seasonal reflections.(Buzz)
October 1, 2004... AT the close of summer, many Japanese returned to their hometowns to celebrate the O-bon festival, during which Buddhists believe that their ancestors' spirits return to their homes to be reunited with the living. Tokyo's relative inactivity...

Necessary adjustments.(Buzz)
October 1, 2004... JAPAN has enjoyed a two-year economic expansion, one that has not involved pork barrel spending and has generally been driven by Japan's competitive export-oriented sectors. These sectors have been driven by demand from China and the rest of...

Fujitsu FOMA F900iC.(G-Spot)
October 1, 2004... The FOMA F900iC is the world's first mobile phone that is compatible with iMode Felica technology, according to Fujitsu. The technology offers electronic money service, dubbed Edy (euro, dollar, yen), which enables shopping at some convenience...

Sharp Aquos LC-45GD1.(G-Spot)
October 1, 2004... The Aquos LC-45GD1 has 6.22 million dots--1,920 (horizontal) X 1,080 (vertical) X 3 (RGB)--offering the greatest resolution of all the 45V LCD TVs in the world, according to Sharp's Web site. Sharp is making the model in western Japan at its...

Sharp Mebius PC-AL90G.(G-Spot)
October 1, 2004... The PC-AL90G is the first notebook PC that contains AMD AthlonTM 64, a power-saving, next-generation 64-bit processor. The PC uses a black TFT LCD, and users can see the monitor from a vertical angle of 130 degrees and a horizontal angle of 160...

Toshiba RD-XS53, RD-XS43.(G-Spot)
October 1, 2004... The most valuable feature both the RD-XS53 and RD-XS43 boast is the capacity to record two TV programs simultaneously; each model has two MPEG encoders and two analog tuners. Users can store TV programs in the HDD inside the RD-XS53 and...

Sanyo LCD-15A2, LCD-20A2.(G-Spot)
October 1, 2004... Sanyo, which is behind Sharp, Samsung and Sony in market share for LCD TVs, will sell pink LCD TVs, a rare color for televisions that are usually silver or black. The LCD-15A2 is 15 inches and the LCD-20A2 20 inches in diameter. The rationale...

Buffalo PC-SMP2E/CB.(G-Spot)
October 1, 2004... The PC-SMP2E/CB is what Buffalo calls a "TV Capture Card" that turns a normal notebook PC into a cable TV. All you have to do is plug the card into a slot on a notebook PC and connect the PC to a cable TV tuner via a wire included with the...

Do not eat your SIM card: misconceptions surrounding international mobile phones.(Upfront)
October 1, 2004... IF we are all such savvy travelers, well versed in the incompatibility between mobile phones in Japan and rest of the world, then why is it that certain companies selling and renting GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) services to the...

Can anyone succeed? Startups in Japan.(Upfront)
October 1, 2004... IF you ask foreigners what it takes to launch a successful business in Japan, they will offer answers that in many ways reflect their cultural origins. Americans typically say you must enjoy what you do, and enjoy working with people. A Chinese...

The looming oil shocks: how Japan is going "green".(Investor Insight)
October 1, 2004... JAPAN remains the favored stock market among foreign investors. Foreign bulls point to a restructured corporate sector in a deflationary environment that is now producing record levels of free cash flow. If deflation ends and top line growth...

Sakhalin and Kazakhstan: an oil policy primer; What's in store for Japan and others.(Indepth)
October 1, 2004... A comparison of the Russian Sakhalin-2 and Kazakh North Caspian production-sharing agreements reveals the complex geopolitical realities facing oil and gas companies-whether based in Japan or elsewhere. ********** THESE ARE THE LARGEST...

Mourning in Japan: an American entrepreneur in business for the bereaved.(Voice)
October 1, 2004... THERE is a small office in Tokyo's Ginza district that resembles an upmarket coffee shop. Wealthy single women in their 60s are the main clientele, and they chat away with the office manager, who is a pleasant, well-spoken woman with a Kyushu...

An October anniversary.(Look!)
October 1, 2004... IN OCTOBER 1989, I found myself in the cockpit of a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) jet fighter high over Hokkaido. I was the first non-Japanese journalist to fly and photograph in any JASDF combat aircraft, and to my knowledge there have...

The risks of outsourcing: how to secure the outsourcing beast.(Feature)
October 1, 2004... UNLESS YOU WERE in hibernation or have been exploring the planets, you have probably heard the hype, promise, constraints and failures associated with the outsourcing of information systems development. ********** IN ORDER TO REMAIN...

What's in a name?(Last Word)
October 1, 2004... AS BASEBALL SEASON winds down, I find myself wondering about Japan's boys of summer. How difficult it must be to introduce themselves at parties: "Hi, my name's Kenji, and I catch for The Swallows." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The...