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Japan is proud of its regional cuisine. It’s customary when going on a domestic trip, to bring back gifts for family or friends from the local areas’ regional produce. But with Japan’s declining population and the continuing shift from the regional areas to the big cities, some regional areas are facing more difficult economic conditions.  So it is interesting to see them taking the fight to the big cities under the guise of the “antenna” shop.

Japan's mobile phone is increasingly used as a platform for a raft of services more widespread than  the current approach in Australia. Now the phone appears to be claiming another scalp - doing away with the function of the traditional “customer loyalty card”.  No longer do you need a wallet or purse bulging with customer loyalty cards when you can use your phone. 

Japan’s synthetic and man-made leather manufacturer Kuraray commissions an annual survey of the hopes and aspirations of both Japanese children, who are about to start school, and their parents.

 Australia’s inbound travel market for Japanese tourists had a meteoric rise in the 80s and peaked in 1997 but has had a steady decline since then.