Category Archives: Finance

Tokyo’s ‘Silicon Valley’ Startup – Gengo

When they first thought about launching an Internet startup in Japan, Matt Romaine was close to moving back to Silicon Valley. The startup scene in Tokyo was, well, close to nonexistent. Then he and his partner, Robert Laing, came up … Continue reading

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It’s “Easy Fishing” for Japan’s Internet Startups

Launching an Internet startup in Japan today has never been easier. There are a host of reasons: Rapid technological change, declining startup costs, fewer good career opportunities for Japan’s graduates and lumbering competition are to name but a few. Beacon … Continue reading

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Does Kyle Bass Have it Right? Jesper Koll Responds to Bass’s Prediction of Impending Financial Meltdown in Japan

Last month on CNBC, Kyle Bass, founder of Hayman Capital Management, predicted Japan would face financial meltdown within the next 18 to 24 months. He was responding to Prime Minister Abe’s attempt to end the country’s two-decade old slump by … Continue reading

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Japan’s Zen Style Boardrooms – How Effective Are They?

Wharton Business School in 2007 published an article comparing the Anglo-American system of corporate governance with that of Japan. In the U.S. and U.K., according to the article, corporate governance is concerned with ensuring that the firm is run in … Continue reading

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How a New Generation of Entrepreneur is Forging the Face of New Japan

The FT’s David Pilling refers to them as a pack of rebels – Japanese entrepreneurs that have shaken up business practices in Japan. “Confident, internationally minded, brash, even flash, they have founded enterprises and wielded business techniques – the hostile … Continue reading

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A Fiddle Worth More Than Gold: Investing In Strings

As an investment, rare violins such as those made by Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu have consistently and dramatically outperformed both gold and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Between 1960 and 2008 the price of Stradivarii increased 26,083 … Continue reading

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Photovoltaics: One Bright Idea

While at the Swiss patent office in Bern in the summer of 1905, Albert Einstein wrote several transformative papers. In one, he explained that energy was interchangeable with matter according to the formula e=mc2. In another, he hypothesized the existence … Continue reading

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Japan’s Economic Integration With China

The economies of Japan and China are integrating. This started with Japan supplying China’s demand for heavy industrial goods — goods that China needed to build its manufacturing infrastructure. Export sales of capital goods from Japan to China were followed … Continue reading

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Unleashing Value from Japanese Companies

Since the bubble burst in the early 1990s the value of Japanese stocks have on average reduced by a third while U.S. stocks are up well over three times. What’s more, Japanese stocks now trade about one time book value … Continue reading

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