 Major electronic IT manufacturers including Hitachi, Ltd., Fujitsu Ltd. and NEC Corp., plan to jointly develop next-generation semiconductors that will operate with one-tenth of the power consumed by present-day devices, it has been learned. Next-generation semiconductors will allow the transfer of greater amounts of data while at the same time enable a reduction in the size of IT-equipment and their power use.
 Japanese drinks giant Asahi has decided to put its thousands of vending machines to better use by turning them into Wi-Fi hotspots, a move which should prove popular in a country where such hotspots are few and far between. In a country where vending machines can be found not only on every street corner, but in between every street corner, across from every street corner and beside every street corner, the idea of turning them into Wi-Fi hotspots is a stroke of genius.
 Sony's long-awaited PlayStation Vita portable game machine hit stores in Japan on Saturday as thousands of game enthusiasts lined up early in the morning to be among the first to buy it. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is predicting brisk sales, even though the launch may have missed some holiday shoppers. A successful debut would help the company offset the rest of its struggling business. Sony projects a loss of more than $1 billion for the fiscal year through March 2012, which would be its fourth straight annual loss.
Sanrio Buys Mr. Men Characters 12/08/2011
 Sanrio Co. has bought the rights to the Mr. Men animated characters from Chorion Ltd., looking to cut its reliance on Hello Kitty, which generates 80 percent of the company's overseas licensing revenue. Sanrio will acquire all shares of the Mr. Men animated film development and production unit from London-based Chorion, the company said in a statement that didn't include the terms of the deal.
 Honda's human-shaped robot can now run faster, balance itself on uneven surfaces, hop on one foot and pour a drink. Some of its technology may even be used to help out with clean-up operations at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant. Honda's demonstration of the revamped "Asimo" on Tuesday at its Tokyo suburban research facility was not only to prove that the bubble-headed childlike machine was more limber and a bit smarter.
"Songs for Japan" hit $10m Milestone 11/28/2011
 Songs For Japan, the unique, star-studded album collection created to help raise money for victims of Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami disasters, continues to benefit the survivors through Japanese Red Cross Society. On the 8th of November senior executives from four major music companies – EMI, Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Music Group – met with Japanese Red Cross Society Vice President, Yoshiharu Otsuka, in Tokyo to recognise the milestone of $10 million raised and donated from the global sales of Songs For Japan. The occasion was a reception hosted by Frances Moore, chief executive of worldwide recording industry organisation IFPI.
Fast Retailing: Uniqlo Still Going Strong 11/24/2011
 Fast Retailing Co (9983.T), Asia's largest apparel retailer, is sticking to its Uniqlo sales target in Japan, despite a weak start to the fiscal year due to a lack of new products and warm autumn weather, its top executive said. Chairman and Chief Executive Tadashi Yanai told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that the firm had shrunk the product lineup too deeply at its Uniqlo casual-clothing chain as it focused on core products such as its HeatTech thermal underwear and down jackets.
In Japan Social Gaming Enters Televison 11/21/2011
 New media is colliding with old media as part of a big marketing campaign. Japan’s biggest networks are pushing their social games to new formats, including television and magazines. Three of Japan’s biggest names in mobile and social gaming are to raise their profile whilst finding new business prospects, by adapting their games to television, magazines and comics.
Japan Is Still on the Way to Recovery 11/18/2011
 Advanced economies across the world grew by 0.6 per cent in the third quarter on a particularly strong showing of 1.5 per cent in Japan, the OECD says. This is broadly in line with recent data from other leading economic bodies, pointing to weak overall growth except in some still robust emerging economies.
 Last winter, enterprising South Koreans reportedly found a low-tech answer to a first world problem: To avoid operating cell-phone touchscreens without gloves in freezing weather, they used mini sausages as finger surrogates. Whether or not you choose to believe that people were actually using the so-called meat stylus, it did make the news in Japan. A year later Japanese retailers obviously did read the hand signals for help. Special gloves with conductive fingertips that let people to keep their digits warm and still operate phone and tablet touchscreens are the new hit!
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