VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Just as doubts grow over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies dubbed Abenomics, many say that regulatory reforms will be the only way to revive Japan’s economy.

The sales of Honda’s first five-seater fuel cell vehicle has began in Japan, and the Clarity Fuel Cell is planned to enter the European and U.S. market later this year. The new fuel cell car is seeing some performance improvement and only takes three minutes to refuel its compact fuel cell stacks.

It's a race for Toshiba Medical Unit between Canon, Fujifilm Holdings, Konica Minolta and Permira Holdings. Nikkei said Canon has the highest bid amounting to $6.2 billion. Whoever the winner is, will be decided on Wednesday.

The Japan Finance Ministry is organizing a seminar for women covering the topics on the country’s fiscal policy. Women’s fashion magazine editor-in-chief Hiromi Sogo will serve as one of the six female speakers encouraging women to take a more active role in the country’s economy.

Asian shares fell back from a seven-week high on Tuesday as oil prices fell more than 2 percent. The sudden drop happened after the Asia-Pacific indices rose to its highest level since the beginning of the year, after seeing the rise in oil prices before reversing back.

Asia has been a growing market for startup companies and venture capital deal. However, as U.S. venture capital faces a slowdown and overblown valuation, will Asia also experience the same?

Japan's retail electricity market is about to be liberalized, which has the top power companies as well new entrants vying for a share. The companies have come up with their mascots to lure the customers, from a suited gorilla to a cuddly bear, in a land where such characters are loved by children and adults alike.

Japan's exports were badly hit by the steep drop in steel prices and other commodities. The world's third largest economy's exports fell 12.9 percent on the year in January to Yen 5.35 trillion ($47.12 billion), while the imports also fell 18 percent.

The Liberal Democratic Party has shot down the request put forth by the Government Pension Investment Fund to lift the ban imposed on it to make direct stock investments. The LDP made a final decision on Monday to keep the ban in place, fearing the government fund would gain direct control over private companies as well as bring down the pension benefits in cases of losses incurred on investments.

Japan’s auto workers unions had agreed on slimmer pay raise of 3,000 yen, only half the amount they demanded last year. That would hinder Prime Minister Abe’s determination to put an end to the country’s economy stagnation by boosting domestic growth and reviving exports.

The Japanese telecom giant, SoftBank, has announced buyback of shares amounting to $4.4 billion, its biggest repurchase ever. This move is a desperate attempt by the company to regain its footing after its shares plunged to an all-time low following the company's overseas investment in US mobile operator, Sprint.

The brand new 2016 Mazda CX-9 has begun production in its manufacturer in Japan. With the exquisite standard, customers will see significant improvements in the new unit. The company is aiming at selling most of the products in North America.

The rise of oil prices had brought positive growth to most of the Asian markets, except for Japan. On the other hand, European market had seen a drop. The oil prices increased overnight due to speculations that U.S Federal Reserve would possibly decide not to increase interest rates throughout 2016.

Sharp Corp board has gathered today to weigh the bidding offers. The competition is between the Taiwanese electronics giant, Foxconn and the Japanese government-backed establishment, Innovation Network Corporation of Japan. While ICNJ has always been the favoured choice, Foxconn is giving it a stiff competition by way of doubling the offered price along with debt pay-offs and retention of management and employees.

The product will hit the stores in early February, just in time for Valentine's Day. Kit Kat Sake is expected to be a worldwide sensation just like Nestle Japan's Kit Kat Green Tea. Kit Kat bars are particularly popular in Japan because the brand sounded like the Japanese for 'you will surely win'.