VENTURE CAPITAL POST

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'.

Toyota Motor is seriously contemplating a buyout of Daihatsu Motor Co., which would give the company direct access to Daihatsu’s 660 cc mini vehicles. This investment would fetch Toyota great returns in the emerging markets and also enable leveraging of the low-cost production model that has long been Daihatsu’s competitive advantage.

Ford Motor has announced on Monday that they would be exiting the Japanese and Indonesian markets by the end of this year as the governments are running a very "closed" market, protecting domestic sales over the international ones. The automaker has been unable to increase their sales or sustain profits under such circumstances. They said that the employees have already been informed and they would be providing detailed explanations regarding post-sale services like servicing and providing new car parts to its customers very soon.

Foxconn has put forth a highly tempting offer of over $5 billion in front of the almost-bankrupt Sharp Corp, which well exceeds its current valuation at $1.8 billion. The other potential buyer, Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, who was already very confident, is not so sure of a win right now. Foxconn's bid amount not only surpasses Innovation's $2.5 billion, the Taiwanese firm has also offered to absorb all of Sharp's debts and not make any top management replacements. While the board does not want their Japanese seller to fall under any kind of foreign control, the decision needs to be based purely on deal economics and not political considerations.

Japan gave the go signal for the 2012 clean energy projects that could produce up to 85,550 megawatts of renewable power, the bulk of which is from solar energy.

21MW Solar Power Station will be built in Saga Prefecture by two leading Japanese company. Solar power becoming an important national project since the country’s shift in policies after Fukushima in 2011 to solar energy

The project could start as soon as this year and is estimated to be completed in 2022. The transportation project would established Central America's first monorail.