Thanks to an obsessive emphasis on quality, Toyota Motor grew from a tiny spinoff of a Japanese loom manufacturer in the 1930s into the world’s largest automaker. Chief Executive Officer Akio Toyoda has nothing more virtuous than Japan’s weakening currency for a recent assist in his quest for even greater market-share dominance. The yen has fallen 16 percent against the dollar since Oct. 31. That gives Toyota and other Japanese carmakers a financial gain on every car, which they can use to cut prices, boost advertising, or improve their vehicles in ways not open to U.S. rivals.

Morgan Stanley estimates the currency boost to operating profits at about $1,500 per car, while Detroit carmakers put the figure closer to $5,700. “We’re concerned about what the long-term ramifications are,” says Joe Hinrichs, Ford Motor’s Americas chief. Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler Group and Fiat, also frets about the impact. “We didn’t need this, to put it bluntly,” he told Bloomberg TV on March 5. “It’s going to make life tougher.”

Toyota in February raised its profit forecast by 10 percent for the fiscal year ending March 31 to 860 billion yen ($9 billion), a five-year high. That would more than double the previous year’s profit and signal a convincing comeback from the global recalls and 2011 Japanese earthquake that shook Toyota’s standing as a leader in earnings, sales, and quality.

Detroit automakers are watchful for a replay of the 1990s and 2000s, when a weak yen allowed Japanese automakers to offer American buyers cars loaded with extra features at prices U.S. companies couldn’t match. It took government-backed bankruptcies at General Motors and Chrysler in 2009 and a wrenching restructuring at Ford to get their costs in line with Toyota’s. Those gains are being eroded by the currency shift, says Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas. “This is, without a doubt, the biggest change affecting the global auto industry,” Jonas says. “The dollar versus the weak yen will make the Japanese automakers richer, and they can use those profits to target more aggressive growth. Ford and GM are in their bull’s-eye. This is a real threat.”

Only 9 percent of Japanese high school students surveyed last year said they strongly hope for success in their careers, a sign that the country's economic woes may be curbing the ambition of its youth.

The Japan Youth Research Institute sent questionnaires to 6,600 high school students of Japan, the United States, China and South Korea between September and November.

The results, released on March 26, showed Japanese students have a much lower drive to succeed than students of the other three countries.

"(The findings show) that they may think it is enough just to get a job," an institute official said. "The weak economy may have contributed to (the results)."

According to the survey, 37 percent of Chinese students, 30 percent of U.S. students and 19 percent of South Korean students strongly hope they will be professionally successful, while only 9 percent of Japanese students hope for the same.

The first proposal from the Liberal Democratic Party's education panel includes establishing "advanced Super Science High Schools (SSHs)" and having universities require applicants to achieve a certain score on the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL), it has been learned.

Advanced SSHs are institutions where university professors specializing in mathematics and science instruct motivated students of high scholastic standing.

The party's Headquarters for the Revitalization of Education, chaired by Toshiaki Endo, will make an official decision on the proposal this month. The goal of the proposal is to implement educational reforms to nurture human resources who can actively contribute to the international community.

The LDP plans to include the proposal in its pledge for the House of Councillors election campaign this summer and is considering preparing legislation to realize it.

The proposal recommends a three-pronged approach for revitalizing the education system: drastic reform of English education, improved science and mathematics, and development of information and communication technology education. The proposal requests about 1 trillion yen to pursue these three strategies.

Specifically, the proposal advocates doubling the number of doctorate degree holders in the fields of science and mathematics to 35,000 a year, on par with the United States. For this, the establishment of advanced SSHs within seven to 10 universities is proposed across the nation.

The plan also recommends increasing the number of SSHs from the current figure of about 180 and placing science teachers in primary schools to interest more students in the subject.

Regarding English education reform, it proposes all public and private universities designate minimum TOEFL scores for each faculty and stipulate only applicants who achieve or surpass those score may take entrance examinations. The minimum scores would be set independently by each university. TOEFL is used to assess English proficiency and is often used as a screening tool for students who wish to study abroad.

In terms of the developing information and communication technology education, the proposal clearly includes the provision of tablet computers as teaching aids to each student at all primary, middle, high and special-needs schools before 2020.

By khatzumoto

This article is super long, so here’s a Cliff’s Notes. There’s a total of 3 parts.

Part 1 is a brief history of why people still talk smack about Sinoxenic (kanji-using) languages, leading to

Part 2 where we realize that when dealing with any language, Sinoxenic or otherwise, what we are dealing with is not a foreign language problem, but an adult illiteracy problem; finally, in

Part 3, we find that Pedro will make all your dreams come true, and also solve your adult illiteracy issues…

Pedro?

Part 1: Pens, Swords and Missionaries
Back in the day, the various nations of the western peninsula of the Eurasian landmass had just gotten done recovering from a massive thousand-year hangover after a drunken party in which they had destroyed their only stable nation-state, along with all its accumulated knowledge and human expertise, and proceeded to brutally brawl amongst themselves using weapons inspired by S&M movies.

Finally able to stand on their own feet, they set about sharing their extensive experience in violence with the world, with anyone and everyone they met. Theirs was a three-pronged approach, perhaps the most comprehensive offensive in human history, making use of the pen, the sword, and a cadre of highly trained psychologists called “missionaries”.

Japan is mad about innovation. From tech gadgets to inventively designed products, it is a place hungry for cutting-edge. Why then are there so few entrepreneurs? Culture, many say, is to blame. With an aversion to standout much less fail, the Japanese spurn start-ups. But what culture doesn’t hate losing?

The better answer is Japan’s complicated bureaucracy and regulation that makes it difficult to launch and raise capital for an enterprise. According to the World Bank’s Doing Business index, Japan ranks 107 out of 183 countries for ease of starting a business. Venture capital is scarce.

Both are inadequate responses for true entrepreneurs. That’s at least what I witnessed tonight when all of Tokyo’s start-up stars came out for an awards fete hosted by U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos. Ambassador Roos has promoted, more than any other American chief of mission, entrepreneurship, encouraging Japanese innovators to “aim global.” Here are a few I came across:

Chikahiro Terada, Founder of San San. It’s an IT platform that says it has a new approach to organizing business cards on-line. The site’s only in Japanese, so I’ll take Terada’s word for it. Curious though what would Evernote say…

Other countries have far more confidence in Japan's capacity for innovation than Japan itself does, according to a survey by General Electric Co.

GE's finding was based on a questionnaire sent to 3,100 business executives in 25 countries. Each person was asked about the business climate of each country in regard to "innovation." The "Global Innovation Barometer" survey was carried out between October and December.

Japan's self-assessments were the lowest among the surveyed countries in seven of the 12 total categories.

"(These results) reflect the feeling of self-doubt caused by the prolonged sluggish economy," said Seiichiro Yonekura, a business history professor at Hitotsubashi University who analyzed the survey findings.

When asked whether Japan has a favorable climate for innovation, 81 percent of the respondents answered yes, while only 41 percent of Japanese executives answered so.

Following Rakuten’s new Asia headquarters in Singapore, the Japanese e-commerce giant has launched a US$10 million fund in Southeast Asia to strategically invest in companies that will help them in its e-commerce ventures. Mr. Toru Shimada of Rakuten (4755:JASDAQ), who leads the fund, told me:

"Within Asia, we already have e-commerce businesses in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan and plan to expand further in Southeast Asia. We not only invest in startups in Asia but also make business synergies [with startups for Rakuten’s] business."

Specifically, I was told that the type of startups that Rakuten Asia is looking for are those that are focused on e-commerce or e-commerce-related areas. It could be anything from social commerce sites with high traffic (like Pinterest) to mobile applications to e-commerce enablers such as marketing tools and solutions (like ReferralCandy), etc. Besides e-commerce, Rakuten is also keen to invest in online travel and digital content as it seeks to expand its portfolio in Asia.

The new Rakuten fund is lead by Mr. Toru Shimada, CEO and chairman of Rakuten Asia.

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten (JSD:4755) now has a regional headquarters situated at One George Road in Singapore. The new Singapore office is set to take charge of Rakuten’s Asia-Pacific operations including marketing and regional expansions. Aside from its native Japan, Rakuten has e-commerce operations in Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. However, its China joint-venture with Baidu didn’t turn out to be successful.

Rakuten’s head of Asia marketing, Shin Hasegawa, told me that Singapore was chosen because of its close proximity to other Southeast Asian countries, and access to talented people. Interestingly, Rakuten also chose Singapore as a base because it believes it is the gateway to interact with the region’s startups.

Rakuten does invest in startups. Most prominently, it was the lead investor in Pinterest’s latest financing round. Like most of its Japanese counterparts such as GREE and CyberAgent who have set up corporate venture arms to invest in startups across Southeast Asia, Rakuten could also follow the same path. When asked about the possibility of having a ‘Rakuten Venture Fund’, Hasegawa told me that it could potentially be part of the big plan. But regardless, Rakuten is already investing in startups whether or not there’s a dedicated venture fund.

Thanks to the effects of Abenomics, the Nikkei Stock Average has surged by more than 20 percent since late last year, while the yen has weakened against the dollar and the euro nearly 20 percent. The mood is on a pretty strong uptrend.

In fact, the positive impact of Abenomics has already been seen in the sales of luxury goods, such as watches and jewelry, which analysts say would directly be reflected in the Nikkei index.

However, it will be quite a long time ahead when such a trend becomes clearly apparent in the overall consumer activities.

Furthermore, it is noticeable that some luxury brands of clothes and leather items—which did not reduce prices to pass on the benefits of the strong yen to their customers—are now increasing prices. For example, Louis Vuitton on Feb. 15 hiked prices by 12 percent on average.

So, how big is the retail market size for luxury goods in Japan?

It is actually difficult to grab the concrete picture of the market in this field because luxury goods companies in general do not release sales breakdown by countries or brands they own even though they are listed on the stock exchanges.

Plus, the recent currency volatility has widened price divergence in yen-, euro- and dollar-based figures. In addition to this, the definition of luxury brands remains obscure.

In the field of pret-a-porter, or ready-to-wear clothing, and fashion and leather goods, brands names, such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes, Chanel, Prada, Miu Miu, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Dior, Bottega Veneta, Loewe, Celine, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Chloe, Valentino, Versace, Givanchy, Jil Sander, Bally and Tod’s are understandably included in the genre. In this column, these brands are categorized as top-tier luxury brands.

However, there are some problems. For instance, supposing Burberry, Armani and Ralph Lauren are not top-tier luxury brands, what are they? (They can often be categorized as high apparel brands and designer brands.) Then what about Coach, Furla and Longchamp? Are they also included in the top-tier group? (These brands do not have a strict policy of manufacturing their items in their home countries, such as France and Italy, and are usually categorized as accessible luxury and rough luxury.)

In jewelry, the three major names—Cartier, Tiffany & Co. and Bulgari—and Grand Cinq in Paris (Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron, Mauboussin, Chaumet, Mellerio dits Meller), as well as Harry Winston, Graff and Gump’s, which also have a high profile like the eight brands, are definitely treated as luxury brands. They are followed by more brands, which may not claim a high profile like the names above, but offer equally high-quality goods.

In this article, all these brands are treated as luxury brands. Regarding watches, the same approach is applied.

Taking it into consideration, the size of the luxury goods market in Japan is estimated to be around 2 trillion yen in total—1 trillion yen for fashion and leather goods and 1 trillion yen for cosmetics, wine & spirits, watches and jewelry among other items.

According to the report compiled by Bain & Company, a Boson-based research and consulting firm, the size of the global luxury goods market is 19.1 million euros in 2011, or 22.92 trillion yen (1 euro = 120 yen).

Japan claims about 10 percent of the entire market, making its market size roughly about 2 trillion yen. Bain & Company’s report also reveals an interesting fact in the breakdown by nationality of the 19.1 million euro market.

Chinese consumers account for 23 percent of the market, followed by Americans at 22 percent and Japanese at 20 percent.

If you believe these figures in the report, Chinese spend most on luxury goods in the world, while Japanese spend almost equal amount on European and American luxury items at home and abroad.

Many European luxury brands did not reduce prices of their products in the Japanese market until the exchange rate became 170 yen to the euro. This probably resulted in the rapid increase in Japanese buying luxury items overseas.

Amazon.com Inc.'s sales in Japan surged 18.6% on the year to 7.8 billion dollars in the year ended Dec. 31, making the U.S. giant the top Internet retailer here.

Amazon.com's country-based sales were made public for the first time through an annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Japanese sales tally, totaling roughly 730 billion yen based on the current exchange rate, would put Amazon.com at No. 10 or so among brick-and-mortar and online retailers here, lifting it past consumer electronics seller Edion Corp.'s (2730) projected 720 billion yen for the year ending March 31.

Rakuten Inc. (4755) is the largest Japanese online retailer, with its virtual mall, travel-booking business and other Internet-based services ringing up sales of 285.8 billion yen for the year ended Dec. 31.

But its revenue comes primarily from commissions from virtual mall tenants and other sources, while Amazon.com procures a wide range of products and sells them to consumers.

Participating stores in Rakuten's virtual mall have combined sales of roughly 1.3 trillion yen.

Amazon.com, which made its Japanese debut in 2000, does not release its total online sales including those from independent sellers in its Amazon Marketplace. If these sales are included, the U.S. firm may likely come close to Rakuten in total sales.

Japan's online retail market is expected to grow 15.9% to roughly 10.2 trillion yen in fiscal 2012, according to the Nomura Research Institute (4307).