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Ramen noodle shops are Japan's most popular category of restaurant. Yet within this ubiquitous, diverse, and highly competitive segment of the dining sector, particular clusters of restaurants stand out. These agglomerations are known as ramen gekisenku-ramen restaurant fierce battle zones. Through an examination of ramen-specific media and maps (magazines, comics, food blogs, university student handbooks, etc.) the paper classifies these clusters into three types: i) regional ramen-style agglomerations typical of small cities; ii) metropolitan neighbourhoods with concentrated diverse clusters of restaurants; and iii) purposely planned ramen theme parks. Each type has different morphological characteristics with divergent potentials for variation, innovation, and evolution. The paper argues that ramen's variety is a product of its geography, while suggesting that the circulation of place-based vernacular ramen knowledge, in the form of lore, stories, and other geographic cues sustains its capacity for innovation, most noticeably in the crucible of metropolitan ramen clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) is the international division of Japan Tobacco Incorporated, and the world’s third largest transnational tobacco company. Founded in 1999, JTI’s rapid growth has been the result of a global business strategy that potentially serves as a model for other Asian tobacco companies. This paper analyses Japan Tobacco Incorporated’s global expansion since the 1980s in response to market opening, foreign competition, and declining share of a contracting domestic market. Key features of its global strategy include the on-going central role and investment by the Japanese government, and an expansion agenda based on mergers and acquisitions. The paper also discusses the challenges this global business strategy poses for global tobacco control and public health. This paper is part of the special issue ‘The Emergence of Asian Tobacco Companies: Implications for Global Health Governance’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Currently, companies must change and evolve to keep pace with the changing environment, customers' requirements and to be better than their competitors. The changes result from the need to adapt the products to new customers' requirements as well as to maintain competitive prices of their products. Therefore, companies should be flexible to guarantee short lead time and minimalize their costs to offer a good price for the customers. At the same time, companies should create good work environment for their employees in order to get them involved in improvement processes. In order to survive and develop companies should motivate and involve their employees into a continuous improvement process in different areas of the company. Unfortunately, as based on the companies' practice and previous research, in many cases employees are not willing to engage in the company development. Continuous improvement is the basis of the philosophy of Quality Management and Lean Manufacturing, which come from Toyota Production System (TPS). The TPS eventually spread throughout the world, and it is held up as an example of the proper management of a production system. The assumptions of TPS system were used to build systems in other companies, but not always with the same success as it was in Toyota. For this reason, the authors of this paper seek to answer the question of whether there are differences in engagement in a continuous improvement process between employees in a Japanese company and a Polish company operating in the same industry and realizing the similar manufacturing. In order to verify this, the research was conducted in two manufacturing companies which operate in the automotive industry. The results of the study and their analysis are presented in the work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes an analysis of Japan's maritime cluster in terms of how it has been developed and whether it has a sound basis at present; and, further, what kind of institutional framework serves as a catalyst agent for cooperation among the cluster members and their workers. Versatility for applying the same to other countries will also be evaluated. In the former part of this paper, measurement of Japanese maritime cluster is attempted. The latter part gives consideration of its characteristics and the factors that unite the people who are engaged in the cooperation among the cluster members. Methodology mainly relied on individual interviews and direct observations within the industries. The research result shows that Japan's maritime cluster has a substantial size and is competitive with sustainability. The observation of cluster management method has revealed that: (1) at the initial stage of cluster formation, a strong government support for incubating each industry is necessary; (2) business networking, especially long-term relationship between firms and support from financial institutions, is essential; and (3) human resource management based on the long-term co-working spirit is vital. This result gives clues for maritime policy formation for cluster development in the countries to follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to revisit the Japanese model of continuous improvement (Kaizen) in order to evaluate its contribution to competitiveness in organizations and also recommend possible future research directions. Design/methodology/approach -- This is a conceptual paper, and secondary databased. The paper examines a vast body of research, which looked at the model from different perspectives, and critically explores its potential benefits and drawbacks in organizations. Findings -- The paper concludes that, if properly implemented, Kaizen model can substantially contribute to continuous improvement and, thus, drive organizations for high competitiveness without a need for major investment. Practical implications -- The findings suggest that the implementation of Kaizen calls for a development of a suitable culture within an organization that encourages creativity and promotes the theme of never settling on a status quo. Originality/value -- This paper shows that success of Kaizen model is not always guaranteed, as work environment and organizational culture can be the important variables in its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of 'lifelong learning' or shōgai gakushu has rapidly become one of the topmost priorities in Japan's education policy agenda. This was considerably evident in December 2006 when the term 'lifelong learning' was added to Japan's educational charter, the Fundamental Law of Education. This paper explores, as a means to develop Japan's new lifelong learning policy, the lessons that can be learnt through an examination of the European countries' efforts to build a knowledge economy, where lifelong learning is regarded as the key solution in overcoming several important social and economic concerns. In this paper, I first examine the current situation of lifelong learning in Japan, employing the ethnographic data that I have collected since 2001. Second, I provide a brief review of the European lifelong learning policy, which is one of the priority guidelines in the European Union. Under the Lisbon Strategy, for example, the argument on European lifelong learning theoretically centres on developing human capital in order to survive in the global knowledge economy. Lastly, referring to the European experience over the past decade, I propose to directly connect Japan's latest policy development regarding lifelong learning with the trend of building human capital through lifelong learning in order to enhance its competitiveness in the era of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is founded upon the existing and prevalent quality function deployment (QFD) methodology. QFD provides a way to ensure customer needs; and expectations are addressed from concept to delivery. In conventional implementation of QFD, after the preparation of horizontal (i.e., customer table) and vertical (i.e., technical table), further analysis is usually done empirically and ignores the correlation triangle values of customer requirements and engineering characteristics. Limited resources, increased market competition and product complexity however demand more optimal solutions. A new approach is proposed to address the lacunas due to uncertainty and lack of quantitative methods and tools. The paper attempts to provide a ready reckoner and reference to all the followers and enthusiasts of QFD. This paper presents a mathematical solution in the form of a structured framework using correlation triangle values in conjunction with computed raw weights for customer requirements and priority scores for engineering characteristics. The development and mechanics of QFD model is discussed and quantification of findings is presented as a basis for model and this is followed by comprehensive matrix analysis. The outcome of the study is a comprehensive solution which discusses the underlying concepts, requisite steps, information needed, computations involved and post-matrix analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper researches on the strategy of Japanese culture industry, and makes analysis on the achievements of the implementation of the strategy as well as the problems that it is encountered with, and reckons that the strategy has achieved great results, and has gained widespread influence. Based on the characteristics of the competitiveness of the Japanese culture industry, it selects 18 indicators to build the evaluation index system for the competitiveness of the Japanese culture industry; and makes the competitiveness evaluation on the Japanese culture industry, so as to test the reliability of the model. The model can be applied as a scientific approach to determine the regional positioning of the culture industry, and to provide a scientific foundation for the formulation of the appropriate development strategy for the culture industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interpretation and implementation of ideas about the internationalisation of curricula (IoC) are complicated and multi-faceted. The complex and diverse perspectives on IoC reflect two concepts: ‘internationalisation’ and ‘curriculum’. These concepts embody contrasting perspectives on issues, including the competition-type and cooperation-type approaches to internationalisation, as well as the product and process curriculum models. These two approaches or models tend to go hand in hand while in a state of tension. The aim of this paper is to promote a detailed understanding of IoC through forming a conceptual framework for IoC. This framework proposes four patterns of IoC by linking the two approaches and the two models, and is examined using case studies of two types of Japanese universities. Finally, two assumptions are made for future research and development in the practice of IoC beyond Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper tests the classical hypothesis of inter-industry profit rate's proclivity to gravitate towards the economy's average profit rate. In so doing, individual as well as panel unit root tests have been applied on a dataset consisting of 52 Japanese manufacturing industries spanning the period 1974–2008. The evidence generated is rather mixed in a sense that the inter-industry profit rates tendency to gravitate towards the economy's average rate of profit depends on the idiosyncratic characteristics of each industry. However, the rate of profit of regulating capitals, as this is reflected in the incremental rate of profit, displays gravitational behaviour around the economy-wide incremental rate of profit, the movement of which is found to be linked to the rate of return in the stock market. These results lend support to those who contend that the classical theory of competition is an area where further research is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of domestic emissions trading schemes (ETS) can impose a heavy burden on energy-intensive industries. Particularly, energy-intensive industries competing with foreign competitors could lose their international edge. Although the abatement of CO emissions in industrialized countries entails the reduction of their energy-intensive production, a corresponding increase in the production of energy-intensive goods in countries without CO regulations may lead to carbon 'leakage.' This paper examines the effects of various allocation methods of emissions permits in the Japanese ETS on the economy and CO emissions using a multiregional and multisector computable general equilibrium model. Specifically, we apply the Fischer and Fox (Land Econ 83(4):575-599, ) model to the Japanese economy to address carbon leakage and competitiveness issues. We compare auction schemes, grandfathering schemes, and output-based allocation (OBA) schemes. We further extend the model by examining a combination of auctions and OBA. Though the auction scheme is found to be the best in terms of macroeconomic impacts, the leakage rate is high and the harm to energy-intensive sectors can be significant. OBA causes less leakage and damage to energy-intensive sectors, but the macroeconomic impact is undesirable. Considering all three effects-leakage, competitiveness, and macroeconomics-we find that combinations of auctions and OBA are desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aims to review the process of mobile phone operators agreeing to introduce mobile number portability (MNP) in Japan. A study group formed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications estimated the proportion of MNP users and analyzed the user benefits and associated costs to introduce MNP. Owing to the particular market structure and technology available, MNP was expected to yield a larger benefit in the Japanese mobile market than that seen in other countries. Based on the results of the research reviewed with respect to the market situation one year after introducing MNP, the increased competition in the mobile phone market was onfirmed by decreasing call charges and a reduction in the share of the dominant operator. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the beginning of the 1970s, the economies of USA and Japan were growing fast and environmental pollution was increasing to alarming levels. As passenger car emissions were found to be significant and rapidly increasing, their reduction was specially targeted. Following a bill passed by US Congress in 1968, requirements were set in 1970 for the vehicle manufacturers to reduce the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC) with 90% by 1975, and nitrogen oxides (NO x ) with 90% by 1976. These requirements were soon adapted to the Japanese regulatory framework, and were known in both countries as the “Muskie Act” or “Muskie Law” after the senator who developed the original bill. The new requirements spurred tremendous research and development efforts. Car manufacturers and research institutions in USA, Japan and Europe investigated and developed alternative solutions, including gas turbine and steam engine vehicles. California, the USA state with the most severe air quality problems and the only state at the time allowed to establish more strict requirements than federal regulation, established requirements implying the use of oxidation catalysts in 1975 and three-way catalysts (TWC’s) in 1977. Japan as a nation adopted similar requirements 1976 and 1978. Export of cars from Japan to USA increased rapidly. The rest of USA adopted emission standards similar to California’s only in 1981, timing USA vehicle sales rebound after the energy crisis and grave economic downturn. Strict requirements were thus established only after more than a decade of civic and legal processes between federal authorities, the car manufacturers and NGO’s. The history of vehicle development is one of cooperation and competition. This paper argues that the international cooperation on different levels of society (government, industry and science) together with commercial competition between the two countries was strong, continuous and instrumental in enabling the development of technology, appropriate regulation and infrastructural changes and thus created a market for cleaner cars and effectively reduced emissions from the growing vehicle fleet. In other words, the introduction of TWCs was reinforced by the simultaneous development of mitigating technology in two car producing countries competing for market space. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As states jostle to attract and entice others by deploying a range of innovative strategies, a ‘soft’ power competition era looms possibly in the Asia-Pacific. This paper argues that reflecting on this period of competitive policy innovation provides a valuable opportunity to re-assess the theory and practice of Joseph Nye's ‘soft’ power, given its conceptual and empirical frailties: how theoretically precise are the policies commonly described as projecting ‘soft’ power? To do so, it undertakes a comparative evaluation of Japan's and China's ‘soft’ power strategies. By paying close attention to the theory–practice linkage, it illuminates the disparities in their understanding of Nye's ‘soft’ power. Rather than a one-size-fits-all concept, ‘soft’ power strategies with distinctively Japanese and Chinese characteristics are emerging, bringing different advantages and weaknesses. The proverbial magic mirror would conclude that by more closely matching Nye's formulations and displaying a less competitive streak, Japan appears the ‘softer’ power. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Western European nations, along with the USA and Japan, have been recognised as the world's most competitive economies. Eastern European nations have generally been considered to lag. This paper explores whether these descriptions remain accurate and the prospects for change over the coming decade. The Georgia Tech 'High Tech Indicators' (HTI) contribute to the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Science & Engineering Indicators. We cover 33 highly developed and rapidly industrialising countries. Our model of technological competitiveness contains four components - National Orientation, Socioeconomic Infrastructure, Technological Infrastructure, and Productive Capacity - contributing to 'Technological Standing.' We present indicator values, derived from survey and statistical panel data, for 13 European nations (plus the USA as a benchmark), for 1993-2005, and draw inferences about future high tech competitiveness. We see limited technological progress of the Eastern European nations. European prospects appear somewhat uncertain given the dramatic competitive thrusts from Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the theoretical and empirical reasons why Japan leads the world in adoption of ISO 14001, while the US lags, and the comparative effect of ISO 14001 on environmental performance of adopters in both countries. Findings suggest that institutional barriers to adoption are much higher in the adversarial policy climate of the us than in the more reciprocal policy climate of Japan. Expected benefits of adoption are lower than the reported realisation, and this finding is significant for some categories such as competitive market advantage and relationships with regulators. Findings regarding the effect of ISO on environmental performance are mixed, but generally point to a relatively limited effect We conclude that, even if ISO 14001 has a moderate effect on firm environmental action, the structural barriers in the US generally limit the viability of these types of voluntary policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]