On March 11, 2011, a big earthquake (today named the Great East Japan Earthquake) hit north-east Japan. Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station suffered from the disaster, with part of its main buildings destroyed. The other power stations throughout the country stopped work one after another, and have been out of operation up to now (August, 2014). Taking into account increasing costs of fossil fuel, and worsening air pollution with emission of more carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas, restart of nuclear power generation will be desired. In view of the fact that about 60% of the power plants are located on the Pacific coast, there would be a lot of power shortages if a big earthquake directly hit the Tokyo area. In order to prevent shortages, it may be necessary that plants situated on the Japan Sea side should resume operation as soon as safety has been reconfirmed. In this article I will consider how unevenly nuclear power stations are distributed and dispersed, and what problems this irregular location poses to us, by making simulations of what effects an earthquake in the Tokyo area will have on nuclear plants in the TEPCO area.

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In this essay the author is concerned with the question of what are the family business characteristics of Suntory Holdings Limited that make it an outstanding enterprise with a strong influence on the globalmarkets. Its activities as a prime source of wealth creation and employment have attracted the world’s attention to the business of the Torii and Saji Families. The group's performances of big merger and acquisition (M&A) and business investments have expanded to such a scale that its management activities have a large influence on the market. And this in turn will affect the world economy as well as the national economy of Japan. In view of its operations worldwide, it is pertinent and worthwhile to analyze its ownership structure, composition of stockholders and executive board, and management strategy in order to make clear those main features which make Suntory Holdings Limited a remarkable global economic model playing a powerful role in the 21st-century world economy.

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With the rapid growth of cosmetics industry in China since the end of the 20^th century, cosmetic companies of other Asian countries have struggled their way into the Chinese market along withmultinational corporations of the world. Shiseido of Japan and AMOREPACIFIC of South Korea, two major Asian groups in this field, have branched out into selling their products in China and continued their operations on this competitive and yet promising market. This paper examines the international strategies of the two companies' activities on the continent in order to make clear the main features of and the distinctions between their strategies. In the process of analysis, a set of theories of international business administration is used, and is shown to be an effective and valid method of inquiry.

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The phrase “Korean Wave” appeared for the first time in a Chinese press. It was used in Youth News of Beijing in November, 1999, in a situation where Korean TV dramas spread to China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.It was intended as a warning about young people getting absorbed in the Korean popular culture. The tide made its way to Japan, bringing about a “Korean boom” in 2003. Here in Japan, the expression “Korean Waves” covers not only Korean dramas, movies, music and other areas of popular culture in vogue here, but also remarkable events in politics, economy, international relations, news media and academic worlds in Korea. Talks about Korean softwares and contents promotion policies are referred to as part of Korean Waves. What have “Korean Waves” brought to Japan in the last decade of years? In order to see this, the author will examine the process in which the Japanese have brought in the Korean Culture, especially TV dramas and movies, and how antipathies and dislikes to Korean Culture have grown.

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[in Japanese]

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