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 Takashi Kitazume

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Takashi Kitazume
For Takashi Kitazume's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS / JAPAN-CHINA SYMPOSIUM
Sep 28, 2012
Media in Japan and China urged to help close perception gap
Just as Japan and China mark the 40th anniversary of the 1972 normalization of diplomatic ties amid ever-deepening economic relations, public sentiments toward each country appear to have fallen to the lowest point in decades. News over the past several weeks have been awash with reports of massive daily protests on Chinese streets and a diplomatic stalemate over the Senkaku Islands dispute.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2012
Reformed Myanmar ready for foreign investment
The rapid political developments in Myanmar since last year, including the April by-elections that saw democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi elected to parliament, have resulted in the easing of economic sanctions by Western nations, with businesses rushing to plan new investments to explore opportunities in the Southeast Asian country with a population of 60 million.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ENERGY SEMINAR
Sep 11, 2012
Japan's energy mix requires examining trade-offs
Japan has to face the true trade-offs as the nation gropes to choose a future energy mix in the wake of last year's Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, an American scholar said at a recent seminar in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2012
U.S.-Russia relations stagnate as Obama's 'reset' policy falters
The relationship between the United States and Russia is stalled for now as the "reset" efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration over the past four years have failed to develop enough momentum to move the bilateral ties forward, according to an expert from a U.S. think tank.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2012
Changes afoot as Beijing seeks new economic models to sustain growth
China needs to shift to a new growth model as its cost advantages begin to erode and overseas demand staggers, while cooperation with Japan in future-growth sectors will benefit both countries, Chinese officials and scholars said during a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDIA-JAPAN SYMPOSIUM
Jul 17, 2012
Japanese investments to rise despite India's recent slowdown
Japan's business ties with India look set to expand further as the pace of investments by Japanese firms continues to accelerate, despite a recent slowdown of the Indian economy and the country's twin deficits, experts and people involved in bilateral relations said at recent events in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2012
Global demand for nuclear power remains high
Despite the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster that hit Japan last year, the global appetite for nuclear energy remains largely unchanged as emerging economic powers are set to account for much of the growth in worldwide electricity demand in the coming decades, a U.S. think tank expert said at a recent seminar in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2012
Innovation, marketing by the book doesn't hold in globalized world
Creativity and innovation hold the key to being competitive in a global environment, but what does it really take for a company to recruit or build innovative talent?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2012
Deeper political, financial unity seen as solution to eurozone crisis
Even after fears of a Greek exit from the euro were eased by the outcome of the country's June 17 elections, Europe remains in crisis as concern lingers that Spain's banks are a potentially bigger risk. Ending the crisis will require European leaders to come up with a longer-term vision for deeper economic integration, experts concurred at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 20, 2012
Economic woes, political volatility may creep into U.S. foreign affairs
No matter who wins the presidential election in November, the United States appears headed for a prolonged period of political volatility as leaders do not seem to have good answers to voters' anxieties about their economic future. This threatens to spill over into U.S. relations with the rest of the world in the form of increased protectionist pressures.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2012
Asian rivals elbow Japan aside in Washington
In the year of a U.S. presidential election, Japan is increasingly being overshadowed by its Asian neighbors in Washington just as the capital is increasingly functioning as a forum on global issues, according to a leading American expert.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ASEAN-JAPAN SYMPOSIUM
Apr 7, 2012
ASEAN members see mixed future; ties with Japan entering new phase
Southeast Asia has emerged from the 2008-2009 global financial crisis with a robust economic expansion that, along with China and India, makes up a new growth center of the world economy. Still, major countries in the region foresee a mixed picture in the years ahead.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2012
Japan-like fertility rate, aging population pose threats to China
The rapid aging of China's population poses a serious threat to the country's future growth and social security, and policy actions need to be taken now to deal with the repercussions in the coming decades, said a senior Chinese scholar from Shanghai.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Mar 9, 2012
Deeper cooperation urged for key East Asian powers to sustain growth
China, with its increasingly assertive diplomacy and rapid military buildup, is a common security threat for Japan and South Korea, but the two countries also need to work with China as a partner in East Asia's economic growth, veteran journalists from South Korea said in a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDIA-JAPAN SYMPOSIUM
Feb 15, 2012
Rising consumerism in India offers Japan huge potential, experts say
India is rapidly evolving as a consumer market and Japan, whose trade and investment relations with the emerging South Asian giant have so far been limited, should take advantage of the huge potential created by the new trends of consumerism in the country, scholars and experts from Indian universities and think tanks said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / JAPAN-U.S. SYMPOSIUM
Dec 18, 2011
U.S. 'quietly' frustrated with ongoing Tokyo inaction on key policy issues
More than any specific policy recommendations, Japan needs to have the capability to make decisions and implement them far more quickly than today — whether on the security or economic policy fronts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2011
Japan needs a 'fresh start' to resolve lingering issues
Post-March 11 Japan faces the challenge of not just rebuilding from the damage of the massive earthquake and tsunami, but also tackling the nation's structural economic and political problems that have largely been left unresolved over the past two decades.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDIA-JAPAN SYMPOSIUM
Oct 24, 2011
India bids for closer East Asia ties for regional integration
India wants to play a role in the economic integration of Asia through closer ties with East Asian powers including China — despite a long history of political hostility — and Japan, journalists and experts from India said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2011
Knowing your audience crucial to winning effective PR results overseas
When reaching out to overseas audiences, Japanese companies need to understand what their target audience wants to know instead of just releasing the bare facts, two public relations experts said in a recent series of seminars.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / U.K. JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Jul 14, 2011
Japan needs credible plan to reduce public debt to stave off fiscal crisis
Japan has had two decades of sluggish growth as it went through the bursting of the late 1980s bubble and a subsequent banking crisis. Are many of the Western economies that saw their own bubbles burst after the 2008 financial crisis going to follow a similar path? And is Japan, whose ratio of public debt to gross domestic product is the highest among industrialized nations, headed for the same fiscal crisis that has gripped several European economies in recent years?

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