Since the Democratic Party of Japan took office last year, it has been pressuring the Bank of Japan to be fiercer in fighting deflation.
ECONOMIST: From Argentina to America, politicians are taking aim
Officials from the European Commission raided the Frankfurt cargo office of Japan Airlines, Asia's largest airline, on Wednesday.
The mighty Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan had its head office in Otemachi on an urban site that overshadowed the Masakado shrine.
ECONOMIST: There is more than you think to the haunting of Japan
"Japanese lawyers will call a bureaucrat and ask if something is allowed then give legal advice based on that, " notes Stephen Roith at Clifford Chance, another foreign law office in Japan.
All three were nominated by new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who came into office on the promise of bringing Japan's economy out of its prolonged slump.
Indeed, with a nice irony, apart from the post office, the best retail bank in Japan is Citigroup.
Yet most of Japan's homeless have never set foot inside an office, let alone read the Nikkei newspaper.
And, in Japan, they keep their savings unproductively in the post office.
ECONOMIST: Social conventions and demography add to the sclerosis
Japan's justice minister has resigned weeks after taking office citing ill health, amid a scandal over alleged ties to an organised crime group.
Mr Abe is a former prime minister who, when in office, called for a bigger global role for Japan and promoted efforts to boost national pride.
Hitachi president Hiroaki Nakanishi - en route from the World Economic Forum in Davos to Japan - stopped off to see Mr Jones at the Wales Office in London.
Yoshihiko Noda, the Prime Minister of Japan, reportedly cancelled an important speech and rushed back to his office.
Since November 1982, Japan has had 18 prime ministers, with an average stay in office of 658 days.
But in Japan many buyers of luxury goods have been ordinary middle-class office workers, some of whom save up for years.
Those trying to contact or locate U.S. citizens living or traveling in Japan can telephone the U.S. Department of State, Office of Overseas Citizens Services, at 1-888-407-4747 or (202) 647-5225.
Solar Frontier, a start-up company based in Tokyo, Japan selling leading-edge solar CIS technology, is opening an office in Khobar, Saudi Arabia to strengthen its position in the emerging solar-power market in the Middle East, which it has described as a strategic priority for long-term growth.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December, vowing to boost the economy by restoring Japan's export competitiveness, while at the same time stimulating demand at home through higher public works spending.
British citizens in Japan who need assistance and those inquiring after friends and family can contact the Foreign Office in the UK at 44-207-008-0000.
Last month, Japan's ministry of trade and industry announced a set of safety guidelines for home and office robots.
In Japan, Mr Noda cancelled a speech minutes after the broadcast from Pyongyang and rushed back to his office to chair an emergency meeting of senior ministers.
For the Asia-Pacific region, the UNESCO-Bangkok Office has facilitated the elaboration of a regional implementation strategy, which was launched at Nagoya (Japan) in June 2005.
The summit has been organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and will be attended by the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Yucho has recently lost some of its payments business to Japan's convenience-store chains, which together have an even more comprehensive branch network than the post office.
"The government should deregulate the job sector and encourage market liquidity so that Japan can build a proper social infrastructure, " says Nambu, who adds that small- and home-office businesses should be promoted to give people a wider choice for their working styles.
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