Mr Murakami, who has an 11.9% stake in Tokyo Style, is urging other shareholders to back a measure that, by Japanese standards, seems astounding.

ECONOMIST: Japanese shareholder activism

The 150-room Tokyo Station Hotel offers European-style elegance (marble floors, vaulted ceilings, heavy moulding) plus state-of-the-art facilities in a central location.

BBC: Business trip: Tokyo

Yet economic and diplomatic problems aside, the Tokyo election also shows how the style of political campaigning is changing in Japan.

ECONOMIST: Japan

Hingis started 2007 in some style with her 43rd and final singles title in Tokyo, but the remainder of the year has been dogged by further injuries and finally the revelation of a positive test for cocaine at Wimbledon which has brought her glittering career to an end.

CNN: 'Swiss Miss' so popular with fans