Over-regulated airlines mean that it costs more to fly from Tokyo to Hokkaido than from Tokyo to Los Angeles.

ECONOMIST: The first of an occasional series on Japan��s economic pains

Yesterday the strongest typhoon in some 50 years wreaked havoc and minor destruction along the entire Japanese archipelago, from Kyushu to Hokkaido, making a direct hit on Tokyo.

FORBES: Reforming Japan's Socialized Agriculture (2)

The shelves on Tokyo's supermarkets are incomplete without a selection of Hokkaido camemberts.

ECONOMIST: The first of an occasional series on Japan��s economic pains