BizCast Japan is back with its first release of 2008. For the new year, co-hosts Albrecht Stahmer and Ken Worsley have developed a new format for the show, which will now focus on industries rather than specific new items. This should mean that it’s impossible for the show to get off topic!

This edition of the show begins with a short discussion on news in the automotive industry, especially concerning the battle between Toyota and General Motors for global domination. From there, the discussion turns to the services sector and recent developments concerning G.communications, who have taken over part of the former Nova language school business. Is G.communications heading down a path toward disaster?

After that, the finance sector is discussed, and our co-hosts consider the question, “Are Japanese banks back?” This is discussed in the context of recent news that Mizuho has taken a $1.2 billion stake in US investment bank Merrill Lynch. Given that this is the first such big move by a Japanese bank since the bursting of the bubble, what might this mean for the future?

That leads to a brief discussion of internet trends, blogging in Japan and online advertising. From there, energy and agriculture are discussed, and the effects of inflation are considered.

Real estate remains a favorite topic of the show, and data from both the commercial and residential sectors are considered in the next part of the program. Finally, in the Focus Issue, consumer electronics is discussed. Some of the names that come up are NTT DoCoMo, Google, Disney, Sony, Apple, Nintendo and Panasonic.

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