The Of Rice and Zen staff, along with most of the expatriate population of Japan has been capitalising on the recent comparative strength of the yen against the pound and the dollar. Today £1 buys you ¥161.50, compared to about ¥260 two years ago. It's a great time to be sending yen home or investing in shares as prices hits rock bottom, but where to go to for some expert advice? Of Rice and Zen has teamed up with SB Asset Management to get some informed advice for expat investors in Japan. Here's what our economic correspondent Nabil Khan has to say about the state of play. America’s "Japanese-Style" Recession? For those of us who live here in Japan we cannot help but be constantly aware of recession. The recession proper struck during the 1990s and lackluster growth followed that throughout the early 2000s. This economic malaise of the Japanese economy was often a point of ridicule for American economists and also an argument for American style de-regulation. A few voices mooted the idea that the United States would be in store for the same economic conditions that the Japanese had suffered, but few were given much credence. Now many pundits are ...

Welcome to the grand opening of the Of Rice and Zen: The Magazine Magazine. The reknowned Of Rice and Zen: The Memoirs of a Gaijin blog had a good three year run, but the author decided it was time to move on. While certain he wanted to continue to write about Japan, he decided to put a full stop on the blog to something more structured, more professional and with broader appeal. A has lost none of his obsession for Japan. For anyone who would like to continue following A's activities online, Of Rice and Zen: The Memoirs of a Gaijin will henceforth morph into Of Rice and Zen Studios. This can be considered A's online production empire consisting of an online magazine and a stock photography and vector design library. The Magazine The Of Rice and Zen Magazine consists of features and reviews, written for publication in English language magazines such as Japanzine, Kansai Scene and Kansai Time-Out. Some will introduce Japanese culture to the uninitiated. Some will explore salient issues in modern Japan. Some will reflect on Japan's past. Some are simply enthusiastic tributes to products, restaurants, films and games that our writers dearly love. All of them are written to ...