Private Equity Moris Beracha Wuani

By Aaron Wood   Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony and IT equipment services firm Fujitsu have created an encrypted database for educational proficiency documents, The Asahi Shimbun reports on Feb. 26. The database, which reportedly employs blockchain technology, is used to prevent forgeries of language proficiency documents, which some foreigners purportedly use to receive resident status to study in Japan. Foreigners must submit a Japanese language proficiency certificate to the Immigration Bureau in order to receive resident status to study in Japan . Said certificates can be issued by Japanese educational institutions abroad. Japanese language schools within the country will submit the certificates on behalf of institutions overseas. Illegal copies of the language certificates have reportedly been found in several different countries. The Asahi Shimbun states that students without proper language qualifications can face difficulties i...

By Billy Bambrough Japan's economy — which for years has struggled to return to its 1980's growth levels — could be about to boom once again, thanks to bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. At the Japan Blockchain Conference this week in Tokyo (the first of what's expected to become a yearly event) the chief executive of financial services giant SBI Holdings Yoshitaka Kitao said he is betting that blockchain related technologies will fuel the next boom for the Japanese economy after decades of economic malaise. In the 1970s, Japan had the world's second-largest GDP after the U.S. and this boom continued through to the 1980s. However, by the early 1990s Japan's economy had stalled, plunging the country into what has been called the "lost decade" of growth. It has previously been suggested Japan's economy could be kick-started by a "technological boom." Improved mobile connectivity through the lo...