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The Dragon blows commodity bubbles: Leo Lewis on Asia

Bullish little oddities have been surfacing across Asia, and in the background are the hunger pangs of the Dragon

House prices ... Toyota: Tempus at lunchtime

Falling house prices will not even help first time buyers ... Japanese car makers fear owners will repair rather than replace

Japanese lead way as carmakers struggle in US

The American car industry signed off a terrible 2008 with full-year sales figures showing double-digit falls amid the downturn

Tokyo stock market ends year of decline

Analysts say much of blame for Japanese stocks disproportionately bad performance is high liquidity of the market

Tokyo markets close on 42% annual fall

A brief session of choppy buying brought an end to the worst year on record for shares on Tokyo Stock Exchange

Three Japanese insurers to merge

Mitsui Sumitomo, Nissay Dowa, and Aioi, Japan’s biggest insurers, are in talks to create a group with 33% of the market

Car production faces global fall until 2010

PricewaterhouseCoopers is forecasting a 17% drop in the US to 10.8m cars and a 12% fall in the EU to 15.5m vehicles

Japan not immune to crisis, says Suzuki chief

Japan’s automotive industry, which comprises at least ten big manufacturers, could be reduced to a Detroit-style Big Three

Japanese insurance groups edge towards merger

A three-way deal would create market leader as ageing population and poor car sales force insurance sector to consolidate

TaxiWalker saves the salaryman’s wallet

Gizmo cashes in on mood of intense parsimony in Japan by racking up imaginary taxi fares for walkers

Japan faces fear of deflation spiral

World's second-largest economy is facing a barrage of warnings after dismal industrial, consumer and employment data

Migrant workers are first to lose jobs

Collapse in demand for cars forces further upheaval on Brazilians who emigrated to Japan during labour shortages

Electric shock: green Prius sales falter

In its attempt to cut costs, Toyota has scaled back production, including on what was billed the 'must-have' car

Analysis: Running dry

Japan's interest rate goes back near zero

Bank of Japan takes nation back into 'quantitative easing' - the policy it adopted before to drag economy out of slump

Japan cuts rate to just above zero

Central bank is under rising pressure to ease an economy already in recession after Fed's cut took yen to 13-year high

Panasonic wins battle to buy rival Sanyo

The company has triumphed in its ¥800bn bid to acquire Sanyo Electric after seducing Goldman Sachs with a ¥1-a-share advance

Surging yen raises hope of new cash injection

Speculation mounts that Japan will mount 'pointless' intervention to stop dollar's decline as yen touches 13-year high

Panasonic triumphs in bid to buy Sanyo Electric

Electronics group swings purchase of rival with raised offer of just 1 yen as part-owner Goldman Sachs finally surrenders

LVMH halts plan for expansive Tokyo premises

World's biggest luxury goods group abandons proposals for a flagship Louis Vuitton store as economic crisis reaches Japan