Andy Rubin, Google senior vice president speaks at a conference of the New Economy Summit 2013 in Tokyo on April 16, 2013. Entrepreneurs of information technology (IT) and online business on April 16 gathered at a one-day conference, hosted by Japan Association of New Economy (JANE), led by Japanese electronic commerce giant Rakuten's Hiroshi Mikitani.
Niklas Zennstrom, co founder of Skype speaks at a conference of the New Economy Summit 2013 in Tokyo on April 16, 2013. Entrepreneurs of information technology (IT) and online business on April 16 gathered at a one-day conference, hosted by Japan Association of New Economy (JANE), led by Japanese electronic commerce giant Rakuten's Hiroshi Mikitani.
CEO of e-commerce operator Rakuten Inc Hiroshi Mikitani, who is a member of Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's advisory panel on industrial competitiveness, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo March 13, 2013. Japan's government should steer clear of picking industrial winners and losers and focus on opening the economy to trade and competition as the best way to boost growth, but not all those advising Abe agree on which strategy to stress. "We don't have explicit confrontations and we don't yell at each other in meetings, but I am sure that there are different philosophies about how, and how much, the government should be involved in creating the strategy and reforming particular industries," Mikitani told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
Hiroshi Mikitani, chairman and president of Japan's online retailer Rakuten Inc, poses before a news conference at PriceMinister headquarters in Paris, in this file picture taken December 21, 2010. Doubting politicians' commitment to economic reform is a tough habit for Japan experts to kick, so the air of cautious optimism around the appointments of dynamic CEOs, including Mikitani, to advise on boosting industrial competitiveness comes as a bit of a surprise. To match Analysis JAPAN-ECONOMY/REFORM.
TOKYO, JAPAN - OCTOBER 07: Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil (R) pose with the trophy after playing Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic and Leander Paes of India in the doubles final match during day seven of the Rakuten Open at Ariake Colosseum on October 7, 2012 in Tokyo, Japan.
TOKYO, JAPAN - OCTOBER 07: Kei Nishikori of Japan holds the trophy after the men's final match against Milos Raonic of Canada during day seven of the Rakuten Open at Ariake Colosseum on October 7, 2012 in Tokyo, Japan.
