Kenji Hall
Way ahead
Starting a new business is about ideas, inspiration and location. We visit a Lisbon neighbourhood pushing small enterprise, the corner of Istanbul that’s ripe for retail and a Mexican tech hub.
Asia
Japan's agenda for 2014, why New Taipei's mayor could be the saviour of Taiwan's ruling party and how Ho Chi Minh City is reaching for the skies.
Diplomacy
We meet Indonesia's ambassador to Japan, report on Israel's new "digital embassy" and Seoul embarks on a soft-power offensive.
School of thought
Inspired touches of service separate good from great and make bricks-and-mortar retail sing. From suit presses to gift wrapping, Monocle attends to the best in retail hospitality and finds lessons in courtesy.
Design/architecture
New buildings, from Portugal to Australia, plus furniture, interiors and homeware.
On the paper trail
Who needs paper in a world dominated by technology? Kenji Hall finds out as he visits Kakimori, a small stationery shop nestled in Tokyo's Kuramae neighbourhood.
Eastern promise
Japanese whisky giants are world famous but it’s an upstart distillery, Chichibu, that’s winning all the awards and showing how to blend Scottish know-how with local ingredients.
Korea change
Behind Seoul's modest office plants sits the ministry planning for a unified Korea — an act of faith complicated by cost, scepticism and a public losing interest in reunion.
Changing times
With globalisation, economic instability and the tech boom constantly shifting business, MBA programmes must adapt. Monocle talks to three schools about how they are staying relevant in a rapidly changing world.
