Under its post-war constitution, Japan is not allowed a navy, only a Self-Defence Force. Yet, today, the country has one of the largest, most sophisticated fleets in the world. Tensions with North Korea and China have also seen the country increasingly debating its military future. Monocle was given unique access to the fleet and asked leading analysts to assess the future of the region.

All over Africa, Chinese labourers are hard at work building railways, roads and national stadiums. In return, the continent’s developing countries are selling their oil and iron ore to the Chinese. The figures are staggering: in 1999 trade between Africa and China was valued at €1.5bn, by 2000 it had risen to €31bn and by 2010 it is expected to hit €77bn. To underline their interest in the continent, on 30 January, the Chinese President Hu Jintao began an eight-nation African tour. Monocle travelled across the continent to witness the impact of the investment and diaspora.

If you’ve had enough of the Antwerp to Brussels commute, relocate your life. Every month we’ll take you to an emerging business hub and tell you everything you need to build a new company and enjoy a better standard of living. This month we’re in Ensenada, the Mexican town pulling in the wine growers of California, yacht builders and a generation of sharp entrepreneurs.

Germany is the eighth biggest exporter of wine, shipping 280 million litres in 2005; but it’s also the world’s largest importer of wine, buying 1.19 billion litres the same year. Like France, the country has struggled against New World vineyards. Now the Germans are fighting back with a winning marketing tool: novelty bottles.

For the past eight years, Assaad Taha’s company, Hot Spot, has been making films for the Al-Jazeera TV network. His mission? To uncover and objectively report injustices through Arab eyes, while staying firmly opposed “to the notion of neutrality”. Not an easy task in an increasingly unstable political arena.

For most of the last century, Italy’s population flowed outwards. But as the country grew richer, the outside began to trickle in, from Eastern Europe, North Africa and Asia. Today, the country’s roughly three million immigrants are growing into their second generation. For the first time its schools are graduating students who sound Italian, feel Italian and are Italian, but trace their roots back to other countries, forcing Italians to ask what exactly does it mean to be Italian?

Tourism is Brazil’s fourth biggest earner, generating €8.5bn and sustaining 1.1m jobs. Last year, Rio de Janeiro received more than two million international and five million domestic visitors, an increase of 120 per cent since 2000. On the eve of this year’s Pan American Games in Rio, hotshot hotelier Rogério Fasano is opening a second property in Brazil’s carnivale capital.

Shoe production in the US has dropped 85 per cent since 1995 and around 90 shoe factories have closed as companies shift production overseas. Iconic American brands such as Timberland, Converse, Sebago, Johnston & Murphy and GH Bass & Co have all left. One of three remaining bespoke shoemakers in the country, Russell Moccasin survives, thanks to its recasting as a luxury brand in the Far East.

Hungary's Pest control and unmanned aircraft in Finnish airspace.

Bodyguards on room service in Mogadishu, a peek at Saudi lingerie laws and the next failed state.

The semiotics of President Ahmadinejad's wardrobe, plus the high seas of Indonesian piracy.

Plans for lunar heritage sites and a cure for the blues from Australia.

Daniel Ortega's Nicaraguan comeback, new US passport controls and Hugo Chávez's guest list.

Why Iceland could be the ultimate conference hub and the writing's on the wall for graffiti artists.

We review two new airlines for high fliers - and reveal how they fare.

Jetstar, a low-cost offshoot of Qantas, has launched not only itself but a new business model, offering acceptable levels of comfort at prices far below those of rival business classes. Now, the airline plans to expand its fledgling international presence into the US and has its sights set on Europe.

Coop is the second largest retailer in Switzerland after Migros, with about 1,500 outlets and 44,000 employees. In 2005, it had a turnover of €8.6bn. It has 20 per cent of the country’s food retail business. As well as supermarkets, the Coop group also includes petrol stations, hotels and a host of subsidiary companies. But what do you need to make a successful supermarket? In the first of a series on branding, we look at the companies that make Coop a star store.

Dan Brown's literary stalkers, plus Monocle's music tip-offs.

Mint freshens up India's newspaper market and how to get ahead in Japanese advertising.

Innovative housing in Vienna and Zürich; Japanese office design; Düsseldorf makeover and an orderly Swiss kindergarden.

Why Prada has a new ring of confidence, Daiki Suzuki's designs for Woolrich and will H&M foray into high fashion work?

Chile is a stable, democratic regime that continues to liberalise its economy. Rich in natural resources, especially copper, its fortunes have traditionally followed a boom and bust cycle according to the market price for the metal. The country’s main trading partners are the US, China and Japan. Chile’s population is 16 million and it has a GDP of $203bn. The country is governed by a centre-left coalition headed by President Michelle Bachelet who came to power in 2005.

Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen, Lego started life in the wooden toy business. Derived from the Danish words ‘leg’ (play) and ‘godt’ (well), the company’s play-well concept has turned Lego into one of the most recognised premium toy brands in the world, and one of Denmark’s most iconic companies. But an assault from the electronic gaming industry and evaporating play time in Lego’s key age groups means that both Lego and its competitors are having a tough time on shop shelves.

Everyone from parents to President Putin is attacking the vending and amusement machine industry. As the key players gathered in Europe to launch a counter attack, we were there to see if all their cherries would come up in a row.

The Austrian lighting company BLL leads the industry with its progressive thinking, installing life-enhancing systems at hospitals, airports and the new Cairo Museum. Soon it will focus its light-direction technologies on its biggest challenge yet: lighting up the benighted Alpine town of Rattenberg with huge mirrors positioned on a nearby mountain.

We kick off the first of our monthly themed rundowns with our take on the perfect Sunday morning: a cycle through Lisbon, our ideal media menu and a brunch prepared by our Aussie friends Wall Two 80.

The Sundance Film Festival, held every January in Park City, Utah, attracts 45,000 film-makers, buyers, distributors, agents, celebrities, journalists, movie buffs and wannabes. This year 125 pictures were showing, all hoping to recreate the success of last year’s Sundance smash Little Miss Sunshine. Fox Searchlight bought the comedy at last year’s festival for $10.5m (€8m), and it has since been nominated for four Academy Awards.

Dundee is a key hub for the world’s computer games industry. And not just any games. The city’s software houses are responsible for some of the most violent titles ever produced, including Grand Theft Auto. Why Dundee? Is it a reflection of the country being the most violent place in the developed world?

We take a look at the record store that helped to form the Dead Kennedys, Aquarius Records, now attracting the musically adventurous from all over the world. We also explore treasured independent book shops Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum and Barter Books.

Each month in My Working Life, Monocle introduces you to a key figure in the world’s arts or media. First up is the host of Afghanistan’s most popular breakfast show. Massood Sanjer, 28, mocks ministers and makes fun of heavily armed and touchy people. From 1996 to 2001, he was a newsreader on the Taliban’s Radio Shariat, at a time when dancing was punishable with execution – he announced such killings. Today, he lives with his family in a bullet-pocked apartment in Kabul’s middle-class Macroryan area. He was interviewed during breaks on his show and on a drive around Kabul.

While the Milan menswear shows make the press, the real business is done at the Pitti Immagine Uomo menswear show in Florence. Monocle was there to see the designs that won deals and fill its fantasy wardrobe.

In 1949, Taiwan had one university, three colleges and a student population of just 5,000. Now there are 154 institutes of higher education, and almost a million students. This boom is partly attributable to the growth in Taiwan’s economy and its burgeoning prosperity, but the deregulation of education has also played a large part. The Private School Act of 1974 encouraged the establishment of private universities and – 30-odd years on – 60 per cent of the country’s colleges and universities are private.

Almost 20 per cent of Sweden’s population live in greater Stockholm, making the pressure for housing intense. Many of the city’s 180,000 apartments are co-ops. So, when you find a great flat, you are reluctant to leave it – even if it is a minuscule space in Vasastan. Enter the architects DRD-A.

Inventory is an international round up of what to buy and where to buy it. On our first monthly shopping list we’ve sourced a pair of Norwegian rain-cheaters, a two-tub mane tamer and three South African beers to wash down some bocados we bought in Mexico City’s newest deluxe deli. Please queue this side.

Monocle meets the master craftsman behind Tiger Wood's winning irons.

In each issue we assess the international property markets and select a neighbourhood for its investment potential. First off we talk to the residents, visit the sights and sample daily life in Genoa’s Centro Storico.

Ann Curry, news anchor on NBC’s Today, chose the UN Delegates Dining Room as the setting for her last meal and testament. Curry’s expertise in the field has earned her a reputation for humanitarian journalism, as well as two Emmys and four Golden Mikes.

La Chaux-de-Fonds is the traditional heart of the Swiss watch industry. In 2005 the country exported watches worth €7.7bn, accounting for 9 per cent of the nation’s total exports. Switzerland dominates the luxury end of the market and sales growth is robust. However, the industry has suffered problems over the years. In the 1970s, quartz watches manufactured in the US and Japan led to the loss of 2,000 jobs in La Chaux-de-Fonds and the exodus of 1,000 people. But now, with a taste for precision Swiss timepieces at an all-time high, the city is enjoying a restrained renaissance.

The inspiration for this venture came about either in the living room of my Aunt Anita’s house in Toronto 32 years ago or around a table at Die Brücke in Hamburg circa 1991. Regardless of dates and location, the spark was the same – I’ve always been a fan of Germany’s news weeklies. From the age of six, my favourite magazines boasted yellow or orange borders. Whole afternoons could be lost flicking through back issues of ‘National Geographic’ and more recent issues of ‘der Spiegel’. A few years later, I developed a passion for ‘Stern’ with its bold photography, fondness for skin and racy subject matter.