Large aggregators (Dialog, Factiva, LexisNexis) have varying degress of accurate and timely listings of Japanese companies.  Two of the databases in LexisNexis stand out for Japanese company research: Toyo Keizai's Japan Company Handbook and Teikotu Databank's Japanese Companies.  The dominant form of incorporated company in Japan is the kabushiki kaisha (KK) or joint stock company.  If you want to know more about gaining access to public and private Japanese companies, including financials, for any industry, please get in touch with Halpern Info Services.  One of my associates specializes in Japanese research.)

How do you check the credit-worthiness of Chinese companies?  Accurate and detailed information about Chinese companies' finances and management is available for Western firms by using experienced in-country researchers.  Data is locally sourced by Chinese researchers using local contacts, then edited and assessed by experienced Western company information analysts. This methodology enables clients to see the real quality and position of a Chinese business (its credit-worthiness and ownership) before you do business. 

Uncovering Knowledge Structures of Venture Capital Investment Decision Making "challenges the conventional wisdom" about what matters most in the venture capital funding decision.  The complete report  from the Office of Advocacy of the US Small Business Administration (SBA) is at http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs315tot.pdf.  

Questions we've come across lately (and the sources used to answer): What is the global market for wheat?  An easy question but the solution is challenging.  Suggested resources include US Dept of Agriculture (www.fas.usda.gov), the Canadian Wheat Board (www.cwb.ca/public/en), International Grains Council (www.igc.org.uk/en/Default.aspx) and the UN Comtrade database (www.comtrade.un.org/db/).  

Halpern Info Services provides on-demand custom business and medical research - from a statistic to a market assessment, an industry profile to historical trends comparison or practically anything else, either highly technical or general in scope.