Small and medium-sized businesses make up 99% of all companies in Japan. However, with a population that continues to age, the number of older business owners with no-one wanting or willing to take over after them is rapidly increasing. About half of these enterprises are expected to go out of business in the near future. One company has made it its mission to help save some of these companies by providing a matching service that links aging owners without successors to potential entrepreneurs who are interested in becoming business owners. Another business has taken a more direct approach and is acquiring local factories that lack successors, helping to keep them going as the company itself expands in size and scale. This episode focuses on how some businesses are working to help ensure that companies lacking successors can survive under new ownership. ,

One of the most pressing issues facing the world today is plastic waste. With over 8 million tons polluting the sea each year, it is wreaking havoc on our global ecosystem and has become a threat to most living creatures. This episode focuses on Japanese companies that are using science and technology to deal with this major problem. One business has developed a new type of biodegradable plastic which can be used in compost or fertilizer when it has reached the end of its life-cycle. Another company is working on the other end of the issue and has developed a new method for recycling the standard plastics that are already threatening our environment by breaking them down on a molecular level. Check out some of the new cutting-edge technology that might save the world.