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Ma Jie
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 27, 2015
Futuristic hydrogen cars come with a curfew — for now
Hiroshi Matsushita brims with pride about the staring and pointing that goes along with driving his dream car, Toyota's hydrogen-powered Mirai fuel cell sedan. There's just one problem: his new set of wheels came with a curfew.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 5, 2015
Nissan's selfie-friendly car targets young, driving-disinclined generation
Nissan Motor Co. designers tossed knobs and buttons out the window for their latest car aimed at a generation apathetic about autos, leaving behind a clear-white surface for displaying photos, showing movies and playing games.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 15, 2015
Reeling from recalls, Honda again opts for insider as new CEO
Honda Motor Co. is turning to an insider who has spent his entire career at the company to navigate its exit from a global auto safety crisis, after seven people died in its cars.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2015
Honda bets that Chinese tastes will prevail in Japan, too
Honda Motor Co. designed the Jade minivan with the extended Chinese family in mind, appealing to the preference for space to carry relatives. The automaker is pitching the same car to Japanese consumers with a twist.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2015
Tokyo to spend ¥45 billion on hydrogen stations, subsidies ahead of Olympics
Tokyo plans to spend ¥45.2 billion on fuel-cell vehicle subsidies and hydrogen stations for the 2020 Olympics as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to reduce the nation's reliance on nuclear power.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 10, 2014
Honda halts U.S. sales of Acura sedan because of brake fault
Honda Motor Co. told U.S. dealers to stop selling some of its Acura TLX sedans because the parking lock may fail to engage, the latest quality shortcoming at the automaker after President Takanobu Ito took a pay cut.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 27, 2014
Air bag maker in crisis used unique chemical explosive
The emerging crisis over air bags traces back to a little-known Tokyo company that for over 20 years has supplied the safety devices to automakers including Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and General Motors Co.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2014
Air bag crisis may shift auto market to Daicel, Autoliv
The defect in Takata Corp. air bags linked to four deaths in Honda Motor Co. cars opens the supplier to the risk of losing business in a crucial portion of the market for the safety devices.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Sep 3, 2014
Nissan's defections continue to mount
Nissan Motor Co.'s loss of its second executive since July is fueling concern that the pool of talent surrounding Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn is drying up.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2014
Maserati, others taking on Toyota at home
Maserati, Volkswagen and other foreign automakers are riding their best sales streak in years in Japan, as the economy improves and drivers like Taichi Matsukura try to stand out amid a sea of Toyotas.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2014
Scrutiny ushers in era of big recalls
Recall first, ask questions later.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2014
'Gods' edging out robots at Toyota facility
Inside Toyota Motor Corp.'s oldest plant, there's a corner where humans have taken over from robots in thwacking glowing lumps of metal into crankshafts. This is Mitsuru Kawai's vision of the future.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2014
Toyota cash mountain draws calls for plants
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, whose company has accumulated a cash pile of almost ¥4 trillion, is facing calls to put that money to better use.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2013
Staying home paying off for Toyota amid weakening yen
Staying at home is paying off for Toyota Motor Corp.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2013
Honda Fit designed as 'Prius-killer' in challenge to Toyota
Honda Motor Co. wants to remind the world that hybrid means more than the Prius.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 9, 2013
Subaru's record surge leads FHI to debate staying niche player
Which carmaker's stock has risen the most — some fivefold — since the beginning of 2012, besides Tesla Motors Inc.? Subaru producer Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2013
Honda's Fujino readying 'flying Acura'
Michimasa Fujino began working on Honda Motor Co.'s aviation project 27 years ago at a hangar in Mississippi. Next year, Fujino, now president of the aircraft unit, says the project may finally get off the ground.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2013
Nissan's female execs help drive strong sales
Among the 780,000 people employed in Japan's auto industry, only three are women responsible for the rollout of new models. They all work at Nissan Motor Co.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2012
Mazda leads diesel revival as dirty-clunker label fades
Thirteen years after Shintaro Ishihara killed Japanese interest in diesel cars by barring many of them from Tokyo, the technology is making a comeback as manufacturers adopt innovations that improve its sooty image.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2012
Subaru's lack of China plant pays off
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. President Yasuyuki Yoshinaga has become a market darling for something he failed to do: build a factory in China.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals