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April 19, 2025
 

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Kanako Takahara

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Kanako Takahara
Kanako Takahara is a staff writer who has covered national politics, diplomacy, business and the economy at The Japan Times. A graduate of Sophia University, she is currently a national news editor.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2008
Outlook bleak, businesses say
Business sentiment among major manufacturers dropped by 8 points to 11, marking the biggest drop in three years, according to the latest Bank of Japan "tankan" survey released Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 1, 2008
BOJ finds itself in 'unpresidented' state
The divided Diet has left the Bank of Japan with a vacant seat at the top for the first time since the war. This came about after Toshihiko Fukui's five-year term ended in mid-March and the government's nominees to succeed him were vetoed.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2008
End cross-shareholding, up dividends: TCI to J-Power
A senior executive of the Children's Investment Fund Management LLP (TCI), a British investment fund and the largest shareholder of Electric Power Development Co., urged the utility Friday to stop cross-shareholding and increase investment in fast-growing emerging economies.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2008
Fukui's term ends on sour note
What would have been a cheerful sayonara news conference Wednesday evening for departing BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui instead turned into an uncomfortable interrogation as he was peppered with questions about the Diet's failure to endorse his successor.
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2008
BOJ boss lacking Finance Ministry ties unthinkable
Tuesday's nomination of another former top Finance Ministry bureaucrat, Koji Tanami, for the Bank of Japan governorship shows the government continues to want someone with a background in the ministry at the post.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2008
Shinsei unloads headquarters for ¥118 billion to duck red ink
Shinsei Bank, the first Japanese lender acquired by foreign investors, agreed to sell its head office in central Tokyo on Thursday as it struggles to stay out of the red amid losses from the U.S. subprime mortgage loan crisis.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 13, 2008
Critical time for BOJ to lack governor
With the opposition-controlled House of Councilors' veto Wednesday of Toshiro Muto's nomination for Bank of Japan governor, the prospects are mounting that the BOJ helm will become vacant after Toshihiko Fukui's term ends March 19.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2008
Shinginko Tokyo may sue ex-managers
Shinginko Tokyo, the brainchild of Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, said Monday it will consider suing its former management team, including ex-Chief Executive Officer Yasumasa Nishi, for allowing over-lenient screening that resulted in billions of yen in losses.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2008
Jury still out on Fukui's legacy
What thoughts were going through Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's mind on the last day of the BOJ Policy Board meeting Friday — the final one before his term ends March 19 — is anyone's guess.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2008
Analysts see bid for balance in choice of BOJ nominees
The government's nomination Friday of Masaaki Shirakawa, a former Bank of Japan executive, and Takatoshi Ito, a member of the government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, as new BOJ deputy governors prompted analysts to wonder whether one of them may become the central bank's chief five years...
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2008
Ferrari to open subsidiary as luxury car sales boom
Ferrari SpA announced Friday it will open a Japanese subsidiary on July 1, transferring importer rights from dealer Cornes & Co. in an effort to cash in on the growing Japanese luxury market.
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2008
Shinginko Tokyo asks for more money
Troubled small and medium-size business lender Shinginko Tokyo said Wednesday it has asked the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for a capital injection of ¥40 billion to counter mounting losses from borrower defaults.
BUSINESS
Feb 20, 2008
It's official: Toshiba pulls plug on HD DVD
Toshiba Corp. announced Tuesday it will completely shut down its HD DVD operations, ending a battle with Sony Corp.'s rival Blu-ray system to become the industry standard for next-generation DVDs.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2008
English-language papers offer unique take on Asia
English-language newspapers in East Asia provide unique perspectives on political, economic and cultural news in the region to a global community where English is the dominant tongue, speakers at a Tokyo symposium said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2008
Subprime losses steadily eroding profits of Japan's financial firms
Subprime loan-related losses more than doubled to ¥600 billion at banks operating in Japan in the three months through December, the Financial Services Agency said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 10, 2008
FSF urges financial firms to reveal bottom lines
The Financial Stability Forum, an advisory panel to the G7 composed of central bankers and regulators, urged financial institutions Saturday to spit out the bottom line on the losses they've taken from the U.S. subprime mortgage loan crisis.
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2008
'Gyoza' scare scuttles JT-Nissin frozen food ties
In a surprise announcement, Japan Tobacco Inc. and instant noodle maker Nissin Food Products Co. said Wednesday that due to the widening "gyoza" dumpling scare, they have scrapped plans to merge their frozen food divisions.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2008
Gas levy vital for maintaining rural roads
Provisional higher tax rates for gasoline and cars are now the main bone of contention in the divided Diet. The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc has submitted a bill to extend the rates, due to expire March 31, for another 10 years. Revenues from the levies are used to build and repair...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2008
No sure bets on next BOJ chief
Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's voice became slightly tense as he answered questions from reporters at a news conference last month about the upcoming appointments of his successor and two new deputy governors.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2008
Five whales harpooned; Australia threatens suit
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith urged Japan to stop hunting whales under the guise of scientific research and threatened to file a lawsuit over the matter Friday, the same day it was reported that Japan had harpooned five whales.
In a first, Japan issues cease-and-desist order against Google
The Google logo is seen at the company's Bay View campus in Mountain View, California. Japanese authorities on Tuesday issued a cease-and-desist order to Google over an alleged violation of the country's anti-monopoly law.
Tokyo hotel operators face possible warnings over suspected price cartel
Foreign tourists gather on a platform at Kyoto Station on Wednesday.
Japan and the U.S. begin tariff talks on good terms, but without breakthroughs
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, speaks to reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
Magnitude 5.0 earthquake jolts Nagano
A map showing the location of an earthquake that hit Nagano Prefecture on Friday evening, with the numbers indicating the seismic intensity on the shindo scale to 7.
Parts of Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines to be suspended over weekend
Sections of the outer loop of Tokyo's Yamanote Line and the Keihin-Tohoku Line will be shut down all day Saturday, and from the start of service through around noon on Sunday.
Nothing sells like Shohei Ohtani, MLB’s marketing megastar
People walk past an advertisement featuring Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani outside Tokyo Dome on March 18.
Tokyo stock picker advises Trump-proofing portfolios with Godzilla-creator Toho
The head of Godzilla, a Japanese monster movie character, is seen on a building of Toho Cinema in Tokyo. Toho is one tariff-defensive stock being recommended by brokers.
LDP and CDP lawmaker groups propose 0% consumption tax on food
A vegetable stand displays prices at a supermarket in Tokyo in 2023. Some lawmakers are proposing lowering the consumption tax on food to 0%, which is expected to result in a loss of up to ¥5 trillion in tax revenue annually.
Tokyo hotel operators face possible warnings over suspected price cartel
Foreign tourists gather on a platform at Kyoto Station on Wednesday.
Kyotographie 2025 opts for laughter and levity in the face of global strife
Palestinian American photographer Adam Rouhana’s exhibition at this year’s Kyotographie festival shows Palestinian life, not death and rubble.

Podcast

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