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Finbarr Flynn

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Apr 16, 2015

Bubble-era missteps shape Tokio Marine's property strategy

Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., one of the nation's oldest insurers, is joining its Chinese peers in investing in property overseas — but with a twist.

BUSINESS / Markets

Feb 23, 2015

Blackstone draws Tokyo junk investors amid warnings of froth

Blackstone Group LP filled a Tokyo ballroom earlier this month with locals seeking riskier U.S. loans as regulators in New York try and avert a credit bubble.

Japan Times

BUSINESS / Economy

Jan 27, 2015

Nomura says 'Abenomics' more likely to derail amid doubt over tax pledge

Nomura Holdings Inc. says the probability that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies will end badly is increasing.

Japan Times

BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS

Dec 22, 2014

Refiners Idemistu and Showa Shell in talks for tie-up

Shares in Japanese refiners surged on Monday after two of the largest said they were discussing a tie-up, as falling demand for fuels spurs the industry to consider consolidation.

BUSINESS / Markets

Oct 22, 2014

Ebola raises airline bond risk, similar to SARS scare

The bond risk of ANA Holdings Inc. rose the most of any company in Japan as the spread of Ebola to two health workers in the U.S. rekindled memories of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2002 and 2003.

BUSINESS / Economy

Sep 5, 2014

'Abenomics' at risk as firms put brakes on spending, hoard their cash

Japanese companies from NTT Docomo Inc. to Honda Motor Co. are putting the brakes on spending as they pile up cash, showing the challenge Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new Cabinet faces in reviving the economy.

BUSINESS

Aug 29, 2014

Yen at 120 needed to fuel inflation, UBS exec says

The new chief investment officer for Japan at UBS AG's wealth management division likens the nation to a man with $1.2 million in debt who is spending all his $53,000 salary and still borrowing $40,000 a year.

BUSINESS / Markets

Aug 21, 2014

Deutsche Bank lays seeds for future with warrants in Japan

Deutsche Bank AG is helping smaller Japanese companies less able to access the bond market raise money using warrants, as it searches for investment banking clients to generate future business.

BUSINESS / Markets

Jul 31, 2014

Loan funds lure companies missing out on Abe rebound

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stimulus helps push banks' lending rates under 1 percent, funds are targeting a debt market paying 10 times that.

Japan Times

BUSINESS / Companies

Mar 14, 2014

Automakers luring Japan's interest-hungry banks to Mexico

Investments by Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. that look set to make Mexico the biggest car exporter to the U.S. are giving Japanese banks a chance to escape from the world's lowest yields.

Japan Times

BUSINESS / Companies

Jan 22, 2014

BOJ misfire seen in regional banks' turn to aircraft loans

Chugoku Bank Ltd. wants to get into the global airline debt market after loans to local businesses fell for a fourth straight year.

Japan Times

BUSINESS / Companies

Dec 17, 2013

Tepco bonds a safe bet now: Nomura

Nomura Holdings Inc. is urging investors buy Tokyo Electric Power Co. bonds after a report that the government plans to cap the utility's cleanup costs at the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

BUSINESS

Jun 27, 2013

Probe launched after Anglo Irish execs' calls leaked

A former executive at Anglo Irish Bank Corp. said it would be "fantastic" if the state took over the lender, as "we'd all get to keep our jobs" and sang "Deutschland uber alles" as the bank won German deposits, according to tapes of 2008 conversations released last Wednesday.

BUSINESS

Aug 13, 2010

Goldman, Morgan, Nomura units face increased scrutiny over risk

The Financial Services Agency picked Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Nomura Holdings Inc. as initial subjects of a new unit to scrutinize risk-taking among investment banks, a source said this week.

Japan Times

JAPAN

Oct 22, 2009

Funerals a growth undertaking

Death is a growth industry in Japan and everyone from railways to retailers wants a slice.

JAPAN

Sep 16, 2009

Credit Saison to maintain independence

Credit card firm Credit Saison Co., 14.3 percent owned by Mizuho Financial Group Inc., will remain independent of the bank as its rivals join up with the country's biggest lenders.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Aug 11, 2009

Banks should cut stock holdings: FSA's Mikuniya

Banks should use a government-backed share purchase program to reduce stock holdings that caused $10 billion of losses at Japan's three biggest lenders last year, the country's top financial regulator said.

BUSINESS

Jul 9, 2009

Regional banks brace for mortgage defaults

Smaller regional banks may need to brace for an increase in mortgage defaults as unemployment rises and the contagion from the recession spreads.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Apr 17, 2009

Shinsei to swing ax at ex-GE financing unit

Shinsei Bank Ltd. plans to cut "hundreds" of jobs at the consumer lending unit it bought from General Electric Co. last year as the industry contracts, the head of the division said Thursday.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Apr 11, 2009

SMFG's woes bad sign for banks

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s unexpected $3.9 billion loss and plans to seek capital are adding to evidence that Japan's biggest banks may struggle to weather the deepening recession.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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