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August 15, 2024
 

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Yuka Obayashi
Itochu is buying back ¥150 billion worth of its own shares.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024
Itochu to buy back shares and take full control of apparel and chemicals units
The deals are part of a trend of dissolving dual listings of parent and subsidiary companies to enhance corporate governance and improve operational efficiency.
Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori holds a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2024
Nippon Steel raises full-year profit forecast, confident on U.S. Steel deal
Net profit in April-June, its first quarter, fell 11% from a year earlier to ¥157.6 billion, but exceeded analyst expectations of ¥108.7 billion as per LSEG data.
Jera reported ¥93.4 billion in profit for the April-June quarter, down 48% from the year-before period.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024
JERA's April-June profit halves; Taketoyo plant remains shut
The 1,070-megawatt (MW) Taketoyo power station in Aichi Prefecture has been shut since it was hit by a fire on Jan. 31.
The No. 4 and No. 5 units of Jera's Hekinan thermal power station in Aichi Prefecture on March 13
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2024
Jera ends ammonia co-firing trial with positive results
The firm said that nitrogen oxides levels were no higher than when firing coal alone.
Sumitomo says it is aiming to install 500 megawatts or more of battery storage in Japan by March 2031.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024
Sumitomo aims to install 500 MW of battery storage in Japan by 2031
The initiative is part of the trading house's broader efforts to bolster its energy transformation business.
Energy companies are increasingly calling for greater use of nuclear power as geopolitical tensions raise the risk of energy supply disruptions and power price hikes.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2024
In Japan, energy security fears put nuclear back in favor for 2040 plan
The Japanese government wants to lock in greater use of nuclear energy, along with wind and solar power, to secure stable energy supply.
Tokyo Gas storage tanks in Tokyo. The firm is looking to add more U.S. natural gas assets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2024
Tokyo Gas seeks more U.S. natural gas assets, president says
Japan's top city gas supplier is aiming to expand its gas-related businesses in North America after its recent acquisition of a U.S. shale gas producer.
Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel would give it greater access to the profitable U.S. market and further its long-term financial goals.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2024
Nippon Steel's Mori hints at selling some assets to aid U.S. Steel deal
The firm's vice chairman plans to return to the United States this week for more talks over the proposed acquisition.
Steelmakers' concerns about BHP's coking coal market power could derail a deal between BHP and Anglo American.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2024
BHP-Anglo American deal raises alarm in Japan's steel industry
Australia is the world's biggest exporter of coking coal and top supplier to Japan, making up around 60% of its imports.
The United States Steel's plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania. Nippon Steel is sticking to its plan to close a deal by year-end to buy U.S. Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2024
Japan's Nippon Steel sticks to plan to close U.S. Steel deal by year-end
The takeover should bring Nippon Steel's global crude steel capacity to 86 million tons per year, close to its goal of 100 million.
JFE's net profit for the year ended March 31 came to ¥197.4 billion ($1.28 billion), just ahead of analysts' average forecast of ¥194.90 billion in an LSEG poll, thanks to higher steel margins.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2024
Japanese steelmaker JFE eyes overseas investments amid slower profit growth
The country's No. 2 steelmaker plans to ramp up overseas investments as part of a long-term drive to double profits.
Tadashi Imai, who became Nippon Steel's new president on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2024
Nippon Steel emphasizes its roots in the U.S. as it pursues deal
The Japanese firm has agreed to buy U.S. Steel for roughly $15 billion but the deal faces an uphill battle to approval in a U.S. election year.
Japan aims to have 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power projects by 2030 and up to 45 GW by 2040, to replace fossil fuels including coal and liquefied natural gas in its energy mix — for which floating offshore wind is essential.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 13, 2024
Japan to expand offshore wind development to exclusive economic zones
Global energy companies have been urging Japan to make investments more attractive, amid soaring costs and growing competition between suppliers.
Dai Karasawa, president of SSE Pacifico K.K., a joint venture of U.K. energy group SSE and Japan's Pacifico Energy, speaks about their plan to develop offshore wind farms in Japan during an interview in Tokyo, last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 11, 2024
SSE's Japan unit aims to develop 6GW offshore wind farms
Japan is aiming to become a major offshore wind power producer, with the government targeting 10 GW by 2030 and up to 45 GW by 2040.
A LNG tanker at the Negishi LNG Terminal, which is jointly operated by Tokyo Gas and JERA, in Yokohama
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2024
Japan boosts reliance on allies for long-term LNG supplies
LNG accounts for about a third of Japan's power generation and it is the world's second-largest importer behind China.
Nippon Steel Executive Vice President Takahiro Mori, who is set to meet the United Steelworkers (USW) union chief this month, says the Japanese steel producer plans to uphold all of the current agreements between the union and U.S. Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2024
Nippon Steel exec to meet USW head to seek support for U.S. Steel deal
Winning the union's backing is a priority for the Japanese steel producer because then the acquisition will be "no longer a political issue."
J-Power is making a AU$380.9 million bid for Australian renewable energy firm Genex Power.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2024
J-Power makes bid for Australian renewables firm Genex
The move comes as part of the Japanese company's efforts to boost its renewable energy assets.
Nippon Steel is on track to finalize its planned $15 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by the end of September, an executive has said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 7, 2024
Nippon Steel says on track to close U.S. Steel deal by September
The deal by the world's No.4 steelmaker to buy U.S. Steel has drawn criticism from some in the United States.
Wind turbines at an RWE wind farm off the coast of Great Yarmouth, England. RWE operates 3.3 gigawatts of offshore wind power in Europe.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 19, 2024
RWE plans further Japan offshore wind push after Niigata win
The German renewable energy company believes floating offshore projects will be the key to achieving the nation's goal of generating 45 GW of wind power by 2040.
A JFE Steel plant in the city of Chiba. JFE Steel plans to buy more coking coal on the spot market to increase the liquidity of the market and to reflect true demand and supply.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 29, 2023
Japan's JFE takes new tack to tame volatile coking coal prices
Japan's No.2 steelmaker plans to buy more coking coal from the spot market to boost activity and make prices more transparent.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.8: Omron Corp.Omron helping firms achieve carbon neutrality
mission sustainability vol.8: Omron Corp.Omron helping firms achieve carbon neutrality

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