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November 22, 2024
 

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Makiko Yamazaki
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on the sidelines of IMF and G20 meetings in Washington last week.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 23, 2024
Tokyo issues strong warning on yen intervention as currency dips further
Comments by Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki came after the dollar rose to ¥154.85, its strongest levels against the Japanese currency since 1990.
Bank of Japan board member Asahi Noguchi says the pace of future rate hikes will likely be much slower that of the central bank's global peers.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2024
BOJ rate hikes likely to be slower than those of peers, says board member
Asahi Noguchi, known for his dovish policy views, said the impact of rising domestic wages had yet be fully passed on into prices.
Signage for MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking in Tokyo. A coalition of climate groups filed shareholder proposals with the three banks calling for stricter board oversight of climate-related risks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2024
Climate investors target board oversight of top Japan banks: sources
The proposal marks the first time climate groups have targeted bank boards as a way to pressure the lenders on climate change.
Akihiro Fukutome, head of the Japanese Bankers Association, said new takeover guidelines from the industry ministry last year have helped lower psychological hurdles associated with unsolicited bids.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2024
Japan's banks less hesitant with hostile takeovers, lobby chief says
His comments offer evidence of a sea change in Japan — which once shunned hostile bids — that has helped bring it closer to Western-style dealmaking.
The Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho hotel and office complex in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 22, 2024
Seibu may sell 36-story Tokyo office building for ¥300 billion, sources say
Japan's highest value property transaction is currently the ¥436 billion sale by the government in 2022 of its stake in another Tokyo office building.
A fight over Benefit One is the latest in a growing number of takeover deals in Japan, spurred in part by the Tokyo Stock Exchange pushing for improved corporate governance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 8, 2024
Dai-ichi Life gets Pasona's nod on Benefit One acquisition
The agreement with Pasona Group, which owns 51.16% of Benefit One, is crucial for Dai-ichi to win the battle against digital health care provider M3.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange will require all companies listed on its prime section to publish key information simultaneously in English and Japanese.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 18, 2024
Tokyo bourse to make simultaneous English disclosure mandatory for top firms
A reform panel has cited foreign investors as saying that a lack of English disclosure is one of the reasons for staying away from Japan's stock market.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group CEO Hironori Kamezawa
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2023
Japan banks scramble to beef up asset management businesses
Asset management has emerged as an area of focus for the banks this year amid signs decades of deflation is ending.
In Toshiba, JIP takes on a sprawling company far bigger and more complex than any it acquired before.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Dec 19, 2023
In buying Toshiba, JIP takes on corporate Japan's toughest job
While the fund has quietly built up a track record by carving out businesses from big manufacturers, Toshiba is more complex than any it acquired before.
Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's largest banking group, bought 75% of AlbaCore last month to diversify its range of investment capabilities.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2023
MUFG's AlbaCore sees potential for alternative investments in Japan
Mitsubishi UFJ bought 75% of AlbaCore last month to diversify the range of investment capabilities.
Toshiba and Rohm said Friday they will collaborate in the power semiconductor business, planning to spend a combined ¥388.3 billion to expand their production with one-third of the outlay covered by the industry ministry.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 8, 2023
Toshiba, Rohm to invest $2.7 billion to jointly produce power chips
The latest partnership is what the industry ministry has hoped for out of concerns that the country's power chip industry is too fragmented.
Big Japanese banks are now training a generation of professional front-line staff who have little experience with rising interest rates.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2023
Staff at Japan's banks scramble to adjust to rising interest rates
Many younger employees have no expertise in dealing with the vagaries of a traditional inflationary environment.
Kei Umeda, CEO of Mizuho Trust & Banking, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Nov. 27.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2023
Mizuho sees firms scrambling to meet TSE's capital efficiency call
In January the Tokyo bourse will start publishing a list of companies that have disclosed action plans in line with its call to improve use of capital.
Cosmo Energy is calling another shareholder vote on Dec. 14 to seek approval to discourage an activist group, led by Yoshiaki Murakami, from increasing its stake to 24.56% from the current 20%.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2023
Japan's Cosmo braces for 'poison pill' anti-activist vote
The refiner is calling another shareholder vote on Dec. 14 to seek approval to discourage an activist group from increasing its stake.
The world's largest pension fund lost 0.31% for the three months from July to September, trimming its overall assets to ¥219.3 trillion.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 2, 2023
Japan's GPIF reports ¥683 billion loss in July-September period
The news comes as a policy tweak by the central bank hits the government bond market.
Cosmo Energy Holdings has said it will call another shareholder vote in December to seek approval for a "poison pill" takeover defense against a group of activist investors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2023
Cosmo calls another shareholder vote in activist defense
Japan's third-biggest oil refiner said it will not prevent the group a group of activist investors from voting this time.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at the Economic Club of New York, a group of top business executives and bankers, in New York on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2023
Kishida seeks to shake up to $5 trillion asset management industry
The Japanese government is reviving its decades-old policy pledge to move ¥2 quadrillion of household financial assets into investment.
More companies are using employee share incentives as a tool to retain talent and comply with a request by the regulator to pay more attention to share price performance.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2023
Japanese companies warm up to employee stock incentives
More companies are using employee share incentives as a tool to retain talent.
According to a survey conducted by the Tokyo Stock Exchange, 20% of the 1,235 prime-listed companies have come up with specific measures.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 31, 2023
Most Japan firms yet to disclose plans for better capital efficiency
The TSE made a rare call in March for firms to disclose plans in the long run to improve capital efficiency, but nearly 70% have yet to do so.
Kenya Koshimizu, senior executive at Mizuho Financial Group, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023
Mizuho deferring JGB purchases as BOJ mulls policy exit: official
Banks face a looming inflection point as Japan's economy approaches policy normalization after years of little growth, weak spending and massive easing.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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