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Nao Sano
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2017
Hiroichi Yagi: An unusual manager defies peers in Japan's ¥97 trillion pension world
In the ¥97 trillion world of Japan Inc. employee pension funds, he's known as the unusual idealist who's long danced to his own tune.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 26, 2017
Why ex-Goldman trader shunned hedge funds for a Japan broker
As the biggest earthquake ever recorded in Japan rocked the Roppongi Hills skyscraper in central Tokyo, Makoto Yamada put on his helmet, dropped to his knees, and traded.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2017
Maverick Beji Sasaki picks a fight with Fujitsu to push takeovers, turnarounds of undervalued firm
Beji Sasaki, a maverick businessman who first challenged Tokyo's status quo four decades ago, says his bidding war with the $13 billion computer giant Fujitsu Ltd. is just the start of his plan to use takeovers to change Japan Inc.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 21, 2017
Oasis CEO ups pressure on Panasonic for better PanaHome deal
Oasis Management Co.'s Seth Fischer has increased his pressure on Panasonic Corp. to sweeten its offer for listed subsidiary PanaHome Corp., calling the transaction a test case of whether Japan's corporate governance overhaul is working.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 24, 2017
Hedge fund Renaissance picks winner with hot firm V Technology
V Technology Co., a small Japanese supplier to display makers, added a surprising new shareholder last June: Renaissance Technologies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2016
Boardroom ghosts suddenly under scrutiny at Japanese firms
For as far back as people can remember, they've been there in boardrooms across Japan, the lingering ghosts of past regimes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 5, 2016
In land of negative rates, Kyushu Railway dangles dividend
In Japan, where bonds can yield less than zero percent, a bullet train operator planning a ¥392 billion ($3.8 billion) share sale is promising investors dividend returns that would beat most of the nation's stocks.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2016
From bit actor ‘bum’ to managing $2.7 billion Japanese fund
Takahiro Kusakari went from being a self-described bum getting by on bit-part acting roles in Tokyo to calling the shots at a $2.7 billion stock fund.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2016
The Tinder for Japan's aging CEOs posts a 1,170% stock gain
When Masao Takeuchi signed away the company he'd spent 25 years building from scratch, one of his biggest feelings was relief.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2016
Tokyo professor's medicine-making molecules bring new tool to pharma
When he realized he was not going to make it as a guitarist, Hiroaki Suga set out to find the origin of life, and ended up creating a new way to develop medicines.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 20, 2016
Cookpad's maverick founder stirs recipe for unrest
A spat is rocking one of Japan's most popular Internet companies after the founder moved to kick out the board, enraging staff and sending shares tumbling.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 11, 2016
A Tokyo stock picker watches his nation age
It's an early weekday morning in Tokyo and the Japanese pub is already filled with a boisterous clientele, mostly pensioners. Sitting among them is Kengo Kuzuhara, taking notes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2016
Japan's CEOs: underpaid and underwhelming
Atsushi Saito says Japanese corporate heads are underpaid and shun bold decisions for fear of missing out on cushy adviser roles after they retire.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2015
Twenty years in the making, Daiwa-tutored Myanmar bourse fetes baby-steps debut
Starting a stock market is hard. Just ask Ryota Sugishita.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2015
Infamous shareholder activist Murakami returns to fray in league with daughter
Yoshiaki Murakami, Japan's most famous activist shareholder before he was convicted of insider trading in 2007, is once again pressing the nation's companies and this time it's a family act.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 17, 2015
Shouting at Japan CEOs is still a losing strategy, Fidelity says
Foreign activists returning to Japan amid a push for better governance will get no further than they did the last time by shouting for change.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2015
Japan's budget king turns to robots to revive bubble-era theme park
Light shows and pirate rides helped Hideo Sawada pull a bankrupt theme park in Kyushu back to profitability.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 24, 2015
'Pink flower' stocks aim to change attitudes toward women
Japan's use of the stock market to change companies' attitudes toward women is showing signs it's working. As an investment strategy, it has been less of a success.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 4, 2015
Chinese desire for fancy toilet seats spurs 1,400% rally in Laox shares
Thousand-dollar rice cookers and toilet seats that know when you enter the room.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 20, 2015
Gay marriage push in Japan faces constitutional barrier
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has fought to alter the Constitution on matters of security, is less eager to oppose its principles when it comes to same-sex marriage.

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