author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 21, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Anton Bridge
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's push to get companies to outline capital allocation plans has spurred investors to question management teams seen falling short, said Georgeson CEO Cas Sydorowitz.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2024
Japanese company shareholders increasingly challenge management
Shareholder resistance is now routinely a feature of Japan's annual general meeting season.
A worker at Sakai Seisakusyo prepares to transport metal rods at its factory in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, on July 8.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2024
Japan finds a 'stealth' cure for zombie businesses: Let them fail
The shift in thinking is a clear departure for a country that has typically sought to avoid bankruptcies and protect existing jobs at the cost of productivity.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says his administration is committed to capital market reforms to attract more foreign investments.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 23, 2024
Kishida makes public push on capital market reforms
Kishida's appearance at a conference held by Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley was another example of Japan's effort to shed the image of being unwelcoming to foreign investors.
Rakuten logged its fifteenth consecutive quarter in the red due to losses at its mobile service network unit.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024
Rakuten logs 15th quarter of losses on mobile woes despite record financial unit profit
While its number of mobile subscribers rose to 6.48 million at the end of March, average revenue per user increased only fractionally.
SoftBank is in talks with South Korea's Naver over control of LY, which operates the popular messaging app Line, the telecommunications firm's CEO has said.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2024
SoftBank in talks with Naver over control of Line operator LY
LY is majority owned by a joint venture between SoftBank and Naver.
A Wheeling-Nippon Steel facility in in Follansbee, West Virginia. Four senior Japanese officials speaking on condition of anonymity said it is still premature to declare the deal dead.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Apr 5, 2024
Why Japan is not giving up on fraught U.S. Steel deal
Four senior Japanese officials speaking on condition of anonymity said it is still premature to declare the deal dead.
Mitsuko Tottori (right), incoming president of Japan Airlines, and Yuji Akasaka, outgoing president, during a news conference in Tokyo on Jan. 17
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024
Japan opens door to more women directors, but managers still rare
Women account for only 13.4% of directors and executive officers at the 1,836 firms listed on the TSE's Prime market, and of these 13% are internal hires.
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.
Rakuten Bank executives hold a placard showing the company logo during a ceremony to mark the company's debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 6, 2023
Rakuten to raise up to $433 million with further sale of bank unit
The planned sale of 25.5 million shares is equivalent to just under 15% of the online bank, according to LSEG data.
SoftBank has agreed to buy a majority stake in Irish software developer Cubic Telecom for around €473 million.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2023
SoftBank buys majority stake in Irish car software developer
SoftBank will acquire 51% of Cubic Telecom, which provides a platform for automakers to update software functions in cars globally and in real time.
A Rakuten Mobile branch in Tokyo. Rakuten is set for another tough year in 2024, at a time when rivals are on the attack with competitive pricing and reward campaigns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023
Rakuten's mobile misadventure: from ambitious plan to millstone
Founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani's vision of a low-cost network using cloud-based software and cheap hardware did not pan out.
There were 73 Japan initial public offerings during the first nine months of this year that raised a combined $3.3 billion, nearly four times as much as the same period a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 29, 2023
Tokyo equity offerings surge amid shift toward capital efficiency
Investors were encouraged by a surge in the 225-issue Nikkei stock index and signs that firms have begun to manage their capital more efficiently.
An overwhelming majority of Japanese firms are negative about achieving a goal of having women in 30% of executive positions by 2030, a survey shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 20, 2023
Firms pessimistic about hitting 30% goal for female execs by 2030, poll shows
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida set the target in June for leading companies, aiming to boost womens' management participation from 2.2% as of July 2022.
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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER