author

 
Menu
Search
 
December 22, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Yuki Furukawa
Daishiro Yamagiwa, the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's group for semiconductors, says a project to develop a domestic manufacturer of next-generation semiconductors is a battle for the nation's survival.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2024
Japan to support Rapidus even if it delays goal, chip czar says
"We’ve carried out our semiconductor strategy with determination and the Rapidus project is a core part of the strategy,” Daishiro Yamagiwa said.
Kioxia Holdings will debut on the market Wednesday, but its initial public offering may get a cooler reception than anticipated.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2024
Chipmaker Kioxia faces a tough debut in Tokyo’s busy IPO arena
Investment in Kioxia faltered as parent Toshiba wrestled with years of scandals and crippling losses at nuclear giant Westinghouse, making it a shadow of its former self.
Mitsubishi Electric CEO Kei Uruma
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 13, 2024
Mitsubishi Electric explores forming power chip alliances in Japan
A sense of urgency is growing in the power chip industry as Japanese companies fall further behind German market leader Infineon Technologies.
Scale is becoming important even for distributors like Macnica Holdings, which sells chips made by the likes of Intel’s Altera.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024
Japan’s top chip distributor eyes acquisitions in China and India
Macnica Holdings is eyeing an overseas acquisition to better hold its own against bigger competitors.
Jensen Huang (left), co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, and Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, during a fireside chat at the Nvidia AI Summit Japan on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 13, 2024
SoftBank plans first supercomputer with Nvidia Blackwell chips
Nvidia’s chips have become a prized commodity for the world’s biggest tech companies, which use the components to develop and run AI models.
NAND flash memory maker Kioxia plans to use a new method for listing in Japan that would fast-track its oft-delayed initial public offering. Both the price and size of the stake to be floated were undecided, according to a filing Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 9, 2024
Kioxia files for long-delayed IPO as Samsung’s lead grows
The NAND flash memory maker plans to debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange between this December and June next year.
Kunihiro Tanaka, CEO of Sakura Internet, says the firm's data center under construction in Hokkaido will likely be fully booked by the time it comes online in three years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2024
Sakura Internet loads up on Nvidia gear for data center project
Sakura’s current capacity is now fully booked, with a waiting list that extends for years.
Toshiba may eventually form an alliance of companies that would corner 30% market share in the world’s power chip market, a company executive says.
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2024
Toshiba aims for double-digit power chip market share by 2030
Toshiba could eventually form an alliance of companies that would corner 30% of the industry.
NEC CEO Takayuki Morita
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 25, 2024
Japan’s military pivot is firing up NEC’s defense tech business
NEC is targeting more than 60% revenue growth in its aviation, space and defense unit by March 2026.
Toshiki Kawai, chief executive officer of Tokyo Electron
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2024
Tokyo Electron prepares for India expansion as Modi lures chipmakers
India is amping up efforts to attract international electronics companies and chipmakers to set up facilities within its borders.
A Mitsubishi Electric employee prepares a robotic arm for a demonstration of the firm's artificial intelligence technologies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 23, 2024
Mitsubishi Electric fights to keep up with AI data center demand
The Tokyo-based maker of factory automation is a key supplier of optic fiber communication devices that link servers to one another.
Fujitsu is seeking to expand its ability to prepare artificial intelligence tools that match clients’ needs, but is having trouble securing enough technology workers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024
Fujitsu struggling to secure staff to grow IT consultancy on slim margins
Operating profit margin at Fujitsu’s service solutions segment was 7% last quarter, while the margin at one competitor was 16.4%.
Nikon President Muneaki Tokunari in Tokyo on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2024
Nikon fields ‘remarkable’ demand for older chip tools in China
Nikon is making a strong marketing push in China with its new argon-fluoride lithography machines, released earlier this year.
Yuki Kusumi, CEO of Panasonic Holdings, during an interview in Tokyo last week
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 16, 2024
Panasonic managers need ‘sense of crisis’ over low profitability, says CEO
The comments are unusually harsh in Japan, and especially at Panasonic, where the notion of lifetime employment was embraced for years.
Renesas Electronics CEO Hidetoshi Shibata
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024
Ex-banker behind chipmaker Renesas targets $100 billion value
Renesas’ push coincides with an aggressive campaign by Japan to turn the world’s fourth-largest economy into a chip powerhouse.
Sony Group is missing analyst expectations for sales as demand for its PlayStation 5 hardware wanes.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024
Sony sales outlook misses estimates on waning demand for PS5s
Shares in Sony have been under pressure this month amid mounting speculation about the terms of its potential $26 billion bid for Paramount Global.
TSMC’s factory in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture
BUSINESS
May 12, 2024
Kumamoto Prefecture wants to host TSMC’s third Japan plant
Kumamoto hopes enough chip-related companies will settle in the prefecture to create something akin to Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park.
The weak yen impacts the airline industry multiple ways, as it boosts foreign currency revenue from international flights but negatively affects travelers from Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 2, 2024
Japan firms reach pain threshold as yen keeps testing lows against the dollar
The currency's sustained decline makes planning difficult for all firms and can add costs across the whole supply chain.
Kioxia Holdings plans to go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as early as October.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2024
Kioxia plans to list as early as October as merger talks stall
Kioxia faces a June deadline to refinance as much as ¥900 billion worth of loans, and a public listing will help its negotiations with banks.
OpenAI Japan’s president Tadao Nagasaki speaks at a news conference about the opening of its first Asia office in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 16, 2024
OpenAI taps ex-Amazon executive to head enterprise push in Japan
The artificial intelligence darling is opening an office in Tokyo as it releases a custom GPT-4 model catering to Japanese language users.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Ride-hailing restrictions to be eased during 2025 Osaka Expo
A venue for the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka
Foxconn's interest in Nissan said to be on hold amid Honda merger talks
Foxconn’s pause in its pursuit of Nissan is the latest development in the unexpected emergence of two suitors for the ailing Japanese carmaker.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.
With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019

Podcast

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

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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