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November 21, 2024
 

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Yuki Furukawa
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.
Rapidus' semiconductor foundry construction site in Hokkaido
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2024
Chip plant wizard weathers Hokkaido’s bitter cold in latest test
Construction firm Kajima is plowing through a series of challenges to get a chipmaking factory built on time in snowy Hokkaido.
Towa’s compression molding equipment. The firm commands two-thirds of the world’s chip molding equipment market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 9, 2024
AI demand spurs 390% surge in Kyoto chip company’s stock price
A growing demand for AI technology has been a boon for Towa, a little-known company that makes an essential component.
Akiko Ito, former commissioner of the Consumer Affairs Agency, will be Canon's first female board member if approved at its general shareholders’ meeting on March 28.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2024
ISS backs Canon CEO after nomination of first woman to board
Japanese firms have been slow to appoint women to senior executive roles. But they’re now facing growing pressure to meet stricter standards.
Advantest’s stock price has climbed 44% this year already, hitting record highs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 29, 2024
Japan’s Advantest taps American to become next CEO
Douglas Lefever will become chief executive officer as of April 1, in a rare example of a foreign citizen taking the helm of a major Japanese corporation.
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.
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