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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2011

The microfinance catalyst

So-called impact investors — providers of capital to businesses that solve social challenges while generating a profit — are the current rage in economic development. U.S. President Barack Obama's Office for Social Innovation and Civic Participation recently convened more than 100 practitioners to...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2011

Luxury mart ending four-year slump

Japan's luxury market is set to grow for the first time in four years as status-conscious consumers help rebuild the economy, encouraging expansion by Gianni Versace SpA and Mulberry Group PLC.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 16, 2011

Being amateurish is what makes SMAP such pros

NHK's "The Professional" profiles, through interviews and situational coverage, people who are notable for their dedication to some craft or business vision. The series grew out of "Project X," the very popular documentary series about Japan's industrial breakthroughs of the past, and is meant to spotlight...
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2011

Goldman surges as M&A adviser

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is on its way to taking the top spot among advisers on Japanese takeovers for the first time in five years, supplanting Nomura Holdings Inc., as companies striving to compete globally turn increasingly to foreign investment banks.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2011

'Jobs factor' made Apple's closed strategy work

Normally, you need a distinctive first name not to need a last name, but in this — as in everything that he did — Steve Jobs was different. He was always just "Steve."
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2011

Jobs leaves questions behind

Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. deserves praise as a remarkable radical thinker and businessman who made path-breaking innovations to transform modern life, from the Mac computer to the smart — both in looks and in performance — iPhone, iPod and iPad. But I would like to raise some deliberately jarring...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 10, 2011

Tepco guarding its ground

Recent moves by Tokyo Electric Power Co. vis-a-vis Tepco's Management and Finance Investigation Committee, an independent government panel, show how the power company has tried to avoid being forced to sell large chunks of its assets.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 8, 2011

Communication skill, beyond language, called key necessity

When Mark Rubiner drove tens of thousands of kilometers from Arizona to Mexico and through South America when he was only 21 years old, his high school Spanish skills became a key tool for survival.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2011

NEC touts 'smart innovation' for competitiveness

Fusing technologies of electronics industries, a Japanese strength, with other businesses is vital for the nation to increase its global competitiveness, NEC Corp. Chairman Kaoru Yano said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2011

'Smart city' projects revived by disasters

Ever since the March 11 disasters exposed the nation's dependence on conventional power sources and infrastructure, energy-efficient "smart city" projects have drawn increasing attention.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2011

Sage of Omaha could help Obama

President Barack Obama sure has been talking about Warren Buffett's taxes a lot lately. At his speech before a joint session of Congress this month, the president said that the billionaire shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than his secretary, a point Buffett has often made. The secretary's tax rate, and...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2011

Iwate fisheries continue struggle to recover

One rainy day in early September, Shigeru Fujita, a 62-year-old fisherman, gazed at the devastated fishing port in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Sep 19, 2011

Advancing to preschool care

As part of its policy to support children and child-rearing families, the Democratic Party of Japan government is pushing the idea of integrating yochi-en (kindergartens), which are for the education of preschoolers, and hoiku-jo (day-care facilities for children).
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 15, 2011

Heal me: Spirituality businesses redefining "religion"

'Spirituality businesses' endeavoring to bring back that old-time religion, Japanese-style.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2011

Toshiba to purchase Shaw's stake in Westinghouse for $1.6 billion

Toshiba Corp. will buy Shaw Group Inc.'s 20 percent stake in nuclear-plant designer Westinghouse Electric for about $1.6 billion, increasing its share to 87 percent.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 12, 2011

Machinery orders continue to rise on rebuilding efforts

Domestic machinery orders rose for a second month in June as companies increased spending to restore businesses and production lines disrupted by the March 11 quake and tsunami.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2011

Nomura, Daiwa to slash jobs, costs as losses mount abroad

Nomura Holdings Inc. and Daiwa Securities Group Inc., Japan's largest brokerages, plan to cut costs as the faltering local economy, Europe's sovereign credit crisis and U.S. debt impasse weigh on earnings.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 1, 2011

Debt surrealists defy reality: What looks like default not default

Images of "The Treachery of Images," the painting by the Belgian artist Rene Magritte, who wrote "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe") under his his impeccable portrait of a smoking pipe, keeps flashing off and on in my mind as I look at what is going on in the increasingly surreal world of...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2011

Salarymen stick with laptops over iPads

When Yuta Moriya was offered Apple Inc.'s 613-gram iPad by his employer last summer, he envisioned a future free of lugging his laptop around for client visits. He was wrong.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 25, 2011

Hidden pachinko industry workers make some noise

A labor strike draws attention to the shadowier side of the pachinko business.
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2011

Nikko Asset reportedly choosing underwriters

Nikko Asset Management Co. this week began choosing lead underwriters for an initial public offering, setting up the first debut share sale by a major Japanese asset manager in a decade, three sources said.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat