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Blackstone will look to grow original content from Infocom’s network of manga artists, developing more works around themes enjoyed by its reader base of women.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2024

Blackstone taps steamy romance manga fans in $1.7 billion deal

The deal will allow the world’s largest alternative asset manager to tap into Japan’s digital manga market.
MUFG Bank and two joint ventures in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group have been penalized for violating client confidentiality rules.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024

MUFG penalized by Japan’s financial regulator for client breach

The flagship bank and joint ventures allegedly inappropriately exchanged client information at least 26 times to win business, according to a market watchdog.
Sumitomo Corp. President Shingo Ueno speaks during an interview at the company's head office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2024

Sumitomo looks to tap U.S. shale boom despite exiting production

The company will seek to boost sales of pipelines used in U.S. shale fields.
The Veolia Southwark Integrated Waste Management Facility in London.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 11, 2024

Nestle quietly shifted recycling goals as plastics problem grows

Nestle changing its plastics goal means 280,000 metric tons of additional nonrecyclable plastic waste a year, according to the latest available data for 2022.
Brokers such as Nomura are busy handling transactions for the offloading of cross-shareholdings among Japanese companies, which bring in hefty fees.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2024

Block trades herald $5 billion fee windfall for Japan’s brokers

Pressure to improve corporate governance is leading firms to whittle down an estimated ¥50 trillion ($320 billion) they hold in companies with which they do business.
More Japanese firms have gone bankrupt in the first half of this year due to soaring costs, labor shortages and the end of pandemic-related support.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2024

Triple whammy takes Japan bankruptcies to decade high

Soaring costs, labor shortages and the end of pandemic-related financial support are taking a heavy toll on smaller businesses.
Some 20% of Japanese companies have stropped creating medium-term management plans to respond more flexibly to changes in the business environment and achieve long-term goals, a recent survey has found.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 21, 2024

20% of Japan firms have no medium-term plans, poll finds

A survey found that about 10% of companies with medium-term plans are considering changing the duration of their plans or making other reviews.
NEC employees attend a Japan Asset Management seminar to learn about building up financial assets.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 29, 2024

Japanese firms helping employees build up financial assets

Companies are inviting financial experts to guide employees on managing their pension plans and provide insights into the revamped NISA.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger delivers a speech at the COMPUTEX forum in Taipei on June 4.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 2, 2024

Intel CEO to pitch board on plans to shed assets and cut costs

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and key executives are expected to present the plan later this month, as they try to revive the once-dominant chipmaker's fortunes.
A steel plant in Shanghai operated by Baoshan Iron & Steel. Nippon Steel said in July it will dissolve its joint venture with the Chinese firm.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2024

Japanese firms sour on China after long years of brushing off risks

Almost half of Japanese firms in China polled in a recent survey said they won’t spend more or will cut investment this year.
Netflix has developed more local content for India featuring Bollywood actors over the years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 23, 2024

India probing Netflix for visa violations and racial discrimination, email shows

Netflix has often faced heat in India over its content deemed insensitive by some users, as well as an Indian tax demand since 2023.
Catherine O’Connell has achieved a number of notable firsts in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024

Pioneering foreign female attorney stresses pragmatism within Japan Inc.

Catherine O’Connell was the first foreign woman to establish a law practice in Tokyo and to sit on the audit and supervisory boards at Toyota Motor and Fujitsu.
A tea field in Makinohara, the birthplace of Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, in August. The city in Shizuoka Prefecture, which once thrived on a now-declining tea industry, exemplifies disparities between Japan's struggling rural areas and its bustling megacities.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 4, 2024

In Bank of Japan chief's birthplace, Ueda's policy puzzle is laid bare

Makinohara's mayor says the Shizuoka Prefecture surf town is not keeping pace with Japan's broader recovery.
An Ito-Yokado supermarket in Tokyo. Selling down some of its stake in the supermarket business would allow Seven & I to bring in a partner that could accelerate an overhaul of the unit.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2024

Seven & I considering supermarket stake sale ahead of IPO, sources say

The supermarket business includes the Ito-Yokado chain, one of Japan's best-known grocery store businesses.
Infcurion offers technology powering a range of payments services such as digital wallets and credit cards.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2024

Japanese payments company Infcurion says planning IPO in 2025

Infcurion, founded in 2006, offers technology powering a range of payments services such as digital wallets and credit cards.
The Hong Kong skyline on Jan. 3, 2022. In 2018, Hong Kong received a record 65 million tourists. In 2023, it welcomed a little more than half that.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2024

Tourism has rebounded worldwide but not in Hong Kong.

The rebound of international travel to the city continues to lag far behind the tourist activity reported at most other Asian destinations.
Leaders of the three major business groups — Keidanren, Keizai Doyukai and the Japan Chamber of Commerce — meet Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Oct. 4 in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024

¥1,500 minimum wage or bust, Japanese companies told

Managers unable to keep up with the minimum-wage increase schedule “are unfit for their positions,” Keizai Doyukai Chair Takeshi Niinami has said.
The monthly report identified higher interest rates in the U.S. and Europe, and stagnation in Chinese real estate market as downside risks for the Japanese economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 29, 2024

Japan continues to see moderate recovery but cuts factory output view

The government reiterated the need to pay close attention to potential global economic risks and financial market volatility.
Shopify, whose key selling point is lower prices for its suite of e-commerce services, has been cheekily calling out Salesforce’s penchant for wining and dining potential clients.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 30, 2024

Shopify is winning Salesforce clients, stoking e-commerce rivalry

The Canadian company — for years the go-to for mom-and-pop businesses looking to set up shop online — is setting its sights on larger companies in a dramatic shift.
Samsung’s stock has plunged 32% from July’s peak as it lags behind rivals in AI memory and chipmaking, shedding $122 billion in market value and investor confidence.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2024

Samsung’s sudden $122 billion wipeout shows the cost of sleeping on AI

South Korea’s biggest company has become a stark example of how quickly fortunes can turn in the AI and chipmaking industries.
Images of semiconductor wafers at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) Museum of Innovation in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on April 18, 2023. Taiwan's stock market emerged as the hottest major bourse in Asia over the past year, led by TSMC and Hon Hai Precision Industry.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 31, 2024

AI’s $1.3 trillion future increasingly hinges on Taiwan

Thousands of businesses, executives and entrepreneurs rely on the island's unparalleled combination of talent, cost and speed.
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.
Elon Musk has changed Twitter's logo, replacing its signature blue bird with a stylized X as part of the billionaire's vision of transforming the 17-year-old service into an "everything app."
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2023

Twitter turning into X is set to kill billions in brand value

Musk’s move wiped out anywhere between $4 billion and $20 billion in value, according to analysts and brand agencies.
Bigmotor President Hiroyuki Kaneshige (center) apologizes for improper conduct by the company's employees at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2023

Bigmotor chief to resign in wake of repair fraud scandal

Employees were found to have intentionally damaged the vehicles of some customers in order to charge excessive repair fees and make fraudulent insurance claims.
Nissan Motor has finalized plans to invest in Renault’s electric-vehicle venture Ampere, capping months of negotiations to rebalance the troubled automotive alliance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 26, 2023

Nissan to invest $663 million in Renault EV unit as alliance rejigged

The deal caps months of negotiations aimed at rebalancing the troubled automotive alliance.
In the international market, a larger number of airlines went bankrupt compared to domestic fliers due to the pandemic, with low-cost, long-haul carriers getting hit particularly hard.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2023

Post-pandemic travel boom is running out of steam

Fare promotions and other signs of weakening domestic demand show business is leveling out for airlines after post-COVID-19 boom.
More than 30 samples of drugs made by Synokem, including generic abortion pills, have failed quality tests conducted by Indian regulators and public health researchers since 2018.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2023

Global abortion pill provider buys from maker with poor quality record

More than 30 samples of drugs made by Delhi-based Synokem Pharmaceuticals have failed quality tests conducted by Indian regulators.
Tom Malian on Monday at his business, Toluca Lake Dry Cleaners, in Burbank, California near the Warner Bros. and Disney studios. His business has taken a severe blow since Hollywood went on strike. Film and TV production ground to a halt 100 days ago when writers downed their pens, before being joined on the picket lines in mid-July by actors.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 9, 2023

Los Angeles subdued as Hollywood double strike hits 100 days

Despite its sprawling size, the city is almost as much a company town as any in America dominated by a single industry.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with a payload of 21 Starlink satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 27.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 18, 2023

Starlink lifts off in Asia as satellite internet race heats up

Elon Musk's company has carved out a niche and an opportunity through the region's natural disasters and the vast sweep of its archipelagoes and islands.
A Saudi Aramco oil tank at the Ras Tanura refinery and terminal in Saudi Arabia
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 27, 2023

U.N. experts challenge Saudi Aramco over climate change

The largely state-owned enterprise plans to ramp up national oil production capacity to 13 million barrels per day by 2027.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?