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Blackstone is working on more acquisitions in Japan with several bids out and properties like hotels and data centers in the pipeline.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 14, 2023

Blackstone eyes more Japan property after selling $4.5 billion

Real estate investments in Japan have been rosy compared to other countries, where rising costs have squeezed finances and workers have shunned offices.
Workers at a garment factory in the Hlaing Tar Yar industry zone in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2010. Fast fashion retailer H&M says it is following up on 20 alleged instances of labor abuse at Myanmar garment factories.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 16, 2023

H&M probes Myanmar factory abuses as pressure intensifies

The move comes after top rival Zara owner Inditex said it is phasing out purchases from the Southeast Asian country.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2023

Elon Musk arrives in Japan for first visit in nine years

The purpose of his trip is not yet clear, but the space-loving billionaire has posted video clips of the teamLab Planets art installation in Tokyo.
Welcia Holdings, Japan’s largest drugstore chain, is one of the first Japanese companies to respond to China easing its ban on group tours to a raft of countries last week.
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2023

Japan drugstore chain boosts duty-free counters on China bets

The company plans to offer duty-free services at 1,000 stores, up from about 260 currently, and it expects tourists to travel beyond Japan’s major cities.
Robust demand from visitors for lodgings and rising prices in Japan create an ideal scenario to fuel a boom for investment in hotels.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2023

Goldman, KKR and Blackstone join investor rush for Japan hotels

Compared with before the pandemic, visitors to Japan are spending more, with most of that money going on lodgings and hospitality.
Sogo & Seibu's labor union holds a news conference on Monday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 30, 2023

Sogo & Seibu labor union to launch rare strike after talks break down

Around 900 workers at Ikebukuro's flagship will participate in what will be the first strike at a Japanese department store in about 60 years.
Semiconductors are expected to be a focal point when U.S. President Joe Biden visits Hanoi later this month with the goal of formally elevating ties between the two countries.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Sep 1, 2023

Vietnam's engineer shortage stalls U.S. chip hub plans

An engineer gap in Vietnam is becoming a major obstacle to the growth of its semiconductor industry and U.S. supply chain strategies.
Japanese companies raised spending on plants and equipment in the April-June quarter but the pace of annual gains slowed to the lowest in five quarters, reflecting global recession worries amid China's slowing growth.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 1, 2023

Japan firms cut capital spending over global growth concerns

The latest figures feed into a picture of Japan’s growth being overly reliant on overseas demand.
Nihon Coffin showcases its products at Endex Japan 2023, an annual funeral and cemetery exhibition that was held at Tokyo Big Sight from Aug. 29 to 31.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2023

End-of-life companies look to innovate as Japan's deaths keep rising

A record 1.57 million people died in 2022, up from 1.25 million in 2012, and facilities to store dead bodies are becoming increasingly scarce.
Pedestrians in front of the Shinsei Bank headquarters in Tokyo in October 2021
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2023

SBI Shinsei Bank to go private to repay public funds

By going private, SBI Shinsei Bank will free itself from the shackles of stock prices and be able to pay back the public funds "at some point."
An Apple store in Beijing. The iPhone has increased its percentage of total smartphones sold around the world while expanding its share of sales in four of the world’s largest regions: China, Japan, Europe and India.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 12, 2023

As smartphone industry sputters, the iPhone expands its dominance

The iPhone has about one-fifth of the world’s smartphone sales, up from a low of 13% in 2019.
Arm U.S. headquarters in San Jose, California
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2023

Arm’s CEO is pitching a made-for-you chip strategy ahead of IPO

The company is shifting its strategy, now focusing on doing complex design work on specific products, tailored for what it sees as key areas of growth.
Fumitaka Nakahama, Head of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's global corporate and investment banking business, speaks in an interview in Tokyo on Sept. 7.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2023

MUFG battles private equity and startups to hire U.S. bankers

MUFG is plowing more resources into the American market in a bid to grow alongside established powerhouses.
Arm CEO Rene Haas rings the opening bell, as Softbank's Arm, a chip design firm, holds an initial public offering at Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 15, 2023

Chip designer Arm soars 25% in IPO win for owner SoftBank

Shares in the chip designer, still 90% owned by SoftBank, closed at $63.59 in New York trading Thursday, giving it a market value of over $65 billion.
The agreement to settle an epic battle between Walt Disney and Charter Communications over distribution rights is ushering the end of the lucrative, decades-old pay-television bundle and creating a template for future deals that includes streaming services.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 15, 2023

Disney and Charter deal reshapes media landscape, executives say

The deal over distribution rights is ushering the end of pay-television bundles and creating a template for future deals that includes streaming services.
Kioxia's Kitakami plant in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture. Western Digital and Kioxia initially aimed to reach a decision on a merger in August, but discussions have dragged on as the companies tried to iron out details.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2023

Banks prepare ¥2 trillion funds for Kioxia-Western Digital merger

The moves towards a refinancing commitment would mark a step forward in the merger, which has faced months of delays.
Singapore has topped Hong Kong for the first time in the Economic Freedom of the World Index.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 21, 2023

In first, Singapore tops Hong Kong to become ‘world’s freest economy’

Hong Kong fell to second place in the Economic Freedom of the World Index for the first time since its began in 1970.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at the Economic Club of New York, a group of top business executives and bankers, in New York on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2023

Kishida seeks to shake up to $5 trillion asset management industry

The Japanese government is reviving its decades-old policy pledge to move ¥2 quadrillion of household financial assets into investment.
The Biden administration has issued final rules that would prohibit chip companies vying for a new infusion of federal cash from carrying out certain business expansions, partnerships and research in China, in what it described as an effort to protect United States national security.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 23, 2023

U.S. finalizes rules to keep chip funds out of China

The rules, which aim to prevent chip makers from using new U.S. subsidies to benefit China, take into account the industry’s perspective.
Dave Limp speaks during the Amazon Devices and Services event at the HQ2 campus in Arlington, Virginia, on Sept. 20.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2023

At Amazon, he launched Alexa. His new job is to launch rockets.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has spent two decades trailing Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space-exploration race.
ASML is the world’s only maker of very high-end semiconductor lithography equipment and is one of Europe’s most valuable technology companies.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 27, 2023

ASML to open Hokkaido facility as Japan's chipmaking push gathers steam

The maker of high-end chip equipment, which currently has eight sites in Japan, plans to grow its headcount by around 40%.
Lina Khan, chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), speaks during an interview in Washington on Tuesday. The FTC has sued Amazon.com, accusing the e-commerce giant of monopolizing online marketplace services by degrading quality for shoppers and overcharging sellers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2023

U.S. trade watchdog sues Amazon.com in landmark antitrust case

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and 17 states accuse the e-commerce giant of excluding rivals in online marketplace services and stifling competition.
Electric vehicle chargers at a BYD Co. factory in Chongqing, China, on Sept. 5
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 28, 2023

China shies away from row with EU over EV probe

Europeans have found President Xi Jinping’s government ready to talk, make promises and avoid aggressive rhetoric.
The Nasdaq market site in New York. Dozens of Japanese startups are preparing to list on the Nasdaq in the next few years.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 2, 2023

Nasdaq helps Japan startups escape risk-averse home market

An unprecedented number of entrepreneurs turn away from an aging, risk-averse home market.
Hong Kong and China Gas, part of billionaire Lee Shau Kee’s business empire, is accelerating an expansion of biofuel firm EcoCeres in foreign markets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2023

Hong Kong tycoon’s energy empire ramps up green jet fuel push

EcoCeres, one of Asia’s largest producers of green jet fuel, is exploring the possibility of expanding into new markets like the U.S. and the Middle East.
TSMC is expected to see a slower recovery going into 2024 due to weaker demand.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2023

TSMC’s $72 billion dip has markets bracing for more

Shares of the world’s largest contract chipmaker have fallen 10%
Employees monitor the production of Covishield, the local name for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, at the Serum Institute of India in Pune, Maharashtra, India.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 5, 2023

Top vaccine maker seeks growth by selling shots to globetrotters

Serum Institute of India plans to start production of yellow fever and dengue shots for travelers to countries where those diseases are endemic.
Nomura Holdings has hired five traders to beef up its emerging markets trading desk.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 10, 2023

Nomura hires traders from rivals for Middle East credit push

The appointments are part of Nomura’s efforts to revive its emerging-market flow-credit desk.
ASEAN 2023 summit attendees (left to right): Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Indonesia President Joko Widodo, Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Manet, Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 11, 2023

Southeast Asia eyes hands-off AI rules, defying EU ambitions

A draft of ASEAN 'AI guide' is being circulated to tech firms for feedback and is expected to be finalized at the end of next January.
Kiva robots move inventory at an Amazon fulfilment center in Tracy, California.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 13, 2023

Amazon strategy could unlock $100 billion in revenue

Supply Chain by Amazon is the latest part of its drive to become a leading logistics company.

Longform

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