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April 04, 2025
 

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CONVENIENCE STORES

Aeon has released a ¥321 ($2.20) frozen bento boxed meal containing peperoncino pasta and a hamburger steak with tomato sauce, which went on sale on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2025
Japan retailers boost own-brand products amid inflation
Private-label products, which retailers develop with manufacturers, can be sold at lower prices than those of name-brand products because of reduced costs.
Potential buyers for a package of 7-Eleven and other convenience stores have until the end of March to express their interest, Alimentation Couche-Tard Chief Financial Officer Filipe Da Silva said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 26, 2025
Couche-Tard sees strong interest in U.S. stores for Seven & I deal
The Canadian company has agreed with Seven & I to seek a buyer for overlapping retail outlets as a prerequisite for takeover talks to sidestep U.S. antitrust concerns.
Alex Miller, CEO of Alimentation Couche-Tard, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 20, 2025
Couche-Tard seeks to reassure investors on Seven & I approach
The parent company of the Circle K chain has been pursuing Seven & I for months, bidding almost $50 billion for it, but has been rebuffed.
A 7-Eleven convenience store, operated by Seven & I Holdings, at the company's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 19, 2025
Seven & I signs confidentiality pact with Canada’s Couche-Tard
The nondisclosure agreement (NDA) will pave the way for discussions around antitrust issues in the United States, Seven & I said.
Alain Bouchard (left), chairman and founder of Alimentation Couche-Tard, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on March 13.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 19, 2025
Couche-Tard meets privately with Seven & I investors, pressing case for takeover
The Canadian firm has sought to reassure the public and key stakeholders that it's not considering a hostile takeover, despite a monthslong standoff with Seven & I.
Alimentation Couche-Tard founder Alain Bouchard (center), CEO Alex Miller (left) and CFO Filipe Da Silva attend a photo session after a news conference on their bid for Seven & I Holdings in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies / EXPLAINER
Mar 17, 2025
Why Couche-Tard's deal with Seven & I isn't going anywhere
The buyout bid has seen a mixed response in Japan, with some expressing concerns over the convenience store chain being taken over by a foreign company.
Alimentation Couche-Tard founder and executive chairman Alain Bouchard (left) and President Alex Miller hold a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 13, 2025
Alimentation Couche-Tard ramps up campaign to take over Seven & I
The Canadian convenience store giant and owner of Circle-K has sought to combat skepticism surrounding the deal, most recently with a news conference in Tokyo.
Couche-Tard has made clear that it wants to learn from Seven & I Holdings to improve its North America operation, and has ruled out going hostile in takeover talks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2025
Couche-Tard holds talks for sale of U.S. shops in Seven & I deal
The retailer last year proposed to purchase Seven & I Holdings for $18.19 per share, but so far hasn’t been able to enter negotiations with the firm.
Seven & I named Stephen Hayes Dacus as its first foreign chief executive on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2025
Seven & I announces measures to fend off Couche-Tard takeover
The announcements are the latest twist in a saga that began last year when Seven & I rebuffed a takeover offer from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Cat-related sweets sold by 7-Eleven in Tokyo. Employees of 7-Eleven have helped develop 23 types of cat-related products this year, compared with just five last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2025
Japan's Cat Day sees companies capitalize on 'a-meow-zing' economic boon
This year, products and services related to cats are estimated to generate ¥414.50 billion more than last year.
Bulk food dispensers at a new 7-Eleven store in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture. Opened a year ago, Seven & I Holdings conceived it as a prototype to test the synergies between the company’s retail supermarket chain and its more-successful convenience-store business.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Feb 10, 2025
Blended 7-Eleven-and-supermarket concept proves a tough sell
It is unclear if higher customer numbers have been sustained, and Seven & I has no plans right now to open more such outlets.
Katsumi Murakami, a Lawson convenience store owner in Kobe, talks about his experience in the 1995 earthquake and how convenience stores can serve a lifeline in times of disaster.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2025
Convenience stores' importance grew after Kobe earthquake, one owner says
The owner recalled handing out food from his Lawson convenience store following the 1995 earthquake and ensuring it was open for business three months later.
KKR is discussing investing several hundred billion yen for an equity stake in the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2025
KKR considers joining Seven & I management buyout after Apollo
The U.S. firm is discussing investing several hundred billion yen for an equity stake in the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores.
Lawson and FamilyMart enjoyed net profit increases in the March-November 2024 period, while Seven & I Holdings suffered a sharp deterioration in its bottom line, according to their latest earnings reports.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2025
Lawson and FamilyMart enjoy net profit growth in March-November
FamilyMart's net profit went up 62.4% to ¥80 billion because of special profit from a realignment of Chinese operations.
Apollo Global Management is discussing a commitment of as much as ¥1.5 trillion for an equity stake in a bid by Seven & I’s founding Ito family to take the convenience store operator private.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 10, 2025
Apollo weighs $9.5 billion stake in Seven & I management buyout
Under the current proposal, Apollo would join the Ito family and Itochu, the operator of FamilyMart in Japan, as key investors.
A government minister has said the acquisition of 7-Eleven by foreign capital is majorly related to economic security.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 10, 2025
Japan to consider 'economic security' in 7-Eleven takeover
Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa highlighted the role Japan's convenience stores can play in times of crisis, such as after major earthquakes.
Seven & I Holdings reported Thursday that its operating profit was ¥128.4 billion during the three months to the end of November, compared with ¥169 billion a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2025
Seven & I profit drops despite recovery in convenience stores
Operating profit was ¥128.4 billion during the three months to the end of November, compared with ¥169 billion a year earlier.
A potential foreign acquisition of Japanese retail giant Seven & I would be "heavily related" to national security, Japan's economy minister Ryosei Akazawa said on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2025
Japan flags foreign takeover of 7-Eleven owner as a security issue
His public comment is the first by a senior Japanese official over security issues raised by a $47 billion buyout offer by Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard.
The health ministry aims to improve accessibility, particularly in areas with few pharmacies.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 27, 2024
Japan to allow convenience stores to handle over-the-counter drugs
Under current regulations, OTC drugs can only be sold at stores with pharmacists or other qualified personnel stationed at all times.
People are seen at one of Seven & I Holdings's 7-Eleven convenience stores in Tokyo in January 2017.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 12, 2024
7-Eleven battle shows resilience of Japan Inc.'s family ties
Founding families are able to wield considerable power in Japanese companies despite holding small stakes.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

Podcast

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Longform

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By Johan Brooks

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