Tag - rakuten

 
Menu
Search
 
January 21, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

RAKUTEN

Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani says the company sees an opportunity in Japan, which has been a laggard in the adoption of digital and artificial intelligence-powered technologies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 21, 2025
Rakuten founder defends costly mobile foray with big AI bet
Rakuten Mobile and its 8 million-plus users help train an AI poised to expand the conglomerate’s business, according to billionaire founder Hiroshi Mikitani.
Rakuten Group CEO Hiroshi Mikitani speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2025
Rakuten’s Mikitani wants to sell bonds to Japanese investors
Market pricing indicates that views on Rakuten are improving after years of losses and a stretched balance sheet.
Rakuten Group is targeting the sale of as much as $550 million of subordinated notes with price talk for the deal at around 8.375%.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2024
Rakuten targets its lowest-cost junk bond sale since 2021
The e-commerce giant is targeting the sale of as much as $550 million of subordinated notes that can be called after five years.
Rakuten Group is considering the sale of hybrid perpetual notes that can be called after five years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2024
Rakuten plans return to dollar bond market with hybrid notes
Rakuten’s liquidity has improved but an increased reliance on the dollar bond market may indicate weakened domestic funding access.
Eagles pitcher Masahiro Tanaka announced on Sunday that he is leaving the team.
BASEBALL
Nov 24, 2024
Star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka to part ways with Eagles
Tanaka is one of the most famous players in Eagles history.
Rakuten's sale of 15% stake in its credit card arm to Mizuho Financial Group would give the e-commerce pioneer a one-time gain of ¥159.4 billion in the current quarter.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2024
Rakuten sells Mizuho 15% of credit card arm for ¥165 billion
The sale would give the e-commerce pioneer a one-time gain of ¥159.4 billion in the current quarter, Rakuten said in a statement Wednesday.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Japan should develop its own generative AI.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 27, 2024
Nvidia to support development of AI based on Japanese language data
The move is seen helping local efforts to protect critical infrastructure and strengthen industrial competitiveness without relying on other countries.
The new V Point program offers a feature allowing members to earn double reward points when making payments with credit cards.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Aug 26, 2024
New V Point spurs corporate economic bloc race in Japan
Competition among corporate groups in Japan is intensifying further as they strive to expand their economic influence through shared reward points.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2024
Toyota chairman and 12 other Japanese executives banned from entering Russia
Others include Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani and Japan International Cooperation Agency President Akihiko Tanaka.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani said that the mobile company now has more than 7 million subscribers, and is seeking to hit 10 million subscribers next.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2024
Money-losing Rakuten Mobile rolls out new 700 MHz service
The new offering, which is being introduced incrementally, will improve connectivity, including in densely populated areas, it says.
Rakuten is working with eBay to market Japan's used fashion and accessories in the United States, taking advantage of the weak yen.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2024
Rakuten and eBay team up to test U.S. market for used Japanese fashion goods
The tie-up aims to capitalize on the currency effect and is also a move toward bargain hunting as cost-of-living pressures around the world crimp spending.
Rakuten logged its fifteenth consecutive quarter in the red due to losses at its mobile service network unit.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024
Rakuten logs 15th quarter of losses on mobile woes despite record financial unit profit
While its number of mobile subscribers rose to 6.48 million at the end of March, average revenue per user increased only fractionally.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2024
Rakuten considers combining financial units
A proposed IPO of its securities unit may not proceed if the integration is realized, while the banking arm is expected to remain listed.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 28, 2024
Pacific League pennant set to be tight race as Buffaloes chase dynasty in 2024
The Buffaloes path to a fourth straight title is fraught with peril as the Hawks gather their forces for a renewed push for the PL crown.
Rakuten Group's Rakuten Point is the most frequently used reward point service, according to a survey.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 25, 2024
Race to expand corporate economic blocs heats up in Japan
Corporate groups are enticing customers with a variety of services, often bolstered by reward points, primarily geared toward shopping purposes.
The exact timing of the roll out of Rakuten Mobile's commercial satellite-to-mobile service is uncertain, but the plans for coverage encompass mountainous and remote areas across Japan.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 16, 2024
Rakuten plans satellite mobile service across Japan in 2026
The service, to be rolled out in partnership with AST SpaceMobile, will be directly accessible by regular smartphones and won’t require a terminal.
Rakuten Group has incurred a net loss for the fifth straight year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024
Rakuten logs second-largest annual net loss
The firm will skip a dividend payment for the first time in 23 years to prioritize its financial stability.
Rakuten Bank executives hold a placard showing the company logo during a ceremony to mark the company's debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 6, 2023
Rakuten to raise up to $433 million with further sale of bank unit
The planned sale of 25.5 million shares is equivalent to just under 15% of the online bank, according to LSEG data.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2023
Prospect of NTT Law abolishment unclear amid fierce opposition
The idea was first proposed by a ruling Liberal Democratic Party panel to make the communications giant internationally competitive.
A Rakuten Mobile branch in Tokyo. Rakuten is set for another tough year in 2024, at a time when rivals are on the attack with competitive pricing and reward campaigns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023
Rakuten's mobile misadventure: from ambitious plan to millstone
Founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani's vision of a low-cost network using cloud-based software and cheap hardware did not pan out.
Chinese buyer of Okinawa island to make visit in summer
Yanaha Island in Okinawa Prefecture as seen from a ferry.
Japanese firms weigh fallout from Trump tariff pledges
Economists, legal experts and business leaders concur that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to implement fresh tariffs — whether directly aimed at Japan or not — could hurt the country's export-reliant machinery and automobiles industries while shattering the global economy.
Cedar pollen is already in the air in Tokyo
Climate change and urbanization are believed to have contributed to the earliest ever observation of cedar pollen in Tokyo, on Jan. 8, an expert says.
More bird flu cases found in Japan; 1.44 million birds to be culled
Officials with the agriculture ministry hold a news conference in Nagoya on Friday following an outbreak of avian influenza in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, earlier this month.
Fuji TV loses more advertisers amid inquiry into host’s behavior
Fuji TV is losing more advertisers following allegations about inappropriate behavior by a celebrity host and questions about its handling of the case.
Japan looks to learn from the past with bid to build Australian warships
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami frigate, of the class of the same name, is anchored at the MSDF's naval base in the city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in September 2022.
Amid rising world hunger, a Japan-inspired group in Kenya is making a big impact
Wawira Njiru, the founder of Food4Education, serves food during the opening of a new kitchen in Mombasa County, Kenya, in 2022. The organization started in 2012 by feeding 25 children out of a single kitchen. Now it feeds nearly half a million every day.
From Tokyo to Manhattan, Takuma Watanabe stirs up a stiff drink
It's taken Takuma Watanabe little time to establish himself as one of New York's hottest bartenders.
For tourists in search of seasonal sights, Yamagata makes its case
For some time away from Tokyo's suffocating urban sameness, Yamagata Prefecture is home to a soothing array of natural abundance.
A slow dive into ‘a moment and an eternity’ with Ryuichi Sakamoto
From the mid-2000s onward, Ryuichi Sakamoto created a number of installation works, often in collaboration with Shiro Takatani, of multimedia art collective Dumb Type.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go
By Kazuaki Nagata and Richard Meyer

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Site designer on why expos matter more than ever
Site designer on why expos matter more than ever

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER