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November 22, 2024
 

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TRADING HOUSES

A FamilyMart convenience store in Tokyo. Around-the-corner stores iconic to Japan help the trading houses to monetize on their food and apparel businesses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2024
Food and FamilyMart drive Itochu's half-year profit up 6%
Itochu kept its net profit forecast for the year unchanged at ¥880 billion, of which 24% is projected from food, textiles and the division where FamilyMart belongs.
Marubeni's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2024
Marubeni-backed salmon farm starts Japan sales as part of diversification push
Wild and sea-farmed salmon is one of the areas Marubeni and its rivals have been targeting in Japan.
Jera's liquefied natural gas fired power plant inside the company's Anegasaki Thurmal Power Station in Ichihara, Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 5, 2024
Japan firms unite to cut methane emissions from LNG supply
Twenty-two firms are joining an initiative that aims to leverage their buying power to curb methane emissions from liquefied natural gas supply chains.
A nuclear accident that took place on Sept. 30 makes the front page of The Japan Times on Oct. 1, 1999.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Oct 1, 2024
Japan Times 1999: Nuclear accident hits critical mass
A second incident 25 years ago at the Tokai Nuclear Power Plant in Ibaraki Prefecture that exposes workers to radiation causes concern and challenges.
People look at a Ford Sports Utility Vehicle on display at a test drive point in Nha Be district in Ho Chi Minh City.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 16, 2024
Mitsui buys stake in Tasco Auto in bet on Vietnam’s growth
The deal makes Mitsui a strategic investor and will help Tasco’s long-term plans.
Itochu is buying back ¥150 billion worth of its own shares.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024
Itochu to buy back shares and take full control of apparel and chemicals units
The deals are part of a trend of dissolving dual listings of parent and subsidiary companies to enhance corporate governance and improve operational efficiency.
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.
Sumitomo says it is aiming to install 500 megawatts or more of battery storage in Japan by March 2031.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024
Sumitomo aims to install 500 MW of battery storage in Japan by 2031
The initiative is part of the trading house's broader efforts to bolster its energy transformation business.
Sumitomo headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS
May 2, 2024
Sumitomo to bolster shareholder returns in new midterm plan
Sumitomo will allocate ¥700 billion ($4.5 billion) of returns over the next three years, with a goal of total shareholder return ratio of 40%.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway would be the first major non-financial overseas debt issuer to sell yen bonds after the Bank of Japan last month scrapped the world’s last negative interest rate.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 9, 2024
Berkshire plans to sell first yen bonds since BOJ move
The U.S. company last turned to the yen bond markets in November, with a ¥122 billion ($803 million) five-tranche deal.
A Bigmotor outlet in Tama, Tokyo, in September
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2024
Itochu announces turnaround support for Bigmotor
Itochu is considering investing ¥20 billion in a new company to take over Bigmotor's key assets.
Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2024
Warren Buffett endorses Japan trading firms in letter, boosting shares
Buffett’s letter to stakeholders said that the five trading companies have reduced the number of their outstanding shares at "attractive” prices.
Warren Buffett
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2024
Buffett ups his holdings of Japanese trading houses to about 9%
Berkshire first announced its stakes in the trading houses in 2020 with the intention of holding them long-term and increasing them to as much as 9.9%.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest shareholders in all five of Japan's biggest trading companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2024
Buffett reversal risk pushes Japan firms to diversify investors
Berkshire is one of the largest shareholders in all five of Japan’s biggest trading companies.
Fundamentals bode well for financial firms amid speculation the Bank of Japan will move toward ending negative rates, with banks and insurers among the best performers on the Topix, climbing more than 30% since the start of April.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 11, 2023
Buffett watchers tout Japan financial firms as next value play
The famed U.S. investor is known for taking long-term stakes in companies with low valuations, which many Japanese insurers and banks have.
Mitsui, Japan's biggest ammonia importer, will conduct a joint study with three other companies on establishing a hydrogen and ammonia supply chain through the Osaka coastal industrial zone.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2023
Trading and energy firms tie up to study Osaka fuel supply chains
Hydrogen and ammonia, which do not emit carbon dioxide when burning, are an important part of Japan's energy security strategy.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in June raised its stake in Japan's five major trading firms. All of them beat net-income estimates for the first quarter of the fiscal year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2023
Buffett’s favored Japan trading firms post solid earnings
The five major trading firms all beat net-income estimates for the first quarter of the fiscal year in reports issued this week.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2023
JAL to rent clothes to passengers for vacations and business trips
Rental of each set of clothing will cost ¥4,000 to ¥7,000 and garments will be made available in three sizes: small, medium and large.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 2, 2023
The inside story of Buffett’s big Japan bet, over glasses of Coke at Four Seasons
The billionaire investor's visit is seen as an important vote of confidence in Japan’s big five traders as they pivot away from fossil fuels.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2023
Mitsubishi signs ¥260 billion commuter rail deal with Manila, report says
The Japanese trading house will provide a package including signals, communications equipment and rails in a project designed to alleviate chronic traffic congestion and air pollution.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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