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Jason Clenfield
For Jason Clenfield's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2019
Carlos Ghosn readies trial counterpunch with new legal dream team
Can Carlos Ghosn beat the rap?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 5, 2018
How could Carlos Ghosn possibly have hidden billions of yen from Nissan?
How could one of the world's most visible employees go about hiding billions of yen worth of salary and benefits paid to him by one of the world's biggest companies, without the company knowing it?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2018
The business of death has a bright future in Japan
Norihisa Tomiyasu opened his first mortuary in 1997 aiming to clean up a profession he says deserved its bad reputation for exploiting people's grief and overcharging them at some of the most fraught moments of their lives.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2017
Budget furniture king Akio Nitori discounted his way to a fortune
Embarrassed by the recall of thousands of kitchenware pots after they appeared to leach lead when heated, discount-furniture king Akio Nitori took an unusual step. He hired a team of auto industry engineers to revamp the quality assurance and testing division.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 11, 2017
In financial straits, shrines turn to luxury property development
Shinto elders at the centuries-old Unesco World Heritage Site of Shimogamo Shrine upset neighbors when they bulldozed a swath of old Kyoto forest to build an apartment complex with units selling for more than $2 million apiece.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 5, 2017
In Japan, zero public companies went bust in 2016, but critics say 'zombie' firms hurt the economy
Corporate Japan achieved a rare feat in the fiscal year that ended last week. None of its almost 4,000 publicly-traded firms filed for bankruptcy protection.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2017
Melco pledges to spend 'whatever it takes' as casino rivals eye Japan
Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. has upped the ante against its casino rivals to win the chance to build a casino resort in Japan, declaring there's no limit on how much the company is prepared to invest.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2017
Toshiba's nuclear reactor mess winds back to a Louisiana swamp
If you want to understand why Toshiba is about to report a multi-billion dollar writedown on its nuclear reactor business, the story begins and ends with a onetime pipe manufacturer with roots in the swamp country of Louisiana.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 18, 2017
As demographic trouble looms, Asahi thirsty for overseas deals
Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. wants to grow its overseas business to about a third of sales with more acquisitions as the nation's largest brewer seeks to offset a falling beer market at home.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2015
Ambition and ego: Inside Nagamori's Nidec
Ambition matters more than brains in Shigenobu Nagamori's world. As chief executive officer of Japanese motor maker Nidec, Nagamori is known for his eccentric management style.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2015
Otsuka Kagu father-daughter succession feud a symptom of Japan's woes
In a country where family conflict is usually kept under wraps, the boardroom fight at Otsuka Kagu was as titillating as reality TV.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2015
Nidec's 70-year-old CEO plans to run company 15 more years
Shigenobu Nagamori plans to lead Nidec Corp. until he hits his latest financial target, a 10-fold increase in revenue he expects by 2030. He'll be 85 then.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 28, 2015
Japan Inc.'s investor payouts set to surge from record ¥12.8 trillion in fiscal 2014
Japanese companies, long known for being stingy with shareholders, doled out record amounts of cash to investors in the past year. It's just the start of the payouts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 28, 2015
Loeb shows how to get at Japan Inc. $1.9 trillion cash pile
Activist investor Daniel Loeb is proving determination can pay off, even in Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2015
Secretive robot maker Fanuc targeted by activist investor Loeb
Fanuc Corp., one of Japan's most reclusive companies, has spent decades building a wall of secrecy around its ultra-profitable industrial-robotics business.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2014
Bitcoin policymaker tries to gain converts before election
The man who single-handedly made Japan an oasis for bitcoin entrepreneurs was holding court with political supporters. The price of admission: ¥10,000.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2014
Famed bedroom trader Takashi Kotegawa reveals his wealth secrets as he guns for $1 billion
It was six minutes after the opening bell on Feb. 4, and dozens of big-name stocks were still untraded in Tokyo. Telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp. was among those that hadn't budged. The offer price fell 5 percent, then more, and still there were no takers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jun 1, 2014
Accidental activist battles Japan's part-timer purgatory
Miho Marui isn't exactly sure how she wound up standing on top of a bus on a blustery Tokyo day in 2009, staring up at the 35-story headquarters of KDDI Corp.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2014
Workers stumble while 'Abenomics' soars
Japanese stocks and profits are soaring under Prime Minister Shinzo Abeu2019s push to revive the economy. Even shop prices are up, a key step after years of deflation kept pocketbooks shut tight. None of that matters to Shuzo Matsui.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2013
Sony ex-boss seeks to boost start-ups
Nobuyuki Idei once embodied Japan's corporate establishment, the leader of technology giant Sony Corp. Now 75, he's aiming to reinvent himself as a cross between a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Hollywood mogul.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world