Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Business Topics
Corporate Sep 19, 2013
Japan Post, bank, insurer all plan IPOs in 2015
Japan Post Holdings Co. plans to go public together with its banking and insurance units in spring 2015, sources close to the matter said Wednesday. The disclosure suggests the state-owned financial behemoth is flip-flopping on its original plan to hold off on the IPOs ...
Corporate Sep 18, 2013
Maglev train plan outlined by JR Tokai
Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) on Wednesday revealed the outline of its course for a magnetically levitated train that will whisk passengers from Nagoya to Tokyo in about 40 minutes starting in 2027. New stations will be erected in four cities between Tokyo’s ...
Corporate Sep 18, 2013
Nissan: Emerging market sales to rebound in '14
Nissan Motor Co., the nation’s second-biggest automaker, expects car sales in some emerging markets to rebound next year. The fall in car deliveries in Brazil, Russia and India is a short-term adjustment and sales in these markets will rise in 2014, Nissan Chief Executive ...
Corporate Sep 17, 2013
Ex-Toyota president dies at 100
Former Toyota Motor Corp. President Eiji Toyoda, known for his efforts to bring the automaker to worldwide prominence, passes away at age 100.
Corporate Sep 17, 2013
Eiji Toyoda was instrumental in turning Toyota into export giant
Eiji Toyoda, who died Tuesday in Aichi Prefecture, spearheaded Toyota Motor Corp.’s expansion in the U.S. as the automaker’s longest-serving president. Toyoda pushed his company to learn from Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. about mass production of automobiles. During his 57-year career, ...
Corporate Sep 17, 2013
'London Whale' to cost JPMorgan $750 million
Authorities in the United States and Britain are set to hand down roughly $750 million in fines against JPMorgan Chase over the bank’s disastrous “London Whale” trading losses last year, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The settlements could be announced as soon ...
Corporate Sep 17, 2013
Mazda may be forced to cut China sales goal
Mazda Motor Corp. is saying it may cut its midterm China sales target after deliveries in the world’s biggest car market fell for 17 straight months. Mazda is Japan’s most export-dependent automaker, and its plan for China sales to reach 400,000 units by the ...
Corporate Sep 17, 2013
Britain to sell 6% of stake in Lloyds
Britain launched plans Monday to sell 6 percent of its stake in bailed-out Lloyds Banking Group, marking the lender’s first crucial step toward a return to the private sector. U.K. Financial Investments, which manages the state’s bank holdings, said it will seek to sell ...
Corporate Sep 13, 2013
ANA nears decision on maker for 25-plane order
ANA Holdings Inc., whose fleet is dominated by Boeing Co. aircraft, will soon decide on placing an order for 25 jets, pitting the newest wide-body models of Airbus SAS and Boeing against each other. “It’s getting close to the time we need to make ...
Corporate Sep 13, 2013
Toshiba chief urges Eco-point relaunch
The government should start another Eco-point subsidy program for energy-efficient products to help prevent any consumption tax hike from triggering an economic slowdown, Toshiba Corp. Vice Chairman Norio Sasaki said. Considering the anticipated surge in social security costs and the Japan’s steadily worsening fiscal ...
Corporate Sep 12, 2013
MMC on verge of ¥200 billion public share offering
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is nearing a decision to raise as much as ¥200 billion via a public offering of new shares as it seeks to reduce preferred stock held by other group companies, two sources with direct knowledge of the plan said. MMC will ...
Corporate Sep 12, 2013
Cute craving a cash cow for Hello Kitty creator
by Gillian Wee
Tanya Stanich, a 43-year-old lawyer, clutched a handful of pink and black Hello Kitty notebooks at Sanrio Co.’s store in Manhattan’s Times Square and touched a sequined bag adorned with the face of a cartoon cat. Growing up in Wisconsin, Stanich was introduced to ...