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Gareth Allan
For Gareth Allan's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2016
Apple hopes for e-money growth in cash-carrying Japan
Apple Inc.'s plan to allow Japanese customers to use iPhones to pay for their daily commute underscores the potential for digital payments to grow in a nation where people still prefer to hold cash.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2016
Japanese banks enter ranks of world's biggest energy lenders
Japanese banks, known for the risk-aversion that spared them the worst of the credit crisis, have quietly grown into some of the world's largest energy lenders.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2016
Japan Post to fight negative rates with shift to risk assets
Japan Post Holdings Co. will shift more of its $2.6 trillion investment portfolio to riskier assets to boost profitability as negative interest rates shrink income from government bonds.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 4, 2016
After winning at Japanese chess, this computer may help decide loans
Having defeated a human shogi (Japanese chess) expert, this computer program's next task is to figure out whether you can make the payments on a new mortgage.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2015
Record-low bad debts make up for disappearing loan profit
Plunging interest rates are helping reduce Japanese banks' bad debt to record-low levels of almost a fifth of their highs 13 years ago.

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree