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Masatsugu Horie
For Masatsugu Horie's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 5, 2015
Nissan's selfie-friendly car targets young, driving-disinclined generation
Nissan Motor Co. designers tossed knobs and buttons out the window for their latest car aimed at a generation apathetic about autos, leaving behind a clear-white surface for displaying photos, showing movies and playing games.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 22, 2015
New president urges vehicle parts maker Aisin Seiki to change gear
A former Toyota Motor Corp. executive is telling the carmaker's second-biggest supplier to raise its game across its auto parts businesses or risk being benched.
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 / 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 / Companies / FOCUS
May 8, 2015
Toyota courts mom-and-pop investors with long view
Billionaire investors like Dan Loeb may be heroes on Wall Street, but Toyota Motor Corp. would prefer more people like Hisashi Nakanishi.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2015
Loyalty to 1960s machine shows risk from Japan's aging factories
The oldest piece of equipment at Osaka Machine Tool Co. has been there so long that only the company's 70-year-old chairman, Katumi Takata, still knows how to use it. He isn't planning to replace it anytime soon.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 31, 2015
Toyota's recovery revives automaker's hometown
Takako Sugiyama isn't sure how old her two grandchildren's school is. She knows this: the building, in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, was dated when her three kids — now in their 50s — attended.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2014
Toyota cash mountain draws calls for plants
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, whose company has accumulated a cash pile of almost ¥4 trillion, is facing calls to put that money to better use.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2013
Staying home paying off for Toyota amid weakening yen
Staying at home is paying off for Toyota Motor Corp.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2012
Investment in China off as feud drags on
After anti-Japan protesters in China smashed cars and torched dealerships, Koito Manufacturing Co. suspended a plan to triple its production in the country.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2012
Auto sector took early charge in efforts to get Tohoku back on its feet
As the surge of water smashed through the factory wall near Sendai Airport a year ago, Takumi Tanaka held on to an air hose to stop being swept away. Four days later, he was back at the shattered auto parts plant, groping through meter-thick mud studded with uprooted trees.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2009
Cool Biz said to undermine productivity
Takashi Kadokura used to strip down to his underwear when working late because of the heat.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 22, 2009
Grand jury system comes to Japan
Eight years ago, Seiji Shimomura could only watch as his 2-year-old son Tomohito was crushed to death by crowds at a fireworks show in Hyogo Prefecture. Ever since, he has campaigned for high-ranking police officials to be indicted over their role in the matter.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2009
Ranks of homeless swell in Osaka
OSAKA (Bloomberg) Within two months of losing his job packing shelves at a cold-storage company in Osaka, Toshiyuki Miki said, he was homeless. He counts himself among the many people worldwide whose life has been turned upside down in the wake of the "Lehman Shock."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2009
Japanese whiskey talk of town
Toru Itakura sipped whiskey from plastic cups as showgirls cavorted, bagpipes played and a little bit of Scotland came to Tokyo at a sampling for connoisseurs.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces