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May 03, 2024
 

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Taiga Uranaka
For Taiga Uranaka's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2020
Mizuho to deploy billions in riskier funding to help Japan's firms with virus fallout
The bank is in talks with corporate clients to provide financing via subordinated loans and purchases of preferred shares totaling more than u00a5100 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 8, 2020
Analysts see pandemic accelerating pace of mergers in Japan
Transactions here and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific will pick up before the U.S. and Europe do, experts say.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2020
Bailouts and delistings loom for Japan’s beleaguered regional banks
Coronavirus crisis expected to cause bad loans to climb and investment income to evaporate
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 10, 2020
Japanese asset manager awaits flood of money from regional banks
Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings Inc. anticipates a flood of money from yield-starved regional banks that need help reinvesting cash after redeeming government bonds.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2020
Japanese banks' fortress mentality puts them on trailing edge of fintech revolution
Japan's effort to nudge its more than 100 struggling regional lenders into the digital age is floundering.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2020
MUFG taps math expert as CEO to lead digital transformation amid Japan's negative rates
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. named Hironori Kamezawa as chief executive officer on Friday, turning to a math expert to help Japan's biggest bank forge a path in the digital era.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2019
Masayoshi Son's bankers worried about their favorite client
Masayoshi Son's bankers are taking a hard look at their most important client.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2019
Japanese investor has $1 billion to plow into shaky regional banks
Yoshitaka Kitao wants to build a financial empire in an area shunned by investors: the downtrodden ranks of Japan's regional banks.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 13, 2019
Free bank accounts may become a thing of the past in Japan
Japan's long-suffering savers have put up with virtually zero interest for years, but at least their bank accounts have remained free.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2019
Japan regional bank Concordia targets comeback abroad with Southeast Asia foray
One of Japan's biggest regional banks is resuming an expansion overseas, 20 years after the country's financial crisis forced it to retreat.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 27, 2019
Negative rates see Japan's regional banks move into structured finance sector
The nation's regional banks have long been relegated to the sidelines in one of the most lucrative corners of the lending market while regular loans got gradually less profitable.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Aug 24, 2018
Mizuho's new leader Tatsufumi Sakai gears up to reform struggling mega-bank
When Tatsufumi Sakai was named chief executive and president of Mizuho Financial Group this year, many bankers and investors were surprised.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2018
'Don't blame BOJ,' FSA chief Toshihide Endo tells struggling regional banks
The nation's top financial regulator said regional banks "should not blame the Bank of Japan" for their woes, urging them to explore ways to survive ultralow interest rates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2018
Already in decline, Japan's pachinko industry now braces for gambling-addiction regulations
Like many pachinko parlors throughout Japan, Naomi Suzuki's establishment on the outskirts of the city of Fukushima was once full of energy, with the din of bouncing steel balls and garish lights flashing to indicate winnings.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2018
Nippon Life to stop financing coal-fired power
Nippon Life Insurance Co. will no longer extend loans for, or invest in, coal-fired power plants due to environmental concerns, an official at Japan's biggest life insurer said, in the first such move by a major domestic institutional investor.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2014
Japan's 3/11 tsunami evacuees caught in $30 billion money trap
Some ¥3.28 trillion in funding for roads, bridges and thousands of new homes in areas devastated by the tsunami in Tohoku 3½ years ago is still languishing unspent in the bank. That means Keiko Abe is heading into a fourth winter of subzero temperatures in a cramped, temporary dwelling that is succumbing to the elements.
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2014
Regional banks face growing pressure to merge
Regulators are increasing the pressure on regional banks to consolidate, worried that shrinking populations outside Japan's major cities will leave lenders too weak to stand on their own.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2006
Boardroom tussles reflect changes in M&As
The decorum traditionally seen in Japan's mergers and acquisitions has broken down, as hostile takeover attempts have grabbed the spotlight.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006
Brokerage business helps lift Rakuten's profit 2.3-fold
Online shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. reported Thursday 2.3-fold growth in its operating profit for calendar 2005 to 34.89 billion yen, buoyed by its stock brokerage business.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006
Corporate character goods harness power of 'cute'
A traditional seasoning flies off store shelves after the bottles begin sporting a cartoon panda. A droplet-shaped character turns a little-known manufacturer into a household name.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

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Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

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