author

 
Menu
Search
 
May 02, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Ayai Tomisawa
For Ayai Tomisawa's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 25, 2022
SMBC Nikko’s bond business dives in value after alleged market manipulation
A scandal has damaged the firm just as issuers and investors are increasingly adopting environmental, social and governance targets into their business strategies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 19, 2022
Climate debt that stalled globally takes off with push in Japan
The government has drawn up detailed roadmaps to help companies shift to cleaner technology, resulting in more of the country's issuers selling transition bonds than elsewhere.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 26, 2022
Samurai bond sales rise from record low as BOJ holds down yields
Samurai bond issuance is rebounding from a record low as selling debt in yen for foreign issuers turned more favorable.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2022
Japan’s Panasonic joins global trend toward four-day week
By introducing an optional four-day work week, Panasonic is trying to 'strike an ideal balance between the work style and life style for our diverse human capital.”
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2022
Record bond sale from SoftBank to test demand after risks surged
SoftBank has been the single-biggest issuer in the Japanese corporate bond market in the past decade, raising more than u00a56 trillion from investors.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2021
Carbon-heavy Japanese utilities sell their first green bonds
Japan's greenhouse gas emissions totaled about 1.1 billion tons in fiscal 2019, and the power sector accounted for around 36% of that.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2021
SoftBank keeps up borrowing spree before bond repayments
SoftBank is having one of its busiest years ever in global issuance markets, and raised more than $7 billion in a debt offering across dollars and euros in June.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Aug 12, 2021
Gender norms still hurt LGBTQ athletes despite Olympic profile
A record number of out LGBTQ athletes took part in the Games, but none were Japanese, and the host nation harbors opposition to issues such as same-sex marriage.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2021
Investors clamoring for ESG debt help halve Tokyo funding costs
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government slashed funding costs thanks to rampant global demand for the first social bond offered by a local government in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 31, 2021
There may not be enough doctors in Japan to support the Olympics
Organizers had initially planned to have about 10,000 doctors, nurses and medical staff on standby for the games but have had to cut that number down to about 7,000.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 19, 2021
Japan Airlines said to plan yen bond as its yield premiums fall
Japan Airlines Co. is planning a yen bond sale next month, people familiar with the matter said, in what would be its first debt sale since March last year as its yield premiums fall.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
May 12, 2021
U.S. track team cancels Olympics training in Japan over virus
The U.S. team notified the decision last month to authorities in Chiba Prefecture, saying the pandemic would put athletes' safety at risk.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Apr 29, 2021
Tokyo to push Olympic sponsors on gender parity following gaffes
A pledge to advance equality and inclusion is also expected to come next month from the games' organizing committee.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Mar 12, 2021
JOC president Yasuhiro Yamashita no stranger to Olympic frustration
The former judo heavyweight, who missed out on the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to an international boycott, is optimistic that the postponed Tokyo Games will go on this summer.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2021
Online funerals and Zen apps keep Japan’s Buddhist temples afloat
As the pandemic forces institutions around the world to change the way they do things, new endeavors are some of the ways that Buddhist groups in Japan are trying to survive.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 28, 2021
Record sales of dollar bonds by Japanese prefectures gather steam
In the latest example, Kyushu's Saga Prefecture sold its first note in the U.S. currency on Tuesday, following last week's issuance of such debt by neighboring Fukuoka Prefecture.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 14, 2021
Buddhist monks are snapping up ESG bonds in Japan
Japanese religious organizations are also under pressure to earn more from investing.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2021
Shadow hangs over Olympics once more with Japan virus surge
Japan is one of several countries where the virus has made a comeback in winter months with Tokyo finding a record 2,447 cases on Jan. 7.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2020
A 1% bond in Japan is world’s lowest-coupon junk note in 2020
Unprecedented stimulus from central banks amid the pandemic has dragged down rates, and left investors clamoring for debt that may help increase returns.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 26, 2020
Brave new world of ESG bonds can sometimes leave investors cold
A new type of bond that penalizes issuers for failing to meet social and environmental goals is raising concern that buying the debt may not be all that ethical.
'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.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
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.
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

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Cultural properties:A Fujiya Hotel insider’s view
Cultural properties:A Fujiya Hotel insider’s view

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER