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Emi Urabe
For Emi Urabe's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2016
Japan firms to see sales peak over new Mountain Day holiday
As Japanese prepare to head for the hills Thursday for the nation’s inaugural Mountain Day holiday, retailers and tour operators are gearing up for an  ¥820 billion windfall.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 4, 2016
Hitachi Zosen eyes M&A to beef up energy-from-waste business
Hitachi Zosen Corp., a Japanese builder of plants and bridges, is pursuing mergers and acquisitions as it seeks to strengthen its waste-to-energy plant business and expand to South Asia and the Middle East.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2016
Japan unswayed by pressure to end support for coal power
Faced with increasing calls from environmentalists to phase out coal, Japan is standing by its support of the fossil fuel, saying it will help developing countries adopt the best available technologies for coal-fired power plants.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2016
Japan's Monju reactor a costly hot potato no one wants to handle
Japan is missing its own deadline to find a new operator for a prototype nuclear power program that has failed to succeed in the two decades since it was built, threatening the resource-poor country's support of a technology other nations have abandoned.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 11, 2016
Winemakers plant seeds of tourism in Japan's disaster zone
Making wine is difficult anywhere in Japan, but try doing it in a part of the country that has been rocked by an earthquake and tsunami, and spurned because of a nuclear disaster.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2016
Cutesy mascots lead charge to woo customers away from electricity giants
In the battle for a slice of the ¥8.1 trillion ($72 billion) retail electricity market, Japan's biggest power companies are lining up against a cuddly bear, a fluffy white dog and a gorilla in business attire.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 5, 2016
Japan's ¥2.9 trillion nuclear recycling quest coming up on three decades
The Rokkasho facility is designed to recycle spent uranium has been under construction for nearly three decades. The amount of fuel successfully reprocessed for commercial use: zero.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2015
Despite pressing need, Japan continues to grope for nuclear waste site
Welcome to Japan, land of cherry blossoms, sushi and sake, and 17,000 metric tons of highly radioactive waste.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2015
Reactor closures to test Abe's green energy pledges
Japan's plan to mothball at least five aging nuclear reactors highlights the challenge Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces as his administration debates how to replace lost electricity generation with power sources that are cheap, clean and safe.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 15, 2015
Return of Fukushima elderly gives preview of future
The nation honored its dead last week from the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Tohoku's Pacific coastline on March 11 four years ago.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 22, 2014
Refiners Idemistu and Showa Shell in talks for tie-up
Shares in Japanese refiners surged on Monday after two of the largest said they were discussing a tie-up, as falling demand for fuels spurs the industry to consider consolidation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / ANALYSIS
Oct 29, 2014
Town divided after Sendai nuclear plant restart clears another hurdle
The city hosting the Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture has decided to approve a resumption of operations at the facility, highlighting a conflict between people who benefit from the largesse of the industry and those who do not.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2014
METI tells nation to stockpile toilet paper against next disaster
Bureaucrats don't want Japan to get caught with its pants down the next time toilet paper supplies run short after a natural disaster.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 30, 2014
Contractors feeling impact of 'Abenomics'
The construction industry is raising wages and selling bonds as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stimulus policies cause labor shortages and a need for funds.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 14, 2014
Automakers luring Japan's interest-hungry banks to Mexico
Investments by Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. that look set to make Mexico the biggest car exporter to the U.S. are giving Japanese banks a chance to escape from the world's lowest yields.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2014
BOJ misfire seen in regional banks' turn to aircraft loans
Chugoku Bank Ltd. wants to get into the global airline debt market after loans to local businesses fell for a fourth straight year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 8, 2014
Lixil mulls another overseas takeover
Lixil Group Corp., which agreed to buy bathroom-fixture makers American Standard Brands and Grohe Group last year, is studying another overseas acquisition to boost revenue from emerging markets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2013
Top pension fund urged to buy airport concessions
New Kansai International Airport Co. is seeking to attract the state-run retirement fund to a sale of two airport concessions that could raise as much as ¥1.2 trillion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 21, 2013
Cost to insure Tepco's debt soars on back of bad news
The bond risk for Tokyo Electric Power Co., from whose stricken Fukushima nuclear plant highly radioactive water is flowing into the sea, surged the most since June on concern delays in getting reactors started at another atomic plant will spoil its loans.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2013
Son reshaping Softbank seen in $20 billion loan
Softbank Corp.'s cost of refinancing debt from its purchase of Sprint Corp. will be less than half of what it paid seven years ago to acquire the Vodafone unit that launched its mobile phone operations.

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