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Yoojung Lee
South Korean officials count ballots following a parliamentary election on April 10. President Yoon Suk-yeol’s conservative bloc is set for a major setback in a vote for a new parliament, exit polls showed, likely meaning he will be in a weak position for the remaining three years of his term and face political gridlock.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 18, 2024
Billionaire families lose hope for tax cut after Korean vote
South Korea’s regular maximum inheritance levy of as much as 50% is the second-highest among members of the OECD, after 55% in Japan.
Yasuhide Uno, Usen-Next Holdings CEO, has transformed his father’s company into Netflix’s biggest competitor in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2023
Reluctant CEO becomes billionaire at Netflix rival in Japan
Initially wanting nothing to do with his father's cable music company, Yasuhide Uno's faith in video streaming helped him rebuild it for a new era.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 6, 2023
International school worth close to $1 billion turns CEO into multimillionaire
Demand from Chinese students to attend SISB has soared, with the number enrolled more than doubling in March compared with a year earlier.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 16, 2022
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son loses $25 billion in tech’s brutal winter
From China's tech crackdown to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a litany of troubles has beset Son and his conglomerate.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 31, 2021
A $2 billion Japanese startup aims to fix polarized news via an algorithm
SmartNews, which uses an algorithm to provide what it says is an unbiased, nonpartisan mix of information, is one of Japan's most valuable startups.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2021
He built an $8.9 billion fortune. Then the controversies began.
Bom Kim became the poster child of a new kind of wealth generation in South Korea with Coupang Inc., but the firm is now facing criticism over working conditions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 4, 2021
Samsung windfall gives richest South Korean woman $7 billion fortune
Hong Ra-hee boosted her fortune after receiving billions of dollars in stocks in the much-awaited transfer of her husband's assets.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 23, 2021
Japanese billionaire’s drab clothing firm becomes a sportswear sensation
Shares in Yoshio Tsuchiya's Workman Co. have more than quadrupled since the start of 2018.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 18, 2021
Automating boring tasks made these Japan startup founders rich
Their firms' shares have all more than doubled in the past year, leading to talk of a burgeoning tech scene that's very different from Silicon Valley.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2020
Billionaires of South Korea's beauty industry see fortunes reverse
Changes to women's daily routines amid the pandemic have halted the rising wealth of those who tapped the popularity of South Korean beauty brands in a deal-making frenzy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2020
BTS fans have a new way to show their love: buying shares
In the music industry, fans are everything. But when it comes to K-pop, that adage holds more true than ever.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 11, 2020
Founder of software company who turned down SoftBank joins ranks of Japan’s billionaires
Masayoshi Son had offered to buy Shunji Sugaya's business idea for $2.8 million.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2019
Rich South Koreans seen handing kids millions to shield against estate taxes
Some are barely old enough to walk and talk, much less understand the stock market. But thanks to South Korea's tax laws, a growing number of children as young as 1 are sitting on shareholdings collectively worth millions of dollars.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2019
Asian business bloodlines on brink as lack of heirs pushes owners into arms of private equity
After 37 years in business, Shigeru Nagatomi handed over the keys in December last year. Nagatomi Pharmacy Corp., the Kyushu medical supplies shop bearing his family name, had grown to 23 dispensing pharmacies in Oita Prefecture .
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2018
Asia's megarich took a $137 billion hit in the pocketbook in 2018
The world's fastest growing source of megawealth hit a speed bump this year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 17, 2018
Bargain-hunting Chinese make Japanese retail king Bic Camera a billionaire
Japanese retail tycoon Ryuji Arai can thank a growing flock of Chinese spenders for his swelling fortune.

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?