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April 30, 2024
 

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Yuki Furukawa
For Yuki Furukawa's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
The PayPay app now seeks to keep its pace of double-digit growth with help from other SoftBank portfolio companies.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 5, 2023
SoftBank’s PayPay app showcases Masayoshi Son’s clout in Japan
Seen to be next in SoftBank’s initial public offering pipeline, the startup now holds two-thirds’ share in QR-code payments in Japan.
Rapidus CEO Atsuyoshi Koike says his ambition is to realize a "Hokkaido Valley" that can compete against Silicon Valley in size.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2023
Japan's Rapidus aims to create a chipmaking 'Hokkaido Valley'
The startup, backed with billions of dollars in taxpayer funds, is plotting a course to mass-produce 2-nanometer logic chips by 2027.
Eiko Higuchi at her microphone production station at Sony Taiyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 25, 2023
A tiny factory is handcrafting mics for Justin Bieber and Dr. Dre
Sony Taiyo, a Sony Group subsidiary, is designed to give people with disabilities a fair chance in the workplace.
Akira Amari, Japan's chip czar, has said that funding around one-third of the cost of a chip plant is the norm, and the 50% funding for Japan's first TSMC chip plant was unusually high.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2023
Chip minister hints Japan to fund one-third of second TSMC plant
The subsidies will be part of Japan’s efforts to revive its domestic chipmaking industry, a sector viewed as crucial for growth and economic security.
Attendees gather in front of a stage at the Capcom booth during the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba in 2018.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 26, 2023
Game publisher Capcom sees 1,200% gain over decade
The company’s shares are up by a third this year, outpacing the broader Tokyo market and capping off a remarkable 1,200% surge over the past decade.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2023
Taiwan’s PSMC to team up with SBI to build foundry in Japan
SBI will help raise funds for the venture, which plans to begin with 40-nanometer and 55nm automotive and industrial chips and produce more advanced 28nm chips in the medium to long term.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2023
IBM throws weight behind Japan chip startup it sees as vital
Rapidus, a venture backed by some of Japan’s biggest electronics firms, is turning IBM’s 2-nanometer chip design into production-ready silicon.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2023
Japan unveils ¥904 billion deal to buy out chip linchpin JSR
The government-backed Japan Investment Corp. plans to offer shareholders ¥4,350 a share in a tender offer around December.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2023
TSMC's first factory in Japan has to contend with horrible traffic
While construction on the facility in Kumamoto Prefecture proceeds at breakneck speed, little has been done to improve conditions on the area’s roads.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 25, 2023
Sony eyes factory expansion in Kumamoto, aiming to grow image-sensor business
The Tokyo-based company has said it’s in talks to acquire 27 hectares of land for expansion in the city of Koshi in Kumamoto Prefecture, to the northwest of an existing factory.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 25, 2023
Panasonic says Japanese carmakers are showing interest in its batteries
The Osaka-based company, which supplies batteries to Tesla, said last week that it aims to boost production to 200 gigawatt-hours by March 2031.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 18, 2023
Sony considers listing giant financial arm to aid big investment push
The entertainment conglomerate will consider such a plan over the rest of this fiscal year before making a decision.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 10, 2023
Government-funded chip venture aims to restore Japan's glory days
Rapidus is trying to do what experts argued the country should have done decades ago as it began to lose its edge in the semiconductor industry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2023
Nintendo warns sales of Switch consoles to slow further this year
Nintendo said on Tuesday that it sold 17.9 million Switch units in the year to March and reported operating profit of ¥93.8 billion for the quarter on Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2023
Sony casts doubt on PlayStation momentum with cagey outlook
The Tokyo-based firm said it expects operating income of ¥1.17 trillion ($8.7 billion) in the year ending March 2024, below average analyst estimates of ¥1.27 trillion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2023
Top air-conditioner firm Daikin targets European heating market
Daikin, the top provider of heat-pump systems in Europe since 2019, is betting on new European regulations spurring their use.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2023
Demand rising amid AI frenzy, says chip-testing maker Advantest
A global race to develop powerful computing clusters and next-generation AI-training systems is spurring chipmakers to buy many more of the Tokyo-based company’s testing tools.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 6, 2023
Japan to bolster support for chipmaker Rapidus in semiconductor push
Domestic production of advanced chips is essential for the country to excel in artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura has said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 5, 2023
U.S. gets new levers from Japan to curb China’s chip ambitions
Japanese companies control key steps in the semiconductor supply chain, which could be used as potential chokepoints against China.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2023
Japan tightens chip gear exports as U.S. seeks to contain China
Tokyo’s move follows months of lobbying by the U.S. to get Japan to join it in tightening shipments of semiconductor tools to China.
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
'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.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
Yen rebounds strongly after first slide past ¥160 since 1990
The yen dropped to ¥160.245 per dollar on Monday before heading into the other direction to ¥155.01 amid speculation of an intervention by Japanese currency authorities.
Man, 28, arrested in Okinawa over burned bodies found in Tochigi
Hikaru Sasaki enters the Metropolitan Police Department's Osaki police station in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on Monday after being arrested on suspicion of disposing of two bodies found in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, earlier this month.
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.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
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.

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