Business / Economy Sep 23, 2020

Japan's SBI, eyeing shake-up of regional banks, may get a Suga boost

Suga has pledged to strengthen local economies and encourage regional banks to consolidate, a shake-up that many say is long overdue.

Stage Sep 15, 2020

Children's puppet shows help bunraku master endure coronavirus shutdown

Kanjuro Kiritake says the pandemic has left him worrying for the future of his art form.

National Apr 23, 2018

In Japan, new rules may leave short-term lodging industry out in the cold

Japan's new law on short-term lodging services was meant to ease a shortage of hotel rooms, bring order to an unregulated market, and offer more options for foreign visitors ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Instead, the law is ...

Business Nov 6, 2017

Japan's regional banks, facing demographic challenges, turn to deal-making for revenue

The grim outlook for smaller regional banks, who are suffering as the rural population shrinks rapidly, is prompting some to dive into a new, potentially lucrative line of business that until now was largely taboo: mergers and acquisitions. In Japan's traditional banking culture, advising a ...

Business Jun 18, 2017

Abe's infrastructure reforms hit roadblock as cities balk at effort to mend Japan's aging sewer systems

Hidden beneath its streets, Japan's aging sewer pipes spotlight a challenge that has held back reforms Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing to revitalize the world's third-biggest economy. Overhauling the country's infrastructure — roads, tunnels, ports and sewage plants, many of them built after the ...

Business / Corporate Feb 13, 2017

Micro M&A advisers riding population trends to success

Boutique advisers specializing in micro mergers and acquisitions for mostly family-run firms are enjoying a boom as the aging, shrinking population puts the squeeze on Japan's small business landscape. There are no industrywide figures for deals between ¥500 million and ¥1 billion, but boutique advisers ...

Business Jan 17, 2017

Tokyo office boom fades with more space, fewer workers

Commercial property prices in Tokyo, a bellwether for the market, look to have peaked as the capital faces a glut of new offices even as the number of workers is set to decline. The property market had rebounded in the past three years as Prime ...

National Jan 5, 2016

Japan's rural temples see the light in luxury tourism

Deep in a forest in Fukui Prefecture, a 13th century Buddhist temple where Steve Jobs once dreamed of becoming a Zen monk has teamed up with a Tokyo skyscraper builder to seek the commercial enlightenment of foreign tourist dollars. As a weak yen fuels record ...

National Jul 31, 2015

Japan's tourism boom drives real-estate developers to convert offices into hotels

The surge in tourists visiting Japan is stretching the ability of hotels to accommodate them in a sector constrained by high costs, forcing developers to think out of the box for means to quickly increase lodging options without breaking the bank. Japan is on target ...

Business Jun 6, 2015

Budget hotels thinking outside the capsule

With Japan's tourist numbers and hotel prices on the rise thanks to a weaker yen, developers are getting creative with a new niche line of stylish but cheap accommodations in bunks, cabins and pods of all shapes and sizes. Even a tiny double room in ...