For Ritsuko Shimizu's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi warned Monday that the Paris climate accord could face "death" if steps to fight global warming are put on the back burner to facilitate the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Many economists and policymakers are forecasting a steep global recession ...
Japan's growing labor shortage threatens the nation's ubiquitous convenience stores, whose business model relies on an army of part-timers packing bento boxed lunches, manning cash registers and delivering goods 24/7. The big three operators 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson, which have expanded through Japan's long slump, ...
The planned $100 billion merger of Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller will be a wake-up call to the overseas ambitions of Japanese brewers, which are struggling to grow at home in a saturated market with a shrinking population. Japanese beer makers including Asahi Group Holdings and ...
Kirin Holdings Co. is falling behind in the beer market with no clear fix in sight as it extends a multiyear sales slide and gives up market share to rivals more in touch with changing consumer tastes. Once the undisputed leader with more than half ...
In graying Japan, retailers are waking up to a hot new demographic: foreign visitors. Driven by government tourism promotions and lately a weaker yen, the number of inbound travelers has quietly doubled in the past decade to top 10 million for the first time last ...
