Business / Corporate | ANALYSIS Jun 25, 2014

With new blood, family-run Suntory gives itself a test

He would "create new value," Takeshi Niinami said, if he becomes the president of venerable family-run brewer Suntory Holdings Ltd. later this year. Hours earlier, Nobutada Saji, president of the 115-year-old company, had announced his intention to hand over the role to Niinami in October, ...

Business Jul 3, 2013

Firms send new hires out to gain street smarts

An increasing number of Japanese companies are introducing practical experience-based training programs for new employees to boost their confidence. Ikai Co., a staffing agency based in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, required 57 employees fresh out of school to travel 50 km by hitchhiking as part of ...