Business Oct 27, 2020
Japan's unorthodox household goods champion rides a pandemic boom
Iris Ohyama has made a name through reasonably priced electronics, and launches more than 1,000 new products a year.
Makiko Yamazaki
For Makiko Yamazaki's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Business / Corporate Sep 25, 2020
Top Toshiba investor calls for inquiry in widening vote scandal
Because receipts were issued a day after voting forms were received, some were mistaken for being late even though they'd been delivered on time.
National / Science & Health Sep 5, 2020
Japan looks to AI as coronavirus challenges quality control mantra
A rethink of the factory floor has been prompted by COVID-19, leading to an increased use of robots in manufacturing.
Business / Corporate Aug 17, 2020
Major Toshiba stakeholder 3D Investment demands probe into annual shareholder vote
The incident is likely to raise fresh questions about the relationship between foreign investors, who make up 60 percent of Toshiba's shareholders, and the company.
Business / Corporate Aug 11, 2020
Japan kept activist investor in limbo over key Toshiba vote, sources say
The news illustrates how Japan's tighter rules on foreign ownership may also be used to keep activist shareholders in check.
Business / Corporate May 6, 2020
Call centers expose fault line in Japan's pandemic fight
In the past few weeks, 17 infections were confirmed at a post office call center in Hokkaido and 11 at a Kyoto mail-order business.
Business | ANALYSIS Aug 30, 2019
Japan's curbs on high-tech materials exports to South Korea could backfire in long run
Japan's curbs on exports of high-tech materials to South Korea could backfire in the long run, eroding its dominance over a key link in the global chip supply chain, suppliers and experts have said. Japan tightened restrictions last month on exports of three chipmaking materials ...
Business / Corporate | FOCUS Mar 24, 2019
Apple's iPhone struggles unravel ambitions of Japan Display
When Japan Display Inc. broke ground on a new factory in central Japan in 2015, the future looked bright for one of the world's top vendors of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. The plant would strengthen the company's position as the primary screen supplier for ...
Business / Tech | FOCUS Dec 17, 2018
Japanese electronics firms look to re-engineer their design mojo
Akihiro Adachi, a 31-year-old audiovisual equipment designer at Panasonic Corp., longed for some personal space during his lengthy train rides from Osaka to Tokyo. So when his company set out to encourage innovation, he joined with some colleagues and came up with Wear Space, ...
Business | FOCUS Sep 23, 2018
Japanese and other Asian firms shifting production from China as U.S. tariffs take toll
As the U.S. imposes tariffs on Chinese imports, a growing number of Asian manufacturers producing items there are moving to shift production from China to other factories in the region.