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BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2006

Fuji Photo to diversify, shift to holding company system

Fuji Photo Film Co. said Tuesday it will reorganize its businesses under a holding company next month, diversifying into new areas such as cosmetics and drugs from its traditional photo film business.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2006

Firm pioneers dealing with belongings of departed

With more than 4 million people over 65 living alone and many dying a solitary death, a niche business has emerged in dealing with the belongings of those who pass away.
BUSINESS
Jun 21, 2006

Hankyu-Hanshin deal fails to impress analysts

Hankyu Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it will acquire 63.71 percent of Hanshin Electric Railway Co. for nearly 250 billion yen, paving the way for the first postwar merger of major private railways in October.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2006

Japan Post net profit at 1.9 trillion yen, up 56%

Japan Post announced Wednesday it brought in a whopping net profit of 1.93 trillion yen in the fiscal year that ended March 31, up 56 percent from the year before, thanks to the robust performance of its postal savings business.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2006

Sompo facing partial suspension

The Financial Services Agency is set to partially suspend Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. from business for about a month over unlawful sales practices that surfaced earlier this year, FSA sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2006

Softbank logs 1 trillion yen sales due to broadband

Softbank Corp. reported Wednesday that group sales reached 1.108 trillion yen in the business year that ended at the end of March, up 32 percent from a year earlier and achieving the 1 trillion yen threshold for the first time.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2006

Convenience stores outshined stale supermarkets in 2005

Japan's major convenience stores on Wednesday posted rosy figures for the 2005 business year, while supermarket chains lagged despite signs that personal consumption is recovering.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2006

Jack Welch to teach for Ohmae

Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric Co., will teach a distance-education program in partnership with Business Breakthrough Inc., a provider of business-related content via satellite television and the Internet, the firm announced Monday.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2006

Toshiba faces major hurdles with Westinghouse

Toshiba's CEO had good reason to sound a trifle defensive about his company's $5.4 billion purchase of U.S.-based nuclear power company Westinghouse.
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2006

Food safety fears heat up delivery services

As consumers become increasingly sensitive toward food safety issues, some food delivery service operators are getting brisk business by ensuring the quality of the produce they sell.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2006

Digital shakeup leaves most traditional camera makers reeling

Business is booming at the camera shop managed by Hiroaki Kitahara, but he has a sense of emptiness regarding the past and is worried about the future.
EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 2006

Labor offensive in for a thaw

This year's "spring labor offensive" seems likely to stage somewhat of a revival after a long moribund period in which labor-management negotiations for wage raises have been perfunctory. Reversing its long-standing policy of restraining wage raises, Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), the...
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2005

Soken pushed Aneha-linked designer on hoteliers

, based in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, reportedly advised owners of business hotel chains to use Heisei Sekkei to reduce construction costs. Four such chains in Aichi Prefecture received similar tips from the consulting firm. Officials from Kubota Construction, based in Komagane, Nagano Prefecture, said Soken...
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2005

Peace between pace-setters

The takeover battle between Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and Rakuten has ended in a draw of sorts -- for now at least. The two companies have buried the hatchet, so to speak, and have agreed to start talks on forming capital and business ties.
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2005

EBC frets corporate law amendment

The European Business Council in Japan issued an annual white paper on the nation's business environment Thursday that recommends changing an article in the revised corporation law it fears could make the structure of some European companies here illegal.
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2005

Sony's quarterly net profit slumps amid flat sales, struggling TV unit

Sony Corp. said Thursday that its operating profit rose 52 percent to 65.9 billion yen in the three months through September, boosted by a large windfall generated by a change in its pension scheme.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2005

Chubu economy's future seen bright with boost from expo

NAGOYA -- As Nagoya's big coming-out party winds down, thoughts turn inevitably to what's next. The issue of how the prefecture can capitalize on the Aichi Expo is on everyone's mind.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2005

Big firms' confidence up again

Business confidence at large companies rose in the July-September period for the second straight quarterly improvement, reflecting the economic recovery and the completion of inventory adjustments in the information technology sector, the government said Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2005

Sony plans workforce, plant cuts in bid to stem losses

Sony Corp. announced Thursday it will slash 10,000 employees, or about 7 percent of its global workforce, and close 11 production facilities as part of a sweeping restructuring plan in a bid to revive its fortunes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2005

Consumers reaping benefits of farm deregulation

Fresh tomatoes, sweet oranges and bright green lettuce grown organically and tracked by computer may soon arrive on consumers' tables directly from farms, thanks to agricultural deregulation.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2005

TVs skew electronics earnings

Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co. presented starkly different earnings reports Thursday as sales of flat-screen televisions altered the fortunes of the rival consumer electronics makers.
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2005

Slots, cops, and deception

LAS VEGAS -- The Japanese have been kicking around the idea of building American-style casinos in Japan for four years now. The Parliament Committee on Casinos with 100 Diet members has been gathering information on casinos, and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara has been a major proponent of the idea. In...
BUSINESS
May 13, 2005

Vocal U.S. lobbyist enjoys being 'underestimated'

Many people may have underestimated Thomas Donohue when he assumed the position of president and chief executive of the United States Chamber of Commerce in 1997.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2005

High-end matchmaker finds Japan eligible for expansion

Chased by a busy schedule 24 hours a day, months and years pass until you suddenly notice that your encounters with the opposite sex are limited and you seldom have a chance of meeting a soul mate, let alone a spouse. Hiroko Ozawa, president of Destina Japan, noticed that many of her peers felt that...
EDITORIALS
Mar 5, 2005

Mr. Tsutsumi called to account

Mr. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the former leader of the scandal-tainted Seibu Railway group, has been arrested on charges of presenting false financial reports and selling stock to clients without sufficient information disclosure. His arrest, carried out Thursday jointly by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2004

Toy maker Takara needs Christmas gift: renewed demand

It isn't likely to be a very merry Christmas for Keita Sato this year.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2004

Japan now has to get serious about greenhouse gases

When Russian President Vladimir Putin put the finishing touches on his country's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on Friday, reducing greenhouse gas emissions also moved one notch higher on Japan's policy agenda.
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2004

Citigroup CEO says trust bank to be shut down

The CEO of U.S. banking giant Citigroup Inc. apologized Monday for the bank's misconduct in Japan and said it will terminate its private banking business here for wealthy customers by Sept. 30, 2005.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years