Search - business

 
 
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2005

Not out of the woods yet

Japan's major banking groups all achieved their fiscal 2004 target of halving their bad-loan ratios, which had been considered a stiff hurdle to their recovery of sound management. All of them expect to make a profit in the current fiscal year, ending in March 2006. The disposal of the legacy left by...
BUSINESS
May 24, 2005

Mizuho profit up 54.2% on improved bad debts

Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the nation's biggest banking group by assets, said Monday its group net profit for the last business year rose 54.2 percent from a year earlier amid the economic recovery and strong corporate earnings.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 22, 2005

Seeds of employment

There, in the heart of the concrete jungle that is Tokyo's Otemachi financial district, in the second-floor basement abyss of a 27-story building, is nothing less than . . . a farm.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2005

U.S. expert to preach the tough love of M&As

Thanks to play-by-play television coverage of Internet firm Livedoor Co.'s aborted attempt to takeover Fuji Television Network Inc., discussion about mergers and acquisitions has spread far beyond Tokyo's Otemachi business district.
BUSINESS
May 7, 2005

IYBank doubles net profit, helped by surge in affiliates

Online bank IYBank Co. said Friday it more than doubled its unconsolidated net profit to 10.84 billion yen in the year to March 31 due partly to the surge in the number of affiliated banks and consumer loan firms.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2005

Doomed Cititrust hit with FSA order

The Financial Services Agency slapped Cititrust and Banking Corp., a Japanese trust banking unit of Citigroup Inc., with an administrative order Friday regarding its illegal business operations and for evading an agency inspection last year.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2005

Daiei records another heavy loss

Struggling retailer Daiei Inc. reported Friday a consolidated net loss of 511.2 billion yen for the year through February, with the firm having booked hefty restructuring costs.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2005

Costs chill large firms' confidence

Business confidence among large companies in Japan plummeted in the January-March quarter.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 19, 2005

Cosmopolitan stands for cultural understanding

A gaggle of students leaving Cosmopolitan Consultancy in Kawasaki's Shin-Yurigaoka point the way to the front door. "Up, up," they urge, to the third floor, where Suzan Matkin awaits with slippers and English tea.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2005

Itochu plans to buy 21% stake in Orient

Trading house Itochu Corp. plans to acquire a 21 percent stake in consumer credit card company Orient Corp., thereby becoming its largest shareholder, the two companies said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2005

MMC's Okazaki, other top execs to resign

Yoichiro Okazaki, chairman and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors Corp., will resign to take responsibility for poor earnings results following a string of defect coverups and recalls, sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 22, 2005

Harry Sweeney

Dr. Harry Sweeney said: "Racing in Japan under the Japan Racing Association is the best in the world. There is no question about it." He speaks with the authority of someone "happy and proud to be involved with it." He thinks he, as a non-Japanese who is a member of the Breeders' Association of Japan...
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2004

Big firms' confidence fell in latest quarter

Business confidence among large companies deteriorated in the October-December period, with manufacturers hit by a strong yen and information technology-related firms undertaking inventory adjustments, the government said Monday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 8, 2004

Trading in a master for an agent

When Yasuo Kitai first attempted to introduce Japanese calligraphy into Western art markets, he discovered he was up against thousands of years of tradition.
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2004

Matsushita and Sony report soaring net profits for first half

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Sony Corp. said Thursday that their net profits more than doubled in the first half, though there was a stark contrast in how the archrivals made their money.
Japan Times
Features
Oct 3, 2004

Teddy bares all

Long before baseball's Ichiro Suzuki or soccer's Hidetoshi Nakata became stars overseas, in 1987 a 15-year-old boy from Asahikawa in Hokkaido flew to London on his way to taking the ballet world by storm just a few years later.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2004

Economist advocates Japan Post carve-up

The priority in privatizing Japan's gigantic postal system is to quickly split its financial and postal service operations despite strong opposition, according to high-profile economist Hiroshi Kato.
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2004

Asahi Glass shatters half-year sales, profit records in January-June period

Asahi Glass Co. said Wednesday it chalked up record half-year sales and profits in the January-June period.
EDITORIALS
Aug 3, 2004

Ensure collusion doesn't pay

Japan's antitrust legislation needs upgrading. The Fair Trade Commission is preparing a revision bill to bring the Antimonopoly Law more into line with international standards by tightening the penalties for business-restricting practices. Nippon Keidanren, the Japan Business Federation, has already...
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2004

UFJ fights to keep MTFG merger hopes alive

UFJ Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it has filed an appeal against a court order to suspend its merger negotiations with Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc., stressing it plans to go ahead with the merger.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2004

Court halts MTFG-UFJ merger negotiations

The Tokyo District Court ordered a halt Tuesday to merger negotiations between Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. and UFJ Holdings Inc. in a move that could kill the creation of what would have been the world's largest banking group.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2004

Japan, China urged to cooperate on energy

OYAMA, Shizuoka Pref. -- Japan and China must find ways to cooperate over energy resources, business leaders said Friday during an annual Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) forum.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2004

UFJ, MTFG agree to start merger talks

UFJ Holdings Inc. and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. -- two of Japan's four major banking groups -- said Friday they have agreed to start merger talks, aiming to integrate their operations during the first half of fiscal 2005.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 12, 2004

Martin Katz

Recently Martin Katz came on a first visit to Japan. He brought to exhibit in Tokyo a collection of diamond jewelry valued at 10 billion yen. The collection included many pieces worn by Hollywood stars at the red-carpeted award ceremonies of the Oscars. Martin is widely known as the jeweler to whom Hollywood's...
BUSINESS
May 12, 2004

Most firms upbeat about China's economic growth

Sixty-five percent of major Japanese companies say the rapid growth of the Chinese economy is having a favorable effect on the Japanese economy, according to a recent survey by Kyodo News.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2004

Kimono makes comeback -- in used form

Every once in a while, 27-year-old Junko Nagumo and five companions visit boutiques in upmarket Tokyo districts such as Omotesando and Ginza -- not to buy trendy fashion items but to find inexpensive used kimono.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2004

BOJ 'tankan' shows recovery widening

Business confidence at major manufacturers has risen to its highest level since June 1997, according to a key business survey released Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2004

Kanebo shareholders OK plan to spin off unit

Kanebo Ltd. shareholders approved a plan Tuesday to spin off the firm's mainstay cosmetics business to pay off its mounting debts.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2004

Fast Retailing set to exit fruit, vegetable market

Fast Retailing Co. said Monday it will terminate its fresh food business after abandoning hope of turning a profit from selling premium vegetables.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan