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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2021

Glitzy high-rise offices lose luster as Japan works from home

Advertising agency Dentsu Group Inc. and logistics firm Nippon Express Co. are among those firms now considering selling their Tokyo headquarters.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2020

Telework forces a rethink of working and living in Tokyo

A drastic shift to telework is putting a brake on the capital's ever-growing population, which may ease overconcentration in the metropolitan area.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2020

Post-pandemic, Japan firms see office as space to foster innovation

Companies say offices should offer environments to enhance productivity and foster communication with colleagues and even those from other companies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2020

Working from home is terrible news for landlords

First there was the decline of the shopping mall, now it's the end of office working. It's tough being in commercial property.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 23, 2020

Remote possibilities: Can every home in Japan become an office?

The COVID-19 pandemic is prompting companies to adopt remote work to reduce contagion risks, accelerating the digital shift of the workspace.
BUSINESS
May 5, 2020

Japan to launch model project for land banks to manage plots left unused

The land ministry will begin a model project for so-called land banks this fiscal year, aiming to appropriately manage land plots that are left unused and find new ways to utilize them through regional cooperation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2020

Japanese hotels lose out on Olympic bet as coronavirus spreads

The Osaka Corona Hotel has been eerily quiet and empty the past few weeks.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 16, 2020

Florida plans biggest purchase of Everglades land in a decade to protect it from drilling

Florida has reached a deal with a private real estate firm to buy a large swath of environmentally sensitive wetlands in the heart of the Everglades to spare the tract from oil drilling, the governor announced on Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 1, 2018

SoftBank bets $400 million on housing market startup Opendoor

Opendoor, which has already raised billions to buy homes over the internet, just landed another large investor: the SoftBank Vision Fund.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2017

Learning to unlock the hidden wealth of cities

Smarter use of their commercial assets would enable cities to ease their budgetary woes and improve their quality of life.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2017

Japan regulator scrutinizes regional banks' fund buying as risks soar

The nation's regional banks, desperate to boost returns with interest rates around zero, are coming under scrutiny from regulators as they increase purchases of risky investment trusts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 6, 2017

Mom and pop investors tiptoe into Japan's lucrative REIT market

This summer, Japanese real estate investment trusts benefited from an unexpected group of net buyers for the first time in nearly seven years: Mom and pop investors.
EDITORIALS
Apr 7, 2017

Fifth year for BOJ monetary easing

The past four years have shown that the BOJ's monetary easing policy alone cannot end the state of deflation that Abe has vowed to bust.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 4, 2017

Activist hedge fund battles 144-year-old firm to ditch low-return ventures

Katakura Industries Co., a Japanese company founded more than a century ago, is no stranger to reinvention. Once a silk producer, it has diversified into making underwear, manufacturing fire engines, operating shopping malls and even bee-keeping.
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2017

Beware risks in China's economy

China's economy appears rather fragile, and any problem there will most certainly be felt in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2016

A ski resort success, Niseko defies rural Japan's demographic decline

Japan's shrinking population has weighed on the world's third-biggest economy, alarmed government forecasters and turned some rural communities into veritable ghost towns.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 7, 2015

Heart of darkness: Nostalgic Tokyo disappearing amid construction boom

The Shinagawa neighborhood of Musashi-Koyama — a vibrant maze of tiny alleyways that once housed dozens of small eateries, tapas restaurants and bars — is now a virtual ghost town.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 24, 2015

Suits against 'Trump University' success seminars paint harsh reality of financial deceit

In 2009, California businessman Art Cohen received a letter from Donald Trump with a "special invitation" and two VIP tickets for a Trump University seminar promising to help make Cohen rich.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
May 10, 2015

Perfect storm of factors conspires to empty Japan

While 'empty-house syndrome' may seem like a problem mostly afflicting rural Japan, it is already an issue in metropolises such as Tokyo and Osaka, and will become more so in the years to come.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 18, 2013

Vacant homes highlight hole in 'Abenomics'

Pieces of broken wood dangle and sway like autumn leaves from the window frames of vacant homes in the Inariyato district in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, where taped-over mailbox slots tell a story of abandonment.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2012

Mori plans ¥100 billion in property buys, rent hikes

Billionaire Akira Mori plans to buy as much as ¥100 billion in properties in Tokyo, New York and London, his company's first investment of this scale since 2008, as local real estate values recover and the yen strengthens.
SBI Holdings CEO Yoshitaka Kitao speaks during a news conference on Thursday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 17, 2025

SBI Holdings CEO to 'fight to the end' if Fuji Media resists leadership rethink

Yoshitaka Kitao said he will increase SBI Holdings’ stake in Fuji Media Holdings depending on how the TV network responds.
Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda. Toyota Industries investor Zennor Asset Management said a plan by Toyoda to take over the Japanese auto parts maker raises governance issues and may undermine minority shareholders’ interests.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2025

Toyota Industries investor Zennor says it wants minority safeguards

A founding partner of Zennor said the buyout plan would benefit the founding family and may undervalue the target’s stock and real estate holdings.
James Rosewald, co-founder of Dalton Investments, speaks during an interview at the company's office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025

Dalton connects with activist investor-linked fund to pressure Fuji Media

Dalton is trying to pressure Fuji Media after the broadcaster earlier this month spurned the fund’s proposal for 12 new directors, including SBI Holdings' Yoshitaka Kitao.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda's ¥4.7 trillion buyout plan for Toyota Industries is delayed due to slower-than-expected antitrust reviews overseas.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 7, 2025

Toyota Industries $31 billion buyout plan faces antitrust delays

The regulatory hurdle could be the first of many as Toyoda attempts to tighten his family’s grip on Toyota in a deal that would rank among the biggest buyouts on record anywhere.
Shenzhen International Airport. Chinese job seekers, worried about competition in tech fields, are upset about the new K visa, which allows foreign talent to work in China.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2025

China’s visa uproar is part of a DeepSeek illusion

Some of the resulting backlash on Chinese social media against the new K visa has been downright xenophobic and even racist.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.