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BUSINESS
May 23, 2007

MMC to reduce dealerships in domestic revamp

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will start paring its group dealerships to five from 29 on July 1 to help streamline sales channels and turn around its money-losing operations at home.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2007

SMFG reports 35.7% drop in net profit

The Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, one of Japan's three largest banking groups, reported Monday that group net profit dropped 35.7 percent to 441.4 billion yen in 2006 because of losses from consumer lending affiliate Promise Co. and weak banking operations.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 19, 2007

Farm concession said key to U.S. FTA

Opening up Japan's politically sensitive agriculture market is the key to establishing a free-trade agreement between Japan and the United States, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's vice president for Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2007

A private affair, or not?

PRAGUE — Can a public figure have a private life? Recent events in three countries have highlighted the importance of this question.
BUSINESS
May 17, 2007

Sony logs 68% slump in operating profit

Sony Corp. announced Wednesday that its operating profit plunged 68.3 percent to 71.75 billion yen in the 2006 business year because of price cuts on the PlayStation 3 and the cost of recalling lithium-ion batteries.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2007

TBS demands Rakuten answer all questions

Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc., the target of an unwanted takeover bid by Rakuten Inc., said Tuesday it has asked the Internet mall operator for more information about its intentions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 15, 2007

Who's paying for those free cell phones?

No longer just a simple device for placing calls, the mobile phone is now a must-have item for most people. To promote market penetration, many of these multimedia, high-tech handsets are sold at a discount, or sometimes even given away.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2007

Shinsei had 61 billion yen loss in '06

Shinsei Bank, the first Japanese lender acquired by foreign investors, said Wednesday it posted a net loss of 61 billion yen for the business year that ended March 31 due to losses incurred by Aplus Co., an affiliated consumer lender.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2007

Improving consumer lifestyle choices key to meeting CO2 goals

Consumer behavior holds the key to Japan's ability to fulfill its commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming, as rising greenhouse gas emissions in the household and transport sectors make it increasingly hard to achieve the nation's goals, said participants in a recent symposium...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2007

Japan finally warms to vulture culture

Time was when Japan Inc. shunned the heady world of corporate raiders as a vulture club anathema to the country's consensus culture.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2007

ANA to sell 13 domestic hotels to Morgan Stanley

All Nippon Airways Co. announced Friday it will sell its 13 domestic hotels to U.S. brokerage giant Morgan Stanley for about 280 billion yen -- a move that will allow the carrier to focus on its core airline business.
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2007

Livedoor will stick with its name

Livedoor Co. will stick with its corporate logo because Internet users still place great value on the firm, company officials said Monday, after the scandal-tainted company had considered a name change.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2007

New postal giant raises competition fears as birth approaches

The planned privatization of the postal system, which doubles as the world's biggest savings bank, was hailed around the globe as a watershed free-market reform that would streamline the world's No. 2 economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2007

Midtown -- Roppongi just got loftier

Move over, glitzy Roppongi Hills. There's a new kid on the block in Tokyo's Minato Ward -- an even taller landmark testament to the spoils of wealth.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 24, 2007

Chandru G. Advani

This is the India Year in Japan 2007 and the Japan Year in India 2007. It is a significant time for every enterprise interested in the flow of information, goods and people between the two countries.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2007

After Horie's fall, Nikko case seen smacking of favoritism

Japan has been abuzz with the unusually harsh prison term handed to former Internet mogul Takafumi Horie -- and the slap on the wrist given to scandal-tainted brokerage Nikko Cordial in another high-profile case of accounting fraud that, in monetary terms, was some eight times greater than Horie's firm....
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2007

Daiei proposes Aeon Mall president to be its new chairman

Struggling Daiei Inc. said Tuesday it will invite Yoshiharu Kawato from the Aeon supermarket chain to be its chairman as part of the business and capital alliance between the two retailers.
EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2007

Former mogul gets prison term

Mr. Takafumi Horie, a former Internet mogul known for his defiance of the old-guard business establishment, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Friday for violating the Securities and Exchange Law. The sentence by the Tokyo District Court is extremely rare in view of the fact that people convicted...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 18, 2007

Joking aside, the recovery offers a lifetime opportunity

The Japanese Money Tree: How Investors Can Prosper from Japan's Economic Rebirth, by Andrew Shipley. Pearson Education, 2006, 245 pp., $24.99 (cloth) Derided during the 1990s by foreign fund managers as "the sick man of Asia," Japan's weak growth performance after the economic bubble burst made it the...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb