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BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2016

Tepco unveils loyalty tie-ups in bid to retain household customers

With the retail electricity market set to be deregulated in April, Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Thursday unveiled a range of new price plans that offer discounts to customers who sign up with specific partners.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2016

Warm winter means damp profits for Fast Retailing

Fast Retailing Co. cut its full-year operating profit forecast as unseasonably warm weather worldwide hurt sales of winter clothes for the retailer's Uniqlo brand of casual wear, the Yamaguchi-based company said Thursday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jan 6, 2016

For Japan's English teachers, rays of hope amid the race to the bottom

The major economic engines of Japan Inc. — car manufacturers, appliance giants and the like — have often been caught price-fixing: colluding to keep an even market share, squeeze competitors out and maintain "harmony." Similarly, the commercial English-teaching business could be accused of wage-fixing:...
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 6, 2016

Mitsubishi UFJ plans division to pursue fintech endeavors

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. has set up a unit to research and develop new financial technologies, the first of its kind for a major Japanese bank, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES
Jan 5, 2016

For many young Japanese, marriage — and sex — are low priorities

This is the fourth in a five-part series on Japan's population woes caused by its graying society and low birthrate.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 5, 2016

Toyota joins Ford against Apple-Google car screen dominance

Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to use a car-phone connectivity system championed by Ford Motor Co. in a bid to keep Apple Inc. and Google from dominating control of dashboards.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2016

Japan's rural temples see the light in luxury tourism

Deep in a forest in Fukui Prefecture, a 13th century Buddhist temple where Steve Jobs once dreamed of becoming a Zen monk has teamed up with a Tokyo skyscraper builder to seek the commercial enlightenment of foreign tourist dollars.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 4, 2016

2016: the year of looking beyond Japan's Abenomics

After three largely squandered years, Abe must finally get serious about the reforms he's been promising.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 2, 2016

House of cards: Can traditional New Year’s greetings survive in modern times?

On Jan. 1, legions of Japan Post Co. employees delivered millions of nengajō (New Year's cards) to homes nationwide.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 28, 2015

Aichi printing company publishes calendar produced by man with no arms

A printing company has produced a calendar bearing kanji characters written by a staffer who has no arms.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2015

Tourism surge puts shine on biz hotels, hostels

With the drastic increase in tourism, the lack of lodging in the nation's biggest cities, particularly Tokyo and Osaka, is providing a major opportunity for those running two types of accommodations: "business hotels" and hostels.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2015

SMFG chief says 'cautious' approach to lending needed in slowing Asia

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.'s top executive said the bank needs to be cautious in its drive to boost lending in Asia, as a slowdown in China and the slump in commodity prices cloud the region's economic outlook.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 24, 2015

JPMorgan says Japan Inc. must prepare for yen at less than ¥100 a dollar

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is making two contrarian calls: first that the yen will strengthen toward 100 per dollar and second that such a rally will not destroy the world's third-largest economy.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2015

Kengo Kuma, architect picked to design Tokyo's new Olympic stadium, is highly regarded in his field

Kengo Kuma, whose design was picked Tuesday for Tokyo's new Olympic stadium, is one of Japan's best known architects.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2015

Japan's Recruit to acquire Dutch employment firm USG People

Recruit Holdings Co. agreed to buy USG People NV of the Netherlands for just over €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) as Japan's biggest provider of temporary staff seeks to boost growth in Europe.
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2015

Abe honors firms that promote women on heels of gender target cut

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday presided over a ceremony to celebrate companies that have made progress in promoting women, just weeks after the government scaled back ambitious targets for increasing the number of female managers.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 22, 2015

China poised to pass anti-terror law this month with West-opposed cyber-provisions

China's controversial anti-terrorism law could be passed as soon as the end of this month, state news agency Xinhua said on Monday, legislation that has drawn concern in Western capitals for its cyber-provisions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 21, 2015

Nomura to buy stake in American Century Investments

Nomura Holdings Inc., the nation's biggest brokerage, plans to pay about $1 billion for a stake of about 40 percent in U.S. money manager American Century Investments, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 20, 2015

Young music fans found their voices in 2015

The music industry in Japan has long been seen as lagging behind the times. Once every six months there is an article that marvels at the supremacy of CDs, and new albums from acts that were big in the 1990s tend to dominate charts alongside idol-pop groups that few would label "musically progressive."...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2015

Toshiba to use crisis for profit-building overhaul

The biggest crisis in Toshiba Corp.'s 140-year history gives President Masashi Muromachi an opportunity to push through painful reforms from layoffs to business closures, accelerating the industrial conglomerate's move away from consumer electronics.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 17, 2015

Experts see tough road ahead for Sharp and its LCD division

A struggling Sharp Corp. has reached a crossroads as it will soon need to decide what to do with its signature LCD business.

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