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BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2024

Japanese companies maintain suspended operations in Russia: survey

Japan has kept stakes in some energy projects as a matter of energy security.
Buildings in the business district in Singapore. The city state hosted regional headquarters for 4,200 multinational firms in 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 22, 2024

Even China’s giants are picking Singapore over Hong Kong

The city state hosted regional headquarters for 4,200 multinational firms in 2023.
Citigroup is betting that Japan’s bond market revival will gather steam after the Bank of Japan's rate hike.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 4, 2024

Citigroup sees ‘exciting market’ for Japan bonds after BOJ move

"Normalization has started, so we foresee a lot of activity going forward”
French President Emmanuel Macron during an interview on the fringes of the Choose France summit in Versailles, France, on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024

Macron puts French banks in play with plan to transform Europe

Macron has been trying to persuade his EU partners to embrace reforms that he says would turn the bloc into a more united and powerful economic force.
A worker at Sakai Seisakusyo prepares to transport metal rods at its factory in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, on July 8.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2024

Japan finds a 'stealth' cure for zombie businesses: Let them fail

The shift in thinking is a clear departure for a country that has typically sought to avoid bankruptcies and protect existing jobs at the cost of productivity.
The Nomura Securities headquarters in Tokyo. Net income tripled from a year earlier to ¥68.9 billion ($446 million) in the three months ended June 30, the company said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2024

Nomura profit triples on jump in wealth management and trading

Net income tripled from a year earlier to ¥68.9 billion ($446 million) in the three months ended June 30, the company said.
Commuters take a subway home at Sungsu station in Seoul on July 15.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024

Declaring ‘crisis,’ South Korean firms tell managers to work more

In South Korea, the five-day workweek is only a generation old, introduced by labor laws in 2004.
Japanese firms' capital expenditure rose 1.9% in the three months through June from the previous quarter.
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2024

Japan’s firms lift outlays in sign of modest domestic demand

Capital expenditure on goods excluding software rose 1.9% in the three months through June from the previous quarter.
The student lounge in the senior school building at the GEMS World Academy in Dubai
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 16, 2024

Expats paying $33,000 school fees fuel rise of Dubai billionaire

Founded by Indian-born Sunny Varkey, GEMS Education caters to every price point, starting at as little as $3,900 a year.
Flowers are laid in front of a Japanese school in Shenzhen last Friday. A Japanese boy who was on his way to the school was fatally stabbed last week.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 25, 2024

Expat safety seen as a must for Japanese firms to keep doing business in China

Business leaders have underlined the duty of a host country to foreign firms in the wake of a fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in Shenzhen.
For years, Seven & I has faced calls from investors to focus more on its convenience-store business.
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2024

7-Eleven owner seeking to sell off part of stake in banking unit

The sale of part of its stake in Seven Bank would intend to show Seven & I Holdings is willing to focus more on its core 7-Eleven business.
Seven & I Holdings essentially unveiled a plan to split in two.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2024

Seven & I to split in two to fend off Couche-Tard takeover bid

The big question is if the move will be enough to win over any investors warming to Couche-Tard’s approach.
The success of Seven & I's major restructuring plan depends on the retailer's ability to roll out a new store format in Japan, and improve profit margins overseas, analysts say.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Oct 15, 2024

7-Eleven's turnaround plan requires heavy lifting to stop takeover bid

Much depends on the retailer's ability to roll out a new store format in Japan and improve profit margins overseas.
The headquarters of HSBC in the Canary Wharf financial district in London
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 23, 2024

HSBC revamp by new CEO Elhedery stumps staffers and investors alike

The firm's new CEO just unveiled the biggest overhaul of the company in at least a decade, but it was missing some key details for employees and investors.
Unattended picket signs are piled up outside a Boeing facility in Seattle on Monday, after unionized workers voted to end their strike.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2024

Boeing CEO in battle to mend rifts after bitter strike ends

The strike exposed divides that run right through the company.
Packages move along a conveyor belt at an Amazon warehouse
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024

Japan investigating Amazon for allegedly bullying other businesses

Tactics allegedly employed by the retailer involve the squeezing of business partners in exchange for visibility.
The departure of Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger opens the possibility of fresh deal talks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2024

Intel’s CEO departure opens door to new deal discussions

The CEO's departure is also an opportunity for suitors to take another look at acquiring some or all of Intel.
Small businesses in Ino, a town in Kochi Prefecture known for its paper industry, show how a labor shortage is a growing threat to smaller companies that provide seven out of every 10 jobs in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 24, 2024

Small businesses with low wages struggle to tackle labor shortages

A worker shortage is threatening firms that are otherwise robust, including those that have invested in automation and creative hiring.
Bulk food dispensers at a new 7-Eleven store in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture. Opened a year ago, Seven & I Holdings conceived it as a prototype to test the synergies between the company’s retail supermarket chain and its more-successful convenience-store business.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Feb 10, 2025

Blended 7-Eleven-and-supermarket concept proves a tough sell

It is unclear if higher customer numbers have been sustained, and Seven & I has no plans right now to open more such outlets.
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.
Nomura is looking to deepen its foothold in its traditional Wall Street businesses by weighing a return to offering cash prime-brokerage services in the United States and Europe.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025

Nomura weighs return to prime brokerage four years after Archegos

Prime brokerage, which involves banks lending cash and securities to hedge funds, has become an increasing money maker for Wall Street in recent years due to high equities prices.
Seven & I hopes to focus more on its 7-Eleven convenience stores.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
May 28, 2025

Seven & I’s move away from banking leaves market wondering

7-Eleven's ATMs are an important part of the convenience store operator's business.
Nomura is in expansion mode in U.S. markets despite wider sentiments that are more worried about U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies overshadowing global growth prospects.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2025

Nomura sees great opportunities to grow in U.S. despite turmoil

The firm plans to advance targets for its investment management and wholesale banking businesses by pursuing long-term growth in the Americas.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management Japan is expanding its business as Japanese institutional investors are increasingly willing to hire third parties to help oversee their trillions of dollars in assets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2025

Goldman CIO service suddenly catches on in Japan after 10 years

The return of inflation after two decades has added pressure on Japan’s pensions and insurance companies to seek higher returns.
Nomura Holdings shuffles its leadership in its currencies and emerging markets trading business following the departure of the unit’s co-head Nagaraj Pangal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2025

Nomura shuffles leadership in trading units after second exit in nine months

The business has been suffering from a series of high-profile exits, and on one team as of January at least eight traders had left or gone on leave in the prior 12 months.
Mitsubishi Estate is one of Japan’s largest property companies and the firm has been growing its investment management business.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2025

Mitsubishi buys stake in private equity real estate firm Patron

The deal will see Mitsubishi commit about €600 million of equity to Patron’s funds to help it build out new strategies including its nascent credit business.
A worker installs part of a business-class aircraft seat at the factory of Safran Seats GB in Cwmbran, South Wales, Britain, on Feb. 20.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jul 3, 2025

Airline seat industry crisis delaying jet deliveries

Certification bottlenecks and growing demand for bespoke features make it hard for the fragmented sector to achieve economies of scale after the pandemic.
Isao Taniguchi (center), chief of the National Institute of Technology, and Yuto Kashihara (left), who founded D-yorozu, promote a tie-up with BizReach in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2025

'Kōsen' tech colleges and HR firm tie up for student entrepreneurs

The National Institute of Technology, which oversees the 51 national kōsen across Japan, signed a partnership agreement with BizReach last month.
Jamco, a Japan-based maker of airplane seats, toilets, and galleys that was recently acquired by Bain Capital, is betting its U.S.-based manufacturing hub will give it an advantage under President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2025

Bain’s Japanese plane seat-maker sees U.S. hub as shelter from Trump tariffs

Supply chain issues that have seen extended wait times for cabin fittings also present an opportunity to fill, Jamco Executive Chair Kate Schaefer says.
A Pertamina fuel storage facility at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta in 2022
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 18, 2025

Indonesia’s ‘gasoline godfather’ targeted in $18 billion graft probe

Mohammad Riza Chalid is the most audacious target to date for the current administration, as it reshuffles its energy procurement and attempts to supercharge growth.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes