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Since Koji Sato, 54, became Toyota CEO in April last year, the automaker has announced its biggest share buyback on record.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024

Influx of new CEOs in Japan brings shift in generational mindset

Many of the new crop of leaders were in junior roles as the nation’s economic miracle unraveled, and they’re now seeking out new ways of doing things.
Seiji Izumisawa, president of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, says the firm is almost finished designing its next-generation nuclear reactor.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024

Mitsubishi Heavy moving closer to building new reactor in Japan

The firm can start building the facility once a site for it is established and some late-stage tests are completed.
Inside the TikTok office in Singapore in 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 1, 2024

China’s AI startups head to Singapore in a bid for global growth

Singapore offers many Chinese artificial intelligence startup companies better access to global investors and customers than China does.
The China World Office 2 building, which houses the headquarters of China International Capital Corp. (CICC), in Beijing May 6. One official gauge of foreign direct investment clocked its lowest monthly reading since mid-2018 in May, as investors show caution amid Chinese President Xi Jinping’s conflicting campaigns to bolster national security against foreign threats and further open up the economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 4, 2024

Xi’s China proves a hard sell at officials’ overseas roadshows

Their pitch to foreign investors is being met with doubt, partly due to the policies of their big boss.
A Maruti Suzuki India showroom in Chennai, India
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 5, 2024

Suzuki starts $40 million India fund to help rural startups

Suzuki is at risk of losing customers in India due to its paltry lineup of hybrid cars and lack of any electrified options.
Bain Capital partner Masashi Suekane during an interview last month
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 5, 2024

Bain Capital to invest ¥5 trillion in Japan over five years

Bain Capital plans to increase its workforce in Japan and has established a team to help firms make effective use of their real estate with low profitability.
London's financial district in August 2023
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2024

Labour win brings few hopes — or fears — to London's financial district

The Labour Party has assiduously courted the City of London, mindful that their plans for boosting economic growth will need a big dose of private capital.
Traditional boat parties on the Sumida River in Tokyo are popular for informal gatherings among professionals that deal in Japanese government bonds.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 9, 2024

Tokyo’s exclusive circle of government bond traders in demand amid policy shift

The world’s top hedge funds are shaking up the closed community that was, for a time, a sleepy backwater of global finance.
Europe's Ariane 6 rocket takes off in Kourou, French Guiana, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 10, 2024

Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket goes retro in challenge to SpaceX

Reusable rockets and frequent launches "were once aspirational but are now minimal requirements" to compete commercially, said the Rocket Lab CEO and founder.
Several people from Nomura Holdings in charge of Asia excluding Japan are leaving the company, according to an internal memo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2024

Nomura reshuffles Asia investment banking team and cuts jobs in slump

A management change coincides with a new round of job cuts involving about 10 bankers this week, sources have said.
PwC is considering slashing up to half its financial services auditing staff in China and about 20% of its staff in other auditing teams and nonauditing business lines.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2024

PwC weighs halving of China financial services audit staff, say sources

The firm has 781 partners and nearly 19,000 employees in mainland China as of last September.
Inside TSMC’s plant in Taiwan. Chip plants, with rows of advanced equipment, require massive amounts of electricity.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Aug 5, 2024

TSMC’s Kumamoto plant pledges to use 100% renewables despite high costs

The move is not just an exercise of corporate responsibility but also a response to demands from the chipmaker's large customers.
Itochu is buying back ¥150 billion worth of its own shares.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024

Itochu to buy back shares and take full control of apparel and chemicals units

The deals are part of a trend of dissolving dual listings of parent and subsidiary companies to enhance corporate governance and improve operational efficiency.
As investors look for opportunities in the new environment created by the Bank of Japan and the resulting market turmoil, there is broad consensus that they will have to reevaluate what they thought they knew about the country.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 7, 2024

Japan morphs into the center of worry for global investors

In less than a week, Japan has completely upended the world’s expectations for its markets and economy.
Disney resorts division head Josh D’Amaro
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 12, 2024

Disney plots villains-themed land and new cruise ships in resorts push

Disney is providing details after announcing plans for its parks and resorts unit last year that included doubling capital investment to $60 billion over 10 years.
A tourist picks up an aloha shirt at the Samurai Aloha store at Narita Airport in June.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Aug 12, 2024

Aloha shirts made from recycled kimono in Tohoku prove to be huge hit

The shirts, called Samurai Aloha, were launched in the hopes of helping the area recover from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Visitors take selfies at Kinkaku-ji Golden Temple in Kyoto.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2024

Overtourism isn’t the conundrum it’s made out to be

142 countries are projected to exceed their pre-pandemic tourism performance this year, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
The departure of the head of Apple's App Store comes as the division is being split into two teams: one overseeing Apple’s own store and another responsible for alternative app distribution.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2024

Apple’s App Store head to leave in reorganization amid global scrutiny

Matt Fischer, a vice president who has run the App Store business since 2010, will leave the iPhone maker in October.
Canadian National Railway workers picket at the CPKC Toronto yard, after the company and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) locked out employees following unsuccessful negotiation attempts with the Teamsters union, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 23, 2024

Canada moves quickly to end unprecedented rail shutdown

The Canadian Industrial Relations Board will consult the two rail companies and unions before issuing a back-to-work order that should come soon.
In this NASA handout, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of a test flight at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in July 2021.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 26, 2024

Boeing's CEO faces hard choices after NASA snubs Starliner for SpaceX

The specter of NASA astronauts being stuck in space is just one embarrassing moment of many for Boeing during an epically bad year.
Used cars are sold at high prices at a dealership in Nagoya as a surge in export demand has reduced supply on the domestic market.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Sep 2, 2024

Japanese businesses grapple with exchange rate swings

For the used car sector, the weaker yen has resulted in buyers being forced to pay higher prices due to increased export demand.
The X account of Elon Musk in seen blocked on a mobile screen on Saturday after Brazil's telecommunications regulator suspended access to the X social network in the country to comply with an order from a judge who has been locked in a monthslong feud with the billionaire.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 2, 2024

Musk’s Starlink defies order to block X in Brazil

The move illustrates the sheer power of the billionaire and his business empire and how he leverages it to confront authorities and challenge laws he does not like.
Seven & I is currently categorized on the Finance Ministry's classification list as a company that conducts "designated," but not "core" businesses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024

Japanese companies cannot use national security cover to block takeovers, official says

Japanese companies cannot use a national security designation as a tool to thwart foreign takeovers, a senior Finance Ministry official said.
When it comes to trade disputes between the U.S. and China, not even the game of golf is spared.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2024

U.S. golf cart industry reveals how China tariffs are a blunt instrument

In factories and shops around the country, finding complaints about cheaper Chinese competitors is easy — but reaching a consensus on how to combat them is harder.
A mock-up of Toyota's next-generation Li-ion batteries for battery electric vehicles
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 6, 2024

Japan to provide new subsidies for domestic EV battery output

Handing out more subsidies will help expand the country's production capacity for storage batteries by around 50%.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 7, 2024

U.S. opposition to Nippon Steel deal 'very unsettling,' PM hopeful Ishiba says

Some experts say blocking the deal could undermine U.S.-Japan cooperation on national security, and put the lie to the notion of "ally shoring."
A Tokyo Star Bank branch in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024

Tiny Japan bank looks to grow by lending to offshore homebuyers

Japan’s weak yen and low interest rates have drawn overseas interest in Japanese property and boosted prices.
Nippon Steel headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel send letter to Biden on merger plans

A spokesperson did not provide details about the letter's content, but said it was signed by the chief executives of both steelmakers.
Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of Salesforce, speaks during a press conference at the 2024 Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, California, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 18, 2024

Salesforce’s new AI strategy acknowledges that AI will take jobs

The new strategy by Salesforce addresses the investor fear that job losses from AI could hurt the software-as-a-service business model.
Toru Yamasaki, president of San-in Godo Bank, says buying the Japanese government bonds are better for a regional bank like his than foreign debt.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024

Japan bank stung by Fed hikes plots return to government bonds

A bank operating in Japan’s least populated area is doing something that may have global repercussions if its peers do the same.

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A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami