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Jimoto Holdings' general shareholders meeting in Sendai on Thursday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2024

Regional banking group Jimoto comes under effective state control

A net loss for the group was mainly due to the deterioration of business at Kirayaka Bank, a second-tier regional bank based in Yamagata Prefecture.
Nissan's Leaf electric vehicle, equipped with autonomous driving technology, during a test ride in the Yokohama Minato Mirai area in Yokohama in May
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 21, 2024

Japan focuses on smart cars as automakers fall behind U.S. and China

While driving assistance technology and map navigation features are installed in Japanese cars, they lack more advanced features.
Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden at Adi-Dassler-Sportplatz in Herzogenaurach, Germany, on June 10.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2024

Adidas CEO rides Samba craze to revive brand after Ye debacle

Adidas' stocks have more than doubled from when Bjorn Gulden was announced as the new boss 18 months ago.
Mizuho Financial Group is hiring more bankers to capitalize on its recent acquisition of Greenhill.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2024

Mizuho hiring bankers for U.S. expansion after Greenhill takeover

Mizuho Financial Group is hiring more bankers to capitalize on its recent acquisition of Greenhill.
Shareholders queue to enter a venue for SoftBank Group's annual general meeting in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2024

Activist investing booms in Japan amid corporate governance reforms

International hedge funds and home-grown investors have turned the country into the world’s second-largest market for activists.
Cameras and lenses are displayed at Fujifilm Holdings headquarters in Tokyo on June 7.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 28, 2024

Fujifilm once struggled to sell cameras. Now, it can't keep up with demand.

Fujifilm is struggling to meet demand for the X100 camera, prized by young 20-something social media users for its looks and high-end functions.
Honda has already announced plans to buy back up to ¥300 billion of its shares during the current financial year, a move that could help absorb some of the impact from the sale.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 2, 2024

Major Japanese insurers to offload $3.1 billion of Honda shares, sources say

The sale of shares of a high-profile company is the latest sign that the unwinding of cross-shareholding is gaining pace in Japan.
Masahiko Kato, president and chief executive officer of Mizuho Bank
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024

Mizuho seeks to back more strategic deals by Japan’s mid-caps

Though companies such as automakers grab the attention of global investors, smaller firms dominate in terms of the number of companies in Japan.
The number of bankruptcies in Japan between January and June hit the highest level in a decade, up 22% from the same period last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 5, 2024

Japan's first-half bankruptcies reach highest mark in a decade, report shows

There were 4,887 bankruptcies between January and June, up 22% from the same period a year ago.
Rapidus, which aims to produce next-generation chips domestically, is building a factory in Hokkaido.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2024

Japanese banks gear up lending for chip-related industries

Lenders have set up specialized teams and are collaborating with regional rivals to aid sectors that might benefit from the emergence of chip factories.
Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are assembled at the company’s plant in Renton, Washington, on June 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2024

Boeing in talks with U.S. Defense Department on impact of guilty plea

The plea in relation to two fatal crashes involving its planes in 2018 and 2019 potentially threatens the company's ability to secure lucrative government contracts.
Yoshiyuki Enomoto, president of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India, speaks during an interview in New Delhi on June 27.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 10, 2024

More Japanese firms urged to expand into India's market

JCCII aims to help more small and midsize Japanese firms enter India
Fast Retailing’s expansion into the U.S. and Europe is paying off, with a strong performance in those markets helping to make up for a sharp deceleration in China.
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2024

Fast Retailing’s push into western markets softens China slump

The company behind popular brands Uniqlo and GU raised its full-year forecast for operating income to ¥475 billion ($2.9 billion) from ¥450 billion.
Fans celebrate BTS' 11th debut anniversary during 2024 FESTA, an event for fans of the K-pop boy band a day after band member Jin was discharged from the South Korean army after 18 months of military service, in Seoul on June 13.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2024

TikTok sees K-culture spend doubling to $143 billion by 2030

In the U.S. and Southeast Asia, research has found that about 80% of social media users have found Korean culture through TikTok.
Toyota's plan to buy back shares from major banks and insurers is part of a broader push to unwind strategic shareholdings with financial partners.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2024

Toyota to buy back stock worth $5.2 billion from banks and insurers

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Tokio Marine Holdings and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings are tendering shares at an 11% discount.
Nippon Steel is dissolving its joint venture with China's Baoshan Iron & Steel, ending two decades of cooperation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2024

Nippon Steel to dissolve joint venture with China's Baoshan

Nippon Steel did not provide a reason for dissolving the partnership originally established in 2004.
The Kestrel I Suborbital Launch Vehicle, operated by AtSpace, sister company of Taiwanese rocket startup TiSpace, at an AtSpace facility in Queensland, Australia, on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Jul 25, 2024

Taiwanese rocket startup may bolster Japan's space hub ambitions

A planned launch has faced regulatory hurdles and delays amid questions over whether Japan should embrace overseas business as it works to grow its space industry.
Customers stand in line outside a Louis Vuitton store in Tokyo's Ginza district on July 19.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 2, 2024

Luxury brands count cost as shoppers from overseas enjoy weak yen discount

Goods sold in Japan by global luxury brands, ranging from designer sneakers to whisky, now tend to be cheaper in dollar terms than elsewhere.
Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori holds a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2024

Nippon Steel raises full-year profit forecast, confident on U.S. Steel deal

Net profit in April-June, its first quarter, fell 11% from a year earlier to ¥157.6 billion, but exceeded analyst expectations of ¥108.7 billion as per LSEG data.
According to a third party investigation, phishing attacks are thought to have enabled the theft of employee account information, which gave hackers access to Kadokawa's internal network.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024

Kadokawa confirms data leak of 254,000 people due to cyberattack

According to a third party investigation, phishing attacks are thought to have enabled the hack and subsequent date leak.
The Intel Corporation logo at a temporary office during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in 2022
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 8, 2024

How spurning OpenAI set chip giant Intel behind in the AI marketplace

OpenAI went on to launch the groundbreaking ChatGPT in 2022 and is now reportedly valued at about $80 billion.
A petrochemical plant in China. Asia's producers face the toughest outlook, with oversupply likely to persist.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Aug 9, 2024

Petrochemical makers enter survival mode amid global glut

Major petrochemical producers in Asia and Europe are selling assets, shutting older plants, and retrofitting facilities.
The central square of the Czech town Roznov pod Radhostem, which has about 16,000 inhabitants
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 14, 2024

The sleepy Czech town helping Europe compete in the global chip war

In Roznov, about 2,200 Onsemi employees make 10 million chips a day for car, industrial and telecommunications customers.
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Aug. 8
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 15, 2024

Hedge funds race to tailor ChatGPT for time-consuming research chores

Fast-money proponents remain steadfast in their conviction that their investments will reap tangible wins.
The refrain from linking the ruble's fall to the events unfolding just 530 kilometers southwest of Moscow illustrates a push within Russia to prevent bad economic news from reaching the wider public.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 16, 2024

Silence reigns in Russia over linking ruble fall to Ukrainian attack

The ruble touched a 10-month low against the dollar and the lowest level against the yuan since June 24 in the Aug. 13 session.
The Finance Ministry will apply foreign trade regulations to chipmaking equipment, requiring foreign investors to give prior notice when conducting direct investment in the sector.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2024

Japanese government tightens grip on chip supply-chain network

The move comes as Japan tries to revive its own capacity to produce semiconductors as a pillar of its economic security strategy.
A 7-Eleven convenience store, operated by Seven & I Holdings, in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 19, 2024

Couche-Tard bids for $31 billion Japanese retailer Seven & I

If realized, Canadian convenience-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard's move would be the largest-ever foreign takeover of a Japanese company.
Wind turbines in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2024

Japan offers lifeline to ESG investing amid backlash overseas

In light of the anti-ESG sentiment in the U.S. and Europe, analysts said that Japan can play a key role in driving sustainable finance globally.
Alimentation Couche-Tard’s proposed acquisition of Seven & I Holdings, if successful, would be an extremely rare case of a foreign company's buyout of a major Japanese firm.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 20, 2024

Seven & I buyout would be a watershed moment for Japan takeovers

Until now, an attempt to acquire such a well-known Japanese business at such scale would have been dismissed as audacious and unlikely.
Tourists enjoy the beach in Malaga, Spain, on Aug. 14.
BUSINESS
Aug 20, 2024

Package deals make comeback in Europe among budget-conscious sun seekers

The combination of a cost-of-living crisis and disruption from strikes and glitches has added to the appeal of a fixed-price package without unexpected add-on costs.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear