Business Dec 8, 2021
Japan's November business failures hit a 56-year low, survey shows
The number of pandemic-related bankruptcies reached 172, however, hitting a record high for the third month in a row.
Commentary / World May 4, 2021
Hard to believe, but we’re running out of sand
by Brad Glosserman
Sizzling demand in a post-pandemic recovery will encourage the usual bad behaviors that accompany exploding markets: environmental degradation, forced labor and criminal profiteering.
Commentary / Japan Nov 18, 2020
What happens when Singapore runs out of sand for construction?
by Daniel Moss
Singapore’s appetite for sand has become controversial. Some neighbors that used to sell it have objected, citing concerns about environmental degradation.
Business Jul 20, 2019
A building rush linked to the 2020 Tokyo Games has been affecting rebuilding efforts in some areas devastated by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, despite the government's push to brand the event the reconstruction Olympics. Shortages of construction materials such as steel beams ...
Business / Corporate Jul 1, 2019
Japan's Showa Leasing to enter crane rental business in Philippines
Showa Leasing Co. will launch a crane rental service in the Philippines with local and Japanese partners, anticipating demand from President Rodrigo Duterte's "Build, Build, Build" infrastructure development program. The company plans to form a joint venture with local contractor EEI Corp. and Japanese crane ...
Business / Corporate Jun 7, 2019
by Masumi Koizumi
A Japanese startup is betting that its "touchable" 3D technology will have a vast array of applications, potentially allowing smartphone shoppers to evaluate the fabric of clothes they want to buy online and gamers to feel virtual objects. Founded in 2014 as a technology transfer ...
National May 16, 2019
'Culture of fear': Report alleges low pay and overwork for laborers at Tokyo Olympics sites
A report released by a global union federation Wednesday demanded better conditions for laborers working on the construction of Tokyo Games facilities after several "alarming" cases of suspected labor violations were uncovered. The report from Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI), titled "The Dark Side ...
National | Regional Voices: Okinawa Apr 21, 2019
Worker influx ignites resort island rent bubble on Miyakojima
An influx of construction workers to meet the demands of the tourism boom on the Okinawan resort island of Miyakojima is creating severe apartment shortages, sending rents higher. Take the rent for studio apartments, which combine the living room, bedroom and kitchen into a single ...
National / Social Issues Aug 16, 2018
Bucking superstition, Japanese woman tunnels way to top of civil-engineering world
by Sakura Murakami
For civil engineer Reiko Abe, 55, being competent at her job was never enough. Her sex and the superstitions surrounding it caused her to be turned away from job interviews and construction sites in Japan. After clawing her way to the top of the male-dominated ...
National Jul 27, 2018
Five dead, 40 injured by blaze at construction site in west Tokyo suburb of Tama
Five people died and around 40 were injured Thursday after a fire broke out at a three-story building under construction in Tama in western Tokyo and smoke engulfed the workers. Four of the deceased were described Friday as men between the ages of 44 and ...
Editorials Dec 15, 2017
Investigators should get to the bottom of the budding bid-rigging scandal to see whether the construction firms have in fact put their shady practices behind them.
Business / Tech Mar 16, 2017
Japan's labor-scarce building sites automating, turning to robots, drones
by Akiko Yasuhara
Construction sites in Japan are enjoying a wave of automation amid an increasing shortage of laborers, with the introduction of robots to do heavy lifting and drones that instantly collect aerial data. As the industry ages along with the country's graying society, construction companies are ...