Environment Feb 21, 2021
Can Japan embrace an alternative approach to plastic?
by Mara Budgen
Japanese companies are rethinking how we make, use and dispose of products by creating substitutes to fossil fuel-based plastics.
Business / Corporate Jan 15, 2021
Marubeni reportedly planning sale of North Sea oil and gas fields
by Laura Hurst
A disposal would follow the retreat of other Japanese firms — and several international oil majors — from the aging basin to focus on larger operations elsewhere.
Business / Financial Markets Oct 13, 2020
Buffett-led share price boom short-lived for most Japan trading firms
by Gearoid Reidy, Shoko Oda and Stephen Stapczynski
The August announcement, among the largest investments ever made by Buffett in Japan, boosted investor interest in the trading companies.
Business / Corporate Aug 31, 2020
Berkshire Hathaway takes stakes topping $6 billion in Japan's top five trading companies
by Katherine Chiglinsky and Stephen Stapczynski
Shares in the trading houses leaped on news of the foray, one of billionaire Warren Buffett's biggest in Asia’s second-largest economy.
Business Feb 4, 2020
Marubeni to launch Japan's first large-scale offshore wind power business
Marubeni Corp. is gearing up to launch what it says will be Japan's first large-scale offshore wind power generation business. Tokyo-based Akita Offshore Wind Corp., an equity-method affiliate of the trading house, will set up 33 wind power generators at port facilities in the cities ...
Business / Corporate May 20, 2019
Higher U.S. tariffs on Chinese products are expected to affect Marubeni Corp., Masumi Kakinoki, president and chief executive officer of the major trading house, said in a recent interview. "Japan will be affected for sure and so will Marubeni to some extent," said Kakinoki, who ...
Business | INSIDER REPORT Dec 25, 2018
Sōgō shōsha: Adapting to stay ahead as industries evolve
by Patrick Ryan
The sōgō shōsha's longevity, up until this point, can to a certain extent be attributed to their adeptness in being able to rapidly acclimate themselves to the changes in the business and economic environment over the years. By moving quickly and being flexible, the ...
Business | INSIDER REPORT Dec 17, 2018
Global challenges lie ahead as sōgō shōsha hunt for growth
by Patrick Ryan
While many global companies, including the sōgō shōsha, face similar political, economic, social, technological, managerial and other risks — much too many to cover here — Japan's nearly complete dependence on natural resource and raw material imports from overseas and its shrinking domestic market ...
Business | INSIDER REPORT Dec 10, 2018
Diversification, integration and the roles of trader and investor
by Patrick Ryan
There are some who have explained, in somewhat academic terms, the sōgō shōsha's upstream-downstream integration process by dividing it into two concepts: "diversification" and "integration." Weight of nontrading roles Simply, what is occurring is the business divisions' units are applying and combining such nontrading functions as ...
Business | INSIDER REPORT Dec 3, 2018
Adapting to new industries, bolstering world's infrastructure
by Patrick Ryan
The ability of the sōgō shōsha to survive through all the changes and transformations that have taken place over the years can, in many ways, be attributed to their adeptness in recognizing the rise of new industries early on and creating new businesses in ...
Business | INSIDER REPORT Nov 26, 2018
How the lifelines of the economy feed and fuel Japan
by Patrick Ryan
Given Japan's low food self-sufficiency ratio and dearth of energy resources, the sōgō shōsha have acted as a lifeline to Japan's economy through the import of foodstuffs and energy resources. However, the sōgō shōsha's involvement goes far beyond just importation. Here, I would like to ...
Business | INSIDER REPORT Nov 19, 2018
Sōgō shōsha: Understanding Japan's super suppliers and distributors
by Patrick Ryan
As mentioned before, the sōgō shōsha have two fundamental business models: Their traditional, core business model as trader, supplier, wholesaler and distributor of a vast array of goods and materials upstream and downstream in the supply or value chain, and as an organizer of ...