Warren Buffett has made $2 billion so far with bet on Japan's trading houses
The gain of more than 30% across the five firms has outpaced the benchmark Topix index’s 21% rise, without accounting for dividend income.
Can Japan embrace an alternative approach to plastic?
Japanese companies are rethinking how we make, use and dispose of products by creating substitutes to fossil fuel-based plastics.
Marubeni reportedly planning sale of North Sea oil and gas fields
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.
Buffett-led share price boom short-lived for most Japan trading firms
The August announcement, among the largest investments ever made by Buffett in Japan, boosted investor interest in the trading companies.
Berkshire Hathaway takes stakes topping $6 billion in Japan's top five trading companies
Shares in the trading houses leaped on news of the foray, one of billionaire Warren Buffett's biggest in Asia’s second-largest economy.
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 ...
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 ...
Sōgō shōsha: Adapting to stay ahead as industries evolve
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 ...
Global challenges lie ahead as sōgō shōsha hunt for growth
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 ...
Diversification, integration and the roles of trader and investor
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 ...
Adapting to new industries, bolstering world's infrastructure
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 ...
How the lifelines of the economy feed and fuel Japan
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 ...
