Commentary / Japan Apr 19, 2020
What we’ll miss when bookstores disappear
by Takamitsu Sawa
Nothing can fully replace holding a real book in your hands.
Business Oct 10, 2018
'War' on food waste can save money and boost profits, Israeli tech firm says
Wasteless, an Israeli firm seeking to reduce food waste and save consumers money, won $2 million in funding on Tuesday, as more businesses seek to cut food losses amid rising global hunger. The two-year-old firm sells software to supermarkets so that they can manage their ...
Business / Corporate May 17, 2018
Bargain-hunting Chinese make Japanese retail king Bic Camera a billionaire
by Yoojung Lee and Chris Cooper
Japanese retail tycoon Ryuji Arai can thank a growing flock of Chinese spenders for his swelling fortune. Bic Camera Inc., the Tokyo-based consumer electronics retailer that sells everything from cosmetics to liquor at discounted prices, has become a sought-after destination for tourists shopping in Japan. ...
World / Social Issues Mar 14, 2016
Broken baby food jar leads Swedish man to create 24/7 unstaffed store
Parenthood may be hard but those challenges can also lead to new ideas. Ask Robert Ilijason, for whom a broken baby food jar eventually led to the opening of Sweden's first around-the-clock unstaffed convenience store. The store is located in Viken, where Ilijason lives, a village ...
National Mar 3, 2016
Kumamon product sales top ¥100 billion in 2015 for first time
Sales of products featuring Kumamoto Prefecture's popular Kumamon black bear mascot surpassed ¥100 billion in 2015 for the first time, the prefectural government has said. The figure, released Wednesday, represented the fifth straight year of record sales for such products since the local government began ...
Business / Corporate Oct 15, 2015
FamilyMart Co. has agreed to buy Uny Group Holdings Co., the operator of the Circle K and Sunkus chains, creating the nation's second-largest convenience store operator. It will be an all stock transaction valuing the company at about ¥171 billion. FamilyMart will pay 0.138 of a ...
Business / Economy May 28, 2015
Retail sales rose less than forecast in April, signaling a weak start to the second quarter for an economy that is still weighed down by last year's sales-tax increase. Sales climbed 0.4 percent from March, when they dropped 1.8 percent, government data released Thursday showed. ...
Business Feb 16, 2015
Department stores beef up Chinese service before Year of the Sheep
Major department stores are beefing up their service for Chinese customers ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday season starting Wednesday, bidding for big-spending tourists to offset the slump in domestic spending. The Year of the Sheep begins on Thursday, and Chinese visitors are on ...
Business Oct 2, 2014
Stores see profit in prayer as they cater to foreign tourists
by Tomohiro Osaki
From free Wi-Fi to prayer rooms, Japan's retailers are devising creative ways to encourage foreign tourists to spend. On Wednesday the government significantly expanded the range of goods that stores can sell to visitors duty-free. But some retailers are going it alone in pursuit of ...
Business Jul 4, 2014
Seven-Eleven to open dozens of stores at JR Shikoku stations
Seven-Eleven Japan Co. will in August begin opening around 40 outlets at Shikoku Railway Co. train stations, sources familiar with the matter said Friday. The expansion will take about three years to complete. JR Shikoku, which serves the island it is named after, will convert ...