Business Jun 18, 2019
Ministry plan will see Japan's mobile phone carriers slash cancellation fees in fall
Under the approved plan, major mobile phone operators will be obliged to cut cancellation charges by 90 percent to ¥1,000 or less.
Business / Corporate Jun 13, 2019
Toyota to cut managers' summer bonus by up to 5% due to high R&D costs
Toyota Motor Corp. will cut summer bonuses for some 9,800 managers by 4 to 5 percent, as it looks to tighten cost control in the face of high spending on developing technology for autonomous and electrified vehicles, a source close to the matter said ...
Business Jun 11, 2019
Japan plans to cut mobile phone contract penalties to ¥1,000
The government plans to impose new regulations on mobile phone operators to cut cancellation penalties by about 90 percent to ¥1,000 ($9) or less to make it easier for users to switch mobile carriers and spur competition, officials said Tuesday. The move is expected to ...
Business Jun 6, 2019
Airbnb Inc. says it's back in business in Japan, a year after stricter short-term lodging regulations forced it to freeze a major portion of its listings in the country. There are 50,000 listings available in the country, with another 23,000 rooms in hotels and traditional ...
Business / Corporate May 30, 2019
In latest snub for Huawei, Japan's SoftBank chooses Nokia and Ericsson for 5G network
Huawei Technologies Co., which together with ZTE Corp. was a 4G vendor for the Japanese company, wasn’t selected despite participating in earlier 5G trials.
Business / Corporate May 29, 2019
Toyota considers investment in Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi
Toyota Motor Corp. is considering investing up to ¥60 billion ($550 million) in Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing Technology Co. in an effort to expand its business in China, sources close to the matter said Wednesday. Toyota and Didi are looking to set up a ...
Business / Corporate May 24, 2019
Amazon Japan halts direct sales of Huawei products after Trump's blacklisting of Chinese firm
Amazon Japan has suspended direct online sales of Huawei Technologies Co. products after Washington last week blacklisted the Chinese communications giant, sources close to the matter said Friday. The e-commerce titan's move came as major Japanese mobile phone service operators such as KDDI Corp. and ...
Business May 22, 2019
AI robot duo to guide visitors during test trial at Tokyo Station
East Japan Railway Co. on Wednesday showed the media a test trial of two artificial intelligence robots designed to guide passengers at Tokyo Station. The robots — Pepper of SoftBank Robotics Corp. and SEMMI of German railway company Deutsche Bahn AG — were deployed at ...
Business / Corporate May 17, 2019
Toyota considers offering self-driving technology to ride-hailing firms in Asia
Toyota Motor Corp. is considering offering autonomous driving technologies to ride-hailing firms, sources close to the matter said Thursday, in its latest push to become a company offering not only cars but also various mobility services. The automaker is planning to supply a new driverless ...
Business / Corporate May 16, 2019
Line Pay ¥30 billion campaign will allow users to send free ¥1,000 to all their friends
by Kazuaki Nagata
Line has about 80 million active users in Japan, of which about 32 million are registered Line Pay users, according to the firm.
Reference | FYI May 13, 2019
Will government pressure slash Japan's intricate web of smartphone fees?
by Kazuaki Nagata
Last August, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga dropped a bombshell remark that rattled Japan's mobile phone industry: "There is room to lower people's smartphone bills by around 40 percent." In the wake of the remarks by the government's top spokesman, a bill aimed at facilitating ...
Business / Corporate May 13, 2019
Days after announcing tripling of profits, SoftBank market value slides $9 billion as Uber IPO flops
Last Thursday, as his company booked a $3.8 billion gain from its stake in Uber Technologies Inc., Masayoshi Son told SoftBank Group Corp. investors that their time had finally come. Instead, they're still waiting. The day after Son's earnings presentation, SoftBank slid 5.4 percent and ...