91²Ö¿â

author

 
Menu
Search
 
April 25, 2026
 

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Anton Bridge
Environmental advocacy group Market Forces is calling on investors at Japan's three megabanks ¡ª Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui ¡ª to vote against directors failing to recognize the risks posed by fossil fuels.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 23, 2026
Climate investor calls for votes against directors at Japan¡¯s megabanks and trading houses
Environmental advocacy group Market Forces is arguing that directors are failing to oversee material ?financial risks to the banks and trading houses' businesses.
Toyota Motor's all-new RAV4 SUVs are displayed during its world premiere event in Tokyo in May 2025
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jan 31, 2026
How activist investors turned a Toyota buyout into a battleground
The transaction has become a test case for dealmaking in Japan, which prizes stakeholder harmony over shareholder returns.
Chips at a booth in a mall of the Huaqiangbei electronics market in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, on Oct. 30. Many Chinese smartphone makers are warning of price increases.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Dec 3, 2025
The AI frenzy is driving a new global supply chain crisis
Japanese electronics stores have begun limiting how many hard-disk drives shoppers can buy while Chinese smartphone makers are warning of price increases.
Tourists take pictures as cloud-clad Mount Fuji is seen in the background from Oishi park in the town of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Oct. 18.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2025
Mount Fuji sees snow for first time this winter, 21 days later than usual
This year's snowfall came two weeks earlier than 2024, when snow settled on the 3,776-meter (12,388-foot) mountain only on Nov. 7, the latest since records began.
Eric Trump, a son of U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks at the Bitcoin Asia conference in Hong Kong on Friday. He attended an extraordinary shareholders meeting of Metaplanet in Tokyo on Monday as the firm's adviser.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 2, 2025
Eric Trump takes stage in Japan as bitcoin firm Metaplanet votes on capital plan
The relationship between the Japanese bitcoin firm and U.S. President Donald Trump's son comes as the Trump family expands its crypto ventures internationally.
"In order to secure quality talent, we have to raise wages above inflation," Daiwa Securities CEO Akihiko Ogino has said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024
Daiwa aims to raise wages at least 5% next year amid competition for talent
Daiwa is discussing a pay raise of at least 5% for the financial year beginning in April 2025, after hikes of 5%, 4% and 7% in the three years prior.
Small businesses in Ino, a town in Kochi Prefecture known for its paper industry, show how a labor shortage is a growing threat to smaller companies that provide seven out of every 10 jobs in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 24, 2024
Small businesses with low wages struggle to tackle labor shortages
A worker shortage is threatening firms that are otherwise robust, including those that have invested in automation and creative hiring.
The $8.2 billion deal is the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese insurer to date and the second major transaction announced by Nippon Life this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2024
Nippon Life to buy Resolution in $8.2 billion deal as it pursues U.S. growth
The deal is the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese insurer to date and the second major transaction announced by Nippon Life this year.
Resona's loan balance for SMEs was up 4.9% by the end of September from a year earlier, compared with just 1.1% growth in the 12 months through September 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2024
Resona says inflation is boosting SME loan demand and pay hikes
SMEs make up the bulk of Resona's client base, giving the bank insight into the state of firms that account for most of the employment in Japan.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's push to get companies to outline capital allocation plans has spurred investors to question management teams seen falling short, said Georgeson CEO Cas Sydorowitz.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2024
Japanese company shareholders increasingly challenge management
Shareholder resistance is now routinely a feature of 91²Ö¿â annual general meeting season.
A worker at Sakai Seisakusyo prepares to transport metal rods at its factory in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, on July 8.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2024
Japan finds a 'stealth' cure for zombie businesses: Let them fail
The shift in thinking is a clear departure for a country that has typically sought to avoid bankruptcies and protect existing jobs at the cost of productivity.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says his administration is committed to capital market reforms to attract more foreign investments.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 23, 2024
Kishida makes public push on capital market reforms
Kishida's appearance at a conference held by Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley was another example of 91²Ö¿â effort to shed the image of being unwelcoming to foreign investors.
Rakuten logged its fifteenth consecutive quarter in the red due to losses at its mobile service network unit.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024
Rakuten logs 15th quarter of losses on mobile woes despite record financial unit profit
While its number of mobile subscribers rose to 6.48 million at the end of March, average revenue per user increased only fractionally.
SoftBank is in talks with South Korea's Naver over control of LY, which operates the popular messaging app Line, the telecommunications firm's CEO has said.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2024
SoftBank in talks with Naver over control of Line operator LY
LY is majority owned by a joint venture between SoftBank and Naver.
A Wheeling-Nippon Steel facility in in Follansbee, West Virginia. Four senior Japanese officials speaking on condition of anonymity said it is still premature to declare the deal dead.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Apr 5, 2024
Why Japan is not giving up on fraught U.S. Steel deal
Four senior Japanese officials speaking on condition of anonymity said it is still premature to declare the deal dead.
Mitsuko Tottori (right), incoming president of Japan Airlines, and Yuji Akasaka, outgoing president, during a news conference in Tokyo on Jan. 17
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024
Japan opens door to more women directors, but managers still rare
Women account for only 13.4% of directors and executive officers at the 1,836 firms listed on the TSE's Prime market, and of these 13% are internal hires.
In Toshiba, JIP takes on a sprawling company far bigger and more complex than any it acquired before.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Dec 19, 2023
In buying Toshiba, JIP takes on corporate 91²Ö¿â toughest job
While the fund has quietly built up a track record by carving out businesses from big manufacturers, Toshiba is more complex than any it acquired before.
Rakuten Bank executives hold a placard showing the company logo during a ceremony to mark the company's debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 6, 2023
Rakuten to raise up to $433 million with further sale of bank unit
The planned sale of 25.5 million shares is equivalent to just under 15% of the online bank, according to LSEG data.
SoftBank has agreed to buy a majority stake in Irish software developer Cubic Telecom for around €473 million.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2023
SoftBank buys majority stake in Irish car software developer
SoftBank will acquire 51% of Cubic Telecom, which provides a platform for automakers to update software functions in cars globally and in real time.
A Rakuten Mobile branch in Tokyo. Rakuten is set for another tough year in 2024, at a time when rivals are on the attack with competitive pricing and reward campaigns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023
Rakuten's mobile misadventure: from ambitious plan to millstone
Founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani's vision of a low-cost network using cloud-based software and cheap hardware did not pan out.
Prudential Life Insurance suspends sales for additional 180 days
Prudential Life CEO Hiromitsu Tokumaru (center) and other executives from the firm during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday
The language around Japan¡¯s new bike rules leaves no room for ¡®maybe¡¯
Under the new blue ticket system, cyclists will have one week in which to pay fines for minor traffic violations.
Japanese scientist accused of putting chemicals in co-worker¡¯s water in U.S.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison
Yakuza membership fell to record low in 2025
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has set up a special task force to intensify its crackdown on the Kohei-ikka, a Sumiyoshi-kai-affiliated designated crime group suspected of deepening its involvement with <i>tokury¨±</i> networks, including special fraud linked to illegal job schemes.
Don Quijote owner opens discount grocer as Japan inflation bites
Pan Pacific International Holdings, the owner of discount chain Don Quijote, opened its first Robin Hood store, a new food-focused chain, in Aichi Prefecture on Friday.
Professional sumo awaits three potential new stars
Bill Christopher Li, now known as Honoikazuchi, at the All-Japan championships at the Kokugikan on Nov. 30
How to prepare when Japan is under an earthquake advisory
Sendai Station is crowded with people Monday after the Tohoku shinkansen line suspended operation following a powerful earthquake off the Sanriku coast.
Now on the multilingual margins, can Japanese bookstores be more than just a vibe?
Jimbocho, Tokyo¡¯s book town, has gained popularity online and some travel companies are already selling book-centric tours for foreign visitors.
Stars aligning for Japan as World Cup approaches
Japan defender Shogo Taniguchi (left) heads the ball from a corner kick during Japan&#039;s match against Scotland in Glasgow on March 28.
Counseling and community for foreign cancer patients in Japan
Navigating cancer treatment as a foreign resident of Japan can be an added layer of stress, but nonprofit organizations and community resources are available to support those with a diagnosis.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
Can AI replace a priest? Japan¡¯s temples and shrines are testing the limits.
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER