Mercari wants to be the go-to marketplace for international customers seeking high-quality Japanese entertainment products, especially anime and manga. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/01/02/companies/mercari-cross-border-strategy/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #ecommerce #fleamarkets #mercari #shopping #tech #secondhand
Japanese retailers are competing to offer low-priced goods as consumers continue to keep their purse strings tight amid inflation. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/01/01/companies/japan-retailers-low-prices-inflation/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies
Japanese tech investor SoftBank said Wednesday that its stake in OpenAI is now around 11% after completing the second stage of a $41-billion investment in the maker of ChatGPT. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/31/companies/softbank-openai-stake-lift/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #softbank #openai #tech #ai
Warner Bros. Discovery will likely reject Paramount Skydance's amended $108.4 billion hostile bid for the storied Hollywood studio despite a personal guarantee from billionaire Larry Ellison backing the offer. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/31/companies/warner-bros-reject-paramount-bid/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #warnerbros #paramount #tv #media #film #hollywood #netflix
Artificial intelligence’s appetite for data storage has delivered Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia world-beating stock gains this year, a sign the AI boom is alive despite recent market jitters. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/30/companies/kioxia-ai-stock/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #kioxia #ai #chipmakers #stocks #tech
U.S. investment firm KKR received first negotiation rights to take Yomeishu Seizo private, people familiar with the matter said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/30/companies/kkr-yomeishu-private/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #kkr #yomeishuseizo #investments #usalcohol
RFM, a hedge fund focused on Japanese equities, has attracted more than $800 million from investors as global interest in the country’s stock market has increased. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/30/companies/japan-focused-hedge-fund/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #rfm #stocks #investments
Craftspeople say tatami must be redefined, noting that traditional methods of tatami-making could vanish within five years if the decline continues at its current pace. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/30/companies/tatami-foreign-clients/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #tokyo #maff #kumamoto #japanesecrafts
SoftBank Group is in advanced talks to acquire DigitalBridge Group, a private equity firm that invests in assets such as data centers, according to people with knowledge of the matter. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/29/companies/softbank-digitalbridge-investment/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #softbank #digitalbridge #datacenters #investments #ai
Growing Chinese auto giant BYD stands poised to officially surpass Tesla as the world’s biggest electric vehicle company in annual sales. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/29/companies/byd-overtake-tesla-2025/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #tesla #byd #electricvehicles #elonmusk #donaldtrump #china #europe #northamerica
As soon as next year, Lawson plans to launch a delivery service for over-the-counter drugs at its convenience stores with no pharmacists or registered sellers present. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/28/companies/japan-convenience-store-lawson-otc-drug-delivery-service/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #lawson #conveniencestores #medicine
While the local economy has been boosted by the full-scale launch of operations at TSMC's first Japan plant a year ago, residents remain concerned about its impact on groundwater. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/26/companies/tsmc-kumamoto-plant-groundwater-concerns/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #tsmc #taiwan #kumamoto #water #chipmakers #manufacturing
Toyota’s sales and production fell in November, weighed down in large part by a sharp drop in China as the country discontinues subsidies meant to boost the sales of electric and fuel-efficient cars. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/25/companies/toyota-sales-drop-november/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #toyota #cars #carmakers #china
This year’s winter bonuses at large companies in Japan averaged ¥1,004,841, topping ¥1 million for the first time since comparable data became available in 1981, a survey showed. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/25/companies/japan-big-firms-winter-bonus/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #wages #japaneseeconomy #surveys #keidanren
Japan’s Eneos Holdings is ahead of rival bidders for U.S. heavyweight Chevron’s stake in a Singapore oil refinery, according to people familiar with the matter. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/24/companies/eneos-chevron-singapore-oil-refinery/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #eneos #oil #singapore #chevron #investments #stocks
From buying glass breakers to opting for new cars, Tesla owners are having to go to great lengths to deal with a problem most had never imagined: being unable to open malfunctioning doors in the electric vehicle. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/24/companies/tesla-malfunctioning-door-handles/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #tesla #children #cars #electricvehicles #carmakers
Tepco President Tomiaki Kobayakawa says the company will apply lessons learned from the meltdown of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant when it restarts the first unit of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant on Jan. 20. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/24/companies/kashiwazaki-kariwa-restart-january-20/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #tepco #kashiwazakikariwa #nuclearenergy #niigata #tomiakikobayakawa
Tepco President Tomiaki Kobayakawa says the company will apply lessons learned from the meltdown of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant when it restarts the first unit of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant on Jan. 20. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/24/companies/kashiwazaki-kariwa-restart-january-20/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #tepco #kashiwazakikariwa #nuclearenergy #niigata #tomiakikobayakawa
Bourbon-maker Jim Beam plans to pause production at its main U.S. distillery for all of 2026 after slumping demand caused an oversupply of whiskey. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/23/companies/jim-beam-production-halt/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #suntory #jimbeam #alcohol
Rakuten Group is expanding its AI team under the stewardship of a Google veteran and building models with a focus on cost efficiency. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/23/companies/rakuten-ai-boss/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #rakuten #ai #tingcai #artificialintelligence