By Kim Kyung Hoon TOKYO (Reuters) – When Japan announced a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic this year, people were urged to declutter their homes to pass the time, with Tokyo’s governor even roping in household-organising celebrity Marie Kondo in promotional videos. Many have taken that message […]
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Japan’s economy grows 22.9% in 3Q, bouncing back from COVID
Japan has reported its economy expanded at a 22.9% rate in the last quarter, as businesses and personal spending recovered from pandemic-related shocks in the spring and early summer By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer December 8, 2020, 2:43 AM • 3 min read Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this […]
Rakuten CEO takes on Japan’s entrenched telecom incumbents
TOKYO — Online retailer Rakuten’s membership base and credit card business model provided the impetus for launching the company’s new wireless service, Rakuten Mobile, chairman and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani told the Nikkei Global Management Forum in Tokyo on Wednesday. The annual forum brings together influential corporate leaders from around the […]
Coronavirus Relief Surges for Japan’s Small Businesses
TOKYO—It isn’t a great time to be running a hotel in Japan, since virtually all foreign tourists are barred from visiting the country. But the owner of a traditional Kobe hot-springs inn had no problem getting a loan for renovations. It’s part of Japan’s latest freewheeling experiment in opening the […]
Japan’s unorthodox household goods champion rides a pandemic boom
By Sam Nussey and Makiko Yamazaki MIYAGI, Japan (Reuters) – Iris Ohyama, whose goods are ubiquitous in Japanese homes, has relied on its usual offbeat methods during the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S.-China trade tensions to ride the teleworking wave and bring production back from China. Family-run, unlisted and based in […]
Japan’s tuna market, the world’s largest, hit hard by coronavirus pandemic
Japan’s Creaking Computer Systems Are Hampering Its Economic Recovery
(Bloomberg) — The coronavirus crisis may have finally forced Japan’s government to get serious about fixing its computer systems. Before the pandemic, the problems might have been merely annoying, but now they’re impeding an economic recovery. Japan’s aging administrative pipeline has delayed aid money getting to where it’s needed during […]