Category: BUSINESS

Japan's economy grew faster than expected in the first three months of the year, according to official data. The economy grew 0.5% in the quarter, while the annualised rate of growth was 2.2% - the fastest rate for a year. The figures means Japan has now ... ( read original story ...)

Japan’s economy grew in the first quarter at its fastest pace in a year to mark the longest period of expansion in a decade, thanks to robust exports and a helpful boost from private consumption. Positive data issued on Thursday should offer some relief ... ( read original story ...)

Although Japan’s output is still the world’s third-largest, after the United States and China, consistent growth has been elusive — the result of headwinds like a declining population and deflation. Japanese gross domestic product increased by 2.2 ... ( read original story ...)

“The uniforms make them look one and a half times cuter than they actually are.” This is Japan’s shady “JK” or “high school dating” business.(“Joshi kosei” means “high school girl” in Japanese, and the English initials JK are ... ( read original story ...)

YANGON, MYANMAR – The Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry has agreed to help attract small and medium-size companies to the Japanese-backed Thilawa Special Economic Zone near Yangon by establishing small rental factory spaces, the zone’s operator ... ( read original story ...)

Finnair flies from London Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh to Tokyo Narita, via Helsinki, with fares from £675 in economy class and £2,500 in business class return. To book go to www.finnair.com or call +44 208 001 01 01 for more information. ( read original story ...)

For many, a traditional after-work drink presents the challenge of tiptoeing a fine line between remaining professional and letting your hair down. But in Japan, it appears that one does not necessarily preclude the other. Drinking in the country ... ( read original story ...)

TOKYO -- Japanese general trading house Itochu is pressing ahead with a strategic selection and concentration policy for its Dole fresh produce and packaged foods business, which it purchased four years ago. Thanks partly to cost reductions due to a ... ( read original story ...)

Abe made the remark on a Japanese television program following China’s hosting of a two-day international forum on the “One Belt, One Road” cross-continental infrastructure development plan the AIIB is set to finance. Japan and the United States ... ( read original story ...)

Japan government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said ... "While we believe that the successful sale of its chip business is indispensable for Toshiba to remain a going concern, hurdles to realizing such a goal are increasing," said Masako Kuwahara, a senior ... ( read original story ...)

TOKYO: Japan's government said on Tuesday it wanted Toshiba Corp and partner Western Digital Corp to cooperate, expressing concern about an escalating dispute between the two that threatens to derail the sale of Toshiba's chip unit. Western Digital has ... ( read original story ...)

That doesn’t dent Shiraishi’s faith in how much further his company and Japan can reach in the aerospace business. Though Kawasaki is perhaps best known for its motorcycles, it’s an industrial goliath that makes ships, trains, jet engines and ... ( read original story ...)

The 400.3 billion yen write-down, which saddled the postal group with its first net loss since the 2007 privatization, may have stymied plans to turn the real estate business into a growth engine by purchasing one of Japan's biggest developers. The postal ... ( read original story ...)

TOKYO, May 16 (Reuters) - Japanese ethylene production in April rose 3.7 percent from the same month a year earlier to 549,800 tonnes, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed on Tuesday. Ethylene, made from naphtha, is a basic ... ( read original story ...)

A Kiwi wool company has been exporting to Japan for over 20 years, a market often considered difficult to enter for exporters. New Zealand Merino general manager Mike Hargadon said the key to sustaining a long term relationship in Japan was to ... ( read original story ...)