Kaori Kaneko

1 week ago | japantimes.co.jp | Kaori Kaneko |Chang-Ran Kim

When a severe rice shortage sent prices skyrocketing in Japan last year, Tokyo restaurant owner Arata Hirano did what had once seemed unthinkable: He switched to an American variety. The price of the Californian Calrose rice he buys has doubled since his first purchase last summer, but even so, it's far cheaper than home-grown grains. "Unless domestic prices fall below Calrose prices, I don't plan to switch back," said Hirano, whose restaurant offers meal sets of fish, rice, soup and sides.

1 week ago | ca.finance.yahoo.com | Kaori Kaneko |Chang-Ran Kim

When Trump announced sweeping tariffs on much of the world this month, he lambasted Japan for what he said was a 700% tariff on rice, a reference to that levy. Japanese policymakers called his remarks on the sensitive topic "regrettable". They also dispute the 700% figure, saying it's based on outdated international rice prices. It's unclear, however, just how much - if at all - rice will be discussed in bilateral tariff negotiations that began this week.

1 month ago | gurutrade.com | Kaori Kaneko |Sam Holmes

TOKYO, March 24 (Reuters) - Japan's factory activity fell at the fastest pace in a year in March, dragged by declines in production and new orders in a worrying sign for the economy, a private-sector survey showed on Monday. The service sector, which had been a bright spot in Japan's economy, also lost momentum, with business activity contracting for the first time in five months.

1 month ago | staradvertiser.com | Kaori Kaneko

TOKYO >> Japan’s land prices rose at their fastest pace in 34 years in 2024 with recovery spreading to regional areas thanks to sustained economic growth, in the latest sign of a pickup in the property market, a government survey showed on Tuesday. Average nationwide land prices, across residential and commercial, grew 2.7% as of January 1, the fourth straight year of gains, the land ministry survey showed.

1 month ago | insideretail.asia | Rocky Swift |Kaori Kaneko |Muralikumar Anantharaman |Anil Prabha

Japan’s Trial Holdings said on Wednesday it would spend 382.6 billion yen ($2.55 billion) to acquire the Seiyu supermarket chain controlled by US private equity fund KKR. Trial said in a release it would use existing cash and newly arranged bank borrowings to purchase Seiyu and make it a wholly owned subsidiary. KKR bought a 65 per cent stake in Seiyu from Walmart in 2021, before acquiring an additional 20 per cent stake from Rakuten in 2023, the fund said in a separate release.