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July 10, 2026
 

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Filipe Pacheco
A guestroom at an APA Hotel in Tokyo. APA built its name in Japan on a standardized formula: a long list of amenities packed into tight rooms engineered for efficiency.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 1, 2026
Billionaire behind Japan’s tiny-room hotel empire bets on U.S.
APA Hotels has grown into one of Japan’s most recognizable hotel operators, with more than 1,100 hotels and nearly 150,000 rooms across its global network.
The Samsung dynasty’s wealth doubled to $45 billion in just one year, making them Asia's third-richest family.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2026
Samsung dynasty’s wealth doubles to $45 billion in just one year
Faced with crisis, speculation grew that the family might lose control of the conglomerate. Instead, they made a massive financial comeback.
Michael ByungJu Kim (center), co-founder and chairman of MBK Partners, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 14, 2026
Buyout billionaire Kim wins court fight over arrest bid
South Korean prosecutors are investigating the billionaire co-founder of buyout firm MBK Partners and three others on charges including fraud.
A Good me tea store, operated by Guming Holdings Ltd., in Chongqing, China, on Saturday. The tea chain's shares began trading in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2025
Hong Kong’s latest bubble tea IPO mints another billionaire
Guming Holdings’ IPO has made founder Yun’an Wang a billionaire as China’s bubble tea market continues its rapid expansion.
Traffic in the Yeouido financial district of Seoul
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2024
Ex-Goldman banker-turned-billionaire takes on South Korea’s chaebol
While private equity’s involvement in South Korea’s economy has grown over the last two decades, few have taken on the powerful, family-run conglomerates.
Ryo Ogawa (right), chief executive officer of Timee, and Tomoaki Yagi, chief financial officer, strike the trading bell during the company's listing ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 26, 2024
Shares of job app firm Timee jump in Japan stock trading debut
The stock surged to as high as ¥1,855 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Growth market.
Hong Kong is looking to Saudi Arabia in efforts to attract a new set of investors to replace Western nations who may be deterred from doing business in China at a time of rising geopolitical tensions.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 9, 2024
Hong Kong woos Saudi money in attempt to revive stock market
Its bourse operator has been having a tough time in recent years amid a stuttering Chinese economy and saber-rattling by Beijing and Washington.
The Exchange Square complex, which houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in Hong Kong on March 14. Dealmakers say a lot more than words is needed to revive Hong Kong’s weakest IPO market since the global financial crisis.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 29, 2024
China’s new plan to boost Hong Kong IPOs faces major hurdles
Pipeline of IPOs expected to remain feeble while valuations are low, China’s economic outlook is poor, and foreign investors remain distrustful of Beijing.
A weak yen, ultraeasy monetary policy and hopes for stable inflation have helped push the Topix to its highest level since 1990.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 26, 2023
Japan’s stock boom to drive equity sales through 2024, BofA says
A weak yen, ultraeasy monetary policy and hopes for stable inflation have helped push the Topix to its highest level since 1990.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 6, 2023
Japan IPOs top Asia for gains as global investment continues
The nation’s top performance comes as it boasts a stock market that has soared to levels unseen in more than three decades.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2023
Rakuten Bank prices shares at ¥1,400 in IPO, top of the range
Even with a lower than originally expected price, the listing is the largest in Japan since the $20 billion-plus IPO of SoftBank in December 2018.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2023
Rakuten Bank seeks $881 million in biggest Japan IPO since 2018
The banking unit of Rakuten Group set an indicative band of ¥1,630 to ¥1,960 per share on Wednesday, and the stock will list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 21.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2023
Bad timing as Japan hosts this year’s first bank IPO
Amid ongoing global financial turmoil, Tokyo-based SBI Sumishin Net Bank shares were priced at the bottom of a range at ¥1,200 each against an expected price of as high as ¥1,260.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 12, 2022
Chip firm Socionext soars in Tokyo debut after Japan’s biggest 2022 IPO
Socionext managed to attract buyers even in a weak market for IPOs in Japan, where proceeds slumped 80% this year on an annual comparison.
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Trump says ‘Japan’ instead of Iran at meeting in Ankara
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference during a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on Wednesday.
Wakatakakage injury casts pall over July meet, but potential new stars loom
Nicholas Tarasenko trains at Minato stable in August 2024.
Osaka trumps Tokyo as both ranked among world’s top 10 most livable cities
Osaka’s infrastructure earned higher marks than Tokyo’s in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Global Liveability Index.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.
Japanese nail salons are tourists’ new obsession
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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