Feb 07 As Japan's tech sector struggles, the winner is... Hitachi?
Sony Corp., Panasonic Corp. and Sharp Corp. all said last week that they now forecast hundreds of billions of yen in net losses for the current fiscal year through March. Toshiba Corp.'s outlook was much brighter: It only expects net profit to tumble 53%. But Hitachi Ltd. stood out from its peers: In an industry wracked by overcapacity, the strong yen and cheaper competition it didn't cut its net profit outlook, sticking to a forecast of Y200 billion this fiscal year, which would be a 16% drop from a year earlier. It wasn't always like this. In the wake of the global financial crisis, Hitachi, whose operations span everything from consumer electronics to electric power infrastructure, posted an eye-popping Y787.34 billion net loss for the fiscal year through March 2009 - over $10 billion at current exchange rates and the biggest loss ever reported by a Japanese manufacturer. (If Panasonic's loss forecast of Y780 billion for this fiscal year proves accurate, it would be the second biggest after Hitachi's 2009 figure.) (Wall Street Journal)
Feb 07 Bubble era's aviation legacy: Too many airports, all ailing
Japan has 98 airports, and most of them are operating in the red as a result of exaggerated demand forecasts and rampant, costly and arguably pork-barrel construction projects. The transport ministry hopes to mitigate the problem by selling off the management rights to 27 state-owned airports as soon as 2014. The ministry also plans to issue an airport reform blueprint by summer. In most cases, the central and local governments manage the runways, aircraft aprons and other regulated facilities while private companies or joint public-private ventures run the terminal buildings and parking lots. Of the 98 airports, 28 are run by the central government and 67 by local governments. (Japan Times)
Feb 07 New entrepreneurs jump ship, go to Silicon Valley
For an emerging generation of Japanese innovators, the dream isn't a job for life at a big company. They have new ambitions, and they're determined to go places. Especially Silicon Valley. Small but growing numbers of Japanese entrepreneurs are jumping into the startup scene in Northern California, particularly since the earthquake and tsunami last March. They include Naoki Shibata, who took the plunge by giving up the sort of life many Japanese in past decades spent their lives trying to attain. Only 30, Shibata had an executive-level position at online retailing giant Rakuten Inc. and an assistant professorship at the prestigious University of Tokyo, where he earned a Ph.D. Last June he launched AppGrooves, an iPhone application discovery tool. (Japan Times)
Feb 06 Analysis: Japan's stay-at-home firms finally spread their wings
Japanese companies are again venturing offshore, and this time a new breed of business is striking deals overseas. Japan Inc splurged a record $70 billion on foreign acquisitions last year, taking advantage of a strong yen, big cash reserves, attractive valuations and some willing sellers, especially in Europe. Many of these Japanese acquirers are already multinationals but a growing number are embarking on their first big foreign adventure, a trend that partly reflects two longer-term factors: a stagnant domestic economy and a shrinking population. (Reuters)
Feb 06 Japan sees extremely poor eel catch, prices soar
Prices of juvenile eels have surged to their highest levels amid extremely poor catches so far this year, likely leading to an unprecedented third straight year of bad hauls and prompting the government to eye meeting local authorities and experts soon for countermeasures, Kyodo News learned Monday. Japan relies on wild glass eels caught at headwaters of rivers to produce farm-raised eels to meet its ravenous appetite for ''unagi,'' because the complete cycle of artificial breeding from eggs has not yet been put into practical use. But the glass eel catch has plunged by over 95 percent since its peak in 1963. (Mainichi)