BlackRock, managing $14 trillion in assets, has taken a 5.28% stake in Komeda Holdings, the Nagoya-born coffee chain. Even in the AI era, people don't stop drinking coffee. We unpack why the world's largest asset manager is betting on Japan's food industry, looking at Komeda's unique franchise model and its global expansion story.
Alpaca, founded by two Japanese entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, hit a $1.15 billion valuation in its Series D round, becoming the first Japanese-founded US unicorn. Serving SBI Securities, Kraken, and 300+ institutions across 40 countries, it aims to be the 'AWS of finance', alongside Plaid and Stripe. Why did they build this in America, not Japan?
Tokyo-based Orbray has produced the world's largest 30mm square (111) freestanding diamond single-crystal substrate, leaping from the previous few-millimeter limit. The twin-suppression breakthrough, published in Applied Physics Express, unlocks NV-center quantum sensors and next-generation power semiconductors.
Zippar, a self-propelled urban ropeway developed by Fukushima-based startup Zip Infrastructure, can run every 12 seconds and navigate curves. At 1/20 the cost of subway and 1/5 of monorail construction, it could rescue Japanese cities facing a bus driver shortage.
Elliott Investment Management has poured over $1 billion into Daikin Industries, the world's largest HVAC maker, demanding margin improvements, ¥150 billion in annual buybacks, and a portfolio overhaul. Unlike Elliott's usual Japan targets rich in real estate and cross-shareholdings, Daikin marks a strategic pivot toward operational activism, fueled by HVAC sector expertise gained from Johnson Controls.
A 1,740m zipline across Japan's Kanmon Strait stalled for 2 years over funding, but Shimonoseki has restarted with a new feasibility study. The mayor declared he won't give up on this $9.4M project to fly riders at 110 km/h over samurai battlegrounds.
The global matcha boom has reached even Kagawa, Japan's smallest prefecture famous for udon noodles. With a $31,000 research budget, Kagawa is exploring tencha production as green tea exports hit $450 million. Here's why the matcha gold rush now spans the entire country.
Suntory Holdings is acquiring Daiichi Sankyo Healthcare, maker of Loxonin, Lulu, and Minon, for $1.55 billion. As Japan's youth abandon alcohol and the population ages rapidly, the beverage giant pivots to self-care. We analyze the deal, the booming OTC market, and what it means for global healthcare trends.
JR East, Japan's largest railway group, opened onigiri shop TOKYO ONIGIRI in London's Leicester Square in December 2025. Behind this unusual move, a railway company entering overseas food retail, lies the government's GOHAN Project strategy to boost Japanese rice exports. From Onigiri Summit 2026 to convenience store packaging innovations, we explore how the humble rice ball could become Japan's next global food hit after sushi and ramen.
Japan's FSA plans to let ordinary companies set up simplified insurance subsidiaries that co-insure with major carriers. Born from post-scandal industry reform, the move could reshape a market long dominated by three mega-insurers, and open the door to embedded insurance and fintech innovation.
Japan's green tea exports doubled to ¥72.1 billion in 2025, yet domestic matcha production can't keep up. As tea plantations shrink 29% in a decade and low-grade powdered tea floods global markets, the industry warns of 'matcha laundering.' Is the matcha in your latte the real thing?