Japan's Terra Drone has taken controlling stakes in WinnyLab and Amazing Drones, two Ukrainian firms whose interceptor drones have downed Shahed attack drones in combat. Here's why moving from investor to owner matters, and how the cheap, 3D-printed interceptors are rewriting the cost of air defense.
Sanyo Special Steel, Japan's No.1 maker of bearing steel and a world leader in steel cleanliness, will be absorbed by Nippon Steel and dissolved on April 1, 2027. The model for the famous novel The Grand Family, it once suffered postwar Japan's largest bankruptcy. Why give up the name now? A look at China's steel glut and an unexpected Swedish thread.
Katsuhiro Harada launched VS Studio under SNK. Shinji Mikami's Unbound was absorbed by Korea's SHIFT UP. Daisuke Taka burned through his savings to go solo. As Japan's most celebrated game creators strike out on their own, the capital keeping them afloat is overwhelmingly Saudi and Korean. Here's why Japan's own giants can't fund their stars, and why foreign money can.
Japanese izakaya group Watami has acquired a 51% stake in Onigilly, a San Francisco onigiri chain — a bet on America's rice-ball boom. But the buyer is also a company long known in Japan as a symbol of 'black company' overwork culture. We unpack the deal, why onigiri became a healthy, photogenic US lunch, and who Watami really is.
Top shareholder Oasis Management is pushing to remove KADOKAWA CEO Takeshi Natsuno, triggering a full proxy fight ahead of the June 24 shareholder meeting. We break down the arguments over an 89% EPS drop, the 'isekai over-reliance' critique, and FromSoftware's monetization, and check how our earlier predictions held up.
Toshiba reported record net profit of 1.9673 trillion yen (about $12.5 billion) for fiscal 2025, a sevenfold jump driven by gains from selling its stake in Kioxia and a structural surge in transmission and HDD demand from AI data centers. Nearly two years after the JIP-led privatization, what has Japan's biggest private-equity restructuring actually changed? We compare it with Blackstone's Hilton success and the cautionary tale of Toys R Us.
SEGA Sammy Holdings reported its FY2026 results: record revenue of 487.5 billion yen ($3.1B, +13.7％ YoY) was wiped out by 58.8 billion yen in special losses tied to Rovio Entertainment (Angry Birds) and Stakelogic, producing the company's first net loss in 11 years. We unpack the impairment, the international community's skepticism about the 776 million-dollar Rovio acquisition, the deprioritization of F2P, the redeployment of 100＋ developers onto full-game projects, and SEGA's bet on four new mainstay-IP titles ahead of Sonic's 35th anniversary.
Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck has partnered with telecom giant KDDI to launch au Coincheck Digital Assets, a joint venture offering a non-custodial wallet inside the au PAY mini-app to 39.7 million users. KDDI is investing roughly $65 million in Coincheck's parent company. How this differs from US (Coinbase, Robinhood) and Korean (SK Telecom T Wallet) models — and what it signals for the stablecoin era.
Nikon posted a record net loss of 86 billion yen (about $548 million) for fiscal year 2026, dragged down by a 90.6 billion yen writedown on its German SLM Solutions metal 3D printer acquisition. As Canon attacks the lithography market and TSMC Kumamoto ramps up 3nm production, Japan's optics giant is somehow missing its country's semiconductor boom. We unpack the ASML technology gap, failed diversification bets, and the Essilor Luxottica wildcard.
In March 2026, Sony signed a binding deal to spin its TV business into BRAVIA Inc., a joint venture majority-owned by China's TCL. Behind handing over a Trinitron-era icon lies a sharper bet: pour electronics resources into Hawk-Eye and sports entertainment. We map the full strategy and what global investors should reassess about Sony.
Just three days after Denso's withdrawal, Mitsubishi Electric CEO Kei Urutsuma declared he wants to spin off only the power semiconductor businesses of all three companies and form a joint venture. This proposes a different framework from Rohm and Toshiba's full semiconductor integration plan, adding a new wrinkle to the world No.2 alliance vision. We analyze competition with Wolfspeed, Infineon, and STMicroelectronics, the SiC market share battle, and the impact on the EV industry.
Mitsubishi Electric is in talks to transfer 50% of its $5.8B auto parts subsidiary to Taiwan's Foxconn, with a deal expected by May. As BYD captures 19% of the global EV market, how is Japan's auto supply chain being reshaped?
On April 25, 2026, Denso announced plans to withdraw its $8.2 billion acquisition proposal for Rohm. Rohm chose the three-way alliance with Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric, while Denso pivots to actively explore partnerships with third parties. We analyze the conclusion of Japan's 50-day power semiconductor reshuffle and what's next for Toyota Group's chip in-house strategy.
Japan's government blocked Korean PE firm MBK Partners' $1.7 billion takeover of Makino Milling Machine, the first-ever stop order under the revised FEFTA since 2017. Why did a non-classified machine tool maker trigger national security alarms? We break down both sides of the overreach-versus-reasonable debate.
Japanese retailer Nojima will acquire Hitachi's home appliance business for 110 billion yen (about $692 million). Here's why traditional Japanese electronics makers keep exiting consumer products, and how it echoes GE and Philips.
Three weeks after the March 27 three-way merger announcement, Japan's power semiconductor reshuffle has accelerated. Denso declared its semiconductor-maker ambitions in CORE 2030, Rohm's CEO asserted leadership, Toshiba eyes re-listing, and Mitsubishi Electric opened a new Fukuoka plant. A timeline update.
Nidec's third-party committee finalized its probe: accumulated net profit impact hit 161 billion yen (about $1 billion). Founder Shigenobu Nagamori's excessive pressure was identified as the root cause, marking a turning point for Japan's charismatic founder model. Compared with Toshiba and Olympus.
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.
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.
EssilorLuxottica has raised its Nikon stake to 19.61%, nearing the 20% regulatory cap. We analyze the strategic implications for smart glasses technology, Japan's national security screening process, and why foreign investors—from Buffett to European giants—are pouring money into Japan Inc.