Hokkaido Shinkansen occupancy rate at 39%

12:00 am, September 28, 2016

SAPPORO (Jiji Press) — The Hokkaido Shinkansen seat occupancy rate came to 39 percent on average in the first six months after the bullet train service was launched in late March, Hokkaido Railway ...

MANILA (Reuters) — The Asian Development Bank kept its growth estimates for developing Asia for this year and next at 5.7 percent, saying sustained expansion in China and India can steady the region...

TOKYO (Bloomberg) — Takata Corp. and some of the world’s biggest carmakers face an extensive — and expensive — to-do list as they try to resolve the worst safety crisis in the auto industry’...

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The government adopted at a cabinet meeting Monday a bill to enable a government-affiliated institution to provide loans to finance part of the construction of Central Japan Ra...

Japanese companies are reinforcing their efforts and developing products that can contribute to the realization of a “barrier-free society,” including eliminating uneven surfaces in passageways an...

Global competition to develop automated driving technologies is intensifying, and it is uncertain whether Japan can take the initiative in establishing global standards in the field. Ahead of the T...

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry plans to discuss measures to regulate “intellectual property trolls,” who try to obtain profits unfairly by exploiting intellectual property rights, inclu...

Twitter Inc. has initiated talks with several technology companies to explore selling itself, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, signaling the start of what is likely to be a slow-rolli...

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry plans to reduce the fees three major mobile phone carriers charge budget smartphone operators for using their communication lines, according to sources...

TOKYO (Bloomberg) — The record throngs of international tourists visiting Japan have failed to jolt the country’s department stores out of a slump. Sales at outlets including Takashimaya Co. and ...

COPENHAGEN (AP) — Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S is splitting its massive container shipping operations and its energy business into separate companies, in a major shakeup that follows ...

WASHINGTON (Bloomberg) — The consensus that Chair Janet Yellen has worked hard to maintain among Federal Reserve policy makers showed signs of severe strain on Wednesday. Three members of the Feder...

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan Airlines unveiled a special aircraft adorned with Doraemon graphics in Tokyo on Wednesday for use in flights between Japan and China. It will be the first time for an a...

FRANKFURT (AP) — A German court says it has added staff and storage space to handle a flood of 1,400 investor lawsuits against Volkswagen seeking damages worth €8.2 billion ($9.2 billion). The re...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Federal Reserve Board is keeping its key interest rate unchanged but signaling that it will likely raise rates before year’s end. The Fed said in a statement ending i...

The Bank of Japan’s compilation of a new monetary policy framework that shifted the bank’s focus from “quantity” to “interest rates” was the end product of previous policies approaching t...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homebuilders pulled back on construction in the South, causing the pace of August housing starts nationwide to fall to their lowest level in three months. Despite the monthly dec...

SHANGHAI (Bloomberg) — Two of China’s biggest steelmakers agreed to merge their listed units, moving a step closer to a union that would create the nation’s biggest mill and a company with the ...

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s trade balance slipped into deficit in August, for the first time in three months, as a stronger yen sapped exports, the Finance Ministry reported Wednesday. Exports in Augus...

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Bank of Japan will guide 10-year Japanese government bond yields around zero percent, the central bank said Wednesday, announcing a new policy framework to reinforce its mon...

This is the fourth and final installment of a series. At a photography studio in the Loft general goods store in the Yurakucho area of Tokyo, 102 cameras were being used in the creation of 3-D fi...

NEW YORK (Reuters) — British Prime Minister Theresa May met business chiefs from firms including Goldman Sachs, IBM and Amazon.com on Monday in an attempt to reassure investors after her country’s...

JAKARTA (Reuters) — Indonesia plans to pursue Alphabet Inc.’s Google for five years of back taxes, and the search giant could face a bill of more than $400 million for 2015 alone if it is found t...

SINGAPORE (Bloomberg) — Bond and currency traders looking for liquidity this week face three major obstacles: the Bank of Japan, the U.S. Federal Reserve and Japan’s holiday calendar. Investors h...

BEIJING (Reuters) — China’s home prices rose at a faster pace in August, suggesting that tightening measures imposed by a growing number of cities on overheated markets have yet to show significa...

TOKYO (Bloomberg) —Takata Corp., the embattled Japanese air-bag supplier that’s put itself up for sale after triggering the auto industry’s biggest safety recall, aims to shortlist two to three ...

FRANKFURT (Reuters) — Deutsche Bank said it would fight a $14 billion demand from the U.S. Department of Justice to settle claims it mis-sold mortgage-backed securities, a shock bill that raises qu...

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan’s three major mobile phone service operators on Friday released the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the latest models of Apple Inc.’s popular smartphone series. In addit...

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Taylor Pollier got an offer from Uber he could not refuse — to be part of an experiment with a car of the future. Uber on Wednesday became the first company to make self-drivin...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — U.S. safety regulators announced a formal recall of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 smartphone Thursday after a spate of fires led to injuries and property damage — along with a glo...

CHIBA (Jiji Press) — The Tokyo Game Show 2016 opened at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba on Thursday for a four-day run. Drawing keen attention in this year’s show are devices using...

NEW YORK/FRANK-FURT (Reuters) — German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer clinched a $66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds company Monsanto on Wednesday, ending months of wrangling with a third sweeten...

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Mitsubishi Corp. plans to launch a tender offer for Lawson Inc., the third-largest convenience store chain in the country, in a bid to raise its equity stake to over 50 percent...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. household income posted a record increase in 2015 after years of stagnation, suggesting the recovery from the Great Recession was finally lifting ordinary citizens who ha...

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Wells Fargo & Co scrapped its product sales goals for retail bankers on Tuesday and may take further disciplinary action against its employees in the wake of a fake...

LONDON (Reuters) — The Bank of England introduced its first plastic banknote on Tuesday, with Gov. Mark Carney dipping one of them into a bubbling container of chicken curry to prove its greater du...

Major department stores are focusing on fashion for customers who are around 50 years old, developing their own brands in the hope of boosting sluggish clothing sales. Customers in this age group are...