Reuters (May 2)
“Diversifying abroad looks attractive to many Japanese companies given weak home markets” as demonstrated by Astellas recent $5.9 billion acquisition of Iveric Bio. “For the $28 billion drugmaker, which already earns the bulk of its revenue from overseas, exceptionally low borrowing costs at home may have boosted its offshore appetite even more.”
Tags: Acquisition, Astellas, Attractive, Borrowing costs, Diversifying, Drugmaker, Home markets, Iveric Bio, Japanese, Offshore appetite, Overseas, Revenue, Weak
Bloomberg (September 10)
“In Japan, is there one standard of justice for Japanese executives and another for non-Japanese executives? The forced resignation on Monday of Nissan Motor Co.’s chief executive officer, Hiroto Saikawa, certainly seems to suggest as much.” At this point, “would any non-Japanese manager really be interested in taking the helm at Nissan given what happened to Ghosn? It’s a little hard to envision.”
Tags: CEO, Executives, Japan, Japanese, Justice, Nissan, Non-Japanese, Resignation, Saikawa, Standard
Wall Street Journal (January 2)
“By 2115, it’s possible that only about 600 languages will be left on the planet as opposed to today’s 6,000. Japanese will be fine, but languages spoken by smaller groups will have a hard time of it.” English is more likely than Mandarin Chinese to become the world’s common language because it has already gained broad adoption and due to the difficulty of mastering Mandarin’s tones. “Just as the Mongols and Manchus once ruled China while leaving Chinese intact, if the Chinese rule the world, they will likely do so in English.”
New York Times (December 10, 2013)
“Unesco just picked Japanese cuisine as a world cultural heritage, recognition that the Japanese government had lobbied hard for. Toyota, Sony and Nintendo may have once served as symbols of national identity, but they are now eclipsed.”
Tags: Cuisine, Government, Heritage, Japan, Japanese, Lobbied, National identity, Nintendo, Sony, Symbols, Toyota, Unesco
