Tourism and Investment in Japan

COVID-19 dented Toray’s profit Toray Industries, Inc. is a manufacturer of fibers and textiles, performance chemicals, carbon fiber composite materials and life science products etc. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, but it also has many business bases in the Chubu region such as Aichi, Ishikawa and Gifu prefectures.  Due to the spread of the new coronavirus, Toray is in a difficult situation facing a sharp decrease in demand for aircraft-related business whose sales account for a little shy of half of the company’s sales. Toray is the largest player in the global carbon fiber market with almost 50% share. It manufactures both high-performance products and general-purpose products boasting remarkably high competitiveness and technology.  However, sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020 decreased 7.3% to 2,214.6 billion yen from the previous year. Falling Production and sales of aircrafts and automobiles are the main reasons for the stagnating sales. With the r...

Some Japanese electric power companies provide good and stable dividends Japanese electric power companies have long been prime investment destinations for Japanese individual investors because of their generous dividends. However, after the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, those electric power companies lost its status as their profits and financial bases were deteriorated due to the suspension of the nuclear power plant and soaring fuel prices forcing them to reduce or abolish dividends.  Their stock prices have plummeted and left irrationally low since then. But recently, some electric power companies have improved their financial bases and increased dividends close to that of before the earthquake. However, their stock prices are left fairly low, so the yields of them are surprisingly high.  Before the earthquake, electric power companies have never decreased dividends even in difficult times economically. That is why some Japanese investors expect stable ret...

Offering accommodations in major cities including Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Nagoya Comfort Hotels are operated at over 60 locations in Japan and are well known among Japanese for offering comfortable accommodation services at reasonable rates as in overseas markets.  The locations include Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka in addition to cities in the Chubu region such as Nagoya, Gifu, Nagano. Since their convenient locations, Comfort Hotels in Japan are often used by business person but they are also popular among tourists because of its affordable rates.  Comfort Hotels have kept a good reputation also in Japan for providing services pursuing comfort and good sleep, such as free wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) connection, free breakfast, welcome coffee service and its original sleep pillow "Choice pillow" in all rooms at competitive prices. On May 31, 2018, World No Tobacco Day, the hotels made all rooms in Japan non-smoking. One night stay is available from ar...

Konica Minolta has suffered shrinking sales due to COVID-19 Konica Minolta , Inc. manufactures multi-functional peripherals, laser printers, digital color printing systems, inkjet print heads and inks, as well as print and cloud services.  It is one of the largest Japanese electronics companies with more than 44,000 employees in its group. Although Konica Minolta is headquartered in Tokyo, it has also expanded production bases in the Chubu region such as Toyokawa City, Aichi Prefecture.  As the demand for printing at offices is decreasing due to the spread of new coronavirus infection, Konica Minolta has been facing the challenge of shrinking sales and seeking new strategy to secure revenues by providing services and products other than office equipment.  For this reason, the company is expanding services connecting office related products with servers and software to support the IT conversion of companies by providing multifunction devices, IT services, and IT mainte...

Conveyor belt sushi , also known as Kaiten-sushi is a semi-self-service type, inexpensive sushi restaurant where small plates bringing various types of sushi on them are continuously circulated on chain conveyors installed along the seats.  Fresh and well-made sushi can be enjoyed for relatively cheap prices there. Plates typically come with one or two sushi pieces each and customers pick up plates they like. Customers can also place orders through a touch screen at each table when sushi they like is not available on conveyor belts.  Those Sushi are usually served on plates with several colors showing their prices ranging from 100 yen to around 500 yen. Some restaurants set the same price for all plates. The lowest price for a plate is usually 100 yen. That is why Kaiten-sushi is often called "100 yen sushi" and very popular among Japanese. Customers are given their bills from a staff who counts plates when they finish eating. Kaiten-sushi has grown thanks to technologie...

COVID-19 caused stagnant sales for Japanese automakers Seven major Japanese automobile manufacturers have finished announcing their consolidated financial statements for FY 2019. Most of them suffered less profits compared to previous year due to the spread of the new coronavirus.  Nissan posted a net loss of 671.2 billion yen because of decreasing sales and increasing structural reform costs. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, which forms a coalition with Nissan, also has a net loss of 25.7 billion yen. Honda, Mazda, and Suzuki all recorded lower sales and profits.  On the other hand, Toyota Motor Corp. posted an increasing net income by 10.3% to 2,076.1 billion yen, although its sales decreased by 1%. SUBARU, which had strong sales in the US also increased sales and profits.   Japanese media is pointing out that Toyota has proved again its ability to maintain high profitability even in a difficult environment. While many companies remain undecided about their financial...