Japan-U.S. Business Report articles from July 2000

Japan-U.S. Business Report archives from July 2000

Japan-U.S. Business Report.(discontinued)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... This is the final issue of the Japan-U.S. Business Report. I appreciate your forbearance as the report fell further and further behind schedule. Ironically, I always considered it to be first on my list of things to do. However, the demands...

Chemicals. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(Japanese chemical producers develop electronic commerce potential in US)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Japan's top chemicals producers are only a step behind their American and European peers in embracing business-to-business Internet-based marketplaces as a way to lower input costs and boost sales volume. Like many of their counterparts,...

Computers and peripherals. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(Japanese electronics companies partner for online market portal)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Three of Japan's huge, vertically integrated electronics manufacturers - HITACHI, LTD., MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. and TOSHIBA CORP.- are among the eight launch partners of an INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP.-spearheaded...

Construction and real estate. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. consolidates American operations in New York)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... The restructuring of MITSUI FUDOSAN CO., LTD.'s property portfolio in the United States has shifted from the disposal stage to the organizational phase. Japan's top real estate developer merged its once-separate subsidiaries in Honolulu, Los...

Electric machinery. (Japanese Companies in the United States).
July 1, 2000... Arguably, no big Japanese electric machinery manufacturer has been more willing than TOSHIBA CORP. to spin off operations judged to fall outside its core businesses. This restructuring often involves the formation of a joint venture with a...

Energy resources. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(Itochu Corp., Chemoil Corp., form petroleum products joint venture, EPetroleum.com Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... In its boldest move to date to adapt a core business to the Internet age, ITOCHU CORP. formed equally owned EPETROLEUM.COM, INC. with CHEMOIL CORP. to build a B2B on-line marketplace for refined petroleum products. Based in San Francisco, where...

Financial services. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(multiple industry news briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... DAI-ICHI KANGYO BANK, LTD., which, like other Japanese banks, has been reducing its offshore operations, agreed to sell the corporate trust business of its California banking unit to BANK OF NEW YORK CO. for an undisclosed price. Los...

Metals and fabricated products. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(Tosoh Corp. acquires Semiconductor Equipment Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... At an estimated cost of $18.9 million, TOSOH CORP. -- the world leader in the market for sputtering targets used to form thin films in the production of semiconductors, disk drives and LCDs -- acquired SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGY, INC....

Nonelectric machinery. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(several industry news briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... After considerable indecision about how to turn around several of its floundering U.S. industrial machinery businesses (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 362, November 1999, p. 9), MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD. opted for reorganization....

Photo equipment and copiers. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(Fuji Photo Film USA Inc. to launch web site)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... This fall, the Itasca, Illinois Graphic Systems Division of FUJI PHOTO FILM U.S.A., INC. will deploy a new marketing tool: a Web site tailored specifically to the worldwide printing and publishing industries, myfujifilm.com will offer three...

Precision and medical equipment. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(multiple industry news briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... TORAY INDUSTRIES, INC. has gained an instant foothold in the large and growing American market for water-treatment equipment. Together with IONICS, INC., one of the world's biggest makers of water-purification equipment and the top builder of...

Semiconductors. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(several industry news briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... First TOSHIBA CORP. and then HITACHI, LTD. signed new patent licensing agreements with RAMBUS INC., the Mountain View, California developer of the high-bandwidth interconnection technologies that enable memories to capitalize on ever-faster...

Software and information services. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(multiple industry news briefs)
July 1, 2000... Like fellow Internet start-up investor HIKARI TSUSHIN, INC. (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 369, June 2000, p. 9), a financially strapped SOFTBANK CORP. cashed out some of the profits on an early U.S. flier to fund its expansion efforts....

Telecommunications. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(multiple industry news briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... SOLITON SYSTEMS K.K. has jumped into the American market for Internet telephony equipment. The network systems integrator formed SOLPHONE, INC. to develop, market and support VoIP gateways that use companies' existing IP-based networks to...

Transportation equipment. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(multiple industry news briefs)
July 1, 2000... Industry insiders say that FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD. soon will embark on a two-pronged expansion of its onshore automotive production capabilities. According to this talk, it will add a four-wheel-drive Subaru product, set to debut as a 2003...

Miscellaneous. (Japanese Companies in the United States).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Deciding that an alliance was the most efficient means of meeting the global needs of each company's freight customers, the cargo operations of rivals JAPAN AIRLINES CO., LTD. and NWA INC.'s Northwest Airlines have entered into a long-term...

Chemicals. (American Companies in Japan).
July 1, 2000... Buyers and sellers of chemicals and plastic products in Japan soon will have the best of all worlds in terms of on-line trading: a completely localized, full-service B2B e-commerce platform based on proven technology and access to the world's...

Computers and peripherals. (American Companies in Japan).
July 1, 2000... In what is said to be its biggest outsourcing contract yet from a manufacturer, IBM JAPAN LTD. will manage NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.'s IT operations in Japan. The ten-and-a-half-year deal represents another step in the big automotive maker's...

Construction and real estate. (American Companies in Japan).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... For an undisclosed price, JONES LANG LASALLE IP, INC., a major Chicago real estate company, bought LAND BUILDING MANAGEMENT CO., LTD. The midsize property management company, headquartered in Tokyo, manages about 40 office buildings located in...

Electric machinery. (American Companies in Japan).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... At least three more leading recording and production studios in Tokyo and Osaka are installing EUPHONIX INC.'s CS3000 digitally controlled analog consoles for their music and postproduction film or video applications. The Palo Alto, California...

Financial services. (American Companies in Japan).
July 1, 2000... For the second time in two months, financial authorities selected ASIA RECOVERY FUND L.P. to negotiate the purchase of the assets and the operations of a midsize regional bank that failed under the weight of bad loans and ended up state-owned....

Metals and fabricated products. (American Companies in Japan).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... SMART ONLINE CORP. has gained three more trading company backers ahead of its July launch of a B2B e-commerce marketplace for the domestic steel industry. New York City's E-STEEL CORP., the source of Smart Online's technology for buying and...

Nonelectric machinery. (American Companies in Japan).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... An innovative process commercialized by TREXEL, INC. for producing a wide range of injection-molded, extruded and blow-molded plastic products has received a strong initial reception in Japan. The Woburn, Massachusetts firm licensed two...

Precision and medical equipment. (American Companies in Japan).
July 1, 2000... The Tokyo-Rinkai Hospital under construction in the Tokyo Bay area will have state-of-the-art protection against earthquake damage. In its first major project in Japan, TAYLOR DEVICES, INC. will base-isolate the structure with flexible bearings...

Semiconductors. (American Companies in Japan).(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2000... Although TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. is bumping up against capacity limits in Japan, especially for active-matrix LCD driver chips for notebook computer displays (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 369, June 2000, p. 27), it agreed to sell its...

Software and information services. (American Companies in Japan).
July 1, 2000... BEATNIK, INC. announced that several major Japanese recording artists, ISPs and music publishing firms will adopt its interactive audio technology to deliver a richer experience to Web surfers visiting their Web sites. Although sound effects...

Telecommunications. (American Companies in Japan).
July 1, 2000... Even before it finalizes the purchase of VERIO INC. (see Japan-U.S. Business Report No. 369, June 2000, p. 10), NIT COMMUNICATIONS CORP. is offering its vast customer base a "Powered by Verio" Web-hosting service under an agreement that was...

Textiles and apparel. (American Companies in Japan).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2000... FINITY APPAREL GROUP, the Manhattan designer of the Finity New York brand of clothing for women between the target ages of 30 and 40, gave SEIYU, LTD. exclusive marketing rights to its label. The operator of a variety of retail formats will...

Transportation equipment. (American Companies in Japan).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... In its latest initiative to use the Internet to boost not only its own business but that of its affiliates as well, the e-GM e-commerce unit of GENERAL MOTORS CORP. plans to include information on products made by FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.,...

Miscellaneous. (American Companies in Japan).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2000... Falling into the intriguing news category is the report that top defense contractor LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP., the builder of the Atlas heavy-lift satellite booster, and propulsion systems manufacturer AEROJET, a GENCORP INC. unit, are in talks...