Japanese businesses are trapped between America and China
Could geopolitics kill off an incipient corporate revival?
Not since the 1980s have Japanese businesses generated so much excitement. Japanese companies’ profit margins have doubled in the past decade or so. They are forking out twice as much to their owners in the form of dividends and share buy-backs as they did ten years ago. Shareholder-friendly changes to corporate governance in Japan have caused foreign investors to flock to the country once again. Having languished for decades, the Nikkei 225 index, which tracks the value of the country’s largest listed firms, is up by 25% over the past year (see chart 1). In February it at last exceeded the record it set in 1989, just before Japan’s bubble burst.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Flyover country”
From the June 1st 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Could seaweed replace plastic packaging?
Companies are experimenting with new ways to reduce plastic waste
Has Sequoia Capital outgrown its business model?
Venture capital’s hardiest perennial gets back to its roots
On stupid rules and quick wins
Why every boss can benefit from asking employees what most infuriates them
TikTok wants Western consumers to shop like the Chinese
It still has some convincing to do
Will the trouble ever end for Volkswagen and its rivals?
From strikes to Trump tariffs, calamities abound
After Northvolt’s failure, who will make Europe’s EV batteries?
The continent looks ever more reliant on Asian producers
