Mitsuru Obe

Editor/reporter @NikkeiAsia; former @WSJ

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

(Revised with correct figure for Middle Eastern imports.)
Japan’s April naphtha imports fell 47% y/y.
Middle East plunged 79%, while:
• U.S. up 210×
• Peru up 16%
• Algeria entered as a new supplier
https://t.co/WNSLAUPVuN via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Japan spent $73bn to defend the yen — roughly 5% of its $1.38tn FX reserves.
https://t.co/1iyH4bu6jG via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Middle Eastern naphtha to Japan fell 47% in April. The replacements:
• U.S. (up 210×)
• Peru (up 16%)
• Algeria (new)
https://t.co/zNFyOCaRow via via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Japan is scrambling for naphtha — the plastics feedstock behind syringes and catheters that underpin surgeries, dialysis and chemotherapy.
https://t.co/zNFyOCaRow via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

The U.S., Peru and India are the few reliable alternative sources of naphtha Japan can turn to as Middle Eastern supply falters.
https://t.co/zNFyOCaRow via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

China and the U.S. dominate drug innovation. To stay in the race, Japan may need to allow higher prices for new drugs — even if that means higher costs for patients, a delicate balance for policymakers.
https://t.co/S1lM0LCnsk via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Japanese companies often hold prime real estate as a legacy of decades of operations. As managers weigh whether to keep or diverset these assets and focus on core businesses, more are opting for asset‑light models.
https://t.co/hYEhUAQ3nX via @NikkeiAsia

[ジョージ・グラス駐日米国大使 @USAmbJapan]

Producing and developing together is just as important as training and exercising together. The strength of our 🇺🇸🇯🇵 deterrence is dependent on our ability to innovate and manufacture systems at scale and at speed. The excellent tour of @MHI_Group’s interceptor missile production facilities provided a chance to talk Alliance capabilities with @ModJapan_jp Minister @shinjirokoiz.

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Shareholder pressure is forcing Japan’s asset‑heavy companies to unload underused warehouses -- and private equity knows a bargain when it sees one. Buyers like Blackstone are snapping them up as fast as they hit the market.
https://t.co/hYEhUAQ3nX via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Japan’s defense buildup increasingly depends on partners willing to engage with Tokyo as true co‑developers. BAE, Rolls‑Royce and Leonardo already play that role. Saab is now making the case that it should be next.
https://t.co/PCEPt91Gqi via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Japan’s latest takeover battle pits Sweden’s EQT against Line‑Yahoo for control of .Kakaku.com, the operator of restaurant‑review site Tabelog.
https://t.co/fI0VJWOSiv via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Olympus CEO Bob White marked his first year in office with a 20% jump in the share price — though the stock has only returned to where it stood when he took over. The harder work of making Olympus bigger & more profitable still lies ahead.
https://t.co/TtFE49dEsM via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

It’s too early to call a regime change, but Kioxia’s surge may signal that Japan’s market leadership is starting to tilt away from legacy automakers and toward semiconductor names.
https://t.co/CUc2HjF9QJ via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Oasis’s bid for a supply‑chain probe at Kao was voted down, but it marks a new front for Japanese shareholder activism, which has mostly focused on operational or governance issues.

https://t.co/PLkrp6RVna via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Oasis’s bid for a supply‑chain probe at Kao was voted down, but it marks a new front for Japanese shareholder activism, which has mostly focused on operational or governance issues.

https://t.co/PLkrp6RVna via @NikkeiAsia

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Shareholder activism is heating up as AGM season nears in Japan. Elliott has laid out a sweeping cost‑cut plan for Daikin, while UK fund Palliser is urging SMC, the industrial‑automation heavyweight, to buy back shares.
https://t.co/U46hJEKtXz

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Japan’s post‑deflation ‘new normal’ is taking shape -- higher mortgage rates, still‑lofty property prices, wary buyers and rising inventories.
https://t.co/cVhWNJoZZ4
By Akane Okutsu and Yuka Konishi

[Bo Erickson Reuters @BoKnowsNews]

Pandemonium at WH correspondents dinner. Waiters started running and the Secret Service rushed POTUS off stage. No clarity on what sparked the chaos

[IORIS @iori_s214]

植田総裁の英語力・英語学習に関するインタビュー。
日銀ウォッチャーも英語学習者も必読の、素敵なインタビューです。

[Mitsuru Obe @mit_obe]

Elliott has taken a 3% stake in Japan's Daikin and is pushing the air‑conditioner giant to pursue a ¥1 trillion share buyback and review — and potentially sell — its chemical and filter operations.
https://t.co/joIAYKskfc
via @NikkeiAsia