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Tokyo Brief東 京 ブ リ ー フJapan's day, wrapped and delivered by morning.

Japan Corporate Strategy

Medium-term plans, capital spending, new plants, products and drug approvals from Japanese companies.

  1. Japan Engine finishes first hydrogen-fuel ship engine, shipment set for January

    Japan Engine finished its first commercial hydrogen-fuel marine engine in September 2026 and plans to ship it in January, though building it dented interim engine sales while repair and parts income drove a raised full-year forecast.

  2. Honda decides on US$3bn Ohio plant to lift North American car capacity

    Honda's planned Ohio plant, built for up to 240,000 cars a year and targeted to start in 2029, would raise its North American capacity from 1.67 million to 1.91 million units; the company calls the near-term earnings effect minor.

  3. Kawasaki Heavy opens 30MW hydrogen turbine at RWE's German plant, with testing still to come

    A Kawasaki Heavy Industries turbine that can run on 0% to 100% hydrogen is now installed at RWE's Emsland plant, but the emissions, durability and operability checks that would prove it still lie ahead.

  4. Keisei applies for 14.1% fare rise from March 2028, with student passes held

    Keisei Electric Railway has applied to the transport minister to lift fares 14.1% from March 2028 while holding student passes, scrapping the barrier-free fee and still showing a ¥8.18bn average loss under its own method.

  5. Toyota creates robotics and education units and splits India-Middle East from East Asia in January reshuffle

    Toyota will set up a robotics unit under its production chief and an education division led by its chairman from January 1, 2027, and replace regional heads in North America, China and Asia.

  6. K Line sets ¥700bn–800bn shareholder-return plan and 15% ROE goal for 2031

    Kawasaki Kisen's five-year plan splits ¥700bn to ¥800bn in shareholder returns between a ¥120-a-share dividend worth ¥350bn and a flexible ¥350bn to ¥450bn, alongside a company-wide ROE target of 15% or more for 2031.

  7. JR Central plans to lift Nozomi charge to ¥1,020 on Tokyo-Osaka run from July 2027

    Central Japan Railway plans to lift the Nozomi charge to its approved ceiling in July 2027 and revise Green car charges in December 2027, estimating ¥50bn to ¥60bn a year in extra revenue.

  8. Imasen to move all Wuhan output to Guangzhou by March 2027, booking a ¥1.2bn loss

    Imasen Electric plans to move all Wuhan production to Guangzhou by the end of March 2027, expects a special loss of about ¥1.2bn, and keeps its annual forecast because a separate investment-securities gain is expected in the same year.

  9. Kawasaki Heavy Raises Its 2030 Defence Sales Outlook and Sets a ¥330bn Business-Profit Target

    Kawasaki Heavy now sees defence revenue of ¥700bn to ¥800bn in the 2030 fiscal year, up from ¥500bn to ¥700bn, within a plan for business profit above ¥330bn on revenue above ¥3.3tn.

  10. AeroEdge's Share of Safran's LEAP Blade Orders Set to Jump From 2028

    AeroEdge, one of only two global suppliers of titanium-aluminide blades for Safran's LEAP jet engine, has locked in a market-share increase from 40% to the high-40s per cent range starting January 2028, tied to a new alloy it developed with Japan's materials-research institute.

  11. Japan Engine's Hydrogen Marine Engine Clears Factory Test With a Deep Emissions Cut

    Japan Engine Corporation's 6UEC35LSGH hit a hydrogen co-firing ratio above 95% and cut emissions by the same margin against heavy-oil engines in factory tests witnessed by ClassNK, but the engine still has to survive installation on a Mitsui O.S.K. Lines vessel and at-sea demonstration testing from April 2028 before it counts as proven.

  12. Japan Engine's Hydrogen Marine Engine Clears Land Test, Cuts Emissions by 95% or More

    Japan Engine Corporation's 6UEC35LSGH cut emissions by 95% or more against a heavy-fuel-oil engine in factory trials, but the real test, an April 2028 sea demonstration aboard a Mitsui O.S.K. Lines vessel, is still nearly two years off.

  13. Yamato HD to End Domestic Freighter Service With JAL as Air Costs Outrun Trucking

    Yamato Holdings will shut the dedicated domestic cargo-plane operation it built with Japan Airlines by around June 2027, after yen weakness and fuel costs pushed air-transport costs up faster than trucking, widening the price gap between the two modes beyond what the company had assumed when it launched the service in 2024.

  14. Honda and Nissan Sign Contract to Share Core Vehicle Computers and Software

    Honda and Nissan have signed a binding contract to make the core ECUs, operating system, middleware and control software in their next-generation vehicles common to both companies, targeting deployment from fiscal 2029 with no synergy figure disclosed and only a minor financial impact flagged for the year to March 2027.

  15. Star Flyer Locks In a Spare Jet Engine for the Next Decade as Global Supply Tightens

    Star Flyer will pay about ¥3.3bn over ten years for a single spare LEAP-1A26 engine starting December 2027, telling the exchange that a global engine shortage has made short-notice replacements hard to find.

  16. JR Tokai Adds Private Suites to the Tokaido Shinkansen as Inbound Travel Lifts Revenue

    Central Japan Railway's quarterly revenue rose 3% on a 7% jump in inbound fares, and it will start selling fully enclosed Tokaido Shinkansen compartments from October, while a new Shizuoka conservation pact clears one legal hurdle, not full approval, for its stalled maglev tunnel.

  17. Axelspace's Seven New Satellites Clear Orbital Health Checks

    Axelspace Holdings says its new GRUS-3 constellation cleared critical orbital checks three days after launch, and the earnings forecast due July 14 already assumes the milestone holds.

  18. Axelspace lines up new and extended KSAT antenna access for GRUS series

    Axelspace agreed on June 16 to a new five-year antenna contract with KSAT, including backup support for satellites already in operation, plus a two-year extension of an existing contract; both are scheduled to be signed on June 23. The company says the contract amounts exceed 10% of consolidated sales in the year ended May 2025, but it left its outlook for the year to May 2026 unchanged.