Japan Airlines Co. capped an $8.5 billion initial public offering, the biggest this year after Facebook's, with a modest return to the Tokyo Stock Exchange: Its share price rose only 1 percent in the first day of trading.
The shares closed at 3,830 yen ($48.69), barely above their 3,790 yen IPO price, after briefly topping 3,900 yen shortly after trading opened.
The carrier, also known as JAL, was delisted after it went bankrupt in 2010 but has since carried out cost cuts and restructured to return to solid profitability. Its 663 billion yen ($8.5 billion) IPO nearly doubled the 350 billion yen that went into its government-backed bailout.
"The relisting of our stock is only the starting line for our departure," the company's president Yoshiharu Ueki told reporters, vowing to return the support the airline had received by ensuring good service, safety and enhancing the company's value for its investors.
Though the IPO was oversubscribed and pre-debut gray market trading levels reportedly exceeded 4,000 yen ($50) a share, investor enthusiasm may have been tempered by previous losses and concern that JAL's recovery may not be sustainable given fierce competition from regional carriers.
Revelations earlier this month that a beauty salon scammed hundreds of women met on social-networking site Mixi has Shukan Jitsuwa (June 27) convinced that the alleged crimes represent the type of the iceberg when it comes to frauds pulled on females. (Tokyo Reporter)
In May, Akira Ikoma, the editor of a guide to men’s entertainment called Ore no Tabi (My Journey), said that “Abenomics” had caused a spike in prices at high-end soapland bathhouses in Tokyo. However, the same editor tells Shukan Post (June 28) that the initiative is not impacting the low-end market in the same way. (Tokyo Reporter)
Almost 1,500 people were transported to hospitals by ambulance due to heatstroke last week, up sharply from 942 in the preceding week, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday. (Japan Times )
Police said Tuesday that a mummified body was found earlier this month in a storage cabinet in a restaurant in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture. (Japan Today )
Mt. Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan, will likely see its summer "traffic jam" of climbers worsen this year thanks to its expected addition to the UNESCO World Heritage List. (Yomiuri )
Among about 200,000 traffic signals nationwide, 16 percent are being used beyond the end of the expected lifetime of their electrical systems and some have even toppled over due to age, according to the National Police Agency. (Yomiuri )
Police said Monday they have arrested a 64-year-old woman in connection with the murder of her 59-year-old partner in Seki, Gifu Prefecture. (Japan Today )
Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the bust of a massage parlor in the Gotanda area of Shinagawa Ward on charges of prostitution. (Tokyo Reporter )
Tokyo District Court decided on Monday to open planned examinations of three witnesses who are former senior members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult and now death-row inmates, during an upcoming trial of another former senior Aum member. (Jiji Press )
Revelations earlier this month that a beauty salon scammed hundreds of women met on social-networking site Mixi has Shukan Jitsuwa (June 27) convinced that the alleged crimes represent the type of the iceberg when it comes to frauds pulled on females. (Tokyo Reporter) 
In May, Akira Ikoma, the editor of a guide to men’s entertainment called Ore no Tabi (My Journey), said that “Abenomics” had caused a spike in prices at high-end soapland bathhouses in Tokyo. However, the same editor tells Shukan Post (June 28) that the initiative is not impacting the low-end market in the same way. (Tokyo Reporter) 
Almost 1,500 people were transported to hospitals by ambulance due to heatstroke last week, up sharply from 942 in the preceding week, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday. (Japan Times 
) 
Police said Tuesday that a mummified body was found earlier this month in a storage cabinet in a restaurant in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture. (Japan Today 
Mt. Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan, will likely see its summer "traffic jam" of climbers worsen this year thanks to its expected addition to the UNESCO World Heritage List. (Yomiuri 
Among about 200,000 traffic signals nationwide, 16 percent are being used beyond the end of the expected lifetime of their electrical systems and some have even toppled over due to age, according to the National Police Agency. (Yomiuri 
A competition has been held near Tokyo to choose the season's best loquats, or biwa fruit, to be presented to the Imperial Household. (NHK 
Police said Monday they have arrested a 64-year-old woman in connection with the murder of her 59-year-old partner in Seki, Gifu Prefecture. (Japan Today 
Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the bust of a massage parlor in the Gotanda area of Shinagawa Ward on charges of prostitution. (Tokyo Reporter 
Tokyo District Court decided on Monday to open planned examinations of three witnesses who are former senior members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult and now death-row inmates, during an upcoming trial of another former senior Aum member. (Jiji Press