Society

Rakuten sells entire Pinterest stake as it offloads tech holdings

Feb 14 (Nikkei) - Japanese e-commerce conglomerate Rakuten on Thursday said it sold $1.4 billion worth of shares in its technology holdings, including its entire stake in U.S. social networking service Pinterest, underlying growing concerns about overvaluations in the sector.

The move came as Rakuten reported an operating loss of 40 billion yen ($364 million) in the October-December quarter. Profits at its financial technology business were offset by impairments in its ride-hailing investments including Spain's Cabify.

The loss at Rakuten, which follows a 103 billion yen write-down of the company's stake in U.S. ride-hailer Lyft during the previous quarter, highlights the widespread impact of cooling tech valuations.

SoftBank Group on Wednesday reported another loss at its Vision Fund investment business, which bought stakes in some of the world's biggest privately held tech companies. Its CEO, Masayoshi Son, said he is pushing back plans for a $108 billion Vision Fund 2.

Rakuten said it unloaded the interest in Pinterest in the fourth quarter. Pinterest, which went public in April last year, saw its shares slide at the end of last year although they recovered over the past few weeks. Since Rakuten was an early investor, it said its return on investment was 382%.

Do Bears Prefer Acorns or Berries?

Bear sightings across Japan have already climbed to nearly twice the level recorded during the same period last year, prompting entry bans in mountain areas behind Kyoto’s Ninna-ji Temple and the cancellation of hiking events in Kansai, while new research suggests that the key to reducing encounters may lie in understanding what bears eat in each region.

Copper Thieves Target Japanese Shrines

Copper roofing panels were stolen from several shrines in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, including a city-designated cultural property, in the latest case amid a nationwide surge in copper thefts targeting shrines and temples across Japan, where soaring metal prices have fueled crimes that leave historic religious buildings damaged, exposed to the elements, and facing repair costs of millions of yen.

1200-Year-Old Temple on Miyajima Reduced to Ashes

Flames broke out on the morning of May 20th on Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, home to one of Japan's World Heritage sites, destroying Reikado Hall near the summit of Mount Misen.

From Bento Boxes to Garbage Bags, Rising Costs Hitting Daily Life Across Japan

Uncertainty surrounding the situation in the Middle East is beginning to affect daily life in Japan, as concerns over crude oil supplies spread to restaurants, cleaning services and even household garbage disposal systems across the Kansai region.

Tochigi Robbery-Murder Suspect’s Wife Posted Dance Videos on Social Media

A 25-year-old woman arrested as a suspected ringleader in a robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture once posted cheerful dance videos on social media and was remembered by those who knew her as an energetic and outgoing young woman.

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