News On Japan

Osaka Metro Posts Record Interim Profit on Expo Boom

OSAKA - Osaka Metro announced that its interim financial results reached a record high, driven by an increase in ridership linked to the Osaka-Kansai Expo.

According to the company, operating profit for the first half of fiscal 2025 rose 45% from the previous year to 34.6 billion yen, while net profit climbed 41% to 22.9 billion yen — both marking record highs.

The Chuo Line’s Yumeshima Station, the only railway line directly connecting to the Expo site, has seen a surge in passengers. During the Expo period, Osaka Metro’s average daily ridership reached 2.52 million, up 15% from the same period a year earlier, boosting transport revenue significantly and generating approximately 9.7 billion yen in profit related to Expo operations.

The company has also revised upward its full-year forecast for both operating and net profit in anticipation of continued strong demand through the Expo period.

Source: YOMIURI

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Typhoon No. 9 (Bavi) is forecast to approach and pass over Okinawa’s Sakishima Islands from the night of July 10 through July 11 while maintaining very strong intensity, bringing the risk of torrential rain, violent winds, power outages and damage to buildings.

Akie Abe, the wife of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has said she is only now becoming able to grieve honestly over her husband’s death, four years after he was shot and killed during an election campaign speech in Nara.

A nine-year dispute over the Linear Chuo Shinkansen effectively came to an end on July 7 as Shizuoka Governor Yasutomo Suzuki told the prefectural assembly that he would allow Central Japan Railway to begin construction on the Shizuoka section of the project.

Japan lowered passport application fees from July 1, drawing large crowds to application counters such as the one in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, although applicants are being warned that issuance could take as long as about one month.

Tokyo will introduce a 3% accommodation tax on hotel and other lodging stays from April 2027, formally replacing its current flat-rate system and extending the levy to private lodging services.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Business NEWS

Japan's planned rollout of mobile phone numbers beginning with 060 has been postponed after telecom carriers said they need more time to complete system preparations.

Tokyo stocks fell for a third straight session on July 8 as selling in semiconductor and AI-related shares continued, while rising Japanese government bond yields, Middle East tensions and concern over the Bank of Japan’s policy independence added pressure to the broader market.

Tokyo stocks fell sharply on July 7 as a selloff in South Korean chip shares triggered fresh concern over the sustainability of the AI boom, dragging the Nikkei 225 lower while banks and other value shares resisted the decline.

Japan’s long-term interest rate briefly rose to 2.83% on July 6, its highest level in nearly 30 years, as investors grew more cautious over inflation, the pace of Bank of Japan rate hikes and the government’s fiscal stance.

Tesla has begun full-scale landings of its electric vehicles at Mikawa Port in Aichi Prefecture, choosing a major auto import hub in Toyota’s home region as a new base for shipments to western Japan.

Tokyo stocks ended mixed on July 6 as profit-taking in AI and semiconductor-related shares kept the Nikkei 225 nearly flat, while broader buying in banks, value stocks and domestic demand names lifted the TOPIX to a fresh record high.

Internet communication through smartphones and computers has become indispensable to daily life, and the facilities known as data centers that support ordinary actions such as watching videos online and sending messages are now expanding rapidly as demand for artificial intelligence grows.

The yen has weakened to the 162 range against the dollar for the first time in about 40 years, but the latest market environment differs sharply from the period four decades ago, when Japan was still climbing toward the height of its economic power.