According to The Nikkei Asia, the value of Fast Retailing, the Japanese parent of casual clothing chain Uniqlo, reached 10.87 trillion yen (US$ 103 billion) at the end of trading Tuesday last week, putting it at the top of the global apparel industry in terms of market capitalization.
This marks the first time Fast Retailing topped Zara's Spanish parent Inditex, which had a market cap of about 81.7 billion euros (US$ 99 billion) at Monday's close and 80.8 billion euros at the end of Tuesday. The Japanese retailer's share price has steadily climbed since last August.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Retail/Uniqlo-outstrips-Zara-as-most-valuable-clothier-at-103bn

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/1086567814.html?lang=ja
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According to The Australian Financial Review, mum-and-dad investors have joined the rush of first-home buyers snapping up housing lots in Melbourne’s outer suburbs, amid a growing preference for homes with backyards over inner-city apartments since the start of the pandemic.
Despite the government slashing its HomeBuilder grant to $15,000 from January 1, land sales specialist Core Projects registered a near record 2200 lot sales across Melbourne, Geelong and regional Victoria in January.
Core Projects estimated about a quarter of these sales were to investors in some estates.
Mr Neilson said investors had re-emerged in the land market after about a two-year hiatus, accounting for up to 25 per cent of sales in some projects in the final quarter in 2020.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/investors-return-to-booming-house-and-land-market-20210216-p572vt

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6955855.html?lang=ja 
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According to The Nikkei Asian, Japanese companies are moving to expand the country's still-nascent hydrogen fueling infrastructure, taking advantage of recent deregulation as Tokyo positions the fuel as central to its pivot away from carbon.
Eneos Holdings, Japan's largest oil distributor, will install hydrogen pumps at existing gas stations -- a first for the nation, according to the company. The effort will begin in the spring of 2022 with a total of two stations, in Kanagawa and Aichi prefectures. The company envisions this as a new business opportunity for its 13,000 Eneos-branded gas stations across the country.
Japan's basic policy on hydrogen in 2017 included proposals to ease regulations to encourage construction of filling stations, which had been expensive and technically challenging owing in part to strict safety requirements. Cuts to red tape have since helped the private sector move forward with new facilities -- a vital step in promoting fuel cell vehicles.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Energy/Japan-s-hydrogen-fueling-network-expands-to-gas-stations

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/-eneos.html?lang=ja 
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According to The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese steel industry group has moved up its goal of achieving net zero CO2 emissions in the industry by 50 years, with the target year now set for 2050.
The goal brings the steel producers in line with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's pledge for Japan to go carbon free by 2050.
“We agree with the government policy of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 and will take on the challenge aggressively," the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) announced in a statement on Feb. 15.
In November 2018, the steel federation had set a goal of achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2100, before the government announced its goal last autumn.
However, as the JISF has announced virtually the same efforts it plans to make to reduce the CO2 emissions as when it set the 2100 target, there seems to be little grounds for it to achieve the goal.
The steel industry emits 14 percent of all CO2 emissions in Japan and is the largest emitter among manufacturing industries.
To achieve a carbon-free industry, it is necessary to replace coke, which is used in the iron-making process, with hydrogen.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14197485

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/co22050.html?lang=ja 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, more than halfway through the earnings season, corporate Australia is shrugging off the gloom of the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering improving profits and looking to the future with more optimism.
Results this week from the three big iron ore miners, big banks, healthcare companies and a swathe of retailers and fast food firms serving the stay-at-home lifestyle point to a corporate sector returning to health after 2020’s lockdowns and restrictions.
Miners are benefiting from strong demand from Chinese steel mills and the energy transition. The stay-at-home economy is booming because of extra pantry stocking, and heavy investment in mini home renovations and DIY projects funnelling vast amounts of cash to retailers exposed to those sectors. That cash would normally have been applied to overseas travel and eating out at restaurants.

https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/corporate-australia-is-getting-back-to-good-heath-20210218-p573s1

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/1974039.html?lang=ja 
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According to The Nikkei Asia, Japanese trading house Itochu looks to promote sustainable sourcing among fashion brands in Asia through a partnership with Italy's Aquafil, the world's leading producer of regenerated nylon.
The two companies will build facilities in Japan and elsewhere in Asia to collect and reprocess post-industrial and post-consumer waste such as nylon. Itochu will help Aquafil market its regenerated materials in Asia, targeting sales of around 2 billion yen (US$ 19.1 million) in the first year.
Aquafil collects and cleans scraps from apparel factories as well as fishing nets and used carpets. It processes this waste into nylon materials and synthetic fiber at facilities in Slovenia with its regeneration technology.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Environment/Itochu-helps-Asian-fashion-labels-go-green-with-recycled-nylon

​If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6391784.html?lang=ja

According to The Australian Financial Review, falling housing prices in Sydney and Melbourne in the third quarter cut nearly half a year off the time taken to save for a deposit as affordability improved last year, new analysis of official housing and weekly earnings figures shows.
Sydney’s $21,000 and Melbourne’s $20,000 fall in median house price in the September quarter cut 23 weeks off the time needed to raise a deposit in the NSW capital and 22 weeks in the Victorian capital, figures published by the Australian Institute for Progress, a conservative-aligned think tank, show.
However, the greatest hurdle to home ownership in Australia is saving a deposit at a time when record low interest rates have pushed home values to new highs while also making the return on any savings minimal.

https://www.afr.com/property/residential/more-difficult-to-get-into-the-housing-market-than-it-s-ever-been-20210205-p5702q

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6734847.html?lang=ja
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According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Hoshino Resorts will produce drinking water by desalination at its property on a remote Okinawan island beginning Saturday, dispensing with the need to provide plastic bottles of water in guest rooms.
The Japanese hospitality company hopes to attract environmentally conscious tourists by highlighting its shift away from plastic.
Equipment at Hoshinoya Taketomi Island will make about 60 tons of potable water daily from seawater using a special membrane.
Residents of Taketomi Island receive their water from Ishigaki Island, about 5 km away, via undersea pipes. Because this supply is limited, the resort has provided roughly 40,000 plastic water bottles annually to guests to reduce the impact on residents.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Environment/Remote-Japanese-island-resort-taps-ocean-for-drinking-water

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/7515216.html?lang=ja
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According to The Nikkei Asia, Japanese electronics manufacturer Casio Computer will release its skin cancer detection devices in foreign markets, anticipating demand in countries with higher rates of the condition.
Casio will market its Dermocamera and dermoscope in Australia and New Zealand by March, expanding to Taiwan and the U.S. later this year. Australia had the highest rate of melanoma in 2018, followed by New Zealand, according to data compiled by the World Cancer Research Fund.
By taking this business overseas, Casio looks to lift revenue from medical devices north of 1 billion yen (US$ 9.48 million) in two to three years. The segment's sales are currently estimated between 100 million yen and 200 million yen.
The two devices work by magnifying and photographing skin lesions under different lighting conditions. A physician can identify whether the lesion is a malignant tumor based on the surface structure and coloring.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Health-Care/Casio-brings-skin-cancer-detectors-overseas-including-to-US

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/8511210.html?lang=ja
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According to The Australian Financial Review, the world’s largest battery – with a capacity of up to 1200 megawatts – will be built in the NSW Hunter Valley.
The $2.4 billion project reflects yet another scaling-up of grid-scale storage ambitions to complement intermittent renewables, in direct competition with gas-fired power.
The battery, announced by Morris Iemma-led CEP.Energy, will be up to eight times the size of the original  “big battery”  in South Australia.

https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/hunter-set-for-world-s-biggest-battery-20210204-p56zji

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/5343944.html?lang=ja
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