Hiroaki Kimura News Today

A group of banks has hit the brakes on a refinancing request by scandal-hit Bigmotor Co. for 9 billion yen ($61 million) due for repayment this week, sources said.

Major used-car dealer Bigmotor Co. is suspected of systematically damaging automobiles and unnecessarily replacing parts when handling accident repairs and passing the inflated costs to insurance companies.

Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada served as the “trigger” in the decision by Akio Toyoda to step down as company president and hand over the baton to a much younger executive.

KANAZAWA--Entrepreneur Tadateru Mitani is committed to rendering his enterprise here “friendly” to all relevant parties including employees and sustainable as a “good company.”

Norihisa Tamura, labor minister, answers questions from reporters about measures to prevent death from overwork on May 25. (Koichi Ueda) The central government is about to ramp up pressure on ministries, agencies and local governments to stop placing business orders for quick turnaround projects with strict deadlines to help curb deaths from overwork. The government included the call against issuing tight work-order deadlines in the final draft update to its policy outline for preventing deaths...