Global business

Santen develops and sells eye medicines and expands regional portfolios through partnerships for other companies’ products. In the year ended March 2026, Japanese drug-price reductions and generic competition weighed on consolidated revenue, which fell to ¥291.6bn. EMEA growth of 7.8% became 0.4% when currency effects were excluded. Understanding the Chinese distribution agreement and the next year’s growth forecast requires attention to the rights involved, regional pricing conditions, currency and selling costs.

Sekisui House undertakes construction, manages completed rental housing and sells developed property. All three Japanese business models increased operating profit in the year ended January 2026, offsetting the international decline. Shorter vacancies support rental management; customer proposals and project economics influence construction; transaction timing matters in development. The following year’s plan also changes segment classifications, so identically named profit lines cannot be compared without using the recast figures.

Kameda Seika’s 33.7% sales increase includes a change in scope: a full year of TH FOODS consolidation. TH FOODS itself grew 2.1% in US dollars, as its own-brand business offset weaker private-label/OEM and bulk sales. Manufacturing capacity and whose brand reaches the shelf together explain this North American business.

Pigeon studies babies' feeding movements, adjusts nipple materials and shape, and checks quality with instruments and visual examination. Its Integrated Report 2025 describes an annual scale above 100 million artificial nipples and 15 inspection points per piece. Overseas, it also works to balance wide-neck bottle features and price. Wide-neck products rose from 45% to 62% of Singapore Business bottle sales by value between 2023 and 2025.

Otsuka combines local production and supplies from existing overseas factories to expand its consumer products. Its Pharmaceutical Business must develop future medicines while existing products face the end of exclusivity. Medical knowledge has also contributed to Pocari Sweat and Calorie Mate. The connections sit alongside distinct manufacturing, selling and research work for each product.

ZOZO’s year ended March 2026 combines consignment services, including clothing storage, sales, logistics and customer support, with LYST’s fees on completed referred purchases. LYST adds merchandise value to the cost-ratio denominator, while warehouse work and delivery terms also improved. Reading higher packing and freight expense alongside its lower ratio reveals who handles the clothes and bears which costs, as well as the scale of transactions.

Keeping Ichthys operating means maintaining equipment and adapting to changing conditions for recovering gas. The project shipped 112 LNG cargoes in 2025. INPEX is adding equipment to recover gas at lower reservoir pressure while evaluating future feed-gas sources. The phased BCM connection and commissioning disclosed on August 7, 2026 were plans at that date. Separating output, construction progress and potential supply makes the work behind long-term operation more tangible.

Tokio Marine’s North American businesses bring together distinct underwriting expertise: PHLY’s organizational cover, Delphi’s employee benefits and workers’ compensation, and TMHCC’s medical stop-loss, among other products. Pricing, limits and selection sit alongside loss estimates, investments and currency effects in explaining results. The three businesses’ calendar-2025 JGAAP management disclosures must remain distinct from the group’s April 2025–March 2026 IFRS accounts.

In the year ended March 2026, ANA domestic available seat-kilometers fell 1.2% while revenue passenger-kilometers rose 4.3%, lifting load factor to 79.2%. International yield fell 2.7%, yet a load factor of 83.0% helped unit revenue rise 1.9%. Aircraft size, routes, booking timing and fares work together to earn revenue from available capacity. Group operating income reached ¥217.4bn, while domestic profitability remained a structural challenge. Fuller aircraft alone do not determine profit.

Chugai connects its own research to Roche through development, marketing and supply agreements. FY2025 Hemlibra exports to Roche were ¥339.3bn; Roche royalty and profit-sharing income across products was ¥163.3bn. The reciprocal arrangement gives Chugai first refusal on developing and marketing Roche compounds in Japan. Chugai also bears research expenses and costs when projects are discontinued. Its model combines its own search for medicines with access to another company's commercial scale.

In FY2025, Kagome’s International segment generated ¥129.8bn in revenue and ¥9.2bn in company-defined business profit. Primary processing supplies ingredients; secondary processing adds seasoning for products such as sauces. Price cuts as the global tomato-paste supply-demand balance loosened, customer pickup delays and other pressures contributed to a 13.0% revenue decline and a 33.4% fall in business profit. Domestic processed foods generated ¥157.3bn of revenue, while higher manufacturing input costs squeezed beverage profit. The level of processing and the customer explain why businesses using the same crops can face different operating pressures.

With NL+LiNk, a food vendor delivers to one transfer center; Nichirei Logistics Group connects its own and other companies’ centers for delivery to stores. In the year ended March 2026, logistics generated ¥301.0bn in sales and ¥18.6bn in operating profit, alongside Food’s ¥426.7bn and ¥19.9bn. Consolidated sales were ¥716.1bn and operating profit ¥39.0bn, after relevant adjustments. The ¥2.8bn logistics profit increase includes a ¥2.4bn impact from depreciation-method changes and related items. Overseas logistics sales of ¥92.6bn use January–December 2025 accounts included in the March-2026 results. From cold-preservation operations begun in 1943, making food and handling customers’ food distribution have grown into substantial businesses.

Rohto obtained exclusive Mentholatum trademark-use rights and launched ointment and medicated lip balm in 1975. It describes its 1988 acquisition of the US company as a foothold for overseas expansion. Alongside brand launches such as Hada Labo, these events help explain the breadth of a business whose FY2025 sales were 62% skincare and 18% eye care. Those shares do not measure the contribution of any single acquisition or technology.

Fujikura supplies optical cable that fits limited duct space, along with components and equipment for separating, joining and storing its fibers. The 13,824-fiber cable with an outside diameter of 40 mm or less, announced in July 2025, is one example. Fiber count does not directly measure network performance or revenue. In the earlier year ended March 2025, Telecommunications generated ¥451.3bn, or 46% of group revenue.

Makita’s bases introduce tools through demonstrations and user visits, repair failed products and return them to customers. Around 50 overseas countries with direct bases and around 180 sales markets describe different kinds of presence. In the year ended March 2026, overseas revenue represented about 83.0% of sales value and overseas factories made 92.5% of production units. Cordless expansion adds more applications to the work of selling products and supporting their users.

NGK supplies ceramic products for different jobs in semiconductor equipment and automotive emissions control. In the year ended March 2026, Environment represented 59.6% of sales and Digital Society 30.7%. Digital Society grew approximately 19.7%, supported by AI-related demand and inventory increases by certain customers. Expanding an application and continuing its business are separate decisions; the useful picture is one of different requirements and economics coexisting inside NGK.

Yamaha Motor expanded through two documented routes: selling production equipment developed for internal use and reusing motorcycle parts in another product. External arc-welding robot sales in 1976 and the first P-7 outboard in 1960 illustrate those routes. Today’s Robotics and Marine segments each contain many products. In FY2025, Robotics lost ¥0.6bn at the operating level, Marine earned ¥53.6bn, and Land Mobility accounted for about 63.7% of group revenue by site calculation. Reaching another type of buyer creates a business opportunity; product demand and costs shape the resulting profitability.

Advantest sells test systems to semiconductor and electronic-component manufacturers, then supplies support and consumables such as interface boards. In FY2025, ended March 2026, demand for advanced-chip testers and supply capability grew while mature-chip tester demand remained soft. Sales of ¥1.1286tn, operating income of ¥499.1bn and a 44.2% operating margin reflect that demand split and product mix.

Sysmex’s work continues after installation through reagents, reference materials, scientific information and customer care. Its 79.4% stable-revenue measure includes reagents, service/support and other sales; it is not a subscription-only share. Continuing supplies and support help explain the business behind ¥500.0bn of FY2025 sales.

Regional builders sell homes suited to local buyers and price ranges. In FY2025, U.S. single-family housing generated approximately ¥786bn of sales and ¥105bn of recurring income, representing around 35% of group sales and 60% of consolidated recurring income. Land development supplies finished lots, while FITP designs, manufactures, delivers and installs structural components. These are distinct roles in housing supply.

Capacitors help reduce noise and support sudden current demand inside electronic circuits. Murata brings materials and manufacturing capabilities to making these parts. In the year ended March 2026, capacitors grew across applications including servers, while RF and communications revenue fell. Demand differs by component and application, even within the same equipment market.

Cardiac and Vascular is Terumo’s largest business at ¥676.4bn in FY2025. Devices within vessels, oxygenators outside the body, blood and cell collection, and hospital and pharmaceutical products serve different settings. The familiar thermometer opens onto a much broader set of medical jobs.

Brother extended its own sewing-part manufacturing knowledge into machine tools for other factories. Printers followed a separate route through its 1971 Centronics collaboration and subsequent in-house electronic-control and print-head development. FY2025 continuing-operations revenue included ¥570.6bn in Printing & Solutions, ¥83.0bn in Machinery and ¥61.0bn in Personal & Home, which includes sewing and cutting machines. Brother supplies equipment both for everyday tasks and for other manufacturers’ production processes.

Mitsubishi Electric’s control devices connect input signals and programs with equipment actions. Factory Automation Systems, which includes that work, generated ¥798.2bn in the year ended March 2026 and sits alongside ¥875.6bn of Automotive Equipment in Industry & Mobility. With Life at ¥2.3182tn and Infrastructure at ¥1.4634tn, factory control is one concrete supply role within a broader company. Segment revenue includes intersegment sales and does not represent shares of consolidated revenue.

Bridgestone supplies fleet operators with new and retread tires and maintenance services. Toolbox records fitted tires and inspection results; Tirematics monitors pressure and temperature; BASys manages retread production, inspection and inventory. A suitable casing can receive a new tread and return to service. The 2007 Bandag acquisition strengthened this activity. FY2025 Truck & Bus revenue was ¥1.018tn including retread, rather than a separately disclosed retread total.

For the Tung Hsiao project, MHI supplies gas and steam turbines and auxiliary equipment, while CTCI handles construction and balance-of-plant work. The contract was announced in 2025; operation is scheduled to begin in 2030–31. Across MHI, FY2025 order intake was ¥7.6536tn, revenue ¥4.9741tn and year-end backlog ¥13.2376tn. Contracting, revenue recognition, payment and the start of operation are separate points in the life of a large project. Backlog is not guaranteed future revenue.

About 65.1% of Shimadzu’s sales comes from analytical and measuring instruments used in research and quality control. It also supplies X-ray systems for medical facilities, pumps that create a vacuum in semiconductor production, and onboard equipment and spare parts for aircraft. The distinction between people using instruments and those incorporating components makes the breadth of the business clearer.

Calling FY2025 revenue flat misses the differences between Kubota’s businesses and markets. Machinery represented 87.1% of revenue, and even Farm Equipment & Engines and Construction Machinery moved differently within it. Water & Environment accounts for 12.4% of current revenue. Separating each business’s scale from its annual change gives a clearer view of Kubota’s machinery-led portfolio.

Komatsu remains centered on construction and mining equipment. At the jobsite, that equipment sits alongside distinct tasks: monitoring its condition, controlling vehicle operations, and connecting terrain with construction work. The 1,000 commissioned trucks and more than 11.5 billion metric tons moved show operating scale. Broader site coordination and next-generation vehicle platforms also include future ambitions. Distinguishing operating results from future plans clarifies what Komatsu already provides at the jobsite and where it aims to expand.

Toray materials support structures, separate through membranes, and become fibers and films. The company describes four core technologies behind that breadth. Application variety and revenue scale are different measures: Fibers accounts for 41% and Performance Chemicals 35% of FY2025 revenue, alongside the more conspicuous aircraft and water applications.

Olympus supplies healthcare professionals with endoscopes and treatment devices, and provides installation checks, operating instruction, in-use support, inspection and repair. Medical Service represented about 30% of the GI division's ¥697.4bn revenue for the year ended March 2026. This is a divisional revenue share, not a group share or a measure of subscription revenue or profitability. Supporting equipment in use forms part of the medical business.

Canon generated ¥4.625tn of net sales in 2025. Printing contributed ¥2.494tn, or 54%, Imaging ¥1.055tn, or 23%, Medical ¥580.6bn, or 13%, and Industrial ¥361.1bn, or 8%. Imaging includes cameras and network cameras, etc.; Printing is roughly 2.4 times its size by sales. Founded as a camera maker in 1937, Canon expanded from the 1960s into office equipment, optical devices and medical equipment, and now operates four industry-oriented groups. The more important connection is technological: materials know-how from printer photoreceptors is being applied to perovskite solar-cell materials, while optical and image-processing technologies are being applied to automated iPS-cell production.

Lumada connects data-generating products and systems with services that improve their operation. Its FY2025 revenue mix was 56% Digitalized Assets and 44% Digital Services. HMAX is a recurring-service subset combining domain knowledge and AI. Hitachi aims to apply expertise from supplying and maintaining equipment to a broader range of customer assets.

YKK supplies fasteners for clothing and bags, and windows and other products for buildings. In fiscal 2025, Architectural Products sales of ¥557.6bn exceeded Fastening’s ¥431.4bn, while operating profit was ¥39.2bn for Fastening and ¥12.0bn for AP. Business sales include intersegment transactions. Aluminum-alloy production and processing know-how linked the businesses, but they now face different demand and cost conditions. Aluminum casting and extrusion began in 1959; manufacture and sales of aluminum building products began in 1963. The relationship becomes clearer when the products’ uses and the businesses’ earnings are considered together.

AGC brought soda ash and refractory-brick production in-house when glass-making inputs became difficult to import, laying the foundations for Chemicals and Ceramics. Today Chemicals supplies essential and performance materials to many industries through wholesalers and its own sales bases. Its external sales were ¥579.5bn in 2025. Architectural Glass and Automotive together generated ¥959.1bn, about 46.6% of consolidated sales. That combination is a site calculation covering two segments, rather than a measure of all AGC glass-product sales.

In FY2025, the year ended March 2026, five Astellas Strategic Brands generated ¥480.3bn, up 43%. They are marketed medicines for conditions including cancers, an eye disease and menopausal symptoms. XTANDI remained the largest product at ¥960.8bn, about 44.9% of group revenue. Alongside selling medicines, Astellas conducts R&D internally and with pharmaceutical, biotech and academic partners. R&D expense was ¥314.8bn. The roughly ¥1 trillion of mid-2030s pipeline sales potential in its plan is an ambition, not current revenue or a guarantee of regulatory approval.

Alongside water-related products, TOTO supplies ceramic components to equipment manufacturers. Electrostatic chucks hold wafers, AD coatings protect equipment surfaces, and engineering ceramics support precise motion. Their functions and production methods differ. Engineering ceramics draw on sanitary-ware forming and firing control and faucet polishing. The Advanced Ceramics Business generated ¥50.3bn in sales and ¥20.4bn in operating profit in FY2024, then reported record sales and profit in FY2025. In April 2026, TOTO said it had decided on about ¥30bn of investment to expand electrostatic-chuck and AD-component R&D and production capacity.

Shiseido reaches regional consumers and travellers with cosmetics and fragrances. Japan Business accounted for 30.4% of FY2025 sales and China & Travel Retail for 35.3%. The 69.6% outside Japan Business is calculated from reportable segments, not a geographic overseas-sales ratio. The duty-free channel, including Fukuoka Airport, makes that distinction concrete. Improving margins in Asia Pacific, the Americas and EMEA is also part of its 2030 strategy.

Daikin combines equipment and services for customers installing, operating and replacing air conditioning. Its FY2025 Solutions ratio of 28% includes equipment sales and engineering in replacement projects. The denominator excludes Chemicals, Filters and other businesses, so it differs from both group sales and the reported Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Equipment segment, which includes Filters. Daikin brings refrigerant and other technologies together with global sales and service networks, and plans to extend its work toward entire HVAC systems and buildings. The 40% ratio for FY2030 is a future projection.

Kao generated ¥1.6886 trillion in sales and ¥164.1 billion in operating income in FY2025. Fabric & Home Care contributed ¥389.1 billion, about 23.0% of group sales by site calculation, and is part of Hygiene Living Care. On an external-customer basis, the five businesses account for 32.5% (Hygiene Living Care), 25.7% (Health Beauty Care), 15.5% (Cosmetics), 2.3% (Business Connected) and 24.0% (Chemical). Kao serves consumers with everyday products, companies and organizations with professional hygiene solutions, and manufacturers with industrial materials. A concrete additive illustrates the last role: customers use Kao’s chemicals in making their own products.

Zojirushi provides containers that keep food and drinks hot or cold, appliances that apply heat to cook, and prepared meals. FY2025 sales were ¥91.151bn and operating profit ¥7.436bn. Cooking appliances generated ¥64.384bn, about 70.6% of sales, with ¥42.6bn of rice-cooker sales included within them. Living products, lifestyle appliances and other businesses serve different purposes. Food service is small at ¥0.6bn, but extends the business from selling a product for customers to use to preparing and serving food at a shop. Its FY2028 plan sets different growth targets for rice cookers, microwave ovens and living products.

FANUC supplies CNCs for other companies’ machine tools, its own processing machines and robots that handle parts, then maintains products after installation. In FY2025, the year ended March 2026, sales were ¥857.8 billion and operating income ¥183.8 billion. Division sales were ¥208.5 billion for FA, ¥378.6 billion for Robot, ¥129.6 billion for Robomachine and ¥141.1 billion for Service. Robot was largest at 44.1%; the other three divisions totaled 55.9% by site calculation, although Service includes support for robots. Sales outside Japan were 87.1% by site calculation. More than 280 service locations support products used in over 100 countries.

KEYENCE sales engineers propose applications to customers and return firsthand information from their sites to product planning. Planning and development aim for general-purpose products usable across industries. Partner factories make the products, and domestic and overseas warehouses ship them to customers. In FY2025, the year ended March 20, 2026, sales were ¥1.1693 trillion and operating income ¥595.8 billion. Overseas sales accounted for 66.6% by site calculation. Sales work that uncovers individual customer problems connects with products that can be sold to many customers.

UNIQLO checks each store’s sales and stock daily and dispatches goods accordingly. Merchandising and production teams use in-season sales to instruct partner factories to increase or decrease output. In FY2025, international revenue was about 1.86 times Japan’s by site calculation, while North America and Europe grew and Greater China declined. Connecting stores worldwide requires decisions about where to send clothes, how many to make and what to improve next.

ASICS sells running shoes and lifestyle footwear through specialist retailers, wholesale retail partners, owned stores and other routes. Performance Running was its largest FY2025 category at ¥363.5bn in sales. SportStyle and Onitsuka Tiger together generated ¥277.8bn in sales and ¥92.7bn in site-calculated category profit, above Performance Running’s ¥86.0bn. Foreign markets accounted for 80.5% of sales, and OneASICS membership reached 23.13 million, adding different geographic and customer relationships to the picture.

Shimano combines components such as shifters and brakes to design how riders control a bicycle. Precision metal processing supports both reliable bicycle shifting and smooth fishing-reel operation. Bicycle Components generated 76.1% of FY2025 sales and 82.9% of operating income. Group sales rose 3.4%, while operating income fell 20.6%, showing why advances in product function and earnings growth need to be considered separately.

Unicharm combines a large human-care business with pet toiletries and food. Processing technologies for nonwoven fabrics and absorbent materials support diapers and toiletry products; food has a different role, providing nutrition suited to a pet’s age and condition. Pet plus wellness care represented 38% of FY2025 sales, while 44% by FY2030 is a target. Geographic reach and the ability to grow sales and profit in each market are separate questions.

Yakult combines making products with distribution through home delivery and stores. In calendar 2025, Yakult Ladies accounted for 41.2% of overseas sales volume and stores for 58.8%. Retailers are a substantial route alongside home delivery. Built around local production and local sales, overseas food-and-beverage operations reported sales of ¥240.0bn and operating profit of ¥36.3bn in the year ended March 2026. Regional operations and multiple routes to consumers underpin the roughly 38 million dairy bottles consumed worldwide each day.

Nitori extends its retail operations into raw-material sourcing, manufacturing at its own factories, production supervision at supplier factories, imports and logistics. IT supports operations and sales. The NITORI business generated ¥816.1bn in sales for the year ended March 2026. The group had 1,069 stores at March 31, 2026; in mainland China, three openings and 25 closures reduced the network from 100 to 78. The 1,212-store figure for March 2027 is a plan.

At TDK, thin-film process technology used to make HDD heads also serves thin-film inductors in power circuits. Energy Application Products accounted for 54.7% of ¥2.505 trillion in sales for the year ended March 2026; Passive Components, Sensors and Magnetic Applications remain substantial, and roughly 90% of sales are overseas. Applications spread from cassettes into multilayer components and batteries, while acquisitions also broadened the portfolio. TDK still calls its approach “Evolve the Ferrite Tree.”

HOYA’s mask blanks enter semiconductor circuit-patterning processes; its HDD glass substrates become the bases of magnetic disks. The company emphasizes customer-specific technical alignment in the first business and consistent high-volume production in the second. Revenue was ¥947.7bn in the year ended March 2026, with a company-reported mix of 62% Life Care and 38% Information Technology. Supplying lenses to optical retailers and operating Eyecity stores are also important parts of the group. Initial-phase investment in two new EUV and HDD plants is planned at roughly ¥92bn combined. Looking at customer processes and supply requirements helps explain the strengths of the businesses that expanded from optical glass.

Kikkoman manufactures and sells soy sauce and other foods, while JFC supplies restaurants and retailers with a broad Japanese and Asian assortment. In FY2026, overseas wholesale revenue was ¥432.9bn and manufacturing-and-sales revenue was ¥173.5bn, with business-profit margins of about 7.1% and 23.6%. Comparing reported segment revenue, which includes intersegment transactions, with profit after costs shows the different economics of those jobs.

ORIX expanded from leasing equipment to businesses into operations and investment. FY2026 capital gains of ¥265.2bn measure profit; Cash In of ¥1.1tn and Cash Out of ¥800bn measure capital recoupment and new investment. Greenko’s ¥95.0bn includes sale and valuation gains. Decisions about what to own, where to take part in operations and when to recover capital connect the group’s varied businesses.

Ajinomoto develops ABF with package-substrate manufacturers and supplies it through in-group varnish production and outsourced coating and storage. Analysis and quality-assurance technologies developed through food also support the work. In the year ended March 2026, two food segments represented 77.5% of sales, while Healthcare and Others, including electronic materials and pharmaceuticals, earned ¥66.2bn in business profit.

Staffing revenue includes temporary-staff personnel costs, while Indeed earns from paid services supporting employers’ recruiting. The 37.7% and 5.9% EBITDA+S margins need to be read alongside these revenue and cost structures. In Japan, MMT also earns through services supporting bookings and business operations.

Capcom develops new games while continuing to sell earlier titles. Its 83.7% catalog share in FY2026 measures units sold, rather than revenue or profit. Its stated approach combines digital distribution and pricing with media, esports and other IP uses to expand purchase opportunities and awareness of its series.

Zensho’s network includes directly operated restaurants and takeaway-sushi outlets run by franchisees. Franchisees’ checkout sales and Zensho’s consolidated revenue cover different transactions. Group procurement, manufacturing and logistics companies support food supply, with arrangements varying by format and region and hygiene still essential at each location.

Yamaha supplies instruments to players, reaches venues through installers and rental companies, and provides vehicle makers with hardware and cabin-specific sound design. Music Connect aims to extend its musician relationships into practice and learning after the purchase.

ROUND ONE combines several activities in one venue and refreshes prizes and campaigns while maintaining reception, staffing and inventory operations. Amusement represented 60.2% of FY2026 revenue, but that share does not measure campaign effects. Its adjacent Japanese Food Hall format and separately managed Round One Delicious restaurants are distinct plans.

Ryohin Keikaku gives its retail network additional roles: a venue for local vendors and a place to return used products. In accommodation, company-operated MUJI BASE differs from MUJI room’s renovation of existing facilities, while stores are positioned as local hubs. Activities and operating arrangements vary; the activity and collection counts do not measure their contribution to revenue.

PPIH combines pricing and assortment with stores designed for tourist shopping and everyday food purchases. Rising same-store sales do not mean that same-store and business-wide gross margins move together. Robin Hood still has to turn early traffic gains into a profitable operating model. The long-term plan for 250 additional domestic stores extends this work on store formats.

Sanrio earns revenue by selling its own products and licensing characters to other businesses. Its merchandising and licensing gross profit in Japan and overseas is disclosed in separate Hello Kitty, multi-character and other-character categories. Planned games and animation would add more ways for people to encounter its characters.

Nintendo expands hardware ownership and sells games for those systems. Original Switch and Switch 2 software sales overlapped in FY2026, while a game released in 2017 kept selling. As development takes longer, existing titles remain on sale alongside work on the next releases.