News Headlines - 03 June 2020
Japanese advertising giant Dentsu Group Inc (4324.T) has received almost $700 million via a government contract to provide back-office services for a scheme to help virus-hit firms, under a framework opposition lawmakers called “opaque”.
Dentsu received 97% of the 76.9 billion yen ($707 million) awarded via a tender to a company it co-founded to support the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s relief fund for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs), showed a government document seen by Reuters.
Opposition politicians have questioned whether the contract with Service Design Engineering Council - and its arrangement with Dentsu and its multitude of subcontractors - is a waste of taxpayers’ money and could slow the process of channelling funds to eligible recipients.
RMB Capital (“RMB”), a Chicago-based independent investment advisory firm, is a long-term shareholder of Sanyo Shokai Ltd. (8011 JP, “Sanyo”) and owns more than 6% of the firm’s total outstanding shares.
The official disclosure from the 77th annual general shareholders meeting held at Sanyo on May 26, 2020 revealed that approximately 30% of the shareholders supported RMB’s board nominees, Mr. Tetsuo Komori and Mr. Masakazu Hosomizu, while rejecting the former president Mr. Masayuki Nakayama. It was clear that the general shareholders took a harsh view of Sanyo’s executives who are accountable for the company’s poor performance. Against this backdrop, RMB believes the new management team, led by Mr. Shinji Oe, should further accelerate the speed of the reform initiatives.
▽Man Arrested for Threatening Kemono Friends Anime Director Tatsuki - News - Anime News Network
Police arrested 21-year-old male Kyoto resident Fukuta Kishimoto on Tuesday on suspicion of intimidation and forcible obstruction of business. According to the police's statement, the suspect had been threatening anime staff and cast members over the Internet.
According to the Sankei Shimbun newspaper and the public television network NHK, the suspect had been posting on message boards threatening to murder anime director TATSUKI (first Kemono Friends anime, Kemurikusa), as well as a Kemono Friends voice actress, her family, and staff members, by stabbing and setting them on fire. The threats allegedly referenced the July 2019 Kyoto Animation fire that killed 36 people and injured 33.
▽Ghibli Park to Start Construction in July for Fall 2022 Opening - Anime News Network
Construction contractor Kajima Corporation is under a provisional contract to construct the first three areas of the planned Ghibli Park for 10,657,900,000 yen (about US$98,323,700), with construction beginning in July. Those areas of the theme park are slated to open in fall 2022, and the developers anticipate no delays related to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Nagoya TV began streaming a news report with concept designs and aerial video of the construction sites.
Two Yomiuri Giants players have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the Central League team announced Wednesday, casting a shadow over Nippon Professional Baseball's plan to start the 2020 season on June 19... On May 27, two days after the June 19 date was set, the Giants announced that roughly 220 people in the organization would be tested for coronavirus antibodies. According to the team, the polymerase chain reaction tests taken by Sakamoto and Oshiro both showed only traces of the coronavirus.
In order to limit the further spread of the virus, the Giants canceled Wednesday's practice game against the Seibu Lions.
