James Simms

Wrote 3,000 word feature, including interviews with the CEO, COO and chief blender, for Forbes Asia on Suntory Holdings and its founding family, which still controls the over century old firm. Includes two sidebars and timeline.

Wrote chapter entitled "The Road to Fukushima: A US-Japan History" in Legacies of Fukushima: 3.11 in Context (University of Pennsylvania Press) based on-the-ground interviews, visits to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant site and archival research.

Feature on how tycoon and former Benesse CEO Soichiro Fukutake and his family turned once isolated and environmentally damaged islands in Japan's Seto Inland Sea into a global art destination through leadership and investing $250 million of their wealth.

Story for 10th anniversary of Fukushima nuclear disaster for Inside Climate News on how Japan lost a decade in revamping its electricity generation portfolio because of vested interests and outdated views on how to integrate renewable energy.

Toyokeizai Online piece, in Japanese, on the 2022 U.S. midterm election, including reporting from Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri.

First feature for Monocle, looking at what Japan gets right about the rail and retail combination, including in Hakata, Kyoto, Shinjuku and Shibuya.

Forbes piece, this time on an unorthodox Japanese job search and recruitment site started by Akiko Naka, as part of the Asia Power Businesswomen 2019 issue.

Forbes story on e-commerce site Base, which allows small businesses to set up their own online shops for free, and its founder and CEO Yuta Tsuruoka.

Forbes feature on and interview with the Japanese billionaire founder of Rakuten, Hiroshi Mikitani, on his new cell phone venture. Set to start in October 2019, the $5.5 bet, as the fourth major carrier, could shake up the sector.

Radio interview with PRI's The World regarding the sixth anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, including the irresponsible reporting and internet rumors on radiation emissions from the Daiichi plant causing death and damage on the U.S. Pacific coast and how Tokyo Electric Power is dealing with all of the irradiated water produced from cooling the wrecked reactors.

Feature and video for one of Japan's major trading companies, Marubeni, where I wrote the story and planned the video on one of the largest providers of agricultural inputs in the U.S., Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC. Part of a series I helped produce and am currently doing on Marubeni's global portfolio of companies and subsidiaries for both internal communications and external consumption.

Bespoke content for the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on Japan in the Financial Times, including a story on the Setouchi Triennale art festival, after the Nikkei bought the UK business broadsheet.

Interview for Forbes with the scion and president of Japanese real estate giant Mori Trust, Miwako Date, on her drive to expand the firm's hotel business and plans for up to ¥1.2 trillion in new investment over the next decade.

Feature for the Financial Times on what steps Japan is taking to make its buildings and homes more resistant to earthquakes and how tenants, investors and insurers view the seismic countermeasures.

Researched and wrote most of the 50 profiles for Forbes' Japan Rich List (called the Forbes' Billionaires List in other countries), including the Forbes Asia cover story on Rakuten founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, and calculated their net worth based on reporting and publicly available information.

Feature for the Financial Times on Japan's renewable energy drive after the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident and reasons why it is faltering.