10月22日（木）：狙われたダイキン／ジャパネット社長／湾岸タワマンついに下落

Daikin Industries in the Activist Crosshairs — Shifting from Amounts to Ratios

Daikin Industries found itself targeted by activist shareholders this spring. With the company's share price stuck in a prolonged slump, management came under pressure to act — and responded by announcing a fundamental shift in how it measures performance: away from absolute figures such as total revenue and profit, and toward ratios such as profit margins and capital efficiency.

For years, Daikin's competitive edge has rested on something harder to quantify: a workforce culture defined by hands-on problem-solving and a willingness to try and fail. The freedom to experiment on the shop floor — with failure treated as a stepping stone rather than a setback — has long been seen as the engine of the company's innovation. The difficulty is that such qualities resist being captured in a spreadsheet. As Daikin moves to satisfy activist demands for measurable efficiency gains, the question is whether it can do so without eroding the very culture that made it strong. Retaining tolerance for inefficiency while simultaneously raising efficiency is a genuine contradiction, and it is the narrow path Daikin must now walk.

Japanet HD Withdraws Its Twinbird TOB — Betting on Manufacturing for the AI Era

Japanet Holdings (ジャパネットホールディングス) has pulled its tender offer for Twinbird, but President and CEO Takata (高田) made clear that the company's ambition to build products under its own brand has not changed.

The strategic logic starts with a reading of where AI is headed. Japanet has spent decades cultivating its ability to present products compellingly — first through television shopping, then across multiple channels. Takata sees AI eventually absorbing exactly that function: the curation and recommendation of products. If the core skill that built Japanet's business becomes a commodity handled by algorithms, the company needs a different anchor. His answer is manufacturing itself — the ability to plan and produce goods, not merely sell them. By owning the product rather than just the pitch, Japanet aims to stay differentiated in a world where AI handles the rest. Overseas expansion is also on the agenda as a way to reduce dependence on the domestic market. The TOB may be off, but the underlying competitive logic — and the manufacturing ambition it reflects — remains firmly in place.

Bay-Area Tower Condos Finally Fall — The ¥150 Million Dividing Line

The long run-up in tower condominium prices along Tokyo's waterfront has finally gone into reverse. Mortgage specialists point to interest-rate hikes as the primary cause: higher rates reduce how much buyers can borrow, raise monthly repayment amounts, and compress the price range buyers can sustain — hitting demand for high-end properties hardest. Compounding the decline is a slowdown in overseas capital inflows that had been propping up premium urban real estate; as that external demand fades, prices have lost another support.

The key threshold to watch is ¥150 million. Properties at or above that level are expected to behave very differently from those below it, making this figure a practical dividing line for reading how the market moves from here.

The repricing is not expected to stay confined to the waterfront. Analysts foresee the wave spreading nationwide, with the gap between central urban areas and regional markets widening sharply from 2028 onward. The warning is blunt: the era in which condominium prices rose uniformly everywhere is coming to an end — a significant signal for anyone weighing a purchase.

Other Featured Articles in the Digital Edition

Beyond the three stories covered in this podcast, Nikkei Business's digital edition has published additional pieces. One report examines Techno-Smart (テクノスマート), a materials-processing company relied on by manufacturers worldwide, and the coat-and-dry technology it has refined alongside its customers over the years. Another is a commentary touching on architect Fujimoto Sousuke (藤本壮介) and others, exploring the themes of "world-class architect as an insult" and the preservation of a capital-centric power structure.