Corporate Research
Company scale, business structure, products, technology strategy, and locations examined through timelines and comparisons grounded in filings, IR material, and official releases.
Choose a path by its goals and prerequisites. Start at the beginning or jump to the topic you need.
Articles · 21Browser Labs · 0
Read the first step: Corporate Research: Industrial Robots — FANUC and Yaskawa Electric →Background and reading guide No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 10 min
Corporate Research: Industrial Robots — FANUC and Yaskawa Electric
FANUC, maker of the familiar "yellow robots," and Yaskawa Electric, which built the world's first all-electric industrial robot. FANUC leads on revenue, Yaskawa on headcount. From company history and five years of results to a comparison of CNC and servo/inverter businesses, "MOTOMAN NEXT" — an autonomous robot with a built-in NVIDIA GPU — facilities, and mid-term plans.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 7 min
Robot reducer manufacturers: mechanisms, applications and business scope
Compare 2026 evidence with explicit reporting periods and product boundaries.
Background and reading guide
Reduction ratio, backlash and industrial-robot joint basics.
- Articles · Industry research · 12 min
Corporate Research: Precision Optics and Medical Devices — Canon, Nikon, and Olympus
Canon has held the
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 11 min
Corporate Research: Semiconductor Makers — Renesas Electronics and Kioxia
Renesas Electronics, a top contender in automotive microcontrollers, and Kioxia, the world's
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 10 min
Corporate Research: Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment — Tokyo Electron and SCREEN Holdings
Tokyo Electron's revenue runs about 4x SCREEN Holdings'. A comparison of breadth versus depth — Tokyo Electron spans deposition, etching, and cleaning, while SCREEN holds a 34.7% world share concentrated in cleaning equipment alone — covering company history, five years of financial results, product lineups, facilities, and mid-term plans.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 14 min
Corporate Research: Battery Makers — Panasonic Energy, GS Yuasa, and Murata Manufacturing
From EV batteries to data-center energy storage to defense and space applications, batteries are a growth field that Japan's electrical-equipment and electronic-components makers are throwing everything at — yet their origins and strategies couldn't be more different. Panasonic Energy absorbed Sanyo Electric's battery business; GS Yuasa traces back to a lead-acid battery pioneer founded in 1895; Murata Manufacturing entered the field in 2017 by acquiring Sony's battery business. This article compares all three companies' histories, financial results, products, facilities, and outlook.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 11 min
Corporate Research: Advanced Chemical Materials — Shin-Etsu Chemical and Toray
Shin-Etsu Chemical holds a leading global position in semiconductor-grade silicon wafers, while Toray develops carbon fiber and composite materials. Comparing the two companies' materials portfolios, results, and technical strategies.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 12 min
Corporate Research: Steel — Nippon Steel and JFE Holdings
Nippon Steel completed its acquisition of US Steel in June 2026, putting it among the world's top crude steel producers, while JFE Holdings holds the
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 12 min
Corporate Research: Bearing Makers — NSK (Nippon Seiko) and NTN
NSK is Japan's #1 and roughly the world's #3 bearing maker; NTN is Japan's #2 and the world's #1 in constant-velocity joints. In May 2026 the two companies reached a basic agreement to integrate under a joint holding company. This piece reads through why two domestic leaders would join forces in the bearing industry that underpins every rotating part in automobiles, industrial machinery, machine tools, and robots — comparing company scale, products, and technology strategy before getting into what the integration actually involves.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 10 min
Corporate Research: Machine Tools — DMG Mori, Okuma, and Yamazaki Mazak
DMG Mori and Okuma are public and disclose results; Yamazaki Mazak is private and discloses none. Comparing company history, financial trends over time, OSP (Okuma's self-developed CNC) against Yamazaki Mazak's strength in multi-tasking machines, facilities, and mid-term plans — including what the disclosure gap itself says about the industry.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 12 min
Corporate Research: Automobiles — Toyota, Honda, and Nissan
Toyota, founded in 1937; Honda, established in 1948; and Nissan, born out of a merger of several companies — comparing all three companies' histories, five years of financial results, production-network restructuring, FY2026/3's sharply divergent results (Toyota becoming the first Japanese company ever to top ¥50 trillion in revenue, Honda falling into an operating loss on EV-related charges, Nissan mid-restructuring and cutting roughly 20,000 jobs), and their race to commercialize solid-state batteries.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 13 min
Corporate Research: Agricultural Machinery — Kubota vs. Yanmar
Kubota runs 2.5-3x Yanmar's revenue. From company history and a five-year scale comparison, to a large-tractor and combine-harvester spec showdown, autonomous driving technology, domestic facility footprints, and both companies' mid-term management plans.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 10 min
Corporate Research: Construction Machinery — Komatsu vs. Hitachi Construction Machinery
Japan's
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 15 min
Corporate Research: Heavy Industry — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, IHI
Japan's largest, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries; the most diversified, Kawasaki Heavy Industries; and IHI, strong in aircraft engines. From revenue scale to a world-leading gas turbine, a head-on rivalry in submarine construction, and how each company's mid-term plan responds to rising defense spending and a recovering aviation market.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 15 min
Corporate Research: Electric Power Infrastructure — TEPCO and Kansai Electric Power
TEPCO Holdings leads on revenue; Kansai Electric leads on nuclear power. A comparison of two very different places in the nuclear-restart story — TEPCO restarting its first reactor since the Fukushima accident in April 2026, against Kansai Electric, which already has 4 of its 7 reactors running.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 14 min
Corporate Research: Gas Infrastructure — Tokyo Gas and Osaka Gas
Tokyo Gas serves the greater Tokyo region, Osaka Gas (Daigas Group) the Kansai region. From an 1885 founding tied to Shibusawa Eiichi versus an 1897 founding, through five years of earnings, LNG procurement and overseas energy, electricity retail and non-gas businesses, to the "methanation" race both companies are running to decarbonize city gas, plus a map of their development and manufacturing sites.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 11 min
Corporate Research: Telecom Infrastructure — NTT, KDDI, and SoftBank
NTT traces back to the 1985 privatization of Japan's public telecom monopoly; KDDI's roots run through DDI, founded in 1984; SoftBank pivoted from software distribution into a carrier through M&A. Comparing all three companies' five-year financial results, mobile subscriber share, AI/data-center investment, and their divergent technology bets on "what comes after radio" — NTT's optical-network vision IOWN, KDDI's Starlink partnership, and SoftBank's HAPS.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 13 min
Corporate Research: Transportation Infrastructure — JR East and JR Central
JR East, posting record revenue for a fifth straight year, and JR Central, carrying the enormous Chuo Shinkansen maglev project. From a five-year scale comparison to the next-generation "E10 series" versus the Chuo Shinkansen maglev, a look at IC-card payment infrastructure (Suica vs. TOICA), and a map of both companies' development and manufacturing facilities.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 12 min
Corporate Research: General Contractors — Kajima, Taisei, and Shimizu
Kajima, the first Japanese contractor to top ¥3 trillion in revenue; Taisei, which posted record profit; Shimizu, which bounced back from its first-ever operating loss to post two straight years of profit growth. Comparing all three companies' founding years (1804-1873), five years of financial results, frontier businesses from overseas construction to space development, and construction robotics.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 11 min
Corporate Research: HVAC — Daikin Industries and Mitsubishi Electric
Mitsubishi Electric's total company revenue is larger, but Daikin leads the world in air conditioning alone. Comparing the inverter air-conditioning technology Daikin spread worldwide against Mitsubishi Electric's "Kirigamine" line, differentiated by its own infrared sensor, "Move Eye."
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.
- Articles · Industry research · 12 min
Corporate Research: Space & Satellite Startups — ispace, Synspective, Astroscale
ispace (lunar transport), Synspective (small SAR satellite constellations), and Astroscale (on-orbit servicing / debris removal) — three Japan-born "NewSpace" companies, all listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market, compared across history, five fiscal years of results, products, technology strategy, facilities, and mid-term strategy. All three carry massive operating losses, yet each is capturing government and defense demand through a distinct path to viability.
Background and reading guide
No specialist background required; check the reporting period and scope of financial measures.