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Nobel Prize in chemistry winner Kitagawa

Kyoto University distinguished professor Susumu Kitagawa (L), in the western Japan city, talks over the phone with Asahi Kasei Corp. honorary fellow and 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Akira Yoshino, in Tokyo, on Oct. 8, 2025, after Kitagawa was named one of the three winners of the prize earlier in the day for developing porous materials that can store and release gases such as natural gas.

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Nobel Prize in chemistry winner Kitagawa

Kyoto University distinguished professor Susumu Kitagawa (L), in the western Japan city, talks over the phone with Asahi Kasei Corp. honorary fellow and 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Akira Yoshino, in Tokyo, on Oct. 8, 2025, after Kitagawa was named one of the three winners of the prize earlier in the day for developing porous materials that can store and release gases such as natural gas.

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Asahi Kasei wins national corporate ekiden in Japan

Asahi Kasei ekiden road relay team anchor Ryuto Igawa crosses the finish line of the national corporate championship race in Maebashi, eastern Japan, on Jan. 1, 2025 for the team's first victory in five years.

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Asahi Kasei wins national corporate ekiden in Japan

Asahi Kasei ekiden road relay team anchor Ryuto Igawa crosses the finish line of the national corporate championship race in Maebashi, eastern Japan, on Jan. 1, 2025 for the team's first victory in five years.

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Asahi Kasei wins national corporate ekiden in Japan

Asahi Kasei ekiden road relay team anchor Ryuto Igawa is tossed in the air by teammates after the team won the national corporate championship race in Maebashi, eastern Japan, on Jan. 1, 2025 for the first time in five years.

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Asahi Kasei Corporation.signage and logo

Asahi Kasei Corporation.signage and logo=December 18,2024,Tokyo

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Asahi Kasei Corporation Management Briefing

Asahi Kasei Corporation Management Briefing. Photo shows Asahi Kasei’s President Koshiro Kudo. ＝May 20, 2024, Tokyo, Japan

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Asahi Kasei Corporation management briefing

Asahi Kasei Corporation management briefing. Photo shows Asahi Kasei’s President Koshiro Kudo. ＝May 20, 2024, Tokyo, Japan

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Asahi Kasei Corporation management meeting

Asahi Kasei Corporation management briefing. Photo shows Asahi Kasei’s President Koshiro Kudo. ＝May 20, 2024, Tokyo, Japan

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Asahi Kasei Separator Business Briefing

Asahi Kasei Separator business briefing. Photo: Koshiro Kudo, President of Asahi Kasei Corporation. ＝April 25, 2024, in Tokyo.

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Asahi Kasei Separator Business Briefing

Asahi Kasei Separator business briefing. Photo shows Asahi Kasei President Koshiro Kudo. ＝April 25, 2024, in Tokyo.

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Asahi Kasei Separator Business Briefing

Asahi Kasei Separator business briefing. Photo shows Asahi Kasei President Koshiro Kudo. ＝April 25, 2024, in Tokyo.

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Asahi Kasei Separator Business Briefing

Asahi Kasei Separator business briefing. Photo shows Asahi Kasei President Koshiro Kudo. ＝ April 25, 2024, in Tokyo,

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6TH CIIE in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, CHINA - NOVEMBER 8, 2023 - Visitors look at the AKXY2 concept car at Asahi Kasei's booth at the 6th CIIE in Shanghai, China, November 8, 2023.

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Asahi Kasei Fibers' unified brand name announced

OSAKA, Japan - Minoru Fukui, manager of the research and development center of Asahi Kasei Fibers Corp., a subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Corp., announces in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, on Nov. 13, 2014, the unified brand name "A-cubic" for its high-tech material-used products.

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Japan engineers awarded

WASHINGTON, United States - Asahi Kasei Corp. fellow Akira Yoshino (L) and Yoshio Nishi, former executive of Sony Corp, hold certificates after receiving the Draper Prize in Washington on Feb. 18, 2014. The annual award, known as the "Nobel Prize of engineering," is issued by the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

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Toshiba's Okamura to head Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry

TOKYO, Japan - Toshiba Corp. Chairman Tadashi Okamura (file photo). The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry unofficially decided March 21 to name Okamura as its next chairman to replace Nobuo Yamaguchi. Okamura will assume the post in late October for a three-year term. Yamaguchi is chairman of Asahi Kasei Corp.

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Asahi Kasei may seek ethylene business merger with M'bishi Chemical

TOKYO, Japan - Asahi Kasei Corp. Shiro Hiruta speaks in a recent interview with Kyodo News. He said that the company may seek to integrate its ethylene operations with Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.'s in a bid to make the business more efficient. ''If we can do it together, it's worth doing,'' Hiruta said.

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Asahi Kasei to spend 400 billion yen on M&As, production facilities

TOKYO, Japan - Asahi Kasei Corp. President Shiro Hiruta speaks in an interview with Kyodo News. He said his company will invest up to 400 billion yen to finance both production facility construction and merger and acquisition deals during the subsequent five-year period.

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Asahi Kasei picks Chinese model for swimsuit campaign

TOKYO, Japan - Ryu (L), a 21-year-old Chinese fashion model, poses with 20-year-old Japanese model Kana Watari at a Tokyo hotel on May 26 to promote Asahi Kasei Corp.'s swimsuits in the growing Chinese market. They presented a total of 16 swimsuits, including light blue and yellow one-piece suits and a bikini with a fruit pattern.

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Asahi Kasei to recall 'shochu' distilled spirits

TOKYO, Japan - Asahi Kasei Corp. President (C) speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Sept. 13, saying the company will recall two of its ''shochu'' distilled spirit products due to mislabeling. Asahi Kasei said these products should have been shipped as spirits because they included caramel as an additive that is not allowed for ''shochu'' distilled spirits.

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New innovations only way to attain sustainable development

TOKYO, Japan - Asahi Kasei Corp. President Kazumoto Yamamoto believes that coming up with new innovations is the only way to accomplish sustainable development. ''On the problem of how to continue providing the same level of electricity as provided today, though there is talk about changing our reliance on fossil fuels to nuclear power, solar power or wind power, it has not yet reached the level of supporting industry as a whole or citizens' lives,'' Yamamoto said in an interview with Kyodo News.

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Plant fire nearly extinguished, evacuees return home

NOBEOKA, Japan - A trail of smoke is still seen rising at the nylon fiber plant of Asahi Kasei Corp. in Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture, on March 13 after firefighters nearly extinguished the fire, which broke out on March 12. City officials lifted an evacuation advisory on 9,407 local residents around the plant.

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Yamaguchi named head of Japan Chamber of Commerce

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Asahi Kasei Corp. Chairman Nobuo Yamaguchi, who was named the new chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) on July 24. Yamaguchi, who replaced Kosaku Inaba, will hold the post until the end of October 2004.

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Yamaguchi named head of Tokyo chamber of commerce

TOKYO, Japan - Kosaku Inaba (L), outgoing chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and his successor Nobuo Yamaguchi (R) give a news conference in Tokyo on July 12. Yamaguchi, chairman of Asahi Kasei Corp., will serve concurrently as chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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CHINA-SHANGHAI-CIIE-PREPARATION (CN)

(221102) -- SHANGHAI, Nov. 2, 2022 (Xinhua) -- This photo taken on Nov. 2, 2022 shows an exhibit embodying the Japan's chemical company Asahi Kasei's concept of the future automotive interiors in the main venue for the upcoming fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) in east China's Shanghai. Preparations for the CIIE, which will be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10, have entered the final stage. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

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Akira Yoshino, Honorary Fellow of Asahi Kasei Corporation, at a press conference at the Japan Press Club.

Akira Yoshino, Honorary Fellow of Asahi Kasei Corporation, winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, held a press conference at the Japan Press Club in Uchisaiwai-cho, Tokyo. Referring to the content of the lecture he gave before the award ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, he expressed his confidence, saying, "I was able to send a reasonable message to the world on environmental issues. He predicted that innovations that combine many technologies will occur in 25 years, saying, "For example, lithium-ion batteries will be installed in automobiles, and by combining artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), we will have a society of cars that is completely unimaginable today. It will be good for the global environment and the burden on individuals will be about one-seventh of what it is now," he said, describing his vision of the future society. (December 20, 2019, Japan Press Club, Uchisaiwai-cho, Tokyo; Credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images)

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Asahi Kasei's high-performance filter system "U-Tech

Asahi Kasei will expand sales of "U-Tech (photo)," a high-performance filter system using nonwoven fabrics. The current sales channels are mainly in Japan, but the company expects demand in Asia and other regions. With the rise in environmental awareness, the company expects to see an increase in applications such as separation of water and contaminated oil at petrochemical plants and reuse of cleaning solutions. The current sales are 1.4 billion yen, and the company aims to double the sales in 2013. U-Tech consists of ultra-fine meltblown nonwoven fabrics. It is used in color resist production lines. The company is promoting the fact that it can handle high-viscosity materials and has a long life. Photo taken on December 3, 2019, location unknown, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images

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Commendation Ceremony for Koichi Mizushima of Toshiba

On April 19, Toshiba awarded a special prize to Koichi Mizushima, 78, executive fellow of Toshiba Corporation, for his contribution to the development of lithium-ion batteries. In the announcement of this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Akira Yoshino, an honorary fellow of Asahi Kasei Corporation, and John Goodnough, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, U.S., who collaborated with Mr. Mizushima, were chosen to receive the prize, but Mr. Mizushima, who was expected to win the prize simultaneously, did not. Chairman Nobuaki Kurumatani said, "I am very proud of Mr. Mizushima's achievement. The University of Tokyo has announced that it will award Mizushima with the University of Tokyo President's Special Award. Shiro Saito, Executive Vice President, said, "Mr. Mizushima is still active as a researcher. From right to left: Chairman Kurumatani, Executive Fellow Mizushima, and Mr. Mizushima's wife, Ms. Kimiko, on November 19, 2019.

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Asahi Kasei's rigid sound-absorbing foamed products

Asahi Kasei has developed a material made of foamed polyamide hollow beads of 2 mm to 3 mm in diameter. Taking advantage of its hardness and high heat resistance, the company is proposing the material as a component for engine compartment peripherals. The material, which is less than two centimeters thick and is combined with the company's non-woven fabric "Precise," has twice the sound-absorbing property at 1,000 Hz compared to a melamine foam material of the same thickness. In addition to preventing the transmission of sound, the material can also reduce the reflection of sound inside the container when it is processed into a container and the source of sound is placed inside. Photo taken on June 3, 2019, location unknown, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images

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Asahi Kasei to spend 400 billion yen on M&As, production facilit

TOKYO, Japan - Asahi Kasei Corp. President Shiro Hiruta speaks in an interview with Kyodo News. He said his company will invest up to 400 billion yen to finance both production facility construction and merger and acquisition deals during the subsequent five-year period. (Kyodo)

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Asahi Kasei may seek ethylene business merger with M'bishi Chemi

TOKYO, Japan - Asahi Kasei Corp. Shiro Hiruta speaks in a recent interview with Kyodo News. He said that the company may seek to integrate its ethylene operations with Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.'s in a bid to make the business more efficient. ''If we can do it together, it's worth doing,'' Hiruta said. (Kyodo)

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Toshiba's Okamura to head Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry

TOKYO, Japan - Toshiba Corp. Chairman Tadashi Okamura (file photo). The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry unofficially decided March 21 to name Okamura as its next chairman to replace Nobuo Yamaguchi. Okamura will assume the post in late October for a three-year term. Yamaguchi is chairman of Asahi Kasei Corp. (Kyodo)

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Plant fire nearly extinguished, evacuees return home

NOBEOKA, Japan - A trail of smoke is still seen rising at the nylon fiber plant of Asahi Kasei Corp. in Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture, on March 13 after firefighters nearly extinguished the fire, which broke out on March 12. City officials lifted an evacuation advisory on 9,407 local residents around the plant.

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Asahi Kasei chief to resign over piling data falsification

Asahi Kasei Corp. Primary Executive Officer Hideki Kobori attends a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 9, 2016. On April 1 he will replace President Toshio Asano, who will step down to take responsibility for a piling data falsification scandal involving the firm's construction materials subsidiary. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei chief to resign over piling data falsification

Asahi Kasei Corp. President Toshio Asano (front) attends a press conference, together with Primary Executive Officer Hideki Kobori, in Tokyo on Feb. 9, 2016, to announce that he will step down on April 1 to take responsibility for a piling data falsification scandal involving the firm's construction materials subsidiary. Kobori will replace Asano. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei books special charge of 1.2 bil. yen due to data scandal

Hideki Kobori, Asahi Kasei Corp.'s primary executive officer, talks about the impact of a piling data falsification scandal on the chemical maker's earnings during a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 4, 2016. Asahi Kasei booked a special charge of 1.2 billion yen ($10 million) for April-December 2015 in relation to the scandal. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei unit falsified piling data in 266 projects

Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp. President Tomihiro Maeda (front) apologizes at a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 13, 2015, for his company's falsification of piling data. The company falsified the data on 266 projects out of the 3,040 it has worked on nationwide over the past decade. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei exec attends press conference

Hideki Kobori, representative director of Asahi Kasei Corp., attends a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 6, 2015, to announce the downward revision of the major chemical firm's group net income forecast for fiscal 2015. Kobori said the revision was not affected by a data falsification scandal involving its subsidiary. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei suspected of falsifying data in 300 piling projects

Masahito Hirai, vice president of Asahi Kasei Corp., speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 2, 2015. "There were problems in checking systems," he said, following a flurry of data falsification revelations involving Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Data falsification cases involving Asahi Kasei unit

An official of the Kushiro municipal government explains the piling work for a public housing development for which data was falsified by an Asahi Kasei Corp. subsidiary, in the city on the northernmost Japan main island of Hokkaido on Nov. 2, 2015. The data falsification scandal involving Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp. has widened since the unit admitted in October to defective piling work and data falsification for a condominium building in Yokohama, near Tokyo, which has begun to tilt. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei suspected of falsifying data in 300 piling projects

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism carries out an on-site inspection at the head office of Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp. in Tokyo on Nov. 2, 2015. The company is suspected of falsifying data in around 300 piling work projects out of the 3,040 it has worked on nationwide over the past decade, according to sources close to the matter. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Builder fudged data for Hokkaido estate

Photo taken Oct. 28, 2015, shows a public housing estate in the northeastern Japan city of Kushiro in Hokkaido. It was reported that the housing estate was involved in flawed groundwork data misuse by Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp., raising concerns that more projects involving the scandal-tainted company face similar problems. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Builder fudged data for Hokkaido estate, stoking fears of wider flaws

A Hokkaido official explains the situation surrounding Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp.'s use of flawed groundwork data in the expansion of a public housing estate in Kushiro city in the early hours of Oct. 29, 2015. There are concerns that more projects involving the under-fire Tokyo construction company face similar problems. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei says 41 projects handled by employee in piling scandal

Masateru Sakai (R), a senior executive at Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Co., a subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Corp., speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 22, 2015 after Asahi Kasei Corp. reported to the land ministry that it will investigate a total of 3,040 construction projects, placing particular priority on 41 projects handled by an employee at the subsidiary who falsified data for piling work at a condominium building that is now tilting. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei head apologizes over tilting Yokohama condo

Asahi Kasei Corp. President Toshio Asano (R) wipes away tear during a press conference in Tokyo on Oct. 20, 2015. Asano apologized for a subsidiary's involvement in defective piling work and data falsification in the construction of a condominium building in Yokohama that is now tilting. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei head apologizes over tilting Yokohama condo

Asahi Kasei Corp. President Toshio Asano (L) and Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Co. President Tomihiro Maeda apologize at a press conference in Tokyo on Oct. 20, 2015, for the subsidiary's involvement in defective piling work and data falsification in the construction of a condominium building in Yokohama that is now tilting. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei head apologizes over tilting Yokohama condo

Asahi Kasei Corp. President Toshio Asano (2nd from L) attends a press conference in Tokyo on Oct. 20, 2015, apologizing for a subsidiary's involvement in defective piling work and data falsification in the construction of a condominium building in Yokohama that is now tilting. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei head apologizes over tilting Yokohama condo

Asahi Kasei Corp. President Toshio Asano (L) wipes away tear during a press conference in Tokyo on Oct. 20, 2015. Asano apologized for a subsidiary's involvement in defective piling work and data falsification in the construction of a condominium building in Yokohama that is now tilting. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Asahi Kasei Fibers' unified brand name announced

OSAKA, Japan - Minoru Fukui, manager of the research and development center of Asahi Kasei Fibers Corp., a subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Corp., announces in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, on Nov. 13, 2014, the unified brand name "A-cubic" for its high-tech material-used products. (Kyodo)

Nobel Prize in chemistry winner Kitagawa

Nobel Prize in chemistry winner Kitagawa

Asahi Kasei wins national corporate ekiden in Japan

Asahi Kasei wins national corporate ekiden in Japan

Asahi Kasei wins national corporate ekiden in Japan

Asahi Kasei Corporation.signage and logo

Asahi Kasei Corporation Management Briefing

Asahi Kasei Corporation management briefing

Asahi Kasei Corporation management meeting

Asahi Kasei Separator Business Briefing

Asahi Kasei Separator Business Briefing

Asahi Kasei Separator Business Briefing

Asahi Kasei Separator Business Briefing

6TH CIIE in Shanghai

Asahi Kasei Fibers' unified brand name announced

Japan engineers awarded

Toshiba's Okamura to head Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Asahi Kasei may seek ethylene business merger with M'bishi Chemical

Asahi Kasei to spend 400 billion yen on M&amp;As, production facilities

Asahi Kasei picks Chinese model for swimsuit campaign

Asahi Kasei to recall 'shochu' distilled spirits

New innovations only way to attain sustainable development

Plant fire nearly extinguished, evacuees return home

Yamaguchi named head of Japan Chamber of Commerce

Yamaguchi named head of Tokyo chamber of commerce

CHINA-SHANGHAI-CIIE-PREPARATION (CN)

Akira Yoshino, Honorary Fellow of Asahi Kasei Corporation, at a press conference at the Japan Press Club.

Asahi Kasei's high-performance filter system "U-Tech

Commendation Ceremony for Koichi Mizushima of Toshiba

Asahi Kasei's rigid sound-absorbing foamed products

Asahi Kasei to spend 400 billion yen on M&As, production facilit

Asahi Kasei may seek ethylene business merger with M'bishi Chemi

Toshiba's Okamura to head Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Plant fire nearly extinguished, evacuees return home

Asahi Kasei chief to resign over piling data falsification

Asahi Kasei chief to resign over piling data falsification

Asahi Kasei books special charge of 1.2 bil. yen due to data scandal

Asahi Kasei unit falsified piling data in 266 projects

Asahi Kasei exec attends press conference

Asahi Kasei suspected of falsifying data in 300 piling projects

Data falsification cases involving Asahi Kasei unit

Asahi Kasei suspected of falsifying data in 300 piling projects

Builder fudged data for Hokkaido estate

Builder fudged data for Hokkaido estate, stoking fears of wider flaws

Asahi Kasei says 41 projects handled by employee in piling scandal

Asahi Kasei head apologizes over tilting Yokohama condo

Asahi Kasei head apologizes over tilting Yokohama condo

Asahi Kasei head apologizes over tilting Yokohama condo

Asahi Kasei head apologizes over tilting Yokohama condo

Asahi Kasei Fibers' unified brand name announced

Asahi Kasei to spend 400 billion yen on M&As, production facilities