Davis joins NY Times biz news desk in Japan

New York business editor Ellen Pollock sent out the following on Tuesday:

We are very pleased to announce that River Davis will be joining the Business desk as the new business and economics correspondent in Japan.

River joins us from The Wall Street Journal, where she covered Japanese companies, investing and technology. Among her many stories, she wrote about the slow transition by Japanese auto titans to electric vehicles and how BYD, now China’s dominant electric vehicle maker, got its start by copying Toyota. She also covered breaking news: In January she covered the Japan Airlines disaster at Haneda airport.

She was previously a reporter at Bloomberg News.

River will be based in Tokyo, where she has been stationed for the past five years (often burning the midnight oil while pursuing her master’s degree in addition to her day job). She will work closely with Motoko Rich, our bureau chief.

Her reporting will focus on Japan’s economy, companies and business people. It will also go deep on the role the Japanese economy plays throughout Asia and the world, starting of course with its neighbor China.

River is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and holds a master’s degree in economic policy and finance from the University of Tokyo.

We look forward to her joining the team.