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October 15, 2024
 

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Kazuaki Nagata

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Kazuaki Nagata
GMO Internet Group is making a foray into the artificial intelligence and robot business to spread the use of such tech products and services in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024
Japan’s GMO takes aim at labor shortage with AI and robotics company
It will focus on matching robot and drone manufacturers and AI developers with businesses.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday after the central bank's policy meeting.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 14, 2024
Bank of Japan’s slow-walk on bond buying reduction rattles market
The yen fell over what the market saw as dithering on the central bank's reduction of its massive balance sheet.
Sharp's LCD production site in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, in 2009
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2024
Sharp's LCD plant in Osaka set to be transformed into massive AI data center
The new large-scale facility will support SoftBank’s generative AI and other AI-related businesses.
Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda apologizes during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2024
Japan's auto-testing scandal deepens, resulting in some shipment halts
Toyota and four other Japanese automakers have admitted to falsifying testing data and performing tests under inappropriate conditions, among other infractions.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said that the automaker will continue to communicate with its suppliers to see whether unfair practices persist and set up a new team directly under him to accelerate reforms on its relations with its subcontractors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 1, 2024
Nissan challenges TV Tokyo report on subcontractors
The automaker denied allegations that it continued to pressure its suppliers into slashing prices even after receiving a warning from the fair trade regulator.
Ever since the Bank of Japan ended its negative rate policy, calls for the government to strengthen its fiscal discipline have been growing, with the country being haunted by public debt that is about twice the size of its gross domestic product.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 30, 2024
Two cheers for the end of free money in Japan
Corporations are better prepared for more expensive money than they were in the past, with strong balance sheets and a better understanding of risk.
Masanori Katayama, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said the association will work with the Japan Auto Parts Industries Association to address the problem of subcontractor bullying.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2024
Japan’s automakers vow to stop squeezing their suppliers
Member companies of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association have agreed to treat subcontractors more fairly when the latter pass on cost increases.
The main targets of a new bill on smartphone software are the app stores provided by Google and Apple, as consumers effectively have only two choices for smartphone operating systems: Apple's iOS or Google’s Android.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2024
Japan aims to curb Apple and Google's smartphone app duopoly
A new bill would compel dominant platforms to allow third parties to launch their own app markets and to offer more payment options.
A representative explains the features of the Afeela electric vehicle, a Honda-Sony Mobility concept car, at the CES 2024 trade show, in Las Vegas on Jan. 9. The Honda-Sony alliance plans to deliver its first EV model in the spring of 2026 in North America.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024
Honda to double investment in electric vehicles and software
The automaker had planned to invest ¥5 trillion ($32.3 billion) for the 10 years through March 2031, but it now plans to spend ¥10 trillion by that point.
Japan Post CEO Tetsuya Senda (right) and his Seino Transportation counterpart Satoshi Takahashi announce their companies' agreement on joint long-haul truck operations, in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2024
Japan's logistics firms seek partnerships to cope with driver shortage
Japan Post and Seino Transportation have reached a basic agreement to work together on joint long-haul truck operations.
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2024
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Stakeholders are pulling out all the stops to restore the creative energy of the Tokyo district known for setting fashion trends in its heyday.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 30, 2024
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
The size and timing of the swing indicates that the government stepped in after the currency fell significantly.
A woman walks past the Bank of Japan headquarters in central Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2024
BOJ leaves policy unchanged despite yen’s continued weakness
Investors and market observers had been watching for whether the bank would send more hawkish signals to prop up the Japanese currency.
Mitsuko Tottori became Japan Airlines’ first female CEO on April 1, having risen through the ranks as a flight attendant and heading the flight attendant and customer experience divisions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2024
New JAL chief concerned about yen’s ‘excessive’ weakness
While a weaker currency helps spur inbound tourism, it is curbing demand for overseas travel for people in Japan, Mitsuko Tottori says.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Apr 17, 2024
Why hasn't Japan moved to prop up the weak yen?
Even though the yen has already far exceeded the level that prompted action in October 2022, an intervention seems far off.
Average age of Japanese chief executives increased for 33 consecutive years to 60.5 last year.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2024
Japan biz leaders' average age rises for 33rd straight year
As of December last year, the average age of company leaders stood at 60.5 years old. In 1990, the average age was 54.
Harakado will open next Wednesday and aims to be a place where creators can gather.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 9, 2024
New Harajuku complex aims to become next cultural creators hub
The nine-story building — named Harakado — will open next Wednesday and is designed to be “a commercial complex where creators (can) gather.”
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda listens to a question during a news conference after a two-day monetary policy meeting at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on March 19.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 8, 2024
Ueda's first year as BOJ chief marked by smooth handling of policy shift
But the central bank governor now has to balance various factors, including how further rate hikes might affect not just the yen but also households.
Startup Genome officials speak to representatives from startups that will participate in the Global Hypergrowth Tokyo program during its kickoff event last week in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 3, 2024
New mentoring program aims to help later-stage Japan startups go overseas
While many acceleration programs target young startups, the new initiative focuses on later-stage firms that already have a certain degree of experience.
Major beef bowl chain Sukiya will introduce an additional 7% late night fee starting Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 30, 2024
Popular beef bowl chain Sukiya to introduce late night fees
The restaurants will from Wednesday charge an additional 7% to the bills of late-night customers coming between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Taiwan spots Chinese carrier as video says military 'prepared for battle'
Visitors hold their mobile phones in front of exhibits showing the Chinese Navy's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, during an exhibition on China's achievements marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the Beijing Exhibition Center, in September 2019.
Israeli envoy criticizes Japanese atomic survivor's Gaza comparison
The co-chair of the Nihon Hidankyo atomic bomb survivors' group, Toshiyuki Mimaki, who lived through the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, attends an online news conference from the city on Saturday.
Amid skepticism, CDP faces once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Oct. 27 polls
Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) leader Yoshihiko Noda speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
Challenges remain six months to go before Osaka Expo
The Osaka Expo site under construction. The expo is scheduled to take place on Yumeshima, an artificial island, from April 13 through Oct. 13 of next year.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Nobel Prize in economics awarded to Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson
A view shows a screen in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences where the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences is announced in Stockholm on Monday.
A frustrated Trump lashes out behind closed doors over money
Former President Donald Trump makes calls to voters backstage after a town hall-style presidential campaign appearance at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan on Sept. 27.
Poorest nations in worst financial shape since 2006, World Bank says
Afghan women after an earthquake in Herat, Afghanistan, on Oct. 10, 2023
SpaceX captures booster rocket in step toward Musk’s Mars dream
Starship's Super Heavy Booster is grappled at the launch pad in Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on Sunday, during the Starship Flight 5 test.
Nihon Hidankyo members hope surprise Nobel win cements nuclear taboo
Toshiko Hamanaka (left), the assistant secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo, and the organization's co-chair, Terumi Tanaka, during a news conference in Tokyo on Saturday, the day after the group was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Capsule hotels were created as a way to deal with the amount of overwork employees tend to do in Japan. Can't commute home? Then spend the night in an tiny, affordable sleeping space.
Japan wakes up to the market for a proper sleep
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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