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July 15, 2025
 

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Kazuaki Nagata

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Kazuaki Nagata
An official from the Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions writes down the results of this year's "shuntō" annual spring labor negotiations on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2025
Major Japanese companies agree to solid pay and bonus hikes
Toyota, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi, Fujitsu and NEC are among companies that say they have agreed to their respective labor unions' demands.
Nisssan Chief Planning Officer Ivan Espinosa speaks during an online news conference on Tuesday. Espinosa will take over as CEO in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2025
Ivan Espinosa to take over as new Nissan CEO in April
Espinosa, the automaker's chief planning officer, joined Nissan in 2003 and has been working on product strategy and planning.
Makoto Uchida, CEO of Nissan, will step down from the post at the end of this month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 11, 2025
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida to step down
Current Chief Planning Officer Ivan Espinosa will be assuming the role starting in April in a bid to turn around the struggling Yokohama-based automaker.
U.S. President Donald Trump is exempting automakers from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month, the White House said Wednesday, as a temporary reprieve following pleas from industry leaders.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025
Trump’s tariff pause cheered globally and watched closely in Tokyo
The U.S. president is delaying 25% tariffs on cars from Mexico and Canada and might consider carve-outs for agricultural imports from those countries.
Nippon Steel is trying to build its business globally with U.S. Steel as a key component.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Mar 5, 2025
U.S. Steel seen as key to Nippon Steel's global strategy
To meet its target of raising its annual crude steel production capacity to over 100 million metric tons, the firm needs to forge ahead into promising foreign markets.
An electronic sign displays the benchmark Nikkei stock average on a street in Tokyo. The stock average has been range-bound between about 38,000 and 40,000 since hitting a new all-time high in July last year.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Mar 3, 2025
Japanese stocks stalled at 1989 levels as investors weigh tariffs and rates
The 225-issue Nikkei stock average has been range-bound between about 38,000 and 40,000 since hitting a new all-time high in July 2024.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks to the press in October in Tokyo. Ueda told parliament on Feb. 12 that the central bank is aware that food price increases are negatively affecting households.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 28, 2025
Odds of early rate rise increase as inflation becomes the fight in Japan
Hawkish signals sent by Bank of Japan officials over the past month or so point to such a possibility.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida concludes a news conference at the company's headquarters in Yokohama in February.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025
Nissan management shake-up plans reported as sharks circle  
Nissan is considering a change in leadership following poor results and the failure of a proposed merger with Honda, according to a report citing unnamed sources.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that the situation surrounding Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel has improved under U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025
Ishiba questions the politics of Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal rejection
The "unjust political interference” was difficult to understand, the prime minister said, but he indicated that the situation has improved under Trump.
Japan's gross domestic product grew by an annualized rate of 2.8% in the October-December period, far more than the 1% forecast.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 17, 2025
Japan’s economic boomlet continues with strong fourth-quarter growth
Gross domestic product grew 2.8% in the three months to December, compared with a median market estimate of a 1% gain.
Minor Hotels and Royal Holdings executives explain their joint venture at a news conference last week in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 17, 2025
Thailand's Minor Hotels entering Japanese market with Royal Holdings JV
The 50-50 joint venture aims to have 21 hotels in Japan by 2035.
The U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025
Nippon Steel wants 100% of U.S. Steel, not a minority stake, report says
Last week, the deal appeared effectively dead after a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Following weeks of talks after Nissan Motor President Makoto Uchida and Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe's December announcement of a possible merger, the two automakers confirmed on Thursday that the deal is officially off.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2025
Honda and Nissan cancel megamerger after weeks of negotiations
The automakers failed to find the common ground needed to reach an agreement, though they still intend to work together in other areas.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that U.S. Steel would remain American.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2025
Nippon Steel goes quiet after U.S. Steel deal seemingly nixed for good
Comments over the weekend by U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba point to the U.S. steelmaker remaining American.
Shoppers walk past a display of cabbages for sale at a supermarket in Tokyo last month. The 2024 record summer heat and heavy rain ruined crops, driving up the cost of the usually inexpensive leafy green in what Japanese media has dubbed a "cabbage shock."
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 7, 2025
Inflation becoming a concern in Japan after being a goal for decades
Rising consumer prices are putting real wage growth at risk and possibly becoming a drag on much-needed household consumption.
Households continue to be squeezed as inflation outpaces pay increases.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 5, 2025
Real wages in Japan rise in December, but fall for third straight year
Inflation continued to outpace pay increases, which have been generous on a nominal basis in recent years.
Japanese workers are increasingly job-hopping from one full-time position to another.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2025
Job-hopping Japanese workers push salaries higher
Job mobility in Japan has traditionally been low due to lifetime employment arrangements and strong labor laws.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son (right) and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at an event on Monday to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2025
SoftBank forms joint venture with OpenAI in enterprise play
SoftBank and OpenAI said that the joint venture will help large Japanese enterprises in the adoption and training of Cristal intelligence in order to improve their businesses.
Many workers at small companies continue to fall behind as wages fail to keep up with inflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2025
Smaller Japanese companies unlikely to meet wage-increase target for 2025
For this year’s spring negotiations, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation set hike targets of more than 6% for smaller firms.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda had sounded dovish after the central bank's December policy meeting, which led some analysts to say that rate hikes might only emerge in March.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2025
BOJ takes rates to 0.5% amid calm markets after Trump inauguration
The 25-basis-point move marks the first rate increase since July and takes rates to their highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.
U.S. urges clarity on Japan’s role in potential war over Taiwan, report says
A Ground Self-Defense Force member conducts a military drill with an anti-ship missiles unit, at the GSDF's base on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
Tropical Storm Nari moves northward, with possible landfall Tuesday
Tropical Storm Nari's forecast path as of Monday morning
Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
Students in Japan struggle with Japanese language and math sections on national exam
The correct answer rate for the Japanese language section on a national test dropped to 67.0% from 67.8% the previous year among elementary school sixth-graders.
U.S. urges clarity on Japan’s role in potential war over Taiwan, report says
A Ground Self-Defense Force member conducts a military drill with an anti-ship missiles unit, at the GSDF's base on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
Is Japanese skin really ‘too smooth’ for Hideo Kojima’s games?
Hideo Kojima, the leading auteur in Japanese video games, has skirted controversy in the wake of the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off a set of emoji at a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.
‘Our ultimate goal is to save every single Japanese video game’
After nearly shuttering earlier this year, the Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society continues its work to save the early history of Japanese gaming.

Podcast

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

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

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