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May 21, 2025
 

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Elizabeth Beattie
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 18, 2025
Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability
Laurent Patouillet, who has headed the brand's Japanese operations since 2018, believes there is more that it can do to be environmentally sustainable.
While for Aston Martin, it’s all about delivering luxury, their regional president for Asia Gregory Adams' start in the auto industry in Japan was far more humble.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 6, 2025
The drive for luxury: Aston Martin Asia's president explains the desire for more
“No one needs an Aston Martin,” said the company's regional president for Asia — it is more about emotion and less about practicality.
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
The tariffs add another layer of uncertainty for consumers already hesitating due to the yen's weakness and inflation.
Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture in 2017. Travel agencies catering to luxury tourists often include areas outside well-known cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto in their itineraries offered.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2025
A trip to remember: Japan answers the demand for curated luxury travel
Creating a unique experience that luxury travelers feel they can hold on to well after their trip is part of the challenge.
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 31, 2025
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Since 2009, Ken Theriault has been keeping himself busy maintaining Costco's American charm and catering to the needs of the Japanese consumer as the wholesaler's boss in Japan.
Alimentation Couche-Tard founder Alain Bouchard (center), CEO Alex Miller (left) and CFO Filipe Da Silva attend a photo session after a news conference on their bid for Seven & I Holdings in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies / EXPLAINER
Mar 17, 2025
Why Couche-Tard's deal with Seven & I isn't going anywhere
The buyout bid has seen a mixed response in Japan, with some expressing concerns over the convenience store chain being taken over by a foreign company.
Alimentation Couche-Tard founder and executive chairman Alain Bouchard (left) and President Alex Miller hold a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 13, 2025
Alimentation Couche-Tard ramps up campaign to take over Seven & I
The Canadian convenience store giant and owner of Circle-K has sought to combat skepticism surrounding the deal, most recently with a news conference in Tokyo.
Aizawa Concrete employees work in the Namie factory in Fukushima Prefecture in January.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Mar 11, 2025
14 years after 3/11 disasters, Fukushima vies to become a startup hub
Part of the goal is to attract a more permanent workforce to Fukushima to support the development of the prefecture as a whole.
Itochu dropping its Seven & I Holdings buyout plan would place Alimentation Couche-Tard’s offer back in the limelight.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025
Itochu drops Seven & I buyout, putting Couche-Tard back in limelight
An individual with an understanding of the deal said Itochu and Seven & I lacked synergy to justify the deal.
Fuji TV executives take questions during a news conference on Monday in Tokyo in which some participants became unruly.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2025
Fuji TV’s go-big PR strategy wins grudging praise globally
Fuji TV held a marathon 10-hour news conference on Monday to address allegations of sexual misconduct by Masahiro Nakai, a celebrity and former presenter for the broadcaster.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is still signaling caution ahead of the central bank's January meeting.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 21, 2025
BOJ likely to raise rates this week in absence of immediate Trump tariffs
The possibility is "quite high" if markets remain calm following Trump's inauguration on Monday as the 47th president of the United States.
U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, Pennsylvannia, in 2019. Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel face significant legal challenges in their case against the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 15, 2025
Nippon Steel’s case against Biden probably unwinnable, attorneys argue
A U.S. president's rejection of a deal following review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has only been successfully challenged once.
A brewer stirs the mix for making sake at a brewery in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2025
Brooklyn brewers take on sake, America's new hip tipple
The ancient Japanese drink, which has been exported to the United States for at least a century, is being increasingly localized.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida (left), Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe (second from left) and Takao Kato, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, hold a news conference on merger talks on Monday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 23, 2024
Honda-Nissan megamerger in the works
Both carmakers are facing overcapacity and the need for huge investments related to electric-vehicle and self-driving technologies.
Dining habits have changed since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, with alcohol consumption experiencing a drop.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 9, 2024
Hundreds of izakaya going bust as prices rise and customers change
In the first 11 months of this year, 203 of these establishments went out of business, more than the entire year of 2020 when COVID-19 became a pandemic.
A screen displays market data at Hana Bank in Seoul on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 4, 2024
Yoon’s gambit a tempest in a teapot for financial markets
Tokyo stocks opened flat and the yen was little changed from a day earlier, when the South Korean president declared martial law in a late-night address.
Female company presidents are mostly found at small businesses in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 2, 2024
8.4% of Japanese companies led by women in 2024
Female presidents tend to be found at smaller companies, with 11.9% of companies with less than ¥50 million in annual sales having a female boss.
SoftBank is unhappy that Moody's continues to issue ratings on the company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024
SoftBank blasts Moody’s for unsolicited ratings
It says it is considering legal action against the agency, which has continued to publish unsolicited ratings of the company over the past several years.
Packages move along a conveyor belt at an Amazon warehouse
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024
Japan investigating Amazon for allegedly bullying other businesses
Tactics allegedly employed by the retailer involve the squeezing of business partners in exchange for visibility.
According to Similarweb, average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024
Bluesky is booming in Japan — mainly for reasons other than U.S. politics
Average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October, while figures for X were down over that time.
Man falls to his death from Osaka condo, killing cyclist below
Osaka's Kita Ward. Two men died Monday morning in the ward after a man fell from a high-rise condominium and struck a passing cyclist below, according to local police.
Random stabbing cases in Japan raise fears: Could the next victim be me?
Police officers stand guard on May 7 outside Todaimae Station in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward after a random stabbing that injured a University of Tokyo student.
Japan confirms hard-line position ahead of possible tariff talks in Washington
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, at a news conference on Tuesday. He said that when Japan states it wants the tariffs reviewed, it means Tokyo wants them removed.
Amid rice shortage, farm minister comes under fire for saying he gets plenty
Agriculture minister Taku Eto has come under fire for saying at the weekend that he receives so much rice from his supporters that he has enough to sell it.
Ishiba rebuffs tax cut demands with Greek debt comparison
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba
The race for more time: Japanese runner decided to freeze eggs for her future
Tomomi Bitoh, seen crossing the finish line in Antarctica, on the first stop of the World Marathon Challenge, is one of the very few Japanese athletes to speak publicly about her experience with egg freezing.
Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.
Flaunt your seasonal greens with Japan’s traditional pureed soup
With the weather warming up, there's no better time to make a bowl of chilled "surinagashi-jiru" (pureed soup).
In Nintendo’s backyard, foreign indie game devs are thriving
Kyoto's gaming landscape is dominated by Nintendo's headquarters, but a contingent of foreign-born indie developers is also working in the gaming giant's shadow.
For Formula E, ‘sustainability is at the heart’
Founded with a mission of promoting electric vehicles, Formula E has always placed sustainability at the forefront of its raison d’etre.

Podcast

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

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after
Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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