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August 29, 2025
 

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Nicholas Takahashi
A trailer transports Nissan’s NV200 Venette minivans in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 21, 2025
Nissan to end production of compact van as Honda rescue looms
Manufacturing unit Nissan Shatai hasn’t made any decisions on job cuts, a Nissan spokesperson said.
Nissan's Ariya electric crossover sport utility vehicle on the production line at the company's plant in Kaminokawa, Tochigi Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025
Japan’s carmakers vow closer ties to regain ground in China
Japan’s automakers are united in their struggle to regain ground they’ve lost to the flashy offerings that have turned China into a global EV superpower.
Toyota's business is feeling the strain of intense competition over hybrid cars in the U.S. and locally made electric vehicles in China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 25, 2024
Toyota sales stagnate as factory glitches compound weaker demand
Vehicle sales totaled 984,348 units last month, the Japanese automaker said Wednesday, down 0.2% year-on-year.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe speaks during a joint news conference with heads of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors on their merger talks in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 24, 2024
Honda crafts Nissan rescue plan that plays out over years
While executives called the transaction a merger, Honda will take the lead in forming the new entity and nominate a majority of its directors.
Nissan and Honda are exploring a merger, which would create a rival to Toyota Motor in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2024
Foxconn in talks with Nissan shareholder Renault, CNA says
Renault’s stake in Nissan is a holdover from a longstanding alliance between the French automaker, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.
Nissan Motor vehicles bound for shipment at the Nissan Oppama wharf in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 3, 2024
Nissan is awash in outdated models as car buyers look elsewhere
While Japan’s other major carmakers take six months or more to ship a new vehicle, many of Nissan’s most popular models can be delivered within a month or two.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 22, 2024
Nissan’s overly ambitious goals fuel investor and supplier distrust
Nissan’s latest outlook downgrade has shined a light on the Japanese carmaker’s tendency to overpromise and underdeliver.
A fund controlled by Effissimo Capital Management has taken a stake in Nissan Motor.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 13, 2024
Nissan enters new era of turmoil as Effissimo takes stake
The big question is whether CEO Makoto Uchida can deliver a turnaround or be forced to make more drastic changes by an influential outsider.
Nissan’s filing said Suntera (Cayman) is the buyer of the 2.5% stake and listed Suntera as a trustee of ECM Master Fund.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 12, 2024
Nissan surges after firm linked to hedge fund takes 2.5% stake
The jump is a remarkable turnaround for Nissan’s stock, which plunged last week after the carmaker slashed jobs and said it would cut manufacturing capacity by a fifth.
Nissan sees its operating income plunging to just ¥150 billion in the fiscal year ending in March, down 70% from its previous forecast.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2024
Nissan cuts outlook and announces restructuring with 9,000 job cuts
The firm sees its operating income plunging to ¥150 billion in the fiscal year ending in March, down 70% from its previous forecast.
Toyota posted its first quarterly profit drop in two years, as slowing sales and production volume stalled the world's top-selling automaker's recent record run.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2024
Toyota keeps profit outlook despite weakness in Japan and China
The carmaker showed signs of recovery from domestic scandals in Japan and major recalls in the United States.
Seiji Izumisawa, the CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, said at a briefing that while currency fluctuations and inflation make the future unpredictable, strong order intakes are encouraging.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2024
Mitsubishi Heavy net income falls, but orders still solid
Shares in the company fell 2.5% Tuesday after it reported that net income for the June-September period failed to meet analysts’ average estimate.
Toyota's worldwide production fell for an eighth straight month in September, as both sales and output declined in its two biggest markets, the United States and China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2024
Toyota sales fall in Japan and China, as hybrid demand grows in U.S.
Toyota’s sales in Japan shrank nearly 17% this year between January and September.
Ryuichi Isaka, CEO of Seven & I Holdings, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in April. Isaka is now assuring investors that the group's revenue will likely almost double by the 2030 fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2024
Facing buyout bid, Seven & I tells investors sales will double by 2030
The retailer aims to reach ¥30 trillion in group sales by the 2030 fiscal year, with a greater contribution from convenience-store operations in markets abroad.
Debt-laden companies in Japan are rapidly growing in number, in some measures even faster than in 1992 after the collapse of its asset price bubble.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2024
Zombie companies may finally succumb to bankruptcy on BOJ hikes
Bankruptcies topped 5,000 cases for the first time in a decade between April and September, a report by Tokyo Shoko Research showed earlier this month.
A Toyota Rav-4 Prime charges at an electric vehicle charging station in New York on Sept. 3. Toyota's sales fell again in August after declines in Japan and China put an end to a short-lived recovery.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2024
Toyota production falls on vehicle safety scandals and U.S. recalls
Global output, including that of subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors, dropped in August by 12.6% from a year earlier
The Jeep Avenger fully electric compact utility car debuted in Japan on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 26, 2024
Jeep’s compact EV debuts in Japan as imported EVs take the lead
In Japan, gasoline and hybrid gas-electric cars remain the dominant powertrains of choice for local consumers.
Toyota added ¥200 billion to a ¥1 trillion stock repurchase plan announced in May, according to an exchange filing Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024
Toyota raises buyback to ¥1.2 trillion, citing share levels
The carmaker’s operating profit for the three months ended June 30 was ¥1.31 trillion, 17% higher than a year earlier.
Panasonic’s 4680 cylindrical lithium-ion cell
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2024
Panasonic ready to start making next-gen EV cells at Japan plant
The site will become the main facility for production of Panasonic’s 4680 cylindrical lithium-ion cell with output beginning as soon as a final evaluation is completed.
Toyota's hybrids are selling well in North America, making up for sluggish demand for its vehicles in Japan and China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024
Toyota quarterly profit rises 17% on year as weak yen drives U.S. demand
Despite ongoing turmoil from a government probe that found issues with vehicle certifications, analysts still project the carmaker will post a record profit this year.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
Confusion over Japan’s ‘hometown’ plan overshadows African development event
First Lady Yoshiko Ishiba (center, in white and blue dress) hosts an event on Japanese culture with the first ladies of African leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Is Kishida plotting a return of the king? Or would he rather stay a kingmaker?
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chairs a plenary session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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