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November 08, 2025
 

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Elizabeth Beattie
Helle Kristoffersen, Asia president of French oil and gas conglomerate TotalEnergies, speaks at a session of the French Japanese Business Summit on Thursday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2025
Japan’s energy import strategy compelling for landlocked European nations
Europe has grappled with energy security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Guests typically follow Ryo Ito’s lead as he weaves through the narrow, colorful aisles of convenience stores.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 2, 2025
The unstoppable rise of konbini tourism
Japan's convenience stores, with their myriad products and services as well as creative hacks, have proven to be a hit with travelers.
Despite responders to a Japan Press Research Institute survey ranking newspapers as among the most trustworthy sources, readership was in decline.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2025
Online news increasingly consumed despite being viewed with skepticism
While online news was the most accessed news source, in terms of trustworthiness, it trails behind traditional media sources.
KDDI said its AI service, which will be launched in spring 2026, will “protect the rights of content providers.”
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 29, 2025
KDDI enters into ‘responsible’ AI agreement with Google
The “responsible” AI service would only shows content that creators have given consent to.
A screenshot of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's international schools portal site
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2025
Tokyo launches English-language international school database
The initiative is intended to further improve the living environment for residents whose first language is not Japanese.
North Korean IT workers have been identified working in Japan, the U.S., the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine, using a strategy to secure employment and remit earnings back to North Korea.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 23, 2025
North Korean agents in Japan’s anime industry part of sophisticated sanctions evasion
A cross-border sanctions monitoring effort between Japan and 10 other countries has sounded the alarm on North Korea’s sanctions evasion tactics in a detailed report.
A recent cyberattack on brewer Asahi Group Holdings resulted in the company suspending shipments.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 22, 2025
AI-optimized cybercrime increasingly targeting Japan
Many of the attacks originate in China, using underground marketplaces that sell access and sensitive data to other cybercriminals.
In Japan, 55% were “equally concerned and excited” about the rise of AI in daily life, while 28% were “more concerned than excited.”
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 20, 2025
Japan leads in in-depth AI awareness, new global study finds
The survey also found that In Japan, 55% were “equally concerned and excited” about the rise of AI in daily life, while 28% were “more concerned than excited.”
Sora 2, a short-form video app made by OpenAI, enables users to create realistic AI videos with text prompts, but critics say that there are insufficient guardrails — from a lack of copyright consideration to families of public figures upset by the reanimation of their loved ones.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2025
Japan’s government asks OpenAI to seek permission amid Sora 2 copyright concerns
Sora 2 enables users to create realistic AI videos with text prompts, but critics say that there are insufficient guardrails.
Pace Japan Vice President Kyoko Hattori, the de facto head of the nation’s business, believes a larger, more lucrative art market will allow Japan to be more attractive for collectors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 14, 2025
Pace eyes great strides for Japan’s art market
One of the largest art galleries in the world wants to turn the country into the center of Asia’s art scene.
The University of Tokyo in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025
University of Tokyo lands its highest spot ever in global higher education ranking
Rising to 26th from 28th last year, the University of Tokyo remains the sole Japanese university to crack the top 50 in the Times Higher Education's World University Rankings.
Japan’s government set a target of 60 million annual foreign visitors by 2030, but many businesses involved with tourism are already struggling with skilled worker shortages.
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2025
Japan set to be most impacted by tourism labor shortages globally, report shows
The country will see a 29% shortfall in necessary labor in 2035, according to the Future of the Travel & Tourism Workforce report.
OpenAI has rolled out a social app powered by Sora 2, its artificial intelligence video generator, which was quickly flooded with videos featuring iconic Japanese intellectual property.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 7, 2025
OpenAI’s Sora 2 is drowning in Japanese 'AI slop'
Iconic Japanese characters are prevalent across Sora 2, but legally, this places the company on shaky ground.
Product shipments at Asahi Group Holdings companies have been suspended due to a system failure caused by a cyberattack, with the holding company saying they have no estimated timeline for recovery.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2025
Asahi suspends orders and shipments following cyberattack
The beverage company is working to restore its operations and has confirmed there has not been any leak of personal information or customer data.
Pokemon said it has not given permission to use its upbeat theme music and imagery for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's deportation video posted on X and TikTok.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 26, 2025
U.S. Department of Homeland Security doubles down on Pokemon-themed deportation video
The Pokemon Co. said they had no involvement in the Pokemon-themed arrest and deportation video.
Apple is reopening its redesigned store in Ginza, Tokyo, on Friday. The location holds special importance for the company — it was its first overseas store, which originally opened in 2003.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2025
Tim Cook arrives in Tokyo as Apple prepares to reopen Ginza store
The Ginza location holds special importance for Apple — it’s the company’s first overseas store, originally opening in 2003.
Japan has many positive qualities for German companies, but the market does face some challenges, such as talent acquisition and retention, particularly as demand for skilled workers grows, a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan showed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 22, 2025
German companies choosing Japan as Asia manufacturing hub: survey
The country is valued for its stability, affordability and proximity to other major markets, according to the survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan.
Tours are being offered in Tokyo using a shoulder-mounted robot equipped with a camera, speaker and microphone. The robot twitches its wing-like arms, which it can fold together as if in prayer when visiting a temple.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 19, 2025
Robot tour guides in Tokyo offer way for those with disabilities to work
OriHime, a robot remotely controlled by people with disabilities, is offering tours in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district.
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 17, 2025
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
Regardless of their motivations, foreign property buyers in Japan have come under the magnifying glass.
Forbes and Unforgettable Travel Company have ranked Shirakawago in Gifu Prefecture as Asia's most beautiful village.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2025
‘Fairytale’ Shirakawago ranked one of the world’s most beautiful villages
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Shirakawago is famed for its verdant landscape and gasshō-zukuri farmhouses, which are hundreds of years old.
The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
New satellite images suggest 'mass graves' in Sudan's El-Fasher
A general view of a berm construction in Kinin Village near El-Fasher.
High-speed rail is expensive and difficult, but seen as a key to growth
Achal Khare, former managing director at India’s National High Speed Rail Corporation, gives a presentation during the IHRA Forum 2025 in Tokyo on Oct. 23.
SoftBank is said to have explored potential takeover of Marvell
SoftBank explored a potential takeover of U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology earlier this year, in what would have been the semiconductor industry's largest-ever deal.
These are the hottest lower-division rikishi to watch right now
Fukazaki (right) grapples with Enho at the IG Arena in Nagoya on July 13.
Across borders and screens, Tokyo film festival finds humanity in migration
“Mother Bhumi” takes place in a multiethnic rice-farming community where Chinese, Thai and Malay lineages intertwine.
Takaichi’s balancing act: Supporting Taiwan and stabilizing China ties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with Lin Hsin-i, Taiwan’s presidential adviser, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday in this image posted to Takaichi's official X account.
From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo

Podcast

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

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
By Alex K.T. Martin

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