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July 22, 2025
 

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Elizabeth Beattie
Tokyo ranks among the world's top tech talent hubs alongside Beijing, the San Francisco Bay Area, Bengaluru, Paris, New York and Dublin, according to Colliers' newly released global tech markets report.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 16, 2025
Tokyo emerges as a top market for global tech talent
As the search for tech talent intensifies, companies are deciding to invest more in regions that offer “more abundant and affordable tech talent.”
Yahoo News was Japan’s fourth-most visited website overall.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2025
Yahoo News Japan beats NYT and BBC as most popular news website worldwide
While traditional media are still viewed as the most trustworthy sources, news aggregation site Yahoo New Japan nets the most eyeballs in Japan and abroad.
Ichiro Kanai, founder and president of Tokyobike, is developing a niche but a new customer base who want to cycle as part of a lifestyle.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 15, 2025
Tokyobike founder believes in taking in sights of dynamic cities slowly
There's no use having a wonderful bike if you don’t have a thrilling city to explore, with Tokyobike's founder believing stylish products can only complement a compelling city.
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2025
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Today, more than half of Netflix’s global users watch anime on its service, with shows such as “Sakamoto Days” proving to be massive hits.
Tokyo ranked second after New York and ahead of Dubai and Singapore in a ranking of the top global cities for nighttime tourism.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 4, 2025
Tokyo and Kyoto feature among top ‘noctourism’ destinations
Both cities rank highly in an emerging trend of nighttime tourism, according to a recently released report.
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 30, 2025
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
There is plenty of room for Lego to grow in Japan, but the low birth rate is undeniably a challenge.
Australian singer Donna Burke in Tokyo on May 29. People comment on how familiar her voice is when footage of Burke performing shinkansen announcements go viral online.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 27, 2025
A trained star: The Australian singer who became the voice of the shinkansen
The “JR voice” has built a career that encompasses voice work for prominent game franchises including Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy.
Following domestic economic instability after the real estate market’s 2020 collapse, and global geopolitical uncertainty, wealthy Chinese have sought to establish bases in other countries, including Japan.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2025
Japan among most attractive Asian nations for uber-wealthy
The standard of living, health care, and safety and security make Japan attractive to wealthy Chinese expatriates, with Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe their main destinations.
Japan showed improved performance in the category of “no poverty” but did worse in fields like “zero hunger” and “press freedom” in the latest SDG Index.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2025
Japan ranks in the top 20 on SDG index
Japan was rated 19th this year, behind Estonia and Belgium and above Portugal and Hungary.
For Isamu Tatsuno, the founder and CEO of outdoor gear maker Montbell, his youth was all about reaching the pinnacle. Today, he’s far more interested in enjoying the journey.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2025
Montbell founder went from a feeble boy to a renowned mountaineer
Drawing on his experience as a climber, Isamu Tatsuno planned ahead for the survival of his outdoor gear and clothing company. It paid off.
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.
Japan ruling bloc loses majority in Upper House after election drubbing
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, leaves at the party's headquarters following announcement of Upper House election result projections in Tokyo early Monday.
‘Japanese First’ Sanseito emerges as powerful force after Upper House poll
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya in Tokyo on Sunday night
Foreign residents closely follow Japan's election and party pledges
A police officer walks past posters of Liberal Democratic Party candidates, as well as one showing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, outside the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday. As Japan’s foreign population continues to rise, one of the talking points during Sunday’s election was how the country should deal with the increase of international residents.
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
Hitomi Obara, 2012 Olympic champion in wrestling, dies at 44
Hitomi Obara competes at the London Olympics in August 2012.
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
Pentagon looks to unleash ‘military drone dominance’
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on July 10.
‘Noto Democracy’ and the slow work of civic change
Yukio Iokibe’s “Noto Democracy" centers on Motoyuki Takii, a former junior high school teacher who publishes a handwritten newspaper every month to encourage the residents of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, to engage in local politics.
In microbes we trust: Embracing the nature of fermented food
You don't need an oven to make Kenji Morimoto's easy and delicious Miso Sticky Toffee Crepe Cake.
Touring the Silk Road — without leaving Tokyo
One of the entrances to Pao Compound, a nine-story Silk Road-inspired complex in Tokyo's Higashinakano neighborhood

Podcast

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

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
By Alex K.T. Martin

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