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November 18, 2025
 

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BUSINESS

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Companies
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Nigo in Tokyo in 2021
BUSINESS / Companies
Nigo’s streetwear brand Human Made prices Tokyo IPO at top end
The company sold shares at ¥3,130 apiece, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sakana AI targets defense and banking markets after big funding round
The startup has achieved a ¥400 billion valuation and notes a “tailwind” from Japan’s new government.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Lawson taps AI and Asia growth as convenience store sector undergoes shift
Changes come as store expansion is slowing at home and inbound tourism is increasingly driving consumption.
Hinako Mori, 22, arranges products at a Don Quijote outlet in Tokyo in October. The Japanese retailer, which relaxed its rules concerning hair and nail polish three years ago, says nearly a quarter of its employees sport brightly colored hair.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 17, 2025
More Japanese firms relax rules in tussle for workers
By Satoshi Sugiyama
The country's labor shortage has led companies to ease up on various aspects, such as hair and nail polish color, to secure enough part-timers.
A customer holds a paper cup with the logo of coffee house chain LAP, which stands for Life Among People, in front of one of the chain's cafes in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district on Oct. 28.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 17, 2025
Budget coffee start-up leaves bitter taste in Berlin
By Edouard MERLO
Critics accused LAP of squeezing out local cafes with its €2.50 cappuccinos and aggressive expansion in the German capital.
Currently, about 2,400 employees are engaged in vehicle production at Nissan's Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 15, 2025
Nissan to set up panel with union over Oppama plant shutdown
The committee will hold its first meeting as early as this month to discuss measures for current workers, such as transferring them to a subsidiary.
Berkshire Hathaway sold ¥210.1 billion ($1.4 billion) in yen-denominated bonds on Friday at a narrower spread than its previous deal, as global investors flock to Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2025
Berkshire Hathaway raises more than ¥210 billion from bond sale
By Atsuko Fukase - Takahiko Hyuga
The Omaha, Nebraska-based firm has been a regular issuer of yen bonds since its debut six years ago, making it the largest foreign issuer of yen notes in that period.
As of Nov. 10, a total of 11,045 employees at publicly listed companies in Japan have been targeted for early retirement this year, the highest since 2021, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2025
Profitable firms cut jobs as activist investors and TSE seek stronger returns
By Kanoko Matsuyama
A wave of voluntary and early retirement programs in Japan that overwhelmingly target employees age 50 and above is on track to hit a four-year high.
Government backing and sustained AI investment are fueling momentum in Japan’s chip revival, with companies like Advantest and Tokyo Electron raising their full-year operating profit forecast.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2025
Japanese chip sector’s earnings show AI appetite and auto slump
By Reina Sasaki
Government backing and sustained AI investment are reinforcing optimism across the nation’s tech sector.
Japan Airlines is looking to streamline the number of jet types it operates and expand use of smaller aircraft to boost efficiencies and cost savings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2025
Japan Airlines seeks up to 70 new jets in regional fleet overhaul
By Danny Lee — Siddharth Philip
The airline is looking to streamline the number of jet types it operates to boost efficiencies and cost savings.

A beloved Tokyo penguin’s end presages Suica’s shift to payments giant
JR East is retiring the beloved Suica penguin as part of a rebrand to transform the contactless payment platform, used for both transit and retail, into a mobile fintech powerhouse.
Fears rise of rupture in Japan-China ties in wake of Taiwan remarks
Two Chinese tourists wearing kimonos take a selfie as they visit Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Saturday.
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.
At Ginza’s newest hotel, luxury is a private treasure
At Fufu Tokyo, each guest room comes with its own private "onsen" (hot spring) — a luxury nearly unheard of in the heart of Tokyo's capital.
Ashfall warning issued in southern Japan as volcano erupts
View of Sakurajima from the mainland of Kagoshima Prefecture
Japan uses series against South Korea to prep for World Baseball Classic title defense
Japan's Ryuhei Sotani pitches against South Korea at Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.
Good fortune, wrapped in fried tofu
Golden "age-fukuburo," a culinary take on Japan's new year "lucky bags," can be served on their own.
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom
Located near the Imperial Palace, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan prides itself on the accessibility of its events and the support it offers to budding and established journalists. The club is currently headed by Dan Sloan, a former reporter for Reuters.
The challenges awaiting Japan’s new finance minister
Finance minister Satsuki Katayama answers questions from reporters in a group interview on Oct. 24.
At Ginza’s newest hotel, luxury is a private treasure
At Fufu Tokyo, each guest room comes with its own private "onsen" (hot spring) — a luxury nearly unheard of in the heart of Tokyo's capital.

Podcast

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

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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