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An employee pulls a trolley containing boxes of LD Ultra-Slim cigarettes ready for shipping at the Japan Tobacco cigarette plant in the town of Senta in Serbia. JT Group is buying U.S. discount cigarette-maker Vector Group.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2024

JT Group plans to buy U.S. cigarette-maker Vector for ¥348.6 billion

The move will address a loss of anticipated growth due to Russia's war in Ukraine, and will boost Japan Tobacco's U.S. market share from 2.3% to about 8%.
Shoppers outside a Sephora store in Vancouver on Aug. 15
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2024

LVMH’s Sephora cuts around 10% of staff in China as its woes deepen

While Sephora has expanded to some 300 stores since entering China in 2005, the country is increasingly difficult for higher-end retailers to navigate.
Seven & I Holding’s logo is seen at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Tokyo on Aug. 19. Apart from 7-Eleven, Seven & I also owns, has stakes in or operates a number of other iconic properties, including Denny’s, Tower Records and Ito-Yokado.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2024

Japan warms to audacious Canadian bid for 7-Eleven operator

The deal might just work if Alimentation Couche-Tard lets the convenience store chain get on with business and continue to develop and expand globally.
Ebenezer Agyarko tends to his cocoa plantation in Kwabeng, north of Accra, the capital of Ghana.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 22, 2024

Chocolate prices unlikely to decline even as African cocoa harvest improves

Issues that have long hobbled the industry remain, meaning bean prices aren’t likely to fall back to previous levels.
A boy pushes a biped robot developed by LimX Dynamics at the World Robot Conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 23, 2024

China's robot makers chase Tesla to deliver humanoid workers

The Asian giant's push into the emerging industry draws from the formula behind its initial electric vehicle drive more than a decade ago.
Tepco employees serve scallops at an event in Tokyo last month.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2024

Japan scallop exports shifting away from China dependence

The efforts led to increases in scallop exports to the United States and other markets, highlighting the scallop supply chain's shift away from China.
Trains at a yard in Calgary, Alberta, after Teamsters union workers were locked out by Canadian Pacific Kansas City.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2024

Canada rail employees ordered back to work

The disputes centered around workers' concerns over long hours and fatigue, leading to dangerous working conditions.
Sarvam AI, often described as India’s OpenAI, introduced software for businesses that can interact with customers using spoken voice rather than just text.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 26, 2024

Cheap AI voice bots are suddenly everywhere in India

Startups may turn India into a proving ground for what could be the next frontier of generative artificial intelligence products.
A Canadian retailer's bid to buy the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores follows the introduction last year of government guidelines on mergers and acquisitions instructing companies to seriously consider takeover offers.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Aug 27, 2024

Seven & I takeover proposal tests Japan’s evolving investor-friendly stance

The proposed purchase of the convenience store operator follows government guidelines instructing companies to seriously consider takeover offers.
A Couche-Tard convenience store in Montreal. Canadian retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard has made a preliminary non-binding proposal to buy 7-Eleven owner Seven & I Holdings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 27, 2024

Couche-Tard might finance Seven & I takeover with debt

A leveraged acquisition would be feasible because of the Japanese company's strong cash flow, people familiar with the Canadian retailer’s thinking said.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Japan should develop its own generative AI.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 27, 2024

Nvidia to support development of AI based on Japanese language data

The move is seen helping local efforts to protect critical infrastructure and strengthen industrial competitiveness without relying on other countries.
The surprise 19% price increase comes even as PlayStation 5 sales have slowed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 27, 2024

Sony hikes PlayStation 5 price in Japan citing cost volatility

The surprise move comes even as PS5 sales have slowed and Sony is widely expected to refresh its offering with a revamp of the console in coming months.
Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 28, 2024

BOJ deputy governor sees rate hike justified if outlook realized

Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino's comments underscore the central bank's basically unchanged stance following ructions in the financial markets.
Japanese workers in their 40s and 50s — known as the "lost generation" — saw their wages rise slightly in the second quarter.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2024

Japan’s 'lost generation' gets a raise, and the economy, a small boost

The pay bump in the second quarter is vitally important to the economy, as consumption by Japanese workers in their 40s and 50s is an important driver of growth.
Kirin Holdings President Takeshi Minakata at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2024

Kirin clinched Fancl takeover to propel health pivot, president says

Fancl fits into a health science portfolio that Kirin aims to grow into a new pillar of the group.
Tomy's "Photogenic LiccA" dress-up dolls are exhibited at the International Tokyo Toy Show 2024 that opened Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2024

Toys targeting 'kidults' featured at Tokyo Toy Show 2024

About 35,000 toy items from 190 Japanese and foreign companies are being showcased at International Tokyo Toy Show 2024.
Attendees play the For All Time mobile game on smartphones at the NetEase Games booth at the Tokyo Game Show in the city of Chiba in September last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 30, 2024

Tencent and NetEase rethink Japan approach as game strategy stalls

The companies are reconsidering or scaling back many of their investments in Japanese studios, after years of spending yielded few hit games.
Ryobi Holdings has hired Kyosuke Suzuki, a former currency trader at Societe Generale, to set up an artificial intelligence-powered hedge fund specializing in forex.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024

Bus group Ryobi sets up forex fund to survive population fall

The move follows its previous investments in real estate, supermarkets and other areas as it tries to secure funds to maintain its bus fleet and grow.
The logo of German carmaker Volkswagen at the main plant of the group in Wolfsburg, northern Germany, in March 2022. German automotive giant Volkswagen said Monday that it could close production sites in Germany as the auto industry struggles to manage rising costs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024

Volkswagen weighs first-ever German plant closures amid EV transition woes

Profit margins at the carmaker's underperforming passenger car brand are getting squeezed amid the shift to EVs and a consumer spending slowdown.
Alimentation Couche-Tard’s takeover bid for Seven & I already faces a potential funding problem, but the yen's recent rise puts another hurdle.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 5, 2024

Strong yen adds to challenge for Couche-Tard’s Seven & I bid

The buyout already faces questions in terms of potential funding and the target’s efforts to seek government protection.
The 225-issue Nikkei average plunged 4.2% on Wednesday, its sharpest drop since a 12% crash on Aug. 5.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 5, 2024

Japanese stocks seen as volatile and capped as U.S. walks economic tightrope

Japan's stock market is heavily influenced by movements in Wall Street and the exchange rate, which remain uncertain due to the unpredictable U.S. presidential election.
Sengu Capital, based in Hong Kong, will start a new hedge fund focused on Japanese firms improving management quality.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2024

New hedge fund gains backing for bets on Japan market revival

Investors have been trying to put more money to work in Japan, as the country emerges from more than a decade of deflation.
Growing moves by companies to pass on higher costs to consumers amid accelerating inflation are believed to have led to the decrease in bankruptcies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2024

Japan business failures log first drop in 29 months in August

The figure stood below 800 for the first time in four months.
Panasonic has supported the Olympic Games with its technologies, product and services, such as the Technics turn-tables at the breaking event in Paris last month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2024

Panasonic ends 37-year contract as top Olympics sponsor

The Osaka-based company first became an official partner of the Olympic Games in 1987 and expanded its partnership to the Paralympics from 2014.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 11, 2024

BOJ’s bond buying cuts carve out opening for investors

Net purchases by the central bank have fallen below zero as redemptions surpassed buying.
The PlayStation 5 Pro gaming console is priced at $699.99 in the United States, and ¥119,980 in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 11, 2024

Sony prices PlayStation 5 Pro game console at a hefty $699.99

In Japan, the midgeneration console is priced at ¥119,980, compared with the standard PlayStation 5 digital model's ¥72,980 price tag.
A water tower at the United States Steel Edgar Thomson Works steel mill in Braddock, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 4
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 14, 2024

Biden administration is likely to delay decision over U.S. Steel

The White House has faced backlash for politicizing its review of Nippon Steel’s takeover of the company.
A secretive program called Secure Enclave and involving Intel and the Pentagon seeks to establish production for advanced chips with military and intelligence applications.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 14, 2024

Intel solidifies $3.5 billion deal to make chips for U.S. military

The secretive program, called Secure Enclave, seeks to establish production for advanced chips with military and intelligence applications.
Nippon Steel may be interested in buying the troubled Italian steel plant formerly known as Ilva, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Saturday, without saying where it got the information.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 14, 2024

Nippon Steel may bid for Italy’s ex-Ilva plant, report says

Representatives of Italy’s government and Japan’s embassy discussed the potential offer last week, the newspaper said without revealing its source.
The Mountain Pass mine, operated by MP Materials in California, is the only rare earths mine in the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 17, 2024

China’s grip on rare earths undercuts projects from U.S. to Japan

Japan's experience reducing its dependence on China shows that rare earths projects take longer and are more expensive than initially expected.

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A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami