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The headquarters building for Sony in central Tokyo
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2024

Sony buys 10% of Elden Ring owner for $320 million

The new deal will see Sony pay ¥50 billion ($320 million) for 12 million new Kadokawa shares, making it the company's biggest shareholder.
In Joe Biden’s four years as president, the U.S. outperformed virtually every other advanced economy in terms of output, employment and productivity growth.
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Dec 29, 2024

An economic requiem for the Biden administration

Now that the outgoing U.S. president’s term is about to expire, an elegy is in order for his administration's economic achievements, failures and missed opportunities.
A police cordon is set up on Thursday near the scene where a couple was fatally stabbed a day earlier in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2024

77-year-old man arrested in connection with fatal stabbings and arson in Chiba

Investigators believe the suspect might have harbored resentment toward the deceased couple, which could have led to the attack on Wednesday.
Chinese relatives of passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 take part in a prayer service at the Metro Park Hotel in Beijing on April 8, 2014. The plane, which departed from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, was to have flown to Beijing.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 20, 2024

A decade on, Malaysia renews search for vanished MH370

Marine exploration firm Ocean Infinity will conduct a search in a new area estimated at 15,000 square kilometers in the southern Indian Ocean.
Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson, arrives at a helicopter pad after being extradited from Pennsylvania to New York on Thursday.
WORLD
Dec 21, 2024

Luigi Mangione’s 15-day path from New York to Altoona McDonald’s

Details from charging documents, court proceedings and news conferences show a troubled young man.
The rise of TikTok has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024

One billion users, but controversies mount up for TikTok

In Washington, the platform has been accused of espionage, while the EU suspects it was used to sway Romania's presidential election in favor of a far-right candidate.
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson talks to journalists after he was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, at the Place de la Republique in Paris on Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2024

Freed activist Paul Watson vows to 'end whaling worldwide'

The 74-year-old returned to France after spending five months in detention in Greenland due to an extradition demand from Japan.
A container ship transits the expanded canal through Cocoli Locks at the Panama Canal, on the outskirts of Panama City last August.
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2024

Trump demands Panama lower transit fees or return canal

The U.S. completed the 82-kilometer canal through the Central American isthmus in 1914, but ceded it back to Panama in 1999.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, casts his vote during an impeachment vote against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the National Assembly in Seoul  Dec.14.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 22, 2024

A race to the Blue House or the jail house

Since the end of martial law in 1987, there have been eight democratically elected presidents — and all but two of those have either been impeached or imprisoned.
The Nio logo on a steering wheel of an electric vehicle at the automaker's dealership in Shanghai
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 23, 2024

China’s Nio unveils $108,000 EV to take on Porsche and Mercedes

Once one of the brightest rising stars in China’s electric vehicle market, Nio has fallen short of sales targets, with U.S.-traded shares slumping about 50% this year.
A close up of EV batteries at the production unit of Inobat, a Slovakian battery maker in Voderady, Slovakia, on Dec. 11
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 23, 2024

After Northvolt, Europe's battery hopes heavily rely on China

The norm in the future may be joint ventures that rely on China's low-margin electric vehicle battery dominance.
Economic uncertainty has left some U.S. drinkers looking for ways to rein in their booze spending, according to three of the largest U.S. spirits distributors.
BUSINESS
Dec 24, 2024

Shrinking U.S. bar tabs signal little festive cheer for liquor makers

Some drinkers are switching to cheaper liquor brands and venues or reducing the amount of out-of-home celebrations they attend.
The Financial Services Agency said the judge, Soichiro Sato, 32, was dismissed Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 24, 2024

Japan SESC files insider trading complaint against judge

The parties involved are believed to have earned several million yen in profit.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market 250 Index is down about 11% so far this year and set for its fourth yearly loss.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 24, 2024

Japan startups set for longest rout on record as rate hike looms

A rate hike by the Bank of Japan would make it more expensive for new companies to finance research and development.
"In order to secure quality talent, we have to raise wages above inflation," Daiwa Securities CEO Akihiko Ogino has said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024

Daiwa aims to raise wages at least 5% next year amid competition for talent

Daiwa is discussing a pay raise of at least 5% for the financial year beginning in April 2025, after hikes of 5%, 4% and 7% in the three years prior.
Cocoa beans are pictured next to a warehouse at the village of Atroni, near Sunyani, Ghana, on April 11, 2019.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 25, 2024

How a hedge fund exodus reshaped global cocoa markets 

The impact of hedge funds' exit illustrates how reliant trading has become on these lightly regulated funds that increasingly shape financial markets.
"Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition" includes an installation of Katsushika Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.”
CULTURE / Art
Dec 25, 2024

Step into ukiyo-e: A digital journey through Japan’s traditional art form

"Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition" uses 3D animation and projection mapping to reimagine Edo-era woodblock prints for modern audiences.
The United States Steel's Clairton Coke Works facility in Clairton, Pennsylvania. In a letter, a group that includes mayors in Pennsylvania and Indiana denounced the head of the United Steelworkers union over his refusal to negotiate in good faith with Nippon Steel its plan to acquire U.S. Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 25, 2024

Mayors urge Biden to approve Nippon Steel acquisition of U.S. Steel

A total of 20 people, including the heads of administrative districts where U.S. Steel facilities are located, underlined the importance of the deal to the local communities.
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.
Google new quantum computing chip Willow. Though the technology isn’t yet ready for widespread use, the competition to build error-free quantum computers is heating up, promising significant breakthroughs in the near future.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

Google is pushing quantum computing closer to reality

The Willow chip should focus investor attention on an industry that has been quietly making great strides toward developing quantum machines with practical uses.
The danger of overreaction and misinformation in the digital age is real, and authorities must provide clear explanations to prevent tragedies while also addressing legitimate concerns about drones.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2024

How to make America's drone panic so very much worse

The weak and ineffective response of government authorities should serve as a lesson in exactly how not to handle such incidents in the digital age.
This is set to be the first time Toyota will donate to a U.S. inauguration ceremony.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 25, 2024

Toyota to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration ceremony

President-elect Trump says he plans to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico, triggering concerns from automakers that rely on Mexican production for the U.S. market.
In this handout picture released by Kazakhstan's emergency situations ministry, emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on Dec. 25.
WORLD
Dec 26, 2024

Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan, killing 38

A jet crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people.
A rescuer of the State Emergency Service works to put out a fire in a private house after a drone strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Dec 26, 2024

Russia launches 'inhuman' Christmas Day attacks, Ukraine says

Half a million people in the Kharkiv region were left without heating, in temperatures just a few degrees Celsius above zero.
According to Teikoku Databank, January price markups will center on bread products.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2024

Prices of 1,380 food items set to rise in Japan in January

According to a private research firm, January markups will center on bread products.
Nippon Steel's headquarters in Tokyo. The Japanese steelmaker said Thursday it has extended the closing period for its $15 billion purchase of U.S. Steel to the first quarter of 2025.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2024

Nippon Steel extends closing date for U.S. Steel acquisition

The estimated closing date has been revised to the first quarter of 2025.
The Finnish Border Guard's ship Turva and oil tanker Eagle S sail on the sea outside the Porkkalanniemi, Finland on Thursday
WORLD
Dec 27, 2024

Finland boards vessel possibly behind power cable and internet outages

"From our side, we are investigating grave sabotage," said the director of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation.
Storage tanks at the BP Cherry Point Refinery near Blaine, Washington
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 27, 2024

Big Oil backtracks on renewables push as climate agenda falters

The likes of BP and Shell this year sharply slowed their plans to spend billions on wind and solar power projects.
For the 20 Questions column this year, writers asked their interview subjects about everything from their lives in Japan to their thoughts on news topics.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 28, 2024

There were plenty of hot topics to opine on in 2024

We take a look back at some of the best answers that our interviewees gave for 20 Questions from throughout the year.
Children play mahjong during a class held at Satsukigaoka community center in the city of Hiroshima.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Chugoku
Jan 14, 2025

Mahjong enjoys new wave of players that spans generations

Once associated with gambling, mahjong is becoming a popular pursuit for all ages, boosted by pro leagues, apps and "healthy mahjong" for cognitive and social benefits.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight