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The roll-out of accent translation is part of a bigger push by Teleperformance to invest up to €100 million ($104 million) in AI partnerships this year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 1, 2025

Teleperformance uses AI to ‘neutralize’ Indian accents among staff

The roll-out of accent translation is part of a bigger push by Teleperformance to invest up to €100 million ($104 million) in AI partnerships this year.
Shoppers walk through a shopping area in Shanghai. China's household spending is less than 40% of annual economic output, some 20 percentage points below the global average.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Mar 1, 2025

China urged to think big, go hard on reviving battered consumption

With China's consumer support focusing on subsidies rather than reforms, pressure is growing on Beijing for policies with a longer-term impact.
The government plans to make it easier for urban workers to get side jobs in regional areas.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 2, 2025

Government to help regional firms hire urban workers for side jobs

The subsidies are part of a program that matches corporate workers with struggling small and midsize companies in regional areas.
An image of the next-generation E10 bullet train that is expected to be put into commercial service between Tokyo and the Tohoku region in fiscal 2030
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2025

JR East to develop E10 series shinkansen train

JR East aims to put the next-generation shinkansen series into commercial service in fiscal 2030, with each E10 train having 10 cars.
The health ministry issued a business improvement order to a medical clinic in Fukuoka, saying a range of stem cell treatments it offers violate the law on the safety of regenerative medicine.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 5, 2025

Fukuoka clinic issued business improvement order over stem cell treatments

The clinic offers various stem cell treatments without the prior submission of its plans to the authorities, the health ministry said.
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2025

BOJ’s deputy chief hints at more rate hikes, without rushing

The remarks come as BOJ watchers look for hints that the next upward move could come earlier than the view that projects the move will come in the summer.
"It is an expanding field. We need more people,” said Kaoru Onishi, head of the global product division at Nissay Asset Management.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2025

Nissay Asset ramps up hiring as alternative investment booms

Japanese asset managers are trying to boost returns at a time when policymakers are encouraging households to shift their savings to investments.
U.S. President Donald Trump is exempting automakers from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month, the White House said Wednesday, as a temporary reprieve following pleas from industry leaders.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025

Trump’s tariff pause cheered globally and watched closely in Tokyo

The U.S. president is delaying 25% tariffs on cars from Mexico and Canada and might consider carve-outs for agricultural imports from those countries.
Rengo says its member unions have demanded an average wage increase of 6.09% this year, up from last year’s 5.85%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025

Japan’s biggest union group demands highest wage hike since 1993

Member unions of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation are seeking an average wage increase of 6.09% this year, up from last year’s 5.85%.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December 2019
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 7, 2025

'Psychodrama' tariff negotiations frustrate Mexico and Canada

The on-again, off-again tariffs and the high-level discussions surrounding them have exasperated negotiating teams, sources say.
Qianmen street, Beijing, in March 2023. Though the immediate shock has passed, COVID-19's legacy continues to reshape global economies and markets.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Five years on, the economic impact of COVID-19 lingers

Though the immediate shock has passed, COVID-19's legacy continues to reshape global economies and markets.
The British government and Fujitsu have agreed to begin talks on compensation for the Post Office scandal involving the Horizon accounting software developed by the Japanese company.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2025

Britain and Fujitsu to begin compensation talks over post office scandal

More than 700 people were indicted on embezzlement and other charges by 2015, but the issue was later found to stem from flaws in Fujitsu's software.
Japan's economy expanded in the October-December quarter at a slower pace than earlier reported as consumption came in weaker than expected.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 11, 2025

Japan’s economic growth revised lower ahead of BOJ meet

The revised figures highlight pockets of weakness in the Japanese economy even as it continues to moderately expand.
Trade minister Yoji Muto says his talks in Washington with U.S. officials didn’t result in any confirmation to exclude Tokyo from upcoming tariff measures.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 11, 2025

Japan's trade minister fails to win tariff exemption assurance from U.S.

New duties on car imports would deal a direct blow to the economy of Japan, which is already bracing for an indirect impact from tariffs the U.S. is imposing on other nations.
Students learn heavy machinery maintenance using virtual reality at a United Tractors vocational institution in Jakarta on March 6.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2025

Indonesia’s industrial growth goals at risk as education system falls short

Poor teaching and a dearth of basic equipment has led to a pressing shortage of qualified workers and high unemployment among young people.
A Toyota bZ4X battery electric vehicle on display at the company's showroom in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, in June 2024
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2025

Toyota sees potential risk to deal brokered with Tesla in Europe

Toyota and other carmakers that were planning to pool with Tesla for this year may need much less help than envisioned back in January.
A worker inspects a steel coil on the factory floor before Canada's Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney visits the ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel mill in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 13, 2025

Trump threatens further tariffs as EU and Canada retaliate against U.S. levies

The U.S. tariffs have rattled investor, consumer and business confidence and raised recession fears.
The Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The struggling tech giant announced Lip-Bu Tan as its new chief executive, boosting shares of the U.S. computer chipmaker.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 13, 2025

Struggling Intel names industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as CEO

Shares rose more than 10% in after-market trade after the announcement.
Alcohol is shaping up to be a key friction point in the brewing trade war.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 14, 2025

Trump threatens tariffs on European wine and spirits in escalating trade war

The threat came in response to a European Union plan to impose tariffs on American whiskey and other products next month.
A hamburger made with "okonomiyaki" savory pancakes
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2025

Osaka Expo to showcase Japan's food industry

Major conveyor-belt sushi chain Kura Sushi will open a store at the expo featuring it's longest circular conveyor belt ever.
Idled blast furnaces at U.S. Steel's Granite City Works in Granite City, Illinois, in July 2017
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2025

U.S. Steel activist investor boosts holding in turnaround push

The move comes as hope for the deal that drew massive attention during the 2024 American presidential election has shown little progress.
U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, holds an executive order about a tariffs increase in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Feb. 13.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 15, 2025

U.S. commerce chief rules out auto tariff exemption for Japan

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick linked the 25% tariffs on car imports, set to begin on April 2, to cutting the U.S. trade deficit with Japan.
According to the ministry, Japan has about 4,500 companies with annual sales of ¥10 billion or more. But many of them are concentrated in metropolitan areas.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2025

Japan to invite small businesses to declare ¥10 billion sales targets

The country has about 4,500 companies with annual sales of ¥10 billion or more, but many of them are concentrated in metropolitan areas.
The Lakhta Center business tower, which serves as the headquarters of Russia's largest gas producer Gazprom, in St. Petersburg on March 7
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 17, 2025

Gazprom's grandeur fades as Europe abandons Russian gas

Gazprom is arguably the Russian business hardest hit by the international sanctions imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
A conceptual image of a jacket that can automatically adjust the temperature inside it to a level that is the most comfortable for the wearer, to be showcased by Tohan Denshi Kiki and others at the Osaka Expo
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 17, 2025

Local manufacturers to show futuristic products at Osaka Expo

Products to be showcased at the Expo include a jacket that can automatically adjust the temperature inside it.
Google will acquire cloud security platform Wiz for $32 billion, citing the need for greater cybersecurity capacity as artificial intelligence embeds itself in technology infrastructure.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 19, 2025

Google to buy cybersecurity company Wiz for $32 billion

The transaction will test Donald Trump's openness to large takeovers after resistance to such deals by the administration of his predecessor.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Security Chris Tang
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2025

Hong Kong aims to safeguard key facilities with new cybersecurity law

The law, set to take effect in 2026, aims to safeguard the security of computer systems vital to the functioning of critical infrastructure.
A worker arranges cases of avocados at a packaging facility in Mexico on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will follow through next month on twice-delayed plans to impose 25% levies on goods from Mexico as well as Canada.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 21, 2025

Trump trade upheaval leaves foreign central banks guessing

The stagflationary direction noted of the U.S. outlook has central banks across the globe parsing what the fallout may mean for them.
Sukiya said a rodent made its way into miso soup while meals were being prepared at a branch in Tottori Prefecture on Jan. 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 24, 2025

Rodent found in miso soup prompts plunge in Sukiya owner’s stock

Sukiya said the animal made its way into the soup while meals were being prepared at a branch in Tottori Prefecture.
An employee works at a steel works in Mandi Gobindgarh, in the northern state of Punjab, India, on Oct. 19, 2024.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 24, 2025

India set to ditch $23 billion plan to rival China factories after it disappoints

Many participating firms failed to kick-start production, while others that met manufacturing targets found India slow to pay out subsidies.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person