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MS&AD forecasts that net profit for its North American operations will reach ¥166 billion in the fiscal year ended in March, a 3.5fold increase from the previous fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2025

Insurer MS&AD plans to invest $5 billion to double U.S. profits

The Tokyo-based casualty insurer has the highest market share in Asia among global firms, but it’s No. 3 among Japanese peers in North America.
Nomura has been expanding in asset management in a bid to generate more stable income and reduce its reliance on volatile trading and investment banking.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2025

Nomura’s biggest deal since Lehman forms $770 billion fund giant

Tokyo-based Nomura has been expanding in asset management in a bid to generate more stable income and reduce its reliance on volatile trading and investment banking.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) and his Dutch counterpart, Dick Schoof, shake hands after a joint news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 22, 2025

Japanese and Dutch leaders agree to strengthen cooperation

The two leaders announced an action plan calling for cooperation in a wide range of fields, including diplomacy, security, economy and culture.
Tiangong Ultra, a humanoid robot, crosses the finish line after securing the first position during the E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2025

All hail the rise of the humanoid robots

Robotics is another of the critical emerging technologies, mastery of which will be central to 21st-century economic leadership.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives a gift from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the start of their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2025

Nvidia CEO urges LDP to build up Japan’s AI infrastructure

Japan has pledged to increase government and corporate funding in AI to over ¥50 trillion ($350 billion) in the next 10 years.
Keen to end its reliance on rice imports, Indonesia wants to plant vast tracts of the crop, along with sugar cane for biofuel, in the restive eastern region of Papua. But environmentalists warn it could become the world's largest deforestation project, threatening endangered species and Jakarta's climate commitments.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 22, 2025

Indonesia food plan risks 'world's largest' deforestation

Deforestation linked to the plan is already underway.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in parliament on Monday
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2025

Ishiba to launch program to cut gasoline prices by ¥10 a liter

The move comes in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff measures and the rising cost of living.
U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell holds a news conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington last September.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 23, 2025

Trump says he has no intention of firing Fed chief Jerome Powell

Trump’s National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Friday said the president was studying the question of whether he’s able to sack Powell.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a campaign rally in Laval, Quebec, Canada, on Tuesday. Carney was the subject of at least 16 books published in March and listed on Amazon, according to a review of the site on April 16.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025

AI floods Amazon with strange political books before Canadian election

The development adds to concerns about how new technologies are affecting the information voters receive during the election campaign.
The U.S., U.K. and Europe are aligning with China and Russia in their efforts to undermine the encryption tools that millions of internet users depend on.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2025

Don't let governments break encryption

To convince the public that breaking encryption is necessary, governments often rely on technical jargon and emotionally charged anecdotes.
"The main message we have on monetary policy is that in times of heightened uncertainty, flexibility and data dependence become paramount,” said Nada Choueiri, the International Monetary Fund’s Japan mission chief, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025

IMF urges BOJ flexibility on rates as tariffs dent outlook

Along with downgraded global growth projections, the IMF's forecast for Japan’s expansion in 2025 was trimmed by 0.5 percentage points to 0.6%.
Henriette Jaeger crosses the finish line win a women's 400-meter heat at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, on March 7.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Apr 24, 2025

Norwegian athletes advised to avoid meat in China over doping fears

The 2025 World Athletics Relays will take place in early May at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou, while the Diamond League event in Shanghai is scheduled for May 3.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato is is expected to meet with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025

U.S. indicates no hard target for yen ahead of key trade talks

The United States has argued that the yen is too weak, making its value against the dollar a top agenda item in trade discussions.
While Nissan slightly raised its sales forecast late Thursday, its statement warned that its net loss could be ¥700 billion to ¥750 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025

Nissan sees $5.3 billion red hole as restructuring losses mount

While Nissan slightly raised its sales forecast late Thursday, its statement warned that its net loss could be ¥700 billion to ¥750 billion.
Travis Hunter smiles on stage after being selected as the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft by the Jaguars in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 25, 2025

Two-way star Travis Hunter heads to Jaguars as No. 2 pick in NFL draft

The Jaguars traded up to get the No. 2 pick from the Browns.
Amid U.S.-China trade tensions, the U.S. may be looking at Japan as a potential country to make up for a drop in corn exports to China.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025

Japan looks to increase U.S. corn imports ahead of more tariff talks

The idea appears to be aimed at appeasing U.S. President Donald Trump's criticisms about Japan's tariffs and could be used as leverage in next week's bilateral negotiations.
Without a coordinated international response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, growing uncertainty could lead to a fragmented global economy marked by slower growth and chronic instability.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2025

Trump’s tariff chaos could reverse 80 years of economic progress

U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies are undermining the rules-based system established after World War II.
Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders prepares to throw during a game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Boulder, Colorado, last November.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Apr 26, 2025

Focus shifts to defense in NFL draft as Shedeur Sanders continues to wait

Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer and current Colorado coach Deion Sanders, passed for 14,347 yards with 134 touchdowns in his college career.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addresses the media in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 1.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 26, 2025

NFL may open 2026 season in Australia

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, speaking about the league's international strategy on Friday, revealed the league's plans for its first trip to Melbourne next year.
Vehicles travel along the 110 freeway in downtown Los Angeles. California's GDP has overtaken Japan's to become the world's fourth largest economy, according to the U.S. state.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 27, 2025

California says it overtakes Japan to become world’s No. 4 economy

Japan's annual GDP was surpassed by China in 2010 and Germany in 2023, positioning the country in fourth place.
Trumpism is attacking America's core institutions to gain unchecked power, and only a united civic uprising that defends and reforms these institutions can stop it and build a better future.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2025

Time for a civic uprising

What’s happening is not normal. America needs an uprising that is not normal.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda. The BOJ is getting into a tough spot between high inflation and a likely economic slowdown.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 28, 2025

BOJ to hit pause on rate-hike path as economic risks mount

Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s board is poised to keep the benchmark rate at 0.5% at the conclusion of the two-day gathering on Thursday, according to all 54 economists surveyed.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda proposed a buyout of Toyota Industries, seeking to consolidate his grip on Japan’s biggest business empire.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 28, 2025

Akio Toyoda's $42 billion buyout plan raises governance question

Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda’s bid to buy out Toyota Industries could pit him against Japan’s efforts to reform its corporate landscape.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures in the Rose Garden of the White House, in Washington, in April.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

Trump’s polls decline near 100-day mark, raising tax-plan stakes

Polls show that voters perceive Trump to be falling short on his core campaign promise to strengthen the economy.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan head Yoshihiko Noda speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

CDP's about-face piles pressure on LDP to cut consumption tax on food

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan chief Yoshihiko Noda pledged that the party will abolish the consumption tax on food products for a year.
Natsuki Sugimoto performs at the Youth America Grand Prix international youth ballet competition in Tampa, Florida, on Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2025

Two Japanese place first in international youth ballet competition

"I want to become a dancer who stands in the center of the stage and makes the whole audience smile," said Natsuki Sugimoto, of Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture.
Despite China’s 30-year propaganda campaign that peace would be ensured if cross-strait disputes were settled internally, Beijing’s actual behaviors suggest otherwise.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2025

Placating China won't prevent it from invading Taiwan

Many Taiwanese misperceive China’s rational logic behind potential invasion risks, influenced by Beijing’s propaganda and exacerbated by Taiwan's current political landscape.
U.S. President Donald Trump faces the enormous challenge of implementing the cavalcade of executive orders he has enacted.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2025

‘Welcome to the Thunderdome’: Inside the dizzying start of Trump 2.0

The administration's breakneck speed is both one of the administration’s most effective tools and most glaring vulnerabilities.
Sunset at Dudley Page Reserve, in Dover Heights, Sydney, on April 21
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 29, 2025

Australia’s economic ‘miracle’ is ending no matter who wins vote

Polls suggest the May 3 election will be tight, with many pundits predicting the winner will lead a minority government.
Germany's Alexander Zverev hits a return to Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo during their fourth round match at the Madrid Open on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Apr 30, 2025

Zverev crashes as Swiatek scrapes into Madrid Open quarterfinals

Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo, ranked 21st, beat the German — a two-time former winner in Madrid — to repeat his feat from last year.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji