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BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2021

As unpredictable Olympics loom, Japan's sponsors struggle to adapt

More than 60 Japanese companies together paid a record of more than $3 billion to sponsor the Tokyo Games, an event most Japanese now want canceled or delayed again.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2021

Will the productivity revolution be postponed?

Scientific advances — epitomized by the rapid development of RNA-based COVID-19 vaccines — are the most fundamental reasons for optimism.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 24, 2021

World’s semiconductor supply is in danger unless Taiwan gets vaccines

Taiwan's predicament illustrates its strategic yet vulnerable position at the confluence of U.S.-China tensions.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2021

The expected high-growth sectors in the post-recovery decade

Businesses that survived the pandemic closures (many with support from fiscal programs) will experience rapid expansion, powered by pent-up demand.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 14, 2021

Too cold to handle? Race is on to pioneer shipping of hydrogen.

Companies including Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries are beginning to develop a new generation of vessels that can deliver hydrogen to heavy industry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 12, 2021

After $260 billion slide, Alibaba aims to show the worst is over

Alibaba has agreed to a record $2.8 billion penalty from Beijing and vowed to change certain practices deemed anti-competitive.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2021

With 1.1% of people vaccinated, Japan lags behind the developed world

Within Asia, Japan trails China, India, Singapore and South Korea and is only slightly ahead of lower-income nations like the Philippines and Thailand.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 28, 2021

SoftBank nears end of ¥2.5 trillion buyback, imperiling bull run

In March, shares fell even as more money was spent on re-purchases, the overall markets advanced and SoftBank's profit for the March quarter was expected to hit a record.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 27, 2021

A look at the COVID age’s wannabe platinum cards (and apps)

It is the latest status symbol. Flash it at the people, and you can get access to concerts, sports arenas or long-forbidden restaurant tables. Some day, it may even help you cross a border without having to quarantine.
New Zealand report 2021
Apr 27, 2021

Nelson Pine Industries grows happiness from trees

Nelson Pine Industries Ltd. (NPIL) is an innovative leader in wood-processing solutions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2021

Clean crude? Oil firms use offsets to claim green barrels.

Oil-and-gas companies worldwide are increasingly trying to market their products as cleaner using a range of controversial methods, including buying credits.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Apr 19, 2021

With lower launch costs, Japan's next-gen H3 rocket aims for global success

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are hoping to attract a wide range of commercial demand, including satellite launches for organizations overseas.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 19, 2021

A tale of two makers: GM and Toyota take different electric roads in China

While General Motors has successfully tapped into the market for small, no-frills runarounds, Toyota is still in mid-size and SUV territory.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2021

Record fine for Alibaba, gem of China's tech sector, likely to chill growth

The discord began after Jack Ma infamously rebuked 'pawn shop” Chinese lenders, regulators who don't get the internet and the 'old men” of the global banking community.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 7, 2021

Auto industry rethinks cost-cutting playbook as COVID-19 and chip shortages disrupt supply chains

After a year of getting hammered by the pandemic, a semiconductor shortage and storms that snarled Dana Inc.'s global supply chain, the auto parts maker is considering a different strategy.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2021

Will data handling setback damage Line’s dominance in Japan?

A scandal over a Chinese firm's access to user data could derail Z Holdings' plan to facilitate the digital transformation of the public sector.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2021

Prince Harry fits right in as a Silicon Valley executive

Harry is far from the first royal to trade the palace for the boardroom.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2021

China’s regulatory war on Ant Group

Once the powerful central bank publicly turned against Ant, bureaucrats who had endorsed the group fell silent and other departments began to jump on the bandwagon.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 18, 2021

SoftBank loses global head of communications Gary Ginsberg

Masayoshi Son's conglomerate has lost a number of senior executives over the past several months.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2021

South Korean tech firms shake up Japan's storied manga industry

Backed by tech giants Kakao Corp. and Naver Corp., Piccoma and Line Manga have become Japan's highest-grossing mobile apps outside of games.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Feb 28, 2021

How idled car factories supercharged a push for U.S. chip subsidies

For years, chip industry executives and U.S. government officials have been concerned about the slow drift of costly chip factories to Taiwan and Korea.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Feb 27, 2021

Aichi Design Vision: Manufacturing collabs inspire creative homeware projects

As a way to promote manufacturing industries in Aichi Prefecture, Aichi Design Vision paired companies with up-and-coming designers to create brand new homeware products.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2021

Twitter’s moment in the sun won’t last

Does Twitter deserve the benefit of the doubt? They may see something to cheer but, at least for now, I don't.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2021

Alibaba and Pinduoduo join fight against looming China food crisis

The battle to supply 1.4 billion people with fresh fruit and vegetables is taking China's e-commerce companies into the country's hinterlands.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 20, 2021

Bitcoin hits $1 trillion market cap, surges to fresh all-time peak

Bitcoin hit a market capitalization of $1 trillion as it rose to yet another record high on Friday, countering analyst warnings that it is an "economic side show" and a poor hedge against a fall in stock prices.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 18, 2021

Automating boring tasks made these Japan startup founders rich

Their firms' shares have all more than doubled in the past year, leading to talk of a burgeoning tech scene that's very different from Silicon Valley.
Pedestrians commute through Shibuya Station in central Tokyo, an area that is almost never devoid of people.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Mar 3, 2025

As the rest of Japan shrinks, Tokyo grows

Women and young people are leading a migratory wave that the government is struggling to halt.

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