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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit seeking to break up the social networking giant Meta.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024

Meta withheld information on Instagram and WhatsApp deals, FTC says

The company formerly known as Facebook bought photo-sharing app Instagram in 2012 and the messaging app WhatsApp in 2014.
Officials from the transport ministry arrive for an inspection at Toyota headquarters in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024

Toyota car certification probe prompts calls for rules review

Despite revisions since the standards were enacted in 1951, regulations haven’t kept up with the times, an analyst wrote in a report.
The Bank of Japan's headquarters in Tokyo. Some investors are expecting the central bank to cut bond purchases this month and then raise rates in July.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2024

BOJ weighs reducing bond buys as early as June meeting

The bank will conclude its two-day policy meeting on June 14.
An individual said to be a key member of a group involved in the laundering of proceeds derived from criminal activities — 41-year-old Ryohei Fujii — has been arrested by the Osaka Prefectural Police in connection with the scheme.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 5, 2024

Osaka police looks to freeze 1,300 accounts in money laundering bust

Typically, such police requests are made on an individual basis, but in this case the police have taken the unusual step of requesting a blanket freeze.
Osaka's Umeda district. The city of Osaka and Osaka Prefecture together are among four newly designated special zones for asset management businesses where companies can complete administrative procedures solely in English.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2024

Japan designates four areas as asset management special zones

The four areas are Hokkaido and Sapporo, Tokyo, the prefecture and city of Osaka, and the prefecture and city of Fukuoka.
The children of some of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies are also listed as participants at the four-day St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), including Roman Rotenberg, whose father was among the Russian president’s childhood judo partners.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2024

Children of Russia's elite take center stage at Putin’s flagship forum

Once touted as a "window” into Russia, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is increasingly becoming a generational showcase.
People wear Dragon Ball Z costumes, as they attend Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, in July 2023.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2024

Japan aims to quadruple overseas market for anime, games

Combining anime and game sectors with related industries such as fashion, cosmetics and inbound tourism, Japan is targeting an economic benefit of ¥50 trillion by 2033.
A market in Asuncion, Paraguay. Two elderly Japanese men have been found dead in their house in Pirapo, southern Paraguay, according to the country's law enforcement authorities.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 5, 2024

2 elderly Japanese found dead in southern Paraguay house

Authorities suspect that someone broke into the house for robbery and killed them by beating with a blunt object.
Suntory Holdings, seeking to expand abroad, is tapping the dollar debt market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024

Whiskey maker Suntory sells $500 million bond in rare deal

Proceeds from the Jim Beam owner’s five-year note will be used for general corporate purposes.
Ilya Sutskever, then-chief scientist at OpenAI, at the company’s offices in San Francisco in March 2023. Sutskever recently left the firm. He had been on the company’s board and had voted to oust Sam Altman, the chief executive, last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024

OpenAI insiders warn of a ‘reckless’ race for dominance

Sources claim the firm has used hardball tactics to prevent workers from voicing their concerns about certain AI technology.
Line, which has evolved into an all-encompassing app used for messaging, payments, job searches and more, is now at the center of a dispute over its ownership.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2024

Why Line, a superapp, sparked a diplomatic dispute

Line, which has evolved into an all-encompassing app used for messaging, payments, job searches and more, is now at the center of a dispute over its ownership.
A government estimate has shown that lifetime disposable income for households with wives who continue working post-childbirth is ¥167 million higher than that for those who quit their jobs and remain unemployed.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2024

¥170 million income gap estimated with women's continued employment

The government will promote reform in the workplace environment to achieve structural wage increases, said the prime minister.
An Nvidia AI supercomputing graphics processing unit. CEO Jensen Huang said the company plans to upgrade its so-called AI accelerators every year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2024

Nvidia tops $3 trillion in value, leapfrogging past Apple

The last time Nvidia was worth more than Apple was in 2002, five years before the first iPhone was released.
London's financial district in 2022. The U.K. was expected to lose a net 3,200 high-net-worth individuals last year, the most in Europe and double 2022’s level, citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners estimated.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2024

Britain’s rich race to protect their wealth from election hit

Britain’s legal and political stability has been shaken by Brexit and the chop and change of five different Conservative prime ministers since 2016.
The NewsBreak company logo adorns a sign at a corporate office building in Mountain View, California, on April 26
WORLD
Jun 6, 2024

Top news app in U.S. has Chinese origins and ‘writes fiction’ with AI

NewsBreak launched in the U.S. in 2015 as a subsidiary of Yidian, a Chinese news aggregation app.
People enter the Fantasy Springs area that opened Thursday at Tokyo DisneySea in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2024

Tokyo DisneySea's 'Fantasy Springs' area opens

Visitors require a free Standby Pass or paid Disney Premier Access, along with a DisneySea ticket, to access the new area.
Toyota has temporarily stopped manufacturing its Corolla Fielder and Corolla Axio models following the data falsification scandal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2024

Japan looks to minimize economic fallout of auto-test falsifications

The top government spokesman has described fraudulent activity uncovered this time as "minimal" compared to that of Daihatsu, which spanned decades.
Claudia Sheinbaum, former mayor of Mexico City and Mexico's president-elect, during the closing campaign rally at Zocalo Plaza in Mexico City on May 29, 2024.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 7, 2024

Traders stunned by election surprises from Mexico to India

Voters in countries representing roughly 40% of the world’s population and its gross domestic product will have elected new leaders before the year is out.
Japanese household spending in April showed the first year-on-year increase since February last year, marking rises in such categories as education, rent and clothing.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 7, 2024

Japan’s households boost outlays for first time in 14 months

Real outlays rose 0.5% in April from a year ago, marking the first increase since February last year.
Kenji Iikura (right), head chef at Akasaka Tantei, and manager Hibiki Kitazawa pose with Okinawan cuisine served at the restaurant in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jun 17, 2024

How a Michelin-star Okinawan restaurant made a V-shaped recovery

A return to its roots — and Okinawan flavors — struck a chord with new and returning customers.
Korean skincare routines tend to be more complex than Japan’s counterpart beauty industry of “less is more,” making K-beauty something of a sweet spot between Japan and the West.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 9, 2024

K-beauty or J-beauty? The two 'are not so different these days.'

In early 2024, imports of Korean beauty products to Japan topped French cosmetics for the first time.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. More than half of the 50 economists surveyed predict the central bank will decide next week to slow the pace of bond buying.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 7, 2024

Majority of BOJ watchers expect cut in bond buying next week

Some 54% of 50 economists said the bank will slow the pace of bond buying from around ¥6 trillion per month at the policy board gathering.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a panel discussing active cyberdefense at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2024

Kishida wants active cyberdefense bill to be drawn up swiftly

The government hopes to submit the envisaged legislation as soon as the next parliamentary session.
Bharatiya Janata Party supporters celebrate after India's general election results in New Delhi on Tuesday. The BJP emerged with 240 seats, making it the single largest party in the assembly, but well short of the 272 seats it needs for a majority.
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2024

India’s election humbles Modi and his party

Even as Prime Minister Modi and the BJP claimed a historic third term, voters recognized the need for moderation in some of its policies.
China isn’t worried that Hyundai and other South Korean firms will outcompete locals. However, their presence ensures a continued supply of production factors: equipment, chemicals and labor.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2024

Why China wants South Korea to stay open

Countries push for free trade when they have an edge. Beijing knows it.
The head of the Bank of Japan has ruled out using monetary policy to directly influence exchange-rate moves, but signaled the chance of raising rates if the weak yen pushes up inflation more than expected.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 7, 2024

Japan growth strategy panel calls for vigilance to weak yen impact

The call reflects the government's growing concerns about a weak yen.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida answers questions during a Lower House committee session on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 7, 2024

Japan maintains goal of primary budget surplus from 2025 to 2030

The plan will be reflected in the annual economic and fiscal policy guidelines that the central government aims to adopt at a Cabinet meeting by the end of this month.
Suzuki's eVX electric vehicle at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo last October
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 7, 2024

Suzuki to stop making cars in Thailand to focus on EV shift

The 12-year-old plant in Thailand’s Rayong province, southeast of Bangkok, has an annual production capacity of 60,000 units.
Takahiro Mori, the key negotiator for the U.S. Steel deal, is attempting to close the deal amid growing regulatory scrutiny and political opposition.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2024

Nippon Steel executive sees positive reaction from U.S. Steel workers

Takahiro Mori, the key negotiator for the U.S. Steel deal, is attempting to close the deal amid growing regulatory scrutiny and political opposition.
The government is set to start discussing the idea of extending public health insurance coverage to include childbirth from fiscal 2026.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2024

Japan to discuss public insurance coverage of childbirth

The average of childbirth costs across Japan stood at some ¥482,000 in fiscal 2022.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’