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China Coast Guard personnel aboard rigid hull inflatable boats (in black) during a confrontation with Philippine Navy personnel near the Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea on June 17
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Jun 26, 2024

China’s ax-wielding coast guard tests limits in South China Sea

The Philippines Armed Forces called the June 17 moves by China a "brutal assault" and said the Chinese sailors acted like pirates.
An Aeon store in Yokohama in 2022. Aeon currently employs about 1,500 specified skilled workers group-wide.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2024

Aeon to ramp up hiring of foreign workers under specified skills visa framework

The retail giant is planning to employ 4,000 foreign workers with specified skilled worker visas by 2030 amid a labor shortage.
The yen fell as much as 0.4% to ¥160.39 per dollar on Wednesday, extending losses this year to around 12%.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2024

Yen’s tumble to weakest since 1986 boosts risk of intervention

The Japanese currency fell as much as 0.4% to ¥160.39 per dollar on Wednesday, extending losses this year to around 12%.
The No. 4 and No. 5 units of Jera's Hekinan thermal power station in Aichi Prefecture on March 13
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2024

Jera ends ammonia co-firing trial with positive results

The firm said that nitrogen oxides levels were no higher than when firing coal alone.
Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ken Saito (left), U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo (center) and South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun in Washington on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 27, 2024

U.S., Japan and South Korea vow strategic cooperation

"We're doubling down our efforts to work together," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.
Akimasa Nihongi, who spoke about his experience as a victim of sexual assault by Johnny Kitagawa, the late founder of the eponymous talent agency, said in a video message that victims who report their abuses are often subject to slander and harassment.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 27, 2024

Ex-member of Johnny's calls for victim protection at U.N. panel

Akimasa Nihongi said measures ought to be put in place to protect victims from slander and harassment after they go public with abuses.
The share of stocks and investment trusts in Japanese household assets rose to a record high of 19.7% at the end of March.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 27, 2024

Japan inflation spurs record shift to household assets in stocks

Households have been coping with a surge in inflation over the past two years.
The rate of the yen against the dollar displayed in the trading room at foreign exchange brokerage Gaitame.com in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 27, 2024

Yen taken back to the '80s by messaging missteps and loss of confidence

Some analysts see the speculative fever as unsustainable, and that any signs of U.S. inflation falling faster than expected could allow a dramatic comeback.
Sharp holds an annual general shareholders meeting at its headquarters in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2024

Sharp vows to achieve profitability at annual meeting

Sharp will "engage in selection and concentration, and invest in unique products," the executive vice president said at a shareholder meeting in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.
The rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar is displayed in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2024

Foreign funds sell Japan’s stocks, longest run in 15 months

Foreign investors sold net ¥21.4 billion ($133 million) of cash equities in the week that ended June 21.
A rare earths plant owned by Neo Performance Materials in Sillamae, Estonia
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 27, 2024

In race to regain rare earth glory, Europe falls short on mineral goals

EU demand for rare earths is forecast to soar sixfold in the decade to 2030 and sevenfold by 2050.
Core inflation in Tokyo accelerated in June on rising fuel bills and the boost to import costs from a weak yen, keeping alive expectations for a near-term interest rate hike by the central bank.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 28, 2024

Tokyo inflation quickens, keeping BOJ on track for rate hike

Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.1% in the capital, accelerating from 1.9% in May.
A monitor at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo shows the yen falling below ¥161 against the dollar on Friday morning.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 28, 2024

Japan names new forex diplomat as yen hits 38-year low

Atsushi Mimura, a financial regulation veteran, replaces Masato Kanda, who launched the biggest yen-buying intervention on record this year.
Narita Airport is facing a jet fuel shortage and has requested that domestic distributors ensure a stable supply.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2024

Japan’s jet fuel crunch hits Narita

Narita Airport said the fuel crunch was affecting operations of six Asian carriers and the plans of some 57 flights a week currently.
To be the best of the best, according to the exclusive Relais & Chateaux group, Japan's 'ryokan' inns need to leave guests with "a transcendental feeling."
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2024

To Relais & Chateaux, not all ‘ryokan’ inns are created equal

In Japan, this exclusive association has partnered with just 13 hotels and traditional 'ryokan' inns and seven stand-alone restaurants spread across the country.
In the future, more tour operators and sites of interest may start marketing themselves based on travelers' preferences to set their own schedules.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2024

When Japan travels, it doesn’t mind going it alone

Regardless of the destination, more tour operators and regions are leaning on “travel as a form of self-care.”
Kamekichi Fujiwara has been making 'New York-style' pizza in Tokyo's Kichijoji neighborhood since 1967.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 30, 2024

At Tony’s Pizza, ‘New York style’ is a state of mind

In 1967, Kamekichi Fujiwara made his first pizza layered with Dutch edam, mozzarella from Germany and Danish Maribo — and it’s what Tony’s Pizza still serves today.
While Japan may not have a large market for English-language publications, there's still hope to grow your career overseas while living here.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Jul 1, 2024

How to make it as an English-language author in Japan

Some writers find career stability in teaching, while others find that the culture and vibrance of this country inspires their imaginations.
A group of 14 investors filed a lawsuit Friday against Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, seeking to recover losses after Credit Suisse’s riskiest bonds sold to them turned worthless.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 28, 2024

MUFG unit sued again in Japan over Credit Suisse AT1 losses

The 14 plaintiffs are demanding a combined ¥1.37 billion ($8.5 million) in compensation.
Green tea has the largest share of Japan's soft drink market.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 7, 2024

Major Japanese beverage-makers renewing green tea products

Green tea has the largest share of Japan's soft drink market.
Fawn Weaver's book “Love and Whiskey,” out this month, is an engrossing narrative tracking the author's discovery of the truth behind one of the most popular whiskey brands in the world.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 30, 2024

‘Love and Whiskey’: A tale of how an obsession delivered a woman from grief

Through Fawn Weaver’s efforts, bracketed within a personal tragedy, the true story of how Jack Daniel learned how to make whiskey from a Black slave comes to life.
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2024 Liveability Index gave Tokyo perfect scores for stability and health care.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 28, 2024

Osaka and Tokyo ranked as world’s ninth and 14th most livable cities

The Economist Intelligence Unit scores cities on the basis of education, stability, health care, culture, and the environment and infrastructure.
Japan’s Coco Yoshizawa participates in a Paris 2024 Olympic qualifier. This summer’s Olympics will be the first in which half of athletes are female.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2024

Paris Olympics’ gender equality boast has an asterisk

Paris 2024 will be the first Olympics where half of all athletes are female. But the gender gap remains wide among the ranks of coaches and needs to be tackled.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks during an interview at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Tokyo on June 3.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 28, 2024

Koike’s governorship shaped by slogans and questions over follow-through

The Tokyo gubernatorial election is seen as hers to lose, but how did she become Japan's most famous female politician and what has she actually achieved?
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with steelworkers at United Steel Workers headquarters in Pittsburgh in April.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2024

Biden and Trump battle for blue-collar voters as steel merger looms over vote

Just how many rank-and-file workers ignore union chiefs and vote for Donald Trump could have a decisive impact in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
An employee works on a laptop next to a drone at SD Guthrie's Sungai Linau estate in Selangor, Malaysia, on June 6.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 29, 2024

Robots are stepping into one of Asia’s dirtiest farm jobs

With global stockpiles of palm oil set for the first back-to-back decline in more than 40 years, Malaysia is pushing for automation to boost production.
Estonian Prime Minister and newly nomiated EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas addresses a news conference at the end of the European Council summit at EU headquarters in Brussels on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2024

A lifetime fighting Putin’s aggression drives EU’s next diplomatic chief

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, the bloc's next foreign policy chief, will be charged with shaping its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visit Merton College at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, on Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2024

Imperial couple wrap up visit to U.K. after trip down memory lane

Their formal state visit concluded Thursday with a goodbye from King Charles and Queen Camilla, but they squeezed in a trip to Oxford before flying home.
Workers transport soil containing rare-earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, China, in October 2010.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2024

China issues rare-earth regulations to further protect domestic supply

The rules focus on the mining, smelting and trade in the critical materials used to make products from magnets in electric vehicles to consumer electronics.
U.S. President Joe Biden looks back before boarding Air Force One at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2024

Biden asks donors to stick with him after disastrous debate

The U.S. president repeated that he wouldn’t be running "if I didn’t believe I could win” as he seeks to rebuild momentum in his campaign against Donald Trump.

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’