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Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino speaks at the organization's central committee meeting in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2024

Rengo to demand wage hike of 6% or more for smaller firms in 2025

Rengo set a higher goal for small and midsize businesses to rectify wage gaps with larger companies.
Toyota's global sales, including that of subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors, rose 0.4% in October compared with last year, the first uptick in three months.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024

Toyota’s sales and output plateau on downturn in Japan and China

The world’s biggest carmaker has seen sales and output fall throughout the year as Japanese carmakers struggle to compete in China.
SoftBank is unhappy that Moody's continues to issue ratings on the company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024

SoftBank blasts Moody’s for unsolicited ratings

It says it is considering legal action against the agency, which has continued to publish unsolicited ratings of the company over the past several years.
Hiroshi Kurosaki’s Netflix series “Beyond Goodbye” centers on a woman (Kasumi Arimura, left) who discovers her dead lover’s heart saved the life of a quiet pianist (Kentaro Sakaguchi).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Nov 29, 2024

Hiroshi Kurosaki looks beyond Japan for heart-wrenching drama

The director’s Netflix series relies on lush visuals and truths about love and loss to appeal to an overseas audience.
Customers enter Aeon's Shinagawa Seaside store in Tokyo for a Black Friday sale in 2022.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 29, 2024

Master this double negative to better express your Black Friday urges

What better time to learn how to say you can't resist a deal than on a weekend of discounted shopping.
Masato Kanda, then the foreign ministry's vice minister for international affairs, speaks during a news conference in Sao Paulo in February.
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2024

Former top Japanese currency diplomat Masato Kanda chosen as next ADB chief

Masato Kanda will be tasked to navigate the ADB through fresh challenges such as helping Asia reduce poverty and mitigate risks from climate change.
A business district in Tokyo in 2020
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2024

Share of female presidents at Japanese firms hits record 8.4%

The proportion of female presidents has been rising slowly but steadily since it stood at 4.5% in 1990, the oldest data available.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group took a 15% stake in WealthNavi earlier this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2024

MUFG considering bid for Japanese robo-adviser WealthNavi

MUFG took a 15% stake in WealthNavi earlier this year
The Moscow skyline. Heavy recruitment by the armed forces and defense industries has drawn workers away from civilian enterprises, as has emigration, pushing unemployment to a record low of 2.3%, data showed Wednesday.
WORLD / Society / ANALYSIS
Nov 29, 2024

Russia's labor shortage spreads as defense sector poaches staff

A growing labor shortage is affecting all areas of life since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Japanese food makers plan to raise prices for 109 items in December, a survey released by research company Teikoku Databank on Friday showed.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 29, 2024

Japanese food makers to raise prices for 109 items in December

The total number of food items subject to price increases throughout 2024 is expected to fall by about 60% from the previous year to 12,520.
Shiho Hanadate is part of a small yet growing number of young tappers pivotal in securing the future of domestic sap collection used in Japanese lacquerware.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024

The young sap collectors underpinning Japanese lacquerware

“You can’t cut into the core, so you have to judge the thickness of the bark,” says tapper Shiho Hanadate. “You have to develop a sense for it.”
Commercial buildings in the Shibuya area of Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 29, 2024

Consumer inflation speeds up amid BOJ rate hike speculation

Overall inflation sped up to 2.6%, as food prices also pushed up the gauge, also outpacing economist expectations.
The yen briefly breached the key ¥150 mark against the dollar on Friday, as traders' expectations for a rate hike by the Bank of Japan in December grow.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 29, 2024

Yen breaches key ¥150 level as Tokyo inflation fuels BOJ bets

The swaps market is now factoring in a 63% chance of a BOJ rate hike in December, twice the odds at the start of the month.
While the economic benefits of Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel are clear, concerns remain about sustaining U.S. domestic steel production, preserving national security interests and addressing union concerns.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2024

Nippon Steel endgame: Resistance or renaissance for the U.S. steel industry

The endgame for Nippon Steel’s bid for U.S. Steel appears near and the results could have a significant impact on U.S.-Japan relations, depending on the outcome.
Electric candles at a memorial service for those who died from AIDS on the sidelines of the Japanese Society for AIDS Research conference on Thursday
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 29, 2024

Ahead of World AIDS Day, advocates call for an end to HIV stigma in Japan

While cases are relatively low in Japan, experts and stakeholders say the stigma often attached to patients needs to be addressed.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives to deliver a policy address during a Lower House session in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 29, 2024

Japan earmarks extra ¥1.5 trillion for chips and AI this year

Japan is fighting to keep up in a global spending spree on cutting-edge tech led by China and the U.S.
The Bank of Japan's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 29, 2024

Stimulus staved off years of deflation, BOJ study says

The study found that monetary stimulus beginning in 2013 boosted the level of gross domestic product by as much as 1.8 percentage point on average through this year.
Wealthy people in Japan failed to declare a total of ¥65.5 billion in taxable income in the year through June, down 33.2% from the year before, a National Tax Agency report showed Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2024

Japan's wealthy fail to declare ¥65.5 billion in income

The tax agency attributed the rise partly to the full-fledged use of artificial intelligence to make investigations more efficient.
The largest corporate donors to the ruling LDP were Toyota Motor and Sumitomo Chemical, with ¥50 million each.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 30, 2024

LDP received ¥2.4 billion in corporate donations in 2023

The figure is down 1.9% from the previous year, the first decline in three years, according to political funds records released Friday.
Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, speaks to reporters at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington on Nov. 21.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2024

Pete Hegseth’s mother accused her son of mistreating women for years

She said on Friday that she regretted the 2018 email and had apologized to him.
Workers building a railway in front of Lusail Stadium in Doha in 2018
SOCCER
Nov 30, 2024

FIFA should pay workers injured building Qatar World Cup, internal report says

The report offered no specific dollar amount of compensation.
RB's Yuki Tsunoda drives during a practice session for the Qatar Grand Prix on Friday in Lusail.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Nov 30, 2024

Tsunoda ready for a bigger and faster team, says RB boss

Tsunoda has scored 30 of RB's 46 points this season, providing the backbone of the team.
The Nikkei stock average outside a brokerage in Tokyo in late October.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 30, 2024

Japan companies boosting benefits for long-term shareholders

Behind the move are growing calls for listed companies to reward shareholders more through measures including dividend hikes.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus during a game on Nov. 10. Eberflus was fired on Friday, a day after Chicago lost its sixth straight game.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Nov 30, 2024

Bears fire head coach Matt Eberflus

The news came less than 24 hours after Eberflus experienced a sixth straight defeat and third consecutive loss decided on the final play.
Sauber's Valtteri Bottas during a practice session for the Qatar Grand Prix. Audi will take over the Sauber team when it enters Formula One in 2026.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Nov 30, 2024

Audi's deal with Qatar deepens Formula One's Gulf ties

Four of the current 24 races are in the Middle East — more than the number held in the United States.
Ottawa's Zoe Boyd battles Boston's Loren Gabel during a Professional Women's Hockey League game in Ottawa in January.
MORE SPORTS / Ice Hockey
Nov 30, 2024

Fans flocking to PWHL as women's league returns for second season

Buzz is growing around the top-flight North American league as it enters its second season.
An outdated lineup, elevated spending on sales incentives and a lack of hybrids in North America has led Nissan to slash jobs and production.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 30, 2024

Nissan CFO set to step down as carmaker faces raft of challenges

The change follows an announcement last month that the company will eliminate 9,000 jobs and cut a fifth of its manufacturing capacity.
The 225-issue Nikkei stock average jumped on Nov. 6 after it appeared as though Donald Trump had won the U.S. presidential election.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 30, 2024

Rush to ‘value up’ may be Asia stocks best defense against Trump

Governments are rushing to implement their own versions of Japan’s structural reforms that helped drive its benchmark index to a record high this year.
Rachel Accurso, in character as the internet personality Ms. Rachel, in New York on Nov. 4.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024

Ms. Rachel’s improbable journey from toddler whisperer to holiday toy sensation

A series of toys depicting children’s YouTube sensation Ms. Rachel is quickly becoming one of the hottest holiday gifts.
Shanghai Pudong International Airport during the Lunar New Year travel rush in February 2024
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2024

China resumes short-term visa waiver for Japanese visitors

The maximum period of visa-free stays was also extended to 30 days from the previous 15 days.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami