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People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Dec 6, 2024

Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?

Japan’s suspect remedies make up 20% of the world’s market for hangover cures, but their success lies more in marketing than science.
Yoshihiko Noda, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 6, 2024

CDP leader calls for gradual BOJ rate hikes

Yoshihiko Noda urged the central bank to keep a close eye on economic and overseas developments when raising rates.
JR East Executive Vice President Chiharu Watari speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2024

JR East applies to raise fares by average of 7% in March 2026

The company plans to raise standard fares by 7.8%, commuter passes by 12% and student commuter passes by 4.9%.
A Ukrainian serviceman wipes a mirror at an outdoor washbasin near the Kharkiv region in November.
WORLD
Dec 7, 2024

In Ukraine, more and more exhausted soldiers abandon their posts

Since 2022, Ukraine opened nearly 96,000 criminal cases against servicemen who abandoned their positions since Russia’s invasion.
David Sacks during an event in San Francisco in 2016. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Sacks would take on the role of "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar."
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Dec 7, 2024

Trump's crypto team takes shape but questions remain over who will drive policy

Some analysts said the creation of a crypto czar, a new role, sowed ambiguity over who would drive policy and flagged the potential for clashes.
A residential area of Tokyo. Rising prices has made it difficult for the child-rearing generation to secure large houses in the capital.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 7, 2024

Tokyo government considering fund for housing support

The planned fund will provide necessary financial aid for private businesses to develop affordable housing.
Employees at large Tokyo companies who travel to the office daily to work fell to 47.4% in 2024 from 53.1% in the previous year, a survey shows.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 8, 2024

Hybrid work on the rise for Tokyo’s office employees: NRI Survey

For the July 2024 Nomura Research Institute survey, the firm polled 3,091 people from ages 20-69 who work for large companies in Tokyo.
The United Nations once projected the world’s population would peak at 10.3 billion in the 2080s, but now expects 700 million fewer inhabitants by 2100.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2024

Why falling fertility is not a crisis

The current population decline mirrors past transitions like the industrial revolution, where smaller families fueled economic growth and innovation.
A woman waves a Syrian opposition flag as she celebrates at Umayyad Square in Damascus on Sunday as celebrations erupted around Syria after Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus and declared President Bashar Assad had fled the country.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 9, 2024

Assad’s fall in Syria puts world on watch for more Middle East chaos

Multiple Arab and U.S. officials said that a power vacuum could now be dangerous, with memories of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya and Saddam Hussein in Iraq still fresh.
Japan's economy expanded in the July-September period at a faster pace than initially estimated, with consumer spending relatively solid for a second straight quarter, in a sign that underlying strength may be returning to the economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 9, 2024

Japan’s economy shows more resilience as BOJ considers hike timing

GDP grew at an annualized pace of 1.2% in the three months through September from the previous quarter.
A Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle (EV) at a dealership in Colma, California, on Jan. 26
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 9, 2024

Trump's EV skepticism threatens $54 billion in Korean investments

Some Korean companies have slowed or hit the pause button on any ongoing construction of some plants in the U.S. because they’re concerned about reduced demand for EVs.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at the White House in Washington on Nov. 2, 2017.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 9, 2024

Trump says he has no plan to remove Powell as Fed chair

Powell, whose term expires in May 2026, told reporters last month that he wouldn’t step aside early if Trump asked for his resignation.
The Tokyo-based company Kioxia Holdings’ IPO price was ¥1,455, right at the middle of its range. That valued the firm at ¥784 billion ($5.2 billion).
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 9, 2024

Bain-backed Kioxia sets IPO price, valuing memory maker at $5.2 billion

The Tokyo-based company’s IPO price was ¥1,455, right at the middle of its range.
Factory workers make jeans in Dhaka in March 2023.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2024

Extreme heat puts garment factory workers at risk, study shows

New European Union regulations make retailers selling in the bloc legally liable for conditions at their suppliers.
The number of bankruptcies in Japan is likely to exceed 10,000 for the first time since 2013.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 9, 2024

Japan's bankruptcies set to hit 11-year high in 2024, data shows

841 Japanese companies went bankrupt in November, bringing the January-November tally to 9,164, already exceeding last year's total.
Japan's current account surplus declined 13% in October from a year earlier to ¥2.46 trillion.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 9, 2024

Japan's current account surplus declined 13% in October

The country's trade deficit decreased to ¥155.7 billion from the year-before level of ¥487.4 billion.
The Liberal Democratic Party proposed abolishing the system of political activities funds — criticized as a hotbed for slush funds — and obligating party members to submit balance reports to a publicly accessible online database.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 9, 2024

LDP submits bill banning most political funding but leaves 'loophole'

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hopes to pass the bill this year, but that may not be possible with opposition parties holding out for a further ban on corporate donations.
A defaced mural of Sheikh Hasina, the ousted prime minister of Bangladesh, in Dhaka on Nov. 5. The new governor of Bangladesh’s central bank, Ahsan Mansur, calculates that about $17 billion was siphoned from the country’s financial system in the 15 years before Hasina's government collapsed in August.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 9, 2024

How the Bangladesh economy was siphoned dry

Some economists guess that the true value looted during Sheikh Hasina’s rule before she fled the country could exceed $30 billion, but no one can say for sure.
Yurie Collins is a bilingual comedian based in Tokyo. In addition to being a prize-winning roast comic, her dating-themed "Tokyo Hoe Tales" shows have proven to be a hit with women of all nationalities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 10, 2024

Yurie Collins: ‘Everyone seems sedated, fed-up … that’s why they turn to comedy’

Yurie Collins is a bicultural stand-up comedian who has opened for comedian Atsuko Okatsuka and the upcoming Iliza Shlesinger show in Tokyo.
Japanese investors sold overseas stocks in November as they sought to capitalize on robust gains in global equities, particularly as U.S. stocks reached record highs.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 9, 2024

Japanese investors sell overseas equities for second straight month

Investors' net sales of overseas stocks totaled ¥1.22 trillion last month, following about ¥2.37 trillion worth of net withdrawals in the prior month.
X owner Elon Musk and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attend a viewing of the launch of a SpaceX test flight on Nov. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 10, 2024

Trump is on collision course with EU over big tech crackdown

In the coming months, several U.S. tech companies could face billions in fines or even mandatory divestment orders from EU investigations.
Optiver starts providing liquidity on options of 12 Japanese companies and exchange-traded funds in September.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 10, 2024

Options giant Optiver bets Japan’s market is about to boom

The firm is betting that a push by the Tokyo bourse for better corporate governance will lead to more stocks trading and increased usage of derivatives.
Kosuzu Harada has spent over a decade sharing the harrowing atomic bomb experiences of her late grandfather, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a double hibakusha.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2024

Descendant of double A-bomb survivor hopes for nuclear-free future

Kosuzu Harada's late grandfather, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, is one of the few individuals officially recognized as having survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
Sharp revealed in June that it had started talks on building an artificial intelligence data center with KDDI and system integrator Datasection. On Monday, Sharp said the project will proceed without Datasection.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 10, 2024

KDDI to build AI data center on Sharp's LCD plant site

Construction of the data center in the city of Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, will commence by March, with KDDI aiming to begin operations in fiscal 2025.
While there’s no evidence of deliberate manipulation, increasing opacity and inconsistent data have led to doubts about the accuracy of India's official gross domestic product figures.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 10, 2024

India’s statistical challenges mirror China’s past issues

India's once-strong institutional credibility in terms of economic data is weakening, much like China's, though perhaps for different reasons.
A sign warns of a nearby bear sighting in Takikawa, Hokkaido, on Oct. 17.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Dec 30, 2024

Hokkaido 2024: Looking back on Rapidus, bears and shinkansen

The key topics are expected to continue making headlines in 2025.
Kioxia priced its stock at ¥1,455 ($9.6), at the middle of the price range it proposed before the IPO.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 10, 2024

Kioxia’s jumbo IPO shows weak sign contrary to booming market

The Bain Capital-backed memory-chip manufacturer priced its stock at ¥1,455 ($9.6), at the middle of the price range it proposed before the IPO.
U.S. President Joe Biden — born in U.S. Steel’s home state of Pennsylvania — has long signaled opposition to the company's sale to Nippon Steel.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2024

U.S. says review of Nippon Steel bid ongoing as U.S. Steel shares tumble

The companies are poised to pursue litigation over the process if U.S. President Joe Biden decides to block the merger, sources added.
A firefighter sprays water as the Franklin Fire burns in Malibu, California, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Dec 11, 2024

Malibu fire explodes in size and forces thousands to evacuate

The Franklin fire has swelled to more than 2,700 acres and remained completely out of control as of Tuesday afternoon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a hearing in his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 11, 2024

Israel's Netanyahu dismisses allegations in corruption trial

Benjamin Netanyahu is the first sitting prime minister of Israel to face a criminal trial.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.