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The yen carry trade is expected to ramp up next year, driven by wide gaps in interest rates, higher government borrowing in the U.S. and low volatility in currency markets, analysts say.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 3, 2024

Yen carry trade that rattled markets shows signs of a comeback

Japanese retail investors as well as leveraged funds and asset managers outside the country are estimated to have boosted bearish wagers on the yen in November.
An image of active and defunct satellites in low Earth Orbit is seen on a Digantara terminal in Bengaluru, India, on Nov. 22.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2024

Global push for cooperation as space traffic crowds Earth's orbit

A United Nations panel on space traffic coordination called for a shared database of orbital objects as well as an international framework to track and manage them.
"No matter who takes the helm, Japan’s fiscal discipline will worsen in a situation like this," said Mana Nakazora, a credit analyst on an economic panel advising Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 3, 2024

Japan needs a wake-up call on debt, government advisor warns

The advisor criticized the government’s decision to resume subsidies for utilities as part of the stimulus package.
War Tours co-founder Dmytro Nykyforov stands next to a destroyed Russian tank at a tank graveyard during a tour near Dmytrivka village, outside Kyiv, on Nov. 7.
WORLD
Dec 3, 2024

Ukraine sees influx of Western war tourists

Ukraine's destroyed Irpin brige, blown up to stop Russian troops in 2022, is now one of many hotspots for thrill-seeking tourists visiting the country.
An official from the Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions writes on a board the results of this year's shuntō annual spring labor negotiations in March in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 3, 2024

JCM to demand pay-scale hike of ¥12,000 or more in 2025

The organization is aiming to ensure wage increases exceed the rate of inflation.
The primary motivation for potentially adding Japan to the Five Eyes alliance is the considerable intelligence contributions the country could make concerning China, North Korea, Eastern Russia and East and Southeast Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 30, 2024

If ever invited, should Japan make it 'Six Eyes'?

The primary motivation for potentially adding Japan to the alliance is the considerable intelligence contributions the country could make.
Kentaro Okuda, CEO of Nomura Holdings, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 3, 2024

Nomura CEO takes pay cut after former employee charged with attempted murder

The CEO and four other executives will take a 30% pay cut for three months, while five members of the board will take a 20% pay cut for the same period.
A demonstrator wearing a mask of President Yoon Suk Yeol dances near a line of police officers across the street from the main gate to the National Assembly building in Seoul on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2024

South Korea’s whirlwind stint in martial law jolts markets

The move sparked whiplash in the country’s foreign-traded assets and caught global markets off guard.
Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan (right) looks on at a court in Ho Chi Minh city on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 4, 2024

Vietnam tycoon loses death penalty appeal over fraud scandal

Under Vietnamese law, Truong My Lan can have her death sentence commuted to life in prison if she returns an estimated $11 billion.
Facebook parent company Meta is asking developers to submit proposals to deliver 1 to 4 gigawatts of nuclear energy, starting in the early 2030s.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 4, 2024

Meta seeks new nuclear reactors to run U.S. data centers

The Facebook parent is asking developers to submit proposals to deliver 1 to 4 gigawatts of reactor capacity, starting in the early 2030s.
Netflix's subscribers in Japan topped 10 million in the first half of this year, with Japanese content being its third-most-viewed non-English content, after those in Korean and Spanish.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2024

Netflix Japan subscribers top 10 million

The streaming firm's Japanese-language programming is grabbing attention in the growing market.
The Bank of Japan regularly sells government bonds with repurchase agreements to boost liquidity.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 4, 2024

BOJ sells 10-year cash bonds to ease shortage tied to futures

The BOJ owned ¥8.03 trillion of the bonds due in March 2032 as of Nov. 29, down from ¥8.23 trillion on Nov. 20.
The government plans to lower official drug prices for fiscal 2025 while carefully considering the scope of items subject to the planned cuts in light of the impacts on drugmakers.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2024

Japanese drug market prices 5.2% lower than official prices

Generic drugs made up 62.1% of the market by value in September, with a government target of 65% by fiscal 2029 to cut medical costs.
People walk past a board displaying currency exchange rates of the U.S. dollar and Euro against Russian ruble in Moscow on Nov. 27.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 4, 2024

Why the euro is closing in on parity with the U.S. dollar again

Hitting parity is psychologically significant for investors and policymakers and could spur a period of volatility for the euro.
Donna Nelson (fourth from left) with her family members. Nelson was found guilty of smuggling drugs to Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 4, 2024

Australian woman given six-year sentence over Japan drug smuggling

Donna Nelson has said that she was a victim of an online romance scam and that she was not aware she was carrying luggage containing illegal drugs.
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura drives to the hoop against Suns guard Devin Booker during a game on Nov. 26.
BASKETBALL
Dec 4, 2024

Rui Hachimura's criticisms of Japan Basketball Association cause a stir

The JBA has said that there was "miscommunication" between it and the Los Angeles Lakers forward.
A grapnel, used to retrieve cables, on the deck of the Leon Thevenin in Cape Town on April 30. In a wireless world, it is easy to forget the all-too-real cables that snake across the turbulent ocean floor — until they snap.
WORLD
Dec 4, 2024

When undersea cables break, a wireless world’s vulnerability is exposed

Landslides, a ship dragging its anchor, military skirmishes and sabotage can all damage cables.
If the deal goes through, the Japanese steelmaker has promised not to transfer any U.S. Steel production capacity or jobs outside the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2024

Nippon Steel committed to U.S. Steel takeover, executive says

"There is no global strategy without the U.S.," Takahiro Mori, the Japanese company's vice chairman, said this week.
Under a plan being put forward by JR East, the Yamanote Line's base fare will be raised from ¥150 to ¥160.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2024

JR East to raise standard fares for first time since privatization

The plan would mark the railway operator's first full-fledged fare hike since its creation through the Japanese National Railways' privatization in 1987.
Displaced Palestinians arrive in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 5, 2024

Trump's Mideast envoy in push to reach Gaza ceasefire before inauguration

Steve Witkoff met the prime ministers of Israel and Qatar separately in late November.
Major electronics firms plan to pay new graduate hires starting salaries that vary depending on skills and experiences.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2024

Japanese electronics firms rethink uniform starting salaries

Panasonic Connect plans to pay an additional 10% to 20% on top of this year's starting salaries to spring 2025 recruits with past startup experiences or tech skills.
Members of the media work near the scene where the CEO of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson was reportedly shot and killed in Midtown Manhattan in New York City on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2024

Questions of motive emerge in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing

Police in New York said it appears that UnitedHealthcare's CEO was targeted.
ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode is able to seamlessly go back-and-forth between languages with live, human-sounding responses and minimal errors.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2024

ChatGPT is now a creepy cultural chameleon

This uncanny tool that can speak 50 languages with human-like candor has the potential to forever change how people around the world interact with AI.
Bitcoin has risen to $100,000 for the first time amid optimism in the market that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration will provide support to the digital-asset industry.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 5, 2024

Bitcoin hits $100,000 in highly anticipated crypto milestone

A price of $100,000 pushes the market value of Bitcoin to just shy of $2 trillion, making it a larger investment asset than all but a handful of public companies.
Members of the workers' union UA Zensen watch a video, during a kick-off rally for the annual "shunto" wage negotiations, in Tokyo in March 2023.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2024

UA Zensen unveils plan to demand 6% pay hike in 2025 Shunto

UA Zensen plans to seek a 7% wage increase for part-time workers, who make up about 60% of the roughly 1.9 million workers in its member unions.
PayPay Bank is competing for funds as rates rise.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2024

PayPay Bank paying big to attract deposits, with offer of 2% on dollars and yen

The offer is many times the rates advertised by competing banks and applies to yen deposits of up to ¥5 million, with no limit for dollar deposits.
Tokyo Gas' liquefied natural gas terminal in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture, last month. The utility is considering several wind power projects in Southeast Asia amid the global decarbonization push.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 5, 2024

Tokyo Gas eyes wind power projects in Southeast Asia

The gas utility is expected to make final investment decisions on some of the envisaged projects as early as 2025.
The headquarters of the Bank of Japan in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2024

BOJ rate hike bets retreat as traders count down to key meeting

The predictions hardly budged even after one of the policy board’s most dovish members said he isn’t opposed to higher rates.
While FromSoftware's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a strong contender for game of the year, Black Myth: Wukong, the first AAA game made by a Chinese developer, offers some stiff competition.
LIFE / Digital / 2024 in Review
Dec 6, 2024

It’s Japan versus China for 2024’s game of the year

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Black Myth: Wukong both have a claim to the best game of 2024, a year marked by cultural scandals and lawsuits.
People demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's resignation at the National Assembly in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 6, 2024

South Korea's leader is likely to hang on, despite being reviled

For the impeachment movement to be successful, the opposition needs only eight of the 108 lawmakers in the ruling party to switch sides.

Longform

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