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Microsoft's Majorana 1 quantum computing chip
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 20, 2025

New Microsoft chip signals quantum computers in 'years, not decades'

Quantum computing holds the promise of carrying out calculations that would take today's systems millions of years.
With mergers and acquisitions reaching a record of more than $230 billion last year in Japan, and activists exerting greater influence on corporate Japan, investors from Sparx Asset Management to UBP Investments and Sigmoid Capital are becoming warier of nonearnings factors that may boost shares.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 20, 2025

Activist boom in Japan is upending long-short stock strategies

Japan’s percentage of short-selling to total trades is at the lowest since July last year, in terms of the 60-day moving average.
Cabbage prices have risen to 2.6 times their five-year average in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 20, 2025

Japan’s food inflation is becoming harder for BOJ to overlook

The level of fresh food prices has risen 71.9% since 2010, about five times more than that of inflation excluding it.
A compressed natural gas station near Chennai on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 20, 2025

Osaka Gas plans to boost sales of city gas in India tenfold

India is developing a city gas network to promote the use of natural gas, which is less environmentally damaging than coal and fuel oil.
The Japanese currency climbed as much as 1% to ¥149.95 against the dollar on Thursday, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 20, 2025

Yen advances past ¥150 per dollar as BOJ rate-hike bets ramp up

Japan’s currency climbed as much as 1% to ¥149.95 against the dollar, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9.
Prime Minister Shiger Ishiba waits for the Lower House Budget Committee session to begin in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

Dispute over funds scandal questioning delays budget talks as CDP seeks leverage

Veering off schedule, even for a day, is detrimental to securing passage of the fiscal 2025 budget in the Lower House by March 2 — a priority for the government.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16, 2018
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

China risks becoming U.S. military’s top priority if Trump cuts a deal with Putin

U.S. and Russian officials have started talks in Saudi Arabia to negotiate an end to the three-year war, prompting deep concern in Europe and Ukraine itself.
The drop in domestic shipments of paper and paperboard in 2024 came as newspaper publishers ended evening editions and the trend of reducing paper use in offices continued.
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2025

Japan's domestic paper shipments hit 39-year low in 2024

The drop came as newspaper publishers ended evening editions and the trend of reducing paper use in offices continued.
A customer visits a store along the Togoshi Ginza shopping street in Tokyo on Jan. 23. Rising fresh food prices contributed to the acceleration in overall inflation in January, as vegetable prices, including cabbage, soared.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2025

Japan’s inflation speeds up, keeping BOJ on rate hike path

Overall inflation accelerated to 4% from 3.6%, according to the internal affairs ministry, hitting that mark for the first time in two years.
People shop in a supermarket as inflation affected consumer prices in Manhattan, New York City, in June 2022.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Feb 21, 2025

'Stagflation' fears haunt U.S. markets despite Trump's pro-growth agenda

The dreaded scenario has crept back as a key risk for investors in recent weeks.
An image of the Asuka III, a new Japanese luxury cruise ship, which will begin service in July
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 21, 2025

Luxury cruise ship Asuka III to enter into service in July

The Asuka III has 385 cabins across three classes, all equipped with a balcony.
Entomal Biotech Sdn Bhd CCO Yanni Ching with samples of BSF dried larvae and frass.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Feb 28, 2025

Turning waste into wealth with insect-based biotech

Entomal has treated over 22.5 tons of food waste to date, preventing roughly 55 tons of carbon emissions.
Cat-related sweets sold by 7-Eleven in Tokyo. Employees of 7-Eleven have helped develop 23 types of cat-related products this year, compared with just five last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2025

Japan's Cat Day sees companies capitalize on 'a-meow-zing' economic boon

This year, products and services related to cats are estimated to generate ¥414.50 billion more than last year.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks to reporters on Thursday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 21, 2025

Japan yields fall as Ueda warns BOJ can step in to smooth market

Bond yields fell and the yen weakened following Ueda’s comments.
These public ashtrays ask either-or questions, which people vote on with their cigarette butts.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 28, 2025

How Shibuya reduced cigarette litter by 90%

A project to reduce litter by making "ballot" smoking areas called Ask the Tobacco is under way.
Without the well-developed road infrastructure of many parts of Honshu, it has never been easy to be a truck driver in Hokkaido, Japan’s second-largest island but largest prefecture in terms of landmass-
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Mar 3, 2025

Hokkaido trucking industry faces challenges from overtime cap

Without the well-developed road infrastructure of many parts of Honshu, it has never been easy to be a truck driver in Hokkaido.
Japanese investors are estimated to have increased holdings of Chinese bonds by 53% last year, the most among the markets that make up the World Government Bond Index, according to Bloomberg analysis of Japanese balance-of-payments data.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 22, 2025

Tokyo fund buys China bonds for first time on Japanification bet

"Our long-term view is that it’s inevitable for China to follow the path of Japan,” said Hikaru Tanaka, fund manager at Asset Management One.
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., says he is looking to increase ownership in Japan’s five largest trading houses.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2025

Berkshire set to gradually raise stakes in Japan trading houses

The shares of the five — Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, Sumitomo and Marubeni — have benefited over the longer term from Buffett’s interest.
Under the law, information such as race, social status, medical history and any criminal record is designated as sensitive personal information, and obtaining such information requires prior consent from the individuals concerned.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 23, 2025

Japan may ease privacy rules to aid AI development

The move is intended to make it easier for AI-related businesses to utilize personal information.
Coffee beans are harvested in Corquin, Honduras, on Feb. 6. Climate change has diminished the supply of coffee around the globe via rising temperatures, droughts and excessive rains.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 23, 2025

Coffee prices are at a 50-year high. Producers aren’t celebrating.

Around the world, coffee traders, farmers and roasters fear how climate change and economic factors will affect their livelihoods.
Economic pessimism is rife in the U.K., with households looking to cut their expenses,
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 23, 2025

The reluctant British consumer is a problem for Keir Starmer

Pessimism is rife and households are looking to cut expenses as fear rises over inflation and job losses.
The building of new high-rise residential buildings has some alarmed that they could empty and fall into disrepair as Japan's population shrinks.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 24, 2025

The high cost of letting Japan's condos crumble

With rising repair costs, dwindling reserve funds and an aging population of owners, thousands of buildings are at risk of falling into disrepair.
People ride in cable cars over the Chandragiri hilltop on the outskirts of Kathmandu on Feb. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 24, 2025

Nepal community fights to save sacred forests from cable cars

Five cable car projects have opened in the past two years — and 10 more are under development, according to government figures.
The online safety regulator for Australia fined messaging app Telegram for its delay in answering questions regarding preventing the spread of child abuse and violent extremist material on its platform.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 24, 2025

Australia fines Telegram for delay to answers on child abuse and terrorism

The messaging platform has been under growing scrutiny around the world.
Toyota unveils a part of Woven City in Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 24, 2025

Toyota unveils Woven City to test future mobility

The demonstration city includes roads dedicated to automated mobility on the ground and "logistics streets."
U.S. government scientists participating in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were issued a stop-work order from the Trump administration, according to media reports.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 24, 2025

Trump creates uncertainty for world’s most cited climate report

The U.S. absence comes amid broader cuts to research funding and a retreat from climate diplomacy under the Trump administration.
Elon Musk's Starlink is facing challenges from a Chinese state-backed rival and another service financed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 24, 2025

Musk's Starlink races with Chinese rivals to dominate satellite internet

China's rush to occupy more of lower-Earth orbit makes Western policymakers worry it could extend the reach of Beijing's internet censorship regime.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they meet in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 24, 2025

After three years of war, Trump hands Russian economy a lifeline

Russia can either stop inflating military spending as it presses to gain territory in Ukraine, or maintain it and pay the price with years of slow growth.
A liquefied natural gas plant operated by Sakhalin Energy is seen at Prigorodnoye on the Pacific island of Sakhalin, Russia, in July 2021.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 24, 2025

Three years into Ukraine war, Japan struggles to ensure steady LNG supply

Fierce global competition for liquefied natural gas has led to spikes in electricity and gas bills, which heavily weigh on the finances of Japanese households.
From left: "Conclave" cast members Sergio Castellitto, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini and Ralph Fiennes pose with the awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, in Los Angeles.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 24, 2025

Vatican thriller 'Conclave' wins top prize in SAG Awards upset

"Conclave" surprises with a SAG Award win for best cast, suggesting it may have a real shot at upsetting the Oscars' Best Picture race.

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.