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Suntory President Nobuhiro Torii says the company has the option of simply changing the target market if prices of Hibiki and Yamazaki become up too high for U.S. consumers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2025

Suntory may shift focus to Japan, Asian markets to counter U.S. tariffs

Its president, Nobuhiro Torii, says it has the option of simply changing the target market if prices for its whiskys become too high for American consumers.
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2025

Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway

The line will become a pedestrian-focused green space called Tokyo Sky Corridor, with sections opening in phases before its full relaunch in 2035.
Aeon has released a ¥321 ($2.20) frozen bento boxed meal containing peperoncino pasta and a hamburger steak with tomato sauce, which went on sale on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2025

Japan retailers boost own-brand products amid inflation

Private-label products, which retailers develop with manufacturers, can be sold at lower prices than those of name-brand products because of reduced costs.
Yuki Tsunoda wears his special kabuki-themed helmet on Thursday ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 3, 2025

Five drivers to watch at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix

From Lewis Hamilton to Yuki Tsunoda, here are five of the drivers to keep an extra close eye at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after his walk-off home run against the Braves at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 4, 2025

Dodgers look almost unbeatable after latest heroics from Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani's walk-off home run on Wednesday night in Los Angeles lifted the Dodgers to a dramatic 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Atlanta Braves.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on Wednesday, the day of his remarks on tariffs.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 4, 2025

For Trump, tariff gamble brings political risk

If his promises to recast the economy don't work out, it could cause political headwinds for his party and economic pain for his constituents.
Wall Street stocks sank in early trading on Thursday, joining a global equity selloff after U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff announcement exacerbated worries about a trade war.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 4, 2025

S&P 500 suffers worst drop since COVID as tariffs rattle traders

The S&P 500 Index sank 4.8% — its biggest drop since June 2020 — to enter a technical correction again following a brutal global rout in markets from Tokyo to London.
Household outlays declined 0.5% in February from a year earlier, led by falling outlays on clothes and footwear, housing and food.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 4, 2025

Japan’s household spending drops for first time in three months

The drop, ahead of sweeping tariffs announced by the U.S., was led by falling outlays on clothes and footwear, housing and food.
Containers stacked up at the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port in Phnom Penh on Thursday. Southeast Asian countries with a significant trade surplus with the U.S. came in for harsh treatment from Trump's stinging tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 4, 2025

Trump tariffs are a ‘disaster’ for world’s poorest countries

Poor nations' labor-intensive export industries face new risk in trade war.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Osaka in 2019. With his global tariffs announcement, Trump may have undercut his own China strategy.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 4, 2025

Trump's global trade war may defeat U.S. strategic goals on China

Tariffs could cause an economic moat to form around the U.S. that ultimately undermines Washington's strategic goals on Beijing, analysts warn.
A new study questioning human-induced global warming — which claims to be entirely written by Elon Musk's Grok 3 AI — has gained traction online.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 4, 2025

Experts warn 'AI-written' paper is latest spin on climate change denial

The surge of AI in research, despite potential benefits, risks triggering an illusion of objectivity and insight in scientific research, they warn.
Labor Party MP for Bennelong Jerome Laxale and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong pose for pictures with residents in Sydney in February.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 4, 2025

In a tight Australian election, a Chinese app could make a difference

Politicians are turning to Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle app also called RedNote, to appeal to Chinese communities who will be a crucial voting bloc.
A man places a sign outside a Tesla dealership during a protest against its CEO Elon Musk, in Los Angeles, California, last month.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Apr 4, 2025

Tesla investors brace for further sales decline as Musk backlash grows

Protests in many countries against Musk's involvement in the Trump administration and far-right politics in Europe have tarnished the image of the once-leading EV brand.
After getting her career started in Japan, Courney Kaplan has become one of Los Angeles' leading sake evangelists from her base at Ototo.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Apr 6, 2025

In Los Angeles, Courtney Kaplan says sake is having a moment

Los Angeles has no shortage of Japanese restaurants, but Ototo makes the country's national drink an easy sip.
Japanese stocks have been falling for two days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs. This picture was taken on Thursday, the first trading day in Tokyo after the U.S. president's announcement of the tariffs.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 4, 2025

Tokyo stocks fall for another day as reality of Trump tariffs sets in

Some analysts say financial markets will likely be volatile in the short term, but their longer-term outlook remains optimistic.
A Nissan manufacturing complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Nissan says it will not take new orders from the United States for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs following new auto tariffs levied by the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 4, 2025

Nissan says it will not take new U.S. orders for Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs

It says it will maintain two shifts of production of its Rogue SUV at its Smyrna, Tennessee, plant following the announcement of new U.S. tariffs on automobiles.
Tokyo Humanities Cafe was launched in 2017 by Laurence Williams (left) and Alex Watson, professors at Sophia and Meiji Universities, respectively.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Apr 7, 2025

Tokyo Humanities Cafe feeds hungry minds

A free quarterly event invites everyone to explore what it means to be human.
Bickering siblings Sota (Masaaki Nakano, left) and Akira (Hirota Otsuka) attempt to dispose of their father’s body in “The Brothers Kitaura.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2025

‘The Brothers Kitaura’: A sordid tale of filial impropriety

Masaki Tsujino’s dark comedy of errors unpacks family dysfunction and middle-class mediocrity.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 5, 2025

Nowhere to hide: Trump tariffs leave trading partners cornered

Hit by 10% to 50% tariffs on their exports, most countries lack the firepower to hit back or the political will to slug it out.
Taiwanese National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (left), President Lai Ching-te (center) and Defense Minister Wellington Koo pose for photos with soldiers as they visit the troops during the Rapid Response Exercise at the Songshan military airbase in Taipei on March 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 5, 2025

Taiwan's top security official visits U.S. for talks

The visit marked Donald Trump's first use of the so-called special channel since returning to the White House on Jan. 20.
Guests play with the new Nintendo Switch 2 video game console system during a presentation at the Grand Palais in Paris on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 5, 2025

Nintendo delays Switch 2 preorders in U.S. over tariff concerns

The Kyoto-based company is delaying preorders of its hotly anticipated gaming console as it assesses the fallout from the trade tariffs.
The International Space Station is seen as a small object to the upper left of the moon.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 5, 2025

Honda to test renewable tech in space soon

The auto giant is developing a mechanism capable of generating electricity and oxygen continuously — enabling astronauts to breathe.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average after the close of trading on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange after the closing bell on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Apr 5, 2025

Recession trade engulfs Wall Street on tariff fight

Traders are pricing in what increasingly looks like a negative-feedback loop as Trump indicates he’s not going to back down.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 5, 2025

Ishiba says he plans to speak to Trump about tariffs in coming days

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that these talks could see Japan offer a fresh investment package, though he ruled out a small, piecemeal deal.
Shipping containers at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles on Friday
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 5, 2025

U.S. starts collecting Trump's new 10% tariff, smashing global trade norms

The initial 10% "baseline" tariff took effect at U.S. seaports, airports and customs warehouses at 12:01 a.m.
U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he walks to deliver remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 6, 2025

'Hang tough, it won't be easy': Trump defiant on tariffs

The comments came as Trump's widest-ranging trade measures took effect in a move that could trigger retaliation and escalating economic tensions.
American autoworkers assemble Honda Accords at the Japanese company's Marysville Auto Plant in the state of Ohio in December 2017.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2025

Ford is as American as apple pie. Or is that Honda?

Trump's 25% auto tariffs will raise car prices, complicate manufacturing and prioritize outdated protectionism over industry trends like electrification and software.
Soybeans are harvested near Stuttgart, Arkansas in October 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 6, 2025

'Anxious' U.S. farmers see tariffs as threatening earnings

U.S. farmers hoping for a profit this year instead find themselves facing lower crop prices — and the prospect of ceding more ground in foreign markets.
Kids view the area from a lookout point over cranes and containers at the Port of Keelung, Taiwan, on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2025

Taiwan eyes zero tariffs with U.S. and pledges more investment

The U.S. is Taiwan's most important international backer and main source of arms, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties.
People walk past the communist-era Palace of Culture and Science in the center of Warsaw on April 2.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 7, 2025

Sex toys and exploding cosmetics: anatomy of a 'hybrid war' on the West

European security chiefs described the parcel fires as part of a "hybrid war" being waged by Russia to destabilize countries that support Ukraine.

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.