Search - i

 
 
The rapid collapse of the plan to take Seven & I private reflects how personal egos and domestic competitiveness ultimately outweighed the nationalistic desire to fend off Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, whose pursuit of the Japanese retailer emerged last August.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 2, 2025

Seven & I and Nissan deal fallout leaves Japan companies vulnerable

The collapse of the deals means the companies are potentially even more vulnerable to foreign takeovers.
A 7-Eleven convenience store, operated by Seven & I Holdings, at the company's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 19, 2025

Seven & I signs confidentiality pact with Canada’s Couche-Tard

The nondisclosure agreement (NDA) will pave the way for discussions around antitrust issues in the United States, Seven & I said.
Seven & I Holdings released forecasts for this year's operating profit and revenue that are lower than analysts' estimates.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 9, 2025

Seven & I’s guidance miss adds to pressure amid takeover bid

Seven & I said it expects domestic convenience store sales to rise 9.4% this fiscal year, while seeing revenue from overseas convenience stores falling 3.6%.
The operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores is taking a series of steps to boost its value, including share buybacks, selling the under-performing superstore business and divesting its banking unit.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 10, 2025

Seven & I jumps most in a month on buyback plan and broader buying

The operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores is taking a series of steps to try to boost shareholder value amid a takeover bid by Canadian retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard.
The 7-Eleven convenience store operator plans to add five new directors to the board, four of whom will be from outside the company.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2025

Seven & I proposes five new directors as part of board revamp

The 7-Eleven convenience store operator plans to add five new directors to the board, four of whom will be from outside the company.
Stephen Dacus, incoming chief executive officer of Seven & I Holdings, speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday. Dacus plans to boost investments in its U.S. stores using cash from a planned listing of its American retail operations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025

Seven & I’s new CEO plans aggressive investments in U.S. stores

In addition to investing in its North America operations, Stephen Dacus is also looking to review the company’s supply chain globally.
Seven & I Holdings plans to sell part of its stake in Seven Bank to Itochu, sources said, as a part of efforts to improve its corporate value by focusing on its convenience store business.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2025

Seven & I considers selling portion of Seven Bank shares to Itochu

The move is part of efforts to improve its corporate value by focusing on its convenience store business amid a bid to acquire it.
Okinawan rapper Awich ruled the summer music festival circuit last year. Which act will prove to be the most memorable in 2025?
CULTURE / Music
Jun 23, 2025

Stage dive into summer: Japan’s best music festivals, month by month

The weather will be hot, but the concert calendar is looking even hotter.
A board announces that no works were awarded the Akutagawa and Naoki literary prizes on Wednesday evening in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 17, 2025

Akutagawa and Naoki award decision marks rare absence of literary prizewinners

Selection committee members were disappointed by the lack of a majority vote in the second round, insisting that the nominated works moved many readers and were worth reading.
In Japan on a scholarship he fought hard for, Oscar Ruto found himself needing to take a break and headed into Tokyo for a weekend of partying.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 27, 2023

'I wasn't always an alcoholic … and then I was'

As the party season draws near, it's important to deal with yearend stress in healthier ways.
A still from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 14, 2023

Big in Japan 2023: Anime, Murakami and The Legend of Zelda

Our guests tell us why anime dominated in 2023, which books stood out among a lackluster crowd and why the Zelda franchise is experiencing a renaissance.
Visitors to the "Henri Matisse: The Path to Color" exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum face tough decisions in the gift shop.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 5, 2023

Matisse gachapon, Hockney parfaits: Japan’s next-level art merch

A Tokyo art exhibit doesn’t feel complete without a room filled wall-to-wall with custom trinkets.
Social division and the polarization of the American political system are becoming more and more apparent.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2023

Where is the America I once knew headed?

The sociopolitical transformation I witnessed in San Francisco is not just a West Coast phenomenon, but perhaps a nationwide trend.
Manchester Crown Court, the venue for the trial of Lucy Letby, who was found guilty of murdering seven newborn babies and trying to kill another six.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 19, 2023

'I am evil': British nurse guilty of murdering seven newborn babies

Lucy Letby, 33, was convicted of killing five baby boys and two baby girls and attacking other newborns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 28, 2023

Sogo & Seibu labor union plans strike over possible sale

If the strike goes ahead on Thursday, it would be the first in Japan’s department store industry in about 60 years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 30, 2023

Sogo & Seibu labor union to launch rare strike after talks break down

Around 900 workers at Ikebukuro's flagship will participate in what will be the first strike at a Japanese department store in about 60 years.
Union workers of Sogo & Seibu hold banners which read 'on strike' in front of the company's flagship Seibu Ikebukuro store in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2023

Sogo & Seibu labor union begins strike at flagship Ikebukuro store

While the labor union made a strong effort to prevent Seven & I from proceeding with the deal, a decision was made to sell the department store unit.
Fukuoka, known for its outdoor food stalls, is a popular destination for Japanese tourists, but now it's starting to draw more international travelers, too.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 9, 2023

Beyond its yatai, Fukuoka hosts travel pleasures aplenty

Tourists come for the city’s lauded cuisine, its casual atmosphere, vibrant arts and nightlife scenes and temperate climate.tk
The incoming and outgoing presidents of Johnny & Associates, Noriyuki Higashiyama and Julie Keiko Fujishima, bow at a press conference on Sept. 7.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 14, 2023

Johnny’s talent agency has admitted to a past of abuse. What next?

Karin Kaneko joins the show to update us on how the story is unfolding.
The pronoun you choose when referring to yourself can give off a definite vibe, so be careful in your choice.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 20, 2023

Which pronoun should I take?

Depending on the situation, you may need to use two or three different pronouns for yourself when speaking Japanese.
As a young man, preserving the 400-year-old Ueda Soko Ryu tea ceremony school, which had survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, was always on Soko Ueda's mind.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 11, 2023

‘Life is for being who I am — not who others expect me to be’

A soon-to-be 17th-generation tea ceremony grandmaster shares the journey he took in embracing his family heritage and preserving a Hiroshima tradition.
Mika and Jesse say their landlady prefers a hands-off style of property management, leaving all matters, including maintenence and repairs, to the renting couple.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 18, 2023

Renting akiya: A backdoor into Japan's abandoned homes

“If the choice is between leaving (an akiya) empty or renting it out, please rent it out.”
LGBTQ activists take part in a protest in Moscow.
WORLD / Society
Dec 21, 2023

LGBTQ+ Russians ask: Should I stay or should I go?

Rights activists fear the ruling could open the door to arrests and prosecutions.
Aleksandra Popova, an activist whose husband was a co-defendant in Yegor Shtovba's trial, outside Butyrka prison in Moscow on Dec. 21. Shtovba, who has spent the past 15 months in pretrial detention, married Nadezhda Shtovba last month in a short ceremony in a prison in downtown Moscow.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

Young love meets Russian repression. They said ‘I do’ in a Moscow prison.

Nadezhda Shtovba did not wear a white dress to her wedding. She and her husband did not exchange wedding bands either — rings are banned in Butyrka prison.
Naoko Motooka began hunting 10 years ago. Her hobby is one way Hokkaido hopes to curb a current boom in the deer population.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 15, 2024

Hunting in Hokkaido; Taylor Swift comes to Tokyo

You probably don’t think of guns when you think of Japan, but Hokkaido’s hunters do.
Shanghai's financial district under heavy rain. China's economy has slowed down, with some pointing to a possible balance sheet recession.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2024

Mr. Xi, only change will help China weather the storm

How does Xi Jinping plan to address China's growing economic woes? Only openness to change will allow the global power to survive these turbulent times.
A group of high schoolers promoting self-liberation from social media and technology meets in New York in December 2022. Young people around the world are switching their smartphones for “dumbphones.”
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2024

How switching from a smart to a flip phone saved me

To stop the endless doomscrolling, some people are turning the clock back and switching to "dumbphones."
Two people try to take a selfie under the illuminated cherry blossoms in Kyoto’s Gion district last year.
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 25, 2024

Sakura stories revisited: Getting in the mood for hanami

We are revisiting some past content on the science, economics and culture of cherry blossom season.
Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates winning the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in December 2022.
SOCCER
Mar 28, 2024

Age won't determine when I retire, says Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi will turn 37 in under three months, but knows for sure that his age will not determine when it is time to hang up his boots.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan