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Cargo containers await loading onto ships at the port of Tianjin, China, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 5, 2025

Xi’s careful reply to Trump tariffs shows China has more to lose

The shift reflects both Xi’s success at diversifying imports away from the U.S. since Trump’s first term, as well as China’s more precarious economic situation.
Talks by Honda and Nissan to create the world’s third-largest carmaker have gone haltingly since the plans were first announced in December.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025

Nissan shares plunge, Honda's rise as end to merger talks reported

Shares in Nissan slid more than 4% before trade was suspended by the Tokyo Stock Exchange following the Nikkei report.
Next Generation Technology Group acquires companies in need of future leadership with competitive technologies and high margins, said Eiichi Arai, the Tokyo-based firm’s CEO.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025

Tokyo’s first listing of the year soars in trading debut

The shares climbed as much as 58% to ¥3,165 in early trading in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Panasonic will restructure low-growth businesses and make changes to its employment structure, according to a recently released statement.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025

Panasonic shares jump most in 11 years on restructuring plans

The Osaka-based company will restructure low-growth businesses and make changes to its employment structure.
Talks between Nissan and Honda have been complicated by growing differences, sources have said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2025

Nissan looking for new partner as Honda deal looks set to collapse

The two carmakers plan to issue a formal announcement on the fate of their business integration talks in mid-February.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the former employee has admitted to the allegation, telling investigators that he used the name brand of Nomura Securities to commit the fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 6, 2025

Former Nomura employee arrested for suspected fraud

The former employee of Nomura Securities is suspected of defrauding a client of ¥10 million with a fake investment offer.
Yellowtail is unloaded in Himi, Toyama Prefecture. Japan is looking to expand yellowtail exports to the United States, with China's blanket ban on Japanese fishery products still in place.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 9, 2025

JETRO to support yellowtail exports to U.S.

JETRO hopes to help expand sales channels for the fish in the United States, where Japanese cuisine has become popular amid an increase in health conscious consumers.
The three megabank groups including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group posted record consolidated net profits in April-December 2024.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 9, 2025

Japan firms to log record profits — driven by finance and AI biz

Leading the growth is the financial sector, buoyed by the return of positive interest rates to Japan thanks to the Bank of Japan's rate hikes
Construction for a new Microsoft data center in East Wenatchee, Washington, in November 2024.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 10, 2025

What DeepSeek? Big Tech keeps its AI building boom alive.

After DeepSeek’s breakthrough rattled markets, U.S. tech giants doubled down on massive data center investments to stay ahead in AI.
A set of miniature "hina" dolls from the late Edo Period (1603-1868), collected by hina furnishings researcher Yumiko Kawauchi
CULTURE
Feb 10, 2025

Miniatures bring hidden worlds to life at Tokyo cultural site

A set of dolls from the late Edo Period is among the items on display on the premises of Hotel Gajoen Tokyo.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance waves during a bilateral meeting with the president of the European Commission held at the Chief of Mission's residence at the U.S. embassy in Paris on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 12, 2025

Vance warns Europe against overregulating emerging AI

JD Vance’s appearance in Paris is his first major engagement on his first foreign trip as Donald Trump’s vice president.
A Good me tea store, operated by Guming Holdings Ltd., in Chongqing, China, on Saturday. The tea chain's shares began trading in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2025

Hong Kong’s latest bubble tea IPO mints another billionaire

Guming Holdings' IPO has made founder Yun’an Wang a billionaire as China’s bubble tea market continues its rapid expansion.
A Nissan Motor X-Trail vehicle at the company's showroom in Tokyo's Ginza district
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2025

Foxconn signals interest in buying Renault's stake in Nissan

The company has approached both Renault and Nissan about potential cooperation.
Oil pump jacks in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, on June 4, 2023
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2025

Russia braces for oil output cuts as sanctions and drones hit

The level of complexity involved in refining and selling Russian oil is said to be becoming too much, with everyone "waiting for this war to be over."
Visitors look at information promoting Saudi Arabia's Neom megaproject at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22.
WORLD
Feb 13, 2025

Why are TikTok 'momfluencers' lauding Saudi Arabia's desert megacity?

One Thai "momfluencer" shared a video of her "typical afternoon in Neom." The video has been viewed around 800,000 times. The city it shows is almost deserted.
Following weeks of talks after Nissan Motor President Makoto Uchida and Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe's December announcement of a possible merger, the two automakers confirmed on Thursday that the deal is officially off.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2025

Honda and Nissan cancel megamerger after weeks of negotiations

The automakers failed to find the common ground needed to reach an agreement, though they still intend to work together in other areas.
Sony has prioritized acquiring more content and intellectual property rights at a time when the company’s hardware efforts are stagnating.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2025

Sony lifts forecast on expectations of game and music improvement

Sony has prioritized acquiring more content and intellectual property rights at a time when the company’s hardware efforts are stagnating.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands at the conclusion of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025

India's Modi and Trump agree to trade talks to lower tensions

The agreements came hours after Trump unveiled a roadmap for reciprocal tariffs on every country that puts duties on U.S. imports, including India.
Screens display web pages of the Chinese artificial intelligence chatbot DeepSeek. South Korean authorities said on Monday that DeepSeek would not be available on local app stores, pending a review of the Chinese AI startup's handling of user data.
WORLD
Feb 17, 2025

Chatbot vs. national security? Why DeepSeek is raising concerns

Governments from Rome to Seoul are cracking down on the chatbot, saying they need to prevent potential leaks of sensitive information.
Japan’s robo-adviser market, estimated to be worth around ¥3 trillion, has massive room for growth, says the CEO of robo-adviser Folio Holdings.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2025

SBI-backed Japan robo-adviser Folio targets swing to profit and IPO

Japan’s robo-adviser market is estimated to be worth around $19.8 billion.
A giant screen shows news footage of Chinese President Xi Jinping shaking hands with DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng during a symposium on private enterprises, at a shopping complex in Beijing on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 18, 2025

China's tech rally rests on 'hot money'

Hong Kong tech shares have surged 31% since the middle of January to hit three-year highs on Monday while President Xi Jinping sat down with top tech leaders in Beijing.
Kodai Furutani, the assistant chief priest at Ryugasan Unmon Temple in Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, is working to become an interfaith chaplain.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025

Monk in chaplain training urges people to face death and live life

There is a deep-seated idea in Japan that a monk being seen at a hospital is a bad omen, as their presence reminds patients and medical staff of death.
Sapporo beer
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025

Activist fund criticizes Sapporo after ‘acquisition failures’

The Singapore-based investment fund censured the management over "impairment losses on all of its overseas alcoholic beverage acquisitions.”
A woman uses her phone next to a logo of the WhatsApp application during Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, India, on Sept. 20, 2022.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 19, 2025

WhatsApp faces tougher EU rules as open channel users top 45 million

The messaging app's open channels are feeds affiliated with news outlets or public figures that under the European Union's Digital Services Act are comparable to social networks.
Murata Manufacturing President Norio Nakajima
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025

IPhone parts maker Murata eyes supply chain shift toward India

The company sees growing demand in India and is running simulations for what it would take to dial up its pace of investment there.
Toyota agreed to transfer an existing order with LG Energy Solution to LG's battery plant in Michigan, sources said, after General Motors backed out of the project amid a slowdown in the growth of electric vehicle sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025

Toyota is backing LG battery plant with $1.5 billion order

GM said in December it would sell its $1 billion stake in the Lansing, Michigan, plant, leaving LG scrambling to find new customers.
After U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to impose tariffs of 25% on automobile imports to the United States, Japanese automakers are cautiously looking for ways to handle the situation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025

Major Japanese automakers wary of Trump tariffs

The U.S. president says he plans to impose tariffs of 25% on automobile imports to the U.S., though he has not said which countries would be subject to them.
Students from Hiroshima Global Academy chat over gyōza dumplings with "island guardian" Koshi Omori at his home in Osakikamijima, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Mar 3, 2025

Model school for global education rooted on small Hiroshima island

The school hopes its well-equipped students will help inspire and bring new energy to the aging island community.
Many Japanese companies like Toto have quietly shifted from consumer-facing products like toilets to specialized, high-value industries such as semiconductor materials, proving that Japan's innovation remains strong despite its lower global visibility.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2025

Japan’s toilet jokes are on you. Innovation is flourishing.

One of the most surprising stories in corporate Japan in recent months has been the emergence of semiconductor materials as a significant profit driver at Toto.
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.

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Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear