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The Japanese anime industry has been facing chronic labor shortages linked to poor working conditions that have led to a decrease in the number of productions.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Japan to set up body to improve anime industry working conditions

The move is part of a five-year action plan aimed at boosting overseas sales of Japanese content such as manga and video games to ¥20 trillion in 2033.
Chairs made using the Nishijin-ori textile are displayed in the city of Kyoto.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2025

Trading firm works to help preserve Kyoto's traditional crafts

Although Kyoto's traditional crafts are popular among foreign tourists, overall demand for such items for daily use is falling due to lifestyle changes.
Workers build a scaffolding platform during construction at the Yamal LNG plant, operated by Novatek, in Sabetta, Russia, in August 2018.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2025

Russia tries again to expand LNG exports upended by sanctions

Since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian gas pipeline exports to Europe have dwindled, and shipping more fuel via seaborne LNG tankers provides an attractive revenue stream.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 29, 2025

Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill clears first U.S. Senate hurdle

The Senate voted Saturday to begin debate on the legislation just hours after party leaders unveiled the latest version of the massive tax and spending package.
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 30, 2025

From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan

There is plenty of room for Lego to grow in Japan, but the low birth rate is undeniably a challenge.
A crop field in Oxnard, California, on June 18
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 1, 2025

Immigration raids leave crops unharvested and California farms at risk

In the vast agricultural lands north of Los Angeles, farmers and field supervisors have said that ICE raids have led a majority of workers to stop showing up.
Softbank Corp. is offering $1 billion of dollar bonds in the unit’s first U.S. high-grade deal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2025

SoftBank unit set to raise $1 billion from its first dollar bond

SoftBank Corp.’s five- and 10-year notes are set to respectively price 0.9 and 1.10 percentage points above Treasuries.
Opposition parties are proposing a consumption tax cut as inflation, especially food inflation, remains high.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jul 2, 2025

Consumption tax cut enters political conversation ahead of Upper House election

The Liberal Democratic Party opposes a reduction in the tax, but opposition parties are in favor of a cut.
The rise of China’s DeepSeek-R1, a low-cost, high-performance open-source AI model, has challenged the belief that only nations with vast computational resources can lead in artificial intelligence, signaling a shift in global AI power dynamics.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 3, 2025

A ‘Sputnik’ moment in the global AI race

Much remains uncertain about DeepSeek’s LLM and its capabilities should not be overestimated — but its release nevertheless has sparked intense discussion.
A container ship is anchored at the Tan Vu port in Hai Phong, Vietnam. Much of Vietnam's exports to the U.S. are made up of items such as AirPods, phones or other products assembled with Chinese components and then shipped on.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 4, 2025

U.S. trade deal leaves Vietnam with questions and one big challenge

Companies operating in the Southeast Asian hub are on notice to move up the value chain.
Outlays by households in Japan, adjusted for inflation, gained 4.7% from a year ago in May, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 4, 2025

Japan’s households boost spending by most since summer of 2022

Consumption makes up more than half of Japan’s economic output and could determine whether the economy will enter or avoid a technical recession.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax bill largely benefits business investors and wealthy Americans.
WORLD / Politics / EXPLAINER
Jul 4, 2025

Who won and lost in Trump’s tax bill

Those hit the hardest by the sweeping package include elite universities and immigrants.
Shuhei Nakata, president of Nakata Kogei — a wooden-hanger maker in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture — says a revised work evaluation system and a strict policy against workplace harassment has helped to attract women to the company.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jul 14, 2025

Fukushima looks to local initiatives to combat population decline

The measures will bring the area in line with other parts of Japan that are proactively trying to retain residents.
Residential buildings under construction in Shanghai in July 2022. The Chinese government risks long-term decline by repeating Japan’s policy mistakes in handling its real estate and demographic crises.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2025

China’s housing crisis is worse than it seems

Chinese policymakers — who are facing an even more severe housing and demographic crisis than Japan —are at risk of making the same mistakes.
Nissan plans to sell convertible bonds and use the proceeds to invest in new products and technologies such as electrification and software-defined vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 7, 2025

Nissan to sell ¥150 billion of convertible bonds to fund turnaround

Proceeds of the sale will be used to invest in new products and technologies such as electrification and software-defined vehicles.
Items made using plastic recycled from CDs and DVDs, such as storage baskets, smartphone stands and business card holders, are sold at some Bookoff outlets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2025

Bookoff plans to step up recycling of unsold CDs and DVDs

The secondhand goods retailer disposes of 1,700 tons of discs and cases from some 800 outlets across the country each year.
Kazuki Hara, the head of Japan’s Rating and Investment Information's sovereigns and international issuers department, says that confidence in the dollar as a key reserve currency has not been shaken.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 8, 2025

Japanese agency's affirmation of top U.S. credit rating helps Hong Kong funds

As long as Rating and Investment Information maintains its top rating for the U.S., Hong Kong funds are allowed to invest over 10% of their assets in Treasurys.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embrace at the G20 Leaders' Summit In Rio De Janeiro in 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 9, 2025

Brazil’s Lula hosts Modi in bid to turn India into a major trade partner

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is desperate to finally crack the code on a relationship that has never fully taken off thanks to a litany of incompatibilities.
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2025

Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services

Today, more than half of Netflix’s global users watch anime on its service, with shows such as “Sakamoto Days” proving to be massive hits.
A power supply agreement allowing Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power to procure energy from leading generator Jera is set to expire at the end of March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 10, 2025

Power trading in Japan set to grow as Jera purchase deal expires

The shake-up is already driving hedging activity in the futures market, as traders position for potential changes in supply and demand.
A screen displays news on Nvidia achieving a $4 trillion market capitalization on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 10, 2025

AI giant Nvidia becomes first company to reach $4 trillion milestone

The achievement marks new milestone in Wall Street's bet that artificial intelligence will transform the economy.
Pacific Investment Management says Japan has become a key destination for global investors as a trade war prompts a reevaluation of capital flows into the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 11, 2025

Pimco sees Japan wooing capital as tariffs spur diversification

Japan is drawing inflows that seek to benefit from "once-in-a-generation structural reforms” in equities and rising rates in fixed income, said the co-head of Pimco in Japan.
After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Jul 14, 2025

How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan

Remote work is reshaping how Indian professionals navigate life, family and identity in a post-pandemic Japan.
Effective immediately, individuals and companies must notify Kuala Lumpur at least 30 days prior to exporting or shipping high-performance U.S. artificial intelligence chips.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 14, 2025

Malaysia controls AI chip exports as U.S. targets China smuggling

Kuala Lumpur has come under increasing pressure from Washington to halt the suspected flow of AI chips to China via intermediaries in Malaysia.
Megan Myungwon Lee, head of Panasonic's North American operations, says the company's newest battery plant in Kansas will reach full production this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2025

Panasonic aims for full output at Kansas battery plant this year

The new factory will ship battery cells to Tesla as well as several other EV makers, including Lucid and Hexagon Purus.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been frustrated by the quality of his company's past AI efforts, so has been investing heavily in the energy, computing power and talent needed to compete in the fast-moving AI race.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 15, 2025

Meta to spend billions building gigawatt-size data centers for AI

Frustrated by the quality of Meta’s past AI efforts, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been investing heavily in energy, computing power and talent to compete in the fast-moving AI race.
Bottles of Chianti at the international wine and spirits fair Vinitaly in Verona, Italy, on April 6
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 15, 2025

Italy's Chianti wine makers eye South America, Asia amid U.S. tariff threat

Italy currently exports more wine to the U.S. than any other country, but producers are increasingly looking to diversify amid the trade uncertainty.
Only two months into his role as agriculture minister, Shinjiro Koizumi has become the face of a risky political bet by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025

Japan’s ‘rice minister’ is ruling party’s biggest election gamble

Shinjiro Koizumi’s reformist drive is testing the loyalty of Japan's rural population — the LDP’s most dependable voter bloc.
Soldiers stand during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to a military training area to find out about the training of Ukrainian soldiers on the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, in Germany in June last year.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025

Ukraine celebrates Trump's weapons reversal, but the 'devil's in the details'

U.S. President Donald Trump has finally found a way to like arming Ukraine: ask European allies to donate their weapons, and sell them American replacements.
Solar power more than doubled to 24% of Pakistan's energy mix in the first five months of 2025, becoming the largest source of energy production for the first time.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jul 17, 2025

Pakistan's quiet solar rush puts pressure on national grid

Solar power more than doubled to 24% of Pakistan's energy mix in the first five months of 2025, becoming the largest source of energy production for the first time.

Longform

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