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Nomura Orient International Securities has trimmed staffing by about two-thirds in its China wealth business over the past two years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2025

Nomura scaling back China wealth unit, shifting focus to brokerage and assets

Japan's biggest brokerage is currently seeking a new CEO for the securities business on the mainland.
The U.S. Justice Department and a group of states sued Google in 2023, arguing the company illegally monopolized three separate markets related to the technology used for online display advertising: ad servers, exchanges and networks.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 18, 2025

Google loses key antitrust case over ad tech practices

Google has lost a key antitrust case over its ad tech dominance, as a judge found it used exclusionary tactics that hurt rivals, publishers, and consumers.
Tariffs, and the risk they pose to both the economy and inflation, have been the focus of global attention.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 20, 2025

First shock waves of Trump’s tariffs are about to hit the world economy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to lower its outlook for economic growth in new projections released on Tuesday.
Nomura has been expanding in asset management in a bid to generate more stable income and reduce its reliance on volatile trading and investment banking.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2025

Nomura’s biggest deal since Lehman forms $770 billion fund giant

Tokyo-based Nomura has been expanding in asset management in a bid to generate more stable income and reduce its reliance on volatile trading and investment banking.
Nomura Holdings is seeking to build scale in the U.S. asset management market despite recent volatility caused by escalating trade tensions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025

Nomura bets big on U.S. market rebound with $1.8 billion deal

Nomura's executive officer said the latest disruptions don’t change the fact the U.S. remains the largest asset management market in the world.
Sony is considering spinning off its semiconductor unit, sources say.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2025

Sony weighs chip spinoff that Dan Loeb called for years ago

The chip business makes industry-leading image sensors that go into cameras inside Apple and Xiaomi phones.
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 18, 2025

Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability

Laurent Patouillet, who has headed the brand's Japanese operations since 2018, believes there is more that it can do to be environmentally sustainable.
The number of "zombie companies" in Japan, which do not make enough to cover their interest payments, was estimated to have grown some 228,000 in fiscal 2023, one of the highest in a decade.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 3, 2025

'Zombie company' apocalypse might be the point of Japan's minimum wage push

Government efforts to accelerate the pace of pay increases could lead to poorly performing companies going out of business.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te had pledged in April to address unspecified concerns from Washington about export controls.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 18, 2025

U.S.-China tech fight widens after Taiwan blacklists Huawei

The move is the first time Taipei has used its blacklist against major Chinese firms.
The Xiaomi YU7 electric SUV
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 26, 2025

China’s Xiaomi to launch first SUV as shares near record high

Now valued at $187 billion, Xiaomi is worth more than Chinese EV leader BYD as it grows its footprint in the world’s largest car market.
Seven & I has sought to make a case for remaining independent and has enacted changes such as appointing a new CEO.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2025

Couche-Tard abandons $46 billion bid to acquire 7-Eleven operator

Seven & I stock, up more than 25% since Couche-Tard’s interest became public 11 months ago, will likely decline due to the withdrawn proposal.
While Seven & I shares are higher than they were before Couche-Tard’s interest became public in August 2024, they fell after the proposal was withdrawn this week and are down by more than a fifth this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025

7-Eleven operator risks becoming buyout target again if turnaround fails

Seven & I Holdings remains a buyout target in the eyes of some investors, who say new suitors may emerge unless the operator of 7-Eleven turns around its business.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with the media at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, in May.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 22, 2025

In huge win for Trump, court throws out half-billion-dollar fraud penalty

The deeply divided decision by the Appellate Division in Manhattan is also a defeat for New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of Trump's biggest foes.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a warning via social media after the EU announced it was fining Google almost €3 billion ($3.5 billion) and ordering the search giant to stop favoring its own advertising technology services.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 6, 2025

Trump threatens trade actions after EU fines Google over ads

The EU announced that it was fining Google almost €3 billion ($3.5 billion) and ordering it stop favoring its own advertising technology services.
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2025

Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation

Sometimes it makes sense to act before the investigation is done.
Lachlan Murdoch, the eldest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, arrives for a probate court hearing in Reno, Nevada, on Sept. 16, 2024. A new deal gives Lachlan Murdoch control of his family's media empire for probably decades to come.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2025

Lachlan Murdoch 'a very different leader than his father'

The eldest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch strategizes plays designed to generate profits, not increase his political clout.
Chiba Bank President Tsutomu Yonemoto (left) and Chiba Kogyo Bank President Hitoshi Umeda shake hands at a news conference on Monday in the city of Chiba.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2025

Chiba Bank and Chiba Kogyo Bank to integrate under holding firm

The merger will create Japan's second-largest regional banking group, after Fukuoka Financial Group.
A Uniqlo store in New York. In recent years, Uniqlo’s affordable, well-made basic clothes have struck a chord, especially with younger American shoppers, fueling a rapid business expansion.
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2025

For Uniqlo’s founder, conquering America is personal

Uniqlo's affordable, wellmade basic clothes have struck a chord, especially with younger American shoppers, fueling a rapid business expansion.
Pedestrians outside a Seibu department store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district in April
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2023

Seven & I struggles to sell slumping Sogo & Seibu department stores

The holdup is centered around the flagship Seibu department store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, with the local government expressing rare opposition.
A WeWork co-working office space in San Francisco on Wednesday. WeWork has said there's 'substantial doubt' about its ability to continue operating, citing sustained losses and canceled memberships to its office spaces.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 10, 2023

WeWork’s ‘substantial doubt’ about its future marks a stunning fall

The New York-based company is bleeding cash, and customers of its office rentals are canceling their memberships in droves.
Toshiba said the Japan Industrial Partners-led consortium had gained 78.65% of Toshiba’s outstanding shares through the bid, which began Aug. 8, paying ¥4,620 per share.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 21, 2023

Toshiba to go private after success of ¥2 trillion takeover bid

The Japan Industrial Partners-led consortium has gained 78.65% of outstanding shares, paying ¥4,620 per share.
Baidu's co-founder and CEO Robin Li showcases an artificial intelligence chatbot known as Ernie Bot, during a news conference at the company's headquarters in Beijing in March
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 22, 2023

China's AI 'war of a hundred models' heads for a shakeout

Investors and analysts say that most AI firms lack viable business models, were too similar to each other and were now grappling with surging costs.
Lachlan Murdoch, the elder son of Rupert Murdoch, solidified his rise to the top on Thursday, when his father announced that he would retire from the boards of Fox Corporation and News Corporation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 22, 2023

Rupert Murdoch leaves media empire to son Lachlan

Murdoch’s decision to step aside is unlikely to take Fox and News Corp in new directions right away.
Packages to be delivered on Amazon Prime Day in New York in 2022
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2023

Why Amazon’s online marketplace drew FTC scrutiny

The FTC’s case against Amazon is an important test of whether Lina Khan’s interpretation of the law will hold up in court.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2023

Japan Airlines revamps first class with luxury double-bed suites

The firm is calculating that a premium-heavy configuration on its future planes will help deliver greater profitability.
Elon Musk’s X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is allowing child sexual exploitation material to rampantly proliferate, according to Australian regulators, the latest in a growing list of legal challenges the company is facing.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2023

Australian regulators latest in series of legal woes for Musk's X

X is allowing child sexual exploitation material to rampantly proliferate across the platform, according to Australian regulators.
A Grab food delivery cyclist makes a delivery in Singapore on Aug. 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2023

Consolidation looms for Southeast Asia’s food delivery giants

With growth in the sector slowing, companies are slimming down or bolstering their ties with other operators.
Students stand during a flag-lowering ceremony on the first day of the new academic year in Shanghai in 2021.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 8, 2023

China's private schools struggle amid COVID and regulatory woes

The sector stumbled after Beijing imposed new rules in 2021 and cracked down on the private tutoring business.
Sony Group has raised its full-year outlook after its media divisions outperformed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023

Sony raises sales and profit outlook as media helps offset mobile

The adjustments suggest resilient consumer spending and a weaker yen are stabilizing the business.
Mizuho Financial Group will raise its stake in Rakuten Securities to nearly 50%.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023

Mizuho said to raise Rakuten Securities stake to almost 50%

The banking group plans to increase its investment in Rakuten’s online securities arm, which isn’t proceeding with an initial public offering for now.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes