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Rakuten Group CEO Hiroshi Mikitani speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2025

Rakuten’s Mikitani wants to sell bonds to Japanese investors

Market pricing indicates that views on Rakuten are improving after years of losses and a stretched balance sheet.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani says the company sees an opportunity in Japan, which has been a laggard in the adoption of digital and artificial intelligence-powered technologies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 21, 2025

Rakuten founder defends costly mobile foray with big AI bet

Rakuten Mobile and its 8 million-plus users help train an AI poised to expand the conglomerate’s business, according to billionaire founder Hiroshi Mikitani.
TikTok boasts 170 million monthly U.S. users and has become a major driver of culture and politics among young Americans.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 24, 2025

TikTok’s possible buyers, from Elon Musk to MrBeast

There will be no shortage of interested acquirers for the popular video service, which boasts 170 million monthly U.S. users.
Vehicles parked at a General Motors complex in Silao, Guanajuato state, Mexico
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2025

Car prices face $3,000 increase in U.S. as tariffs hit auto sector

The tariffs are set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, giving manufacturers less than 48 hours to figure out what to do.
People line up outside an Apple store in Beijing.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 7, 2025

Apple’s China focus thrusts it into center of geopolitical fight

It counts China as its biggest manufacturing hub and the U.S. as its largest market, putting it at the center of an escalating geopolitical fight.
Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and other prominent entrepreneurs met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, in a signal of Beijing’s support for the private sector after years of turmoil.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2025

Xi hosts summit with Jack Ma and other private sector leaders

The meeting signals Beijing’s support for the private sector after years of turmoil.
Busan port, southeast of Seoul. Business leaders in South Korea are taking action to offset the threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Feb 25, 2025

South Korea political turmoil pushes companies to take tariff matters into their own hands

Trump's sweeping and sometimes indiscriminate trade measures have sparked existential debate in many international capitals.
Seven & I Holdings CEO Ryuichi Isaka is stepping down from his position, the Nikkei newspaper has reported.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 3, 2025

7-Eleven owner to appoint first foreign CEO, report says

The owner's plan to take the company private to avoid being taken over by Couche-Tard collapsed last week, piling pressure on it to reconsider the $47 billion takeover proposal.
Seven & I named Stephen Hayes Dacus as its first foreign chief executive on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2025

Seven & I announces measures to fend off Couche-Tard takeover

The announcements are the latest twist in a saga that began last year when Seven & I rebuffed a takeover offer from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Aizawa Concrete employees work in the Namie factory in Fukushima Prefecture in January.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Mar 11, 2025

14 years after 3/11 disasters, Fukushima vies to become a startup hub

Part of the goal is to attract a more permanent workforce to Fukushima to support the development of the prefecture as a whole.
Climate change mitigation demands collective action from all levels of society, not just billionaires with private jets, as systemic change is necessary for meaningful progress.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2025

Billionaire’s private jet angst won’t save the world

Data center emissions in the U.S. already rival those of the domestic airline industry and are growing far quicker.
Workers at the Cosco Shipping Holding shipyard in Qidong, Jiangsu province, China, on Oct. 8, 2024
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 24, 2025

Billion-dollar U.S. levies on Chinese ships risk ‘trade apocalypse’

The levies could theoretically generate between $40 billion and $52 billion for U.S. coffers.
Billionaire Elon Musk said the value of his X social media network is $45 billion when including $12 billion of debt, describing his xAI artificial intelligence startup's purchase of X as an all-stock transaction.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 29, 2025

Musk’s xAI startup swallows up X social network in surprise deal

Elon Musk said his xAI artificial intelligence startup has acquired the X platform, which he also controls, at a valuation of $33 billion.
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 30, 2025

Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps

At a Tokyo Fail Club gathering, speakers share candid talks about ventures gone wrong, bankruptcy and depression, touting a message of persistence in the face of adversity.
Hon Hai Precision Industry, which does business as Foxconn, wants to make electric vehicles for Japanese carmakers.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Apr 10, 2025

It makes iPhones. Now Hon Hai wants to make cars for Japanese automakers.

The Taiwanese company's seemingly unlikely proposition — given the structure and history of Japan's auto industry — just might work.
An overwhelming majority of Japanese firms are negative about achieving a goal of having women in 30% of executive positions by 2030, a survey shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 20, 2023

Firms pessimistic about hitting 30% goal for female execs by 2030, poll shows

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida set the target in June for leading companies, aiming to boost womens' management participation from 2.2% as of July 2022.
Elon Musk has changed Twitter's logo, replacing its signature blue bird with a stylized X as part of the billionaire's vision of transforming the 17-year-old service into an "everything app."
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2023

Twitter turning into X is set to kill billions in brand value

Musk’s move wiped out anywhere between $4 billion and $20 billion in value, according to analysts and brand agencies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2023

Bigmotor chief to resign in wake of repair fraud scandal

Employees were found to have intentionally damaged the vehicles of some customers in order to charge excessive repair fees and make fraudulent insurance claims.
Nissan Motor has finalized plans to invest in Renault’s electric-vehicle venture Ampere, capping months of negotiations to rebalance the troubled automotive alliance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 26, 2023

Nissan to invest $663 million in Renault EV unit as alliance rejigged

The deal caps months of negotiations aimed at rebalancing the troubled automotive alliance.
In the international market, a larger number of airlines went bankrupt compared to domestic fliers due to the pandemic, with low-cost, long-haul carriers getting hit particularly hard.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2023

Post-pandemic travel boom is running out of steam

Fare promotions and other signs of weakening domestic demand show business is leveling out for airlines after post-COVID-19 boom.
More than 30 samples of drugs made by Synokem, including generic abortion pills, have failed quality tests conducted by Indian regulators and public health researchers since 2018.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2023

Global abortion pill provider buys from maker with poor quality record

More than 30 samples of drugs made by Delhi-based Synokem Pharmaceuticals have failed quality tests conducted by Indian regulators.
Tom Malian on Monday at his business, Toluca Lake Dry Cleaners, in Burbank, California near the Warner Bros. and Disney studios. His business has taken a severe blow since Hollywood went on strike. Film and TV production ground to a halt 100 days ago when writers downed their pens, before being joined on the picket lines in mid-July by actors.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 9, 2023

Los Angeles subdued as Hollywood double strike hits 100 days

Despite its sprawling size, the city is almost as much a company town as any in America dominated by a single industry.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with a payload of 21 Starlink satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 27.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 18, 2023

Starlink lifts off in Asia as satellite internet race heats up

Elon Musk's company has carved out a niche and an opportunity through the region's natural disasters and the vast sweep of its archipelagoes and islands.
A Saudi Aramco oil tank at the Ras Tanura refinery and terminal in Saudi Arabia
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 27, 2023

U.N. experts challenge Saudi Aramco over climate change

The largely state-owned enterprise plans to ramp up national oil production capacity to 13 million barrels per day by 2027.
Gigi Chao, vice chair of Cheuk Nang Holdings, in Hong Kong on July 19
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2023

More LGBTQ rights could help Asian financial hubs draw global talent

In Japan, the only Group of Seven nation without legal protection for same-sex unions, corporations are seen as a key driver for change.
Disney and cable giant Charter Communications are negotiating over how much Charter will pay Disney to carry its channels.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 6, 2023

Behind the Disney-Charter dispute over the future of TV

Media companies are trying to build profitable streaming services while cable providers feel like they're subsidizing a business that cannibalizes them.
Mizuho Financial Group has been expanding its presence in the United States to tap the world’s biggest fee pool, becoming one of the four global investment banks leading Arm's IPO.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2023

Mizuho's SoftBank ties boost Wall Street ambitions via Arm IPO

The bank has been expanding its presence in the U.S. to tap the world’s biggest fee pool, even as deals slump globally following the pandemic.
Rachel Culin, a disenchanted Toyota owner, standing between her Toyota Prius and new Chevy Bolt at her home in Mesa, Arizona. The world’s largest carmaker dominates the sales of hybrid cars but has been slow to sell all-electric vehicles, alienating some customers and hurting sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2023

Toyota, a hybrid pioneer, struggles to master electric vehicles

The world’s largest carmaker dominates the sales of hybrid cars but has been slow to sell EVs, alienating some customers and hurting sales.
An autonomous truck in Stack AV’s test fleet
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2023

SoftBank backs autonomous trucking firm started by ex-Ford execs

The new firm, named Stack AV, is led by three executives who previously ran Argo AI, the self-driving operation that Ford and VW shut down last year.
Core machinery orders, the leading indicator of Japanese business spending, were down 1.1% in July from the previous month in July.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 14, 2023

Weak machinery orders darken outlook and raise policy challenge

Core orders, the leading indicator of Japanese business spending, were down 1.1% in July from the previous month, Cabinet Office data showed.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami