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Visitors take selfies at Kinkaku-ji Golden Temple in Kyoto.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2024

Overtourism isn’t the conundrum it’s made out to be

142 countries are projected to exceed their pre-pandemic tourism performance this year, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
The departure of the head of Apple's App Store comes as the division is being split into two teams: one overseeing Apple’s own store and another responsible for alternative app distribution.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2024

Apple’s App Store head to leave in reorganization amid global scrutiny

Matt Fischer, a vice president who has run the App Store business since 2010, will leave the iPhone maker in October.
Canadian National Railway workers picket at the CPKC Toronto yard, after the company and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) locked out employees following unsuccessful negotiation attempts with the Teamsters union, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 23, 2024

Canada moves quickly to end unprecedented rail shutdown

The Canadian Industrial Relations Board will consult the two rail companies and unions before issuing a back-to-work order that should come soon.
In this NASA handout, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of a test flight at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in July 2021.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 26, 2024

Boeing's CEO faces hard choices after NASA snubs Starliner for SpaceX

The specter of NASA astronauts being stuck in space is just one embarrassing moment of many for Boeing during an epically bad year.
Used cars are sold at high prices at a dealership in Nagoya as a surge in export demand has reduced supply on the domestic market.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Sep 2, 2024

Japanese businesses grapple with exchange rate swings

For the used car sector, the weaker yen has resulted in buyers being forced to pay higher prices due to increased export demand.
The X account of Elon Musk in seen blocked on a mobile screen on Saturday after Brazil's telecommunications regulator suspended access to the X social network in the country to comply with an order from a judge who has been locked in a monthslong feud with the billionaire.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 2, 2024

Musk’s Starlink defies order to block X in Brazil

The move illustrates the sheer power of the billionaire and his business empire and how he leverages it to confront authorities and challenge laws he does not like.
Seven & I is currently categorized on the Finance Ministry's classification list as a company that conducts "designated," but not "core" businesses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024

Japanese companies cannot use national security cover to block takeovers, official says

Japanese companies cannot use a national security designation as a tool to thwart foreign takeovers, a senior Finance Ministry official said.
When it comes to trade disputes between the U.S. and China, not even the game of golf is spared.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2024

U.S. golf cart industry reveals how China tariffs are a blunt instrument

In factories and shops around the country, finding complaints about cheaper Chinese competitors is easy — but reaching a consensus on how to combat them is harder.
A mock-up of Toyota's next-generation Li-ion batteries for battery electric vehicles
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 6, 2024

Japan to provide new subsidies for domestic EV battery output

Handing out more subsidies will help expand the country's production capacity for storage batteries by around 50%.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 7, 2024

U.S. opposition to Nippon Steel deal 'very unsettling,' PM hopeful Ishiba says

Some experts say blocking the deal could undermine U.S.-Japan cooperation on national security, and put the lie to the notion of "ally shoring."
A Tokyo Star Bank branch in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024

Tiny Japan bank looks to grow by lending to offshore homebuyers

Japan’s weak yen and low interest rates have drawn overseas interest in Japanese property and boosted prices.
Nippon Steel headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel send letter to Biden on merger plans

A spokesperson did not provide details about the letter's content, but said it was signed by the chief executives of both steelmakers.
Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of Salesforce, speaks during a press conference at the 2024 Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, California, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 18, 2024

Salesforce’s new AI strategy acknowledges that AI will take jobs

The new strategy by Salesforce addresses the investor fear that job losses from AI could hurt the software-as-a-service business model.
Toru Yamasaki, president of San-in Godo Bank, says buying the Japanese government bonds are better for a regional bank like his than foreign debt.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024

Japan bank stung by Fed hikes plots return to government bonds

A bank operating in Japan’s least populated area is doing something that may have global repercussions if its peers do the same.
Intel, once the world’s largest chipmaker, has become the target of takeover speculation since a rapid deterioration of its business this year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 28, 2024

Arm is rebuffed by Intel after inquiring about buying product unit

Intel, once the world’s largest chipmaker, has become the target of takeover speculation since a rapid deterioration of its business this year.
Japan's declining population has made it more difficult for convenience store operators to grow.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2024

Some 7-Eleven owners in Japan welcome foreign bid, hoping for change

Some franchisees are concerned about competition from rivals and say they are struggling with rising costs.
Big nonmanufacturers' mood has improved, the Bank of Japan's 
<i>tankan</i> survey shows, underscoring the strength of domestic demand.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 1, 2024

Big manufacturer sentiment steady in third quarter, tankan survey shows

While the survey found optimism among manufacturers, nonmanufacturers expect conditions to worsen in the months ahead.
Nike has been particularly criticized for failing to prioritize runners, one of its key markets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2024

Nike seeks to wipe slate clean for new CEO and withdraws guidance

Investors are looking for the new CEO to rebuild Nike’s frayed relationships with retailers and staff who’ve lost faith in the company’s trajectory.
A standard Chocozap location is small and unmanned, which has made it easy for Rizap to add locations amid a chronic labor shortage.
BUSINESS
Oct 20, 2024

Gyms in Japan offer laundry, karaoke and hair-removal machines

Chocozap's oddball gyms were created as an experiment during the coronavirus pandemic.
Coffee house owner Vu Dinh Tu making coffee at a cafe in Hanoi, Vietnam on Sept. 30.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2024

Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution

Coffee has become a byword for creativity and self-expression among young entrepreneurs — though their parents may take some convincing.
Toshinori Yashiki, a senior official at the Financial Services Agency, says the regulator will examine Japanese megabanks’ lending to private equity and other funds in the U.S. for risk management.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2024

Japan regulator to scrutinize megabanks’ lending to U.S. funds

The nation's largest banks are increasing what is known as subscription finance and lending to funds that provide equity or credit to private companies.
People walk along a street during morning rush hour near the Financial Street in Beijing on Oct. 8.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2024

Chinese finance professionals switch careers amid industry crackdown

The tightening scrutiny of trading, financing and dealmaking in China has brought pay and job cuts.
The average fee to send $200 from Japan is the highest among G7 countries at 6.94%, according to World Bank data for the first quarter of 2024.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2024

Wise becomes first foreign firm to gain direct access to Japan's payment clearing network

The move could put pressure on banks including megabanks and smaller players in the competitive market for remittances.
At least 10 firms have temporarily suspended some business activities with Nomura because of its market manipulation scandal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 18, 2024

Big clients halt trades with Nomura over market manipulation scandal

At least 10 firms have temporarily suspended some business activities with Japan's biggest brokerage because of the breach.
Debt-laden companies in Japan are rapidly growing in number, in some measures even faster than in 1992 after the collapse of its asset price bubble.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2024

Zombie companies may finally succumb to bankruptcy on BOJ hikes

Bankruptcies topped 5,000 cases for the first time in a decade between April and September, a report by Tokyo Shoko Research showed earlier this month.
Robyn Qiu (left) and her father Qiu Zhirong in their metal parts factory in Nantong, in eastern China's Jiangsu province, on Sept. 27
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 28, 2024

China's second-generation factory owners go digital to combat challenges

Flagging domestic demand in recent years has weighed on the manufacturing sector.
Nomura Holdings Chief Financial Officer Takumi Kitamura (center) speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 1, 2024

Nomura's profit beats estimates, though scandals cloud outlook

Net income more than doubled from a year earlier to ¥98.4 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30.
Workers at a garment factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, on April 16, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 5, 2024

AI supports fashion's climate goals, but workers may be left behind

In Bangladesh, about 60% of apparel workers, or 2.7 million people, risk losing their jobs due to automation.
Asian chipmakers, led by Taiwan's TSMC and South Korea's Samsung Electronics, have collectively invested at least $117 billion in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2024

What's at stake for Asian companies under a Trump presidency

Trump has floated the idea of a 10% or more tariff on all goods imported into the U.S.
The U.S. government has asked a judge to order the dismantling of Google by selling its widely used Chrome browser in a major antitrust crackdown on the internet giant.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 21, 2024

U.S. Justice Department proposes sale of Google's Chrome to curb monopoly

The proposed changes follow a landmark ruling that the technology giant illegally monopolized online search.

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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