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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore during an interview in Tokyo. The governor is in Japan on a four-day trade and investment mission.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 14, 2025

Maryland governor talks trains and trade while in Japan

Gov. Wes Moore said he believes the Northeast Maglev — which may use technology from Japan — could transform the region's economy.
MS&AD forecasts that net profit for its North American operations will reach ¥166 billion in the fiscal year ended in March, a 3.5fold increase from the previous fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2025

Insurer MS&AD plans to invest $5 billion to double U.S. profits

The Tokyo-based casualty insurer has the highest market share in Asia among global firms, but it’s No. 3 among Japanese peers in North America.
Fees from dealmaking also helped net income climb 27% from a year earlier to ¥72 billion ($501 million) in the three months ended March 31, Nomura said in a statement Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025

Nomura profit beats estimates on equity trading and dealmaking

The result caps a record year of profits, helped by robust trading and dealmaking and a resurgence in investing by Japanese individuals.
A company linked to the son of former Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Makoto Koga is at the center of an income concealment case involving about ¥100 million tied to massage chair operations at Haneda Airport.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2025

Haneda terminal operator unit underreports income by ¥100 million

The subsidiary, Big Wing, was found to have concealed the income in connection with the business of installing massage chairs.
Digital screens at Piccadilly Circus display an advertisement for the Jaguar Type 00 concept car in London on Dec. 5, 2024.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 28, 2025

Advertising giants brace for tariff-induced cuts to ad spending

The car industry, one of the sectors most vulnerable to a trade war, is likely to lead the way in curtailing ad spend.
While for Aston Martin, it’s all about delivering luxury, their regional president for Asia Gregory Adams' start in the auto industry in Japan was far more humble.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 6, 2025

The drive for luxury: Aston Martin Asia's president explains the desire for more

“No one needs an Aston Martin,” said the company's regional president for Asia — it is more about emotion and less about practicality.
A pullback by some of Asia's richest families from U.S. assets marks a rapid change from just a few months ago, when many in region’s business elite cheered U.S. President Donald Trump’s election win, sending share prices at banks and major tech firms to record highs.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2025

Asia’s superrich rapidly scale back U.S. exposure amid trade war

The pullback marks a rapid change from just a few months ago, when many in the region’s business elite cheered the election win of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Sharp aims to focus its business resources on competitive fields by selling its Kameyama LCD plant to Hon Hai Precision Industry.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2025

Japan's Sharp to sell Kameyama LCD plant to Hon Hai

Sharp aims to focus its business resources on competitive fields by downsizing the LCD panel business, which has been operating in the red.
Overall net profit is expected to go down 42.9% from the previous year to ¥200 billion at Nippon Steel, 18.4% to ¥75 billion at JFE Holdings and 16.8% to ¥100 billion at Kobe Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2025

Three major Japan steelmakers say they expect profit falls in fiscal 2025

Overall net profit is expected to go down 42.9% from the previous year to ¥200 billion at Nippon Steel, 18.4% to ¥75 billion at JFE and 16.8% to ¥100 billion at Kobe Steel.
Carlyle Japan is expanding hiring of investment professionals as it believes Japanese companies that are focused on domestic businesses are actually very appealing amid the global trade turmoil.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2025

Carlyle on Japan hiring spree after new $3 billion buyout fund

Private equity has found a sweet spot in Japan in recent years, where borrowing costs remain low and companies have become receptive to selling off operations.
Goldman Sachs’ unit in Japan, although posting lower profit last year, kept its spot as the most profitable among foreign banks in the country that close their books in December.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2025

Goldman Sachs leads in a patchy year for foreign banks in Japan

The varied results suggest that 2024 was a tricky year for the world’s largest lenders operating in Japan, as investors adjusted to rising interest rates.
Yoshinobu Tsutsui (left), who is expected to become the new Keidanren chairman, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on March 25, as the current chairman, Masakazu Tokura, looks on.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 23, 2025

Keidanren to install first leader from financial sector

The post of Keidanren chairman has traditionally been held by leaders from the manufacturing sector.
Denso is expanding its agricultural business and hopes to become a key supplier of industrialized greenhouses capable of producing food in any climate.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2025

Denso in talks to buy Temasek-backed seed supplier for $500 million

A purchase would align with Denso’s ambition to become a key supplier of industrialized greenhouses capable of producing food in any climate.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote at Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference (GTC) at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, on March 18.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 29, 2025

Nvidia eases concerns about China with upbeat sales forecast

"Every nation now sees AI as core to the next industrial revolution,” CEO Jensen Huang said on a conference call with analysts.
Nippon Yusen, Japan's biggest shipper, believes there will probably not be another decline in bookings impacted by U.S. tariffs this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2025

Top Japan shipper sees orders recovering as trade tensions ease

Nippon Yusen saw a robust recovery in container shipping orders following an easing in tensions between the United States and some of its trading partners this month.
Daiwa Securities CEO Akihiko Ogino says mergers and acquisition deals are harder to come by this year due to uncertainties over U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2025

Daiwa pauses M&A hiring as tariff uncertainty chokes deal pipeline

The assessment from Japan’s second-largest brokerage indicates how changes in global trade policy are rippling through spending activity.
Laleli's informal shipping scene, once a bustling hub of cross-continental trade, is now facing growing pressure from rising costs and tougher residency rules imposed by Turkish authorities.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2025

Tough residency rules and Chinese competition squeeze Istanbul's 'suitcase trade'

Shipments have dropped, even as Turkish exports to Africa have generally soared — from $11.5 billion in 2017 to $19.4 billion last year.
A farmer cuts down cocoa pods from a tree on his farm in Azaguie, Cote d'Ivoire.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 17, 2025

High cocoa prices drive smuggling surge, alarming traders

Cote d'Ivoire is the world's largest cocoa producer, but much higher prices in neighboring countries create an arbitrage that some can't resist exploiting.
Toyota has filed a lawsuit in a South African court over 2022 flood damages that shuttered its plant near Durban.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2025

Toyota insurer files $361 million South Africa flood damage lawsuit

The claim alleges that by failing to maintain waterways and drainage systems that carried the floodwater, the defendants shared responsibility for the damage.
Bentos are popular with a wide range of people in Japan for convenience and price.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2025

Bento shop bankruptcies could hit a record in 2025

Inflation, weak economic growth and work-at-home arrangements are leading to a decline in sales, lower profits and losses.
Fuji Media Holdings President Osamu Kanemitsu (center) and Kenji Shimizu (right), the president of Fuji TV, who serves on the board of Fuji TV's parent, at the annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2025

Fuji TV parent secures approval for new board members at shareholders meeting

The focus was on how much support there was for the proposal of activist Dalton Investments, which reportedly holds 7.5% of shares in the company.
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority spent years setting up a regime to intervene in the operations of tech giants such as Google, only for the Labour government to say its need to grow the economy meant tough regulation was now out.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 26, 2025

U.K. politics blunts antitrust action against Google

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority spent years setting up a regime to intervene in tech giants' operations, only for the Labour government to say tough regulation was out.
Racks of servers being tested at the new Amazon Web Services facility in New Carlisle, Indiana, on June 3
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 30, 2025

AI data-center boom could destroy Big Tech's net-zero plans

The tech sector faces a "climate strategy crisis" as its data centers demand ever more electricity and water to power growing fields, such as artificial intelligence.
Natixis has hired Makoto Kawamura, formerly head of JPMorgan Chase Bank’s Japan treasury and chief investment office in Tokyo, and Hideaki Sugahara, who was a director at Societe Generale, for its new banking business in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2025

Seeing growth potential, Natixis plans to double banking staff in Japan

The move comes as Paris-based Natixis starts a new banking branch in Tokyo, in the latest sign of a global financial firm vying for business opportunities in Japan.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore recently announced a hard deadline of June 30 for cryptocurrency firms incorporated in Singapore and offering services offshore to cease activities.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 2, 2025

Binance to keep hundreds of staff in Singapore despite crypto crackdown

More than 400 Binance workers label themselves as based in Singapore on LinkedIn.
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.
Lei Jun introduces the Xiaomi YU7 sport utility vehicle during a launch event in Beijing on June 26.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 7, 2025

Xiaomi founder’s bold EV bet is paying off where Apple’s failed

The tech firm's success in the EV space has burnished founder Lei Jun’s reputation, making it one of the most valuable companies in China.
Takeshi Niinami, Suntory Holdings CEO and chairperson of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 10, 2025

Japan's united front on tariffs begins to crack as doubts raised

A senior business leader has questioned the effectiveness of the government in negotiating with the U.S.
Businesses who cater to fandoms gathered at Tokyo Lifestyle Week for the second annual Oshikatsu — Merch Collection Expo, a trade show devoted to fandom goods.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Jul 12, 2025

Music idol and anime fandom merch is big business

Over 100 booths showed off the latest in acrylic stands, binoculars and cheering items such as glow sticks and flags at the second Oshikatsu — Merch Expo.
A worker places blank guitar picks into a tray at D'Addario's production facility in Farmingdale, New York, on July 10.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 23, 2025

Inside a U.S. guitar string-maker's strategy to navigate the trade war

While the company makes nearly all its music accessories in the U.S., its supply chain and distribution are global, with its biggest foreign market being Japan.

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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