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Intermediary support is crucial for drug availability in Japan, where more than 50 therapies have been identified as needed but unavailable to patients.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2025

Itochu working to support overseas pharma firms to fill Japan's drug gaps

Two units of the trading house will assist with everything from early-stage consulting, regulatory advice and clinical testing support to post-launch distribution.
A Tirtir store in Seoul on May 23
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2025

South Korean beauty brands bet boom in U.S. demand outlasts tariff pain

The startups are expanding their bricks-and-mortar presence in the world's biggest consumer market, confident their mass appeal will offset tariff costs.
Pierre Chen, founder and chairman of Taiwan's Yageo, says his company would keep Shibaura Electronics’s most advanced technology in Japan if it successfully buys the Japanese firm.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2025

Taiwan’s Yageo plans to keep Shibaura’s AI technology in Japan

Yageo is facing off against Nintendo supplier Minebea Mitsumi in its bid for Shibaura and is offering ¥6,200 for each Shibaura share.
Bain Capital has about five deals under discussion that leverage a strategy to unlock value from real estate assets held by Japanese companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2025

With ¥723 billion in Japan real estate already, Bain ramps up property deals

Property is becoming a key feature of the booming private equity landscape in Japan, as global investment firms look to scoop up undervalued assets.
A worker cleans the floor next of a BYD dealership in Sandton, South Africa, on June 5.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jun 10, 2025

Why China's auto and tech giants threaten Tesla’s self-driving future

More Chinese auto and tech companies are offering affordable electric vehicles with advanced technology for a relative pittance.
Seven & I Holdings, the operator of 7-Eleven storesm has pushed back against Alimentation Couche-Tard’s unsolicited ¥7.39 trillion ($51.3 billion) takeover proposal and is overhauling its business under a new CEO.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 12, 2025

Couche-Tard sees ‘clear path’ to Seven & I deal with U.S. stores divestment

The Canadian retailer says several potential buyers have made proposals to acquire its convenience stores in the U.S. that overlap with Seven & I's.
Sumitomo Realty has earmarked 19 midsize office buildings in Tokyo for divestment, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2025

Sumitomo Realty seeks office sale after Elliott takes stake

The developer has earmarked 19 midsize office buildings for the divestment.
The government is looking to ease the overconcentration of businesses in Tokyo to tackle labor shortages in the countryside, ensure nationwide economic growth and realize a sustainable society.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 13, 2025

Government aims to create 10,000 jobs via business relocations from Tokyo

The move is aimed at easing overconcentration of companies in the capital and bridge an urban-rural divide in economic growth.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a payload of Starlink satellites lifts off from the U.S. Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 14, 2025

White House reviews SpaceX contracts as Trump-Musk feud simmers

The administration ordered the agencies to scrutinize Musk’s contracts to ready possible retaliation against the businessman and his companies, sources said.
A social media influencer photographs her meal for her followers.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 16, 2025

Influencers take bigger bite of ad pie as economic turmoil tightens budgets

Brands increased investment in influencer partnerships by 49% in 2024 and content creators topped social media marketing budgets, taking up a quarter of total annual spending.
Mitsubishi could announce a deal to buy the assets of Aethon Energy Management in the next couple of months, sources have said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 17, 2025

Mitsubishi said to be in advanced talks on $8 billion Aethon deal

The Japanese conglomerate could announce a deal with the U.S. energy-focused investment firm in the next couple of months, according to sources.
Japan Post President Tetsuya Senda speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2025

Japan Post to accept loss of truck transport business permit

The transport ministry is expected to revoke the permit by the end of this month at the earliest.
The deterioration of earnings at Kirayaka Bank resulted in its holding company Jimoto Holdings to book a net loss for the second straight year in fiscal 2024.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025

Regional lender Jimoto Holdings exits government control

In the business year ended in March 2024, Jimoto Holdings incurred a net loss for the second straight year due to the deterioration of earnings at subsidiary Kirayaka Bank.
Japan Display holds a general shareholders' meeting on Saturday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 22, 2025

JDI vows turnaround at shareholders' meeting

The struggling maker of liquid crystal display panels will shutter its flagship Mobara plant and cut about 1,500 jobs in Japan.
Nomura Holdings Chief Executive Officer Kentaro Okuda
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2025

Nomura CEO’s pay more than doubles after profit hits record

Kentaro Okuda’s compensation rose to ¥1.208 billion ($8.2 million) in the year ended March 31, from ¥506 million a year earlier.
Trucks parked at Japan Post's post office in Tokyo's Koto Ward earlier this month
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Japan Post stripped of truck transport business license

The company will not be allowed to operate its approximately 2,500 trucks and other vehicles for five years.
U.S. President Donald Trump receives a gold helmet with his name on it during a visit to U.S. Steel in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2025

Trump himself will wield U.S. Steel ‘golden share’ superpowers

After the U.S. president leaves office, the authority will move to executive branch departments.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive for a family photo during the Group of Seven leaders' summit at the Kananaskis Country Golf Course in Kananaskis, Alberta, on June 16.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 28, 2025

Trump halts trade talks with Canada, shattering optimism over tariff deals

The move came just hours after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent struck an upbeat tone on trade, saying deals could be reached by Sept. 1.
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.
Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, in Washington on June 24. The question of how to handle the fallout from White House decisions may loom large as Powell is set to speak on a panel with peers from the euro zone, Japan, South Korea and the U.K.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 30, 2025

Powell and Lagarde count cost of Trump’s turbulence

At the halfway point of 2025, global policy is almost paralyzed by the need to navigate risks posed both to inflation and growth in the wake of Trump’s actions.
The Bank of Japan's latest <i>tankan</i> survey beat consensus forecasts as the economy held up better than expected.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 1, 2025

Large Japanese companies surprisingly optimistic as U.S. tariffs bite 

In the tankan survey, automakers and smaller companies were relatively pessimistic.
A port near Shanghai. Beijing has often responded to actions it opposes with targeted trade measures.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2025

Beijing braces for U.S. trade deals that aim to shut out China

China is becoming increasingly wary of U.S. efforts to forge deals that could isolate Chinese firms from global supply chains.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange wants more exchange-traded funds and a wider variety of such offerings.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 4, 2025

Forming an ETF just got easier in Japan with new white-label service

Japan Asset Management Platform handles many of the formalities and much of the necessary operations for fund managers.
The expansion of the locker-to-hotel delivery service is expected to ease congestion on public transportation.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2025

Locker-to-hotel luggage delivery service expanding in Japan

The service was launched at major stations in Osaka last year and operators have recorded a rapid rise in usage.
Samsung, South Korea’s largest company, reported preliminary operating profit of 4.6 trillion won ($3.3 billion) in the June quarter, a roughly 56% drop from a year ago.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 8, 2025

Samsung profit halves amid delays to certification for advanced AI chips

The company has yet to secure certification from Nvidia for its most advanced product, creating an unusually long lead time for rivals in the highly lucrative space.
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 13, 2025

Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119

More than 1 million foreign visitors a year experience a medical event during their stay.
Nidec CEO Mitsuya Kishida with lion dance performers during the opening ceremony of the company’s Qingdao Industrial Park on July 9
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 16, 2025

Nidec builds made-in-China EV motor to help Toyota catch rivals

About 99% of the materials and parts in the new E-axle motor are from China, said Nidec president Mitsuya Kishida.
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son (left) with OpenAI chief Sam Altman via video link
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 16, 2025

Masayoshi Son and Sam Altman see no end to AI demand and scaling

The two business partners argued that advancing AI would lead to new jobs that are not yet imagined, and the advancement of robotics will help kickstart a "self-improvement” loop.
Tomoko Tamura, chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party, attends a debate with other party leaders in Tokyo in October. Her party urges voters to end the LDP’s business-centered politics and U.S. dependence by supporting its social, economic and foreign-policy reforms.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 16, 2025

JCP vows fairer taxes, stronger social safety net and a commitment to peaceful diplomacy

Tamura says LDP’s politics are now in a terminal and critical state with the party unable to respond to domestic and international issues or the wishes of the people.
Analysts say the failure of Alimentation Couche-Tard’s attempt to acquire the operator of 7-Eleven stores runs counter to the broader trend in Japan's investing landscape.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025

Couche-Tard’s failed bid for Seven and I sparks debate over foreign acquisitions

Couche-Tard's acquisition failure is seen as running counter to the broader trend in the investing landscape in 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