Search - business

 
 
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.
A member of staff works on a production line that manufactures small metal coils at Mitsuwa Electric in Tokyo on July 11.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025

Japan's smaller firms say they are ready to adapt to Trump tariffs

Millions of small- and medium-sized firms that make up 99.7% of Japan's companies are world-class in their specialist niche, giving rise to confidence about weathering tariffs.
Mizuho Investor Relations President Eiichi Yamazaki speaks during an interview on July 14 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 22, 2025

Mizuho to enhance client support amid rise of activist investors

President Eiichi Yamazaki said that Mizuho Investor Relations will leverage its extensive data on institutional investors' voting guidelines and past behavior.
European Council President Antonio Costa (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (right) join hands with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba prior to a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 23, 2025

Japan and EU launch trade ‘alliance’ amid concerns over U.S. and China

The new agreement will expand bilateral trade ties, promote business cooperation and explore ways to diversify critical mineral supply chains.
As U.S. tariffs caused global uncertainty, Japanese carmakers in particular have been losing momentum as the industry faced pressure from levies.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 24, 2025

Firms in Japan likely to log lower profits amid tariff and political uncertainty

While tariffs caused global uncertainty, Japanese carmakers in particular have been losing momentum as the industry faced pressure from the levies.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick at the White House on April 2.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 23, 2025

Trump’s tariffs undermine America's security, business and credibility

Donald Trump may have given up on free trade, but the American people have not.
A view of the Balboa Port in Panama City on March 4
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2025

CK Hutchison to invite China investor to join port deal

State-owned China Cosco Shipping was negotiating a powerful role for itself as a condition to join the consortium, it was reported last week.
Paul Weaver, director and head of cannabis at U.S.-based Boston Beer Company, shows the company's weed-themed product catalogs in his office in Toronto in June.
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2025

U.S. alcohol sector prepares to fight back against buzzy cannabis drinks

Alcohol makers are still suffering a hangover following America's pandemic drinking binge, when sales spiked as cash-flush consumers splurged on pricey bottles of liquor.
In “Stigmatized Properties: Possession,” Yahiro Kuwata (Shota Watanabe, left) is a steel worker from Fukuoka who moves to Tokyo to become a TV personality and ends up renting a haunted apartment.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2025

'Stigmatized Properties: Possession': Layered lead faces ghosts and show business

In the sequel to his 2020 haunted apartments horror, Hideo Nakata creates goose-pimply moments of terror with common paranormal phenomena.
The Nippon Steel logo is displayed at the company's East Nippon Works Kimitsu Area plant in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, in May.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 2, 2025

Nippon Steel swings into quarterly loss

The Japanese steelmaker said Friday that it had posted a consolidated net loss of ¥195.8 billion for the fiscal first quarter, against the year-before profit of ¥157.5 billion.
A cargo ship at the port of Oakland, California, on Aug. 4
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 6, 2025

U.S. trade deficit narrowed 16% in June as high tariffs cast shadow on services

Days after reporting that the goods trade deficit fell to its lowest since September 2023, the U.S. said the full deficit including services was also its narrowest since then.
General contractor Taisei aims to buy all Toyo Construction shares partly through a tender offer.
BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2025

General contractor Taisei to buy out Toyo Construction

Through the move, the two companies hope to expand their business and strengthen their earnings power while streamlining operations.
The Palantir logo and a rising stock graph are seen in this illustration taken Aug. 3.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 11, 2025

Palantir’s meteoric rise has investors scrambling to justify valuation

Shares of the defense maker closed at another all-time high Friday, bringing gains since its 2021 debut to near 2,500%.
GDP grew at an annualized pace of 1% in the three months through June from the prior period, surpassing economists’ forecast of a 0.4% gain, according to the Cabinet Office.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 15, 2025

Japan growth beats forecasts, boosting rate-hike case for BOJ

Better-than-expected economic growth has given Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba some good news as he fends off calls to resign after July's election setback.
David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, speaks during a summit in Sydney in March.
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Aug 15, 2025

Trump's attack on Goldman could prompt watering down of Wall Street's independent analysis

The reams of research that banks such as Goldman produce are used by institutional investors, such as hedge funds and asset managers, in deciding how to allocate capital.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years