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Toyota's main Tokyo office on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 26, 2024

Toyota union to demand record 2024 bonuses: report

With Toyota saying it expects to post record consolidated operating profits this financial year, the union is also likely to demand high pay hikes.
A pedestrian walks outside an Aeon store near Kofukuji Matsubara shopping street in Yokohama in April 2022.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2024

Japan's Aeon in exclusive talks to buy Tsuruha stake from Oasis

An increase in Aeon's stake would add to its drugstore business, a key growth driver for the firm.
The unemployment rate fell to 2.4% in December, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2024

Japan job market remains tight, keeping hopes for wage hikes

The Bank of Japan is watching the labor market closely as it seeks evidence of a virtuous cycle linking rising wages with demand-led price gains.
A driver for an independent contractor to FedEx delivers packages on Cyber Monday in New York on Nov. 27, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024

Delivery firms struggle to adopt EVs as online sales drive up demand

Many climate pledges have been scaled back as the industry fails to keep pace with climbing emissions.
As China struggles with a slumping stock market and a collapsing real estate sector, commentary and even financial analysis Beijing deems negative are blocked.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2024

China’s censorship dragnet targets critics of the economy

The government's new information campaign about the economy is wider than usual censorship, with efforts now extending to mainstream commentary.
Akihiko Matsuura, head of UA Zensen, has called for a standard 6% increase in total wages.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 2, 2024

Major union UA Zensen calls for 6% pay raise to support BOJ policy shift

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also pushing for wage gains after hikes last year failed to keep up with inflation, putting a burden on household budgets.
The Aozora Bank headquarters in Tokyo. The bank surprised investors with losses tied to U.S. commercial property, sending shares down by the limit and heightening concern over global banks' exposure to souring real estate bets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 2, 2024

Gamble on U.S. commercial property blows up for Japan’s Aozora

Shares went down by the limit and heightened concern over global banks' exposure to souring real estate bets.
Aeon is aiming to encourage male workers to take child care leave. While almost all of its female employees currently take child care leave when they have a child, the rate for male employees is only 15%.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2024

Aeon employees to receive 100% of income during child care leave

The retailer aims to gradually roll out the program from March to some 150 group companies.
A customer tries his Vision Pro at the launch of the product at a store in Los Angeles on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 4, 2024

Vision Pro headset is Apple's next Mac and TV combined

The $3,500 headset, which blends 3D content with a view of the outside world, landed in the company’s physical U.S. stores on Friday.
Wall Street giants are endorsing India as the prime investment destination for the coming decade.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 6, 2024

Wall Street snubs China for India in a historic markets shift

India has vastly expanded infrastructure under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his bid to lure global capital and supply lines away from Beijing.
Nominal cash earnings among workers in Japan rose 1.0% in December from the previous year, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 6, 2024

Japan’s wage data likely solid enough to keep BOJ policy shift on track

Nominal cash earnings rose 1.0% in December from the previous year with the help of a 0.5% gain in winter bonuses.
The government will extend subsidies worth as much as ¥242.9 billion for Kioxia and Western Digital to expand memory chip production in Mie and Iwate prefectures.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 6, 2024

Japan extends subsidies to downturn-hit Kioxia and Western Digital

The funding provides underpinning for the two companies, which have been hammered by a slump in the market for NAND flash chips.
Orienspace's Gravity-1 rocket blasts off from a sea-based platform off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong province, China, on Jan. 11.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024

China startup aims to close gap with SpaceX on reusable rockets

Reusable rockets are transforming space access, as companies can reuse the most expensive parts of the device with little refurbishment.
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida says after the bank ends its negative rate policy, financial conditions will remain easy and any policy moves thereafter will occur at a gradual pace.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 8, 2024

BOJ's Uchida says sharp hikes unlikely after rates policy shift

Uchida was one of the architects of the bank's current policies and now works closely with Gov. Ueda as an influential member of the BOJ policy board.
A fight over Benefit One is the latest in a growing number of takeover deals in Japan, spurred in part by the Tokyo Stock Exchange pushing for improved corporate governance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 8, 2024

Dai-ichi Life gets Pasona's nod on Benefit One acquisition

The agreement with Pasona Group, which owns 51.16% of Benefit One, is crucial for Dai-ichi to win the battle against digital health care provider M3.
Elon Musk has gone as far as to say that with technological advances, “there will come a point where no job is needed.” Musk revealed his own artificial intelligence chatbot, dubbed Grok, last year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 9, 2024

Firms pausing hiring and axing staff quietly as AI craze persists

While some industry leaders have been outspoken about AI’s potential to transform work, there is caution over citing the new tech as a reason for cuts.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Feb 9, 2024

Roki Sasaki gets back to business after weeks of speculation about future

After weeks of rampant rumors, the "Monster of the Reiwa Era" is back to the business of baseball, and the MLB questions are back on the shelf for now.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2024

Struggling unit of 7-Eleven's parent company to exit central and northern Japan

The Seven & I Holdings unit will close five of its 17 stores in the regions and hand over 11 to other supermarket operators.
Tetsuro Higashi, the chairman of Rapidus, speaks during an interview in Tokyo in February last year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 10, 2024

Japan earmarks ¥45 billion to fire up chip research at home

The funds are part of a major national push to catch up in semiconductor manufacturing.
Boeing 737 Max airplanes on the tarmac at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, in 2019
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2024

How production pressures plunged Boeing into yet another crisis

Soul-searching about quality controls and plunged Boeing into its second safety crisis in five years.
Fujitsu has held more than £3.4 billion ($4.3 billion) of active contracts with parts of the British state while £1.4 billion of those were awarded after a 2019 court ruling which associated the firm with the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of local branch post office managers for theft and fraud.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2024

Fujitsu got £3.4 billion in U.K. contracts despite Post Office row

A committee said £1.4 billion of those contracts were awarded after a 2019 court ruling connected Fujitsu with hundreds of wrongful prosecutions.
Masahiro Inoue, incoming chief executive officer of Daihatsu Motor, during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2024

Toyota replaces Daihatsu chief after safety scandal

Masahiro Inoue, the CEO of Toyota Latin America, will replace Soichiro Okudaira effective March 1.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva (right) speaks during the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2024

IMF and World Bank warn Gaza and Red Sea chaos imperils global economy

The Israel-Hamas war and its knock-on effects could impact the world the longer the fighting drags on, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said.
An Asiana Airlines passenger aircraft lands at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan, on Dec. 20, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2024

Korean Air wins EU’s approval for $1.4 billion Asiana deal

Korean Air is expected to be ranked as one of the world’s top 10 airlines once the deal is completed.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group. One of SoftBank's primary objectives will be to harvest returns from its huge portfolio rather than priming unprofitable startups for growth.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2024

SoftBank’s Vision Fund swaps splashy bets for ‘timid’ investing

As other tech investors have heaped money into new artificial intelligence firms, Vision Fund has stayed out of the fray.
Sony trimmed its revenue forecast after sales of its flagship PlayStation 5 in the December quarter came in roughly a million units lower than analysts’ estimates.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024

Sony dives most in two years after cutting PS5 sales outlook

Shares fell as much as 8.4% in early Tokyo trading, the biggest intraday fall since February 2022.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s first Kumamoto plant in the town of Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Feb. 10
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 16, 2024

Japan boosts aid to chip projects amid global race

Prompted by concerns, the government acted swiftly to prevent the potential loss of domestic production bases.
Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, is considering opening an office in Tokyo to trade electricity, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 16, 2024

Vitol considers entering Japan power market with Tokyo office

Japan's power market is attracting more overseas firms due to increased volatility amid shifts away from fossil fuels
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, speaks during the SoftBank World event in Tokyo in October.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 17, 2024

Masayoshi Son aims to launch a $100 billion AI chip venture

The SoftBank Group founder is looking to create a chip venture to compete with Nvidia and supply semiconductors essential for AI.
Shoppers walk past an ID Hub, a Volkswagen showroom for electric cars, at a mall in Shanghai on Dec. 3, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024

Firms with deep roots in China reconsider their Xinjiang ties

Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China

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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