Search - company

 
 
After becoming a TikTok trend in Japan in 2022, artist imase’s song “Night Dancer” found popularity abroad in 2023, particularly in South Korea, where it became the first Japanese song to ever enter the nation’s Melon Top 100 Song Chart.
CULTURE / Music / 2023 in Review
Dec 8, 2023

J-pop's global ambitions came closer to reality in 2023

Duo Yoasobi's "Idol" was a true international breakout, while a viral trend turned imase into a pop ambassador between Japan and South Korea.
Users often do not realize that almost all app notifications travel over Google and Apple's servers, giving the two companies unique insight into the traffic flowing from those apps to their users.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 8, 2023

Smartphone users' push notifications spied on, U.S. senator warns

Users often do not realize that almost all notifications for incoming messages, breaking news and other updates travel over Google and Apple's servers.
The judges' tower in Teahupo'o in Tahiti, French Polynesia, during a pro surfing event in August. Residents of Teahupo'o have protested plans by Olympic organizers to build a 14 meter aluminum tower ahead of the 2024 Games.
OLYMPICS
Dec 8, 2023

Safety is top priority, Paris Games boss says amid surfing tower row

Last week, a barge bringing the aluminum tower to the Tahiti site of Teahupo'o damaged the coral reef, bringing work to a halt.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange. The volume of management buyouts in Japan has increased to the highest on record this year, jumping 170% from a year earlier to at least ¥870 billion.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2023

Surge in management buyouts gives extra boost to Japanese stocks

The volume of management buyouts has increased to the highest on record this year.
Yujiro Nakajimaya's advice for players new to hockey is that you have to know what you want to achieve. Is it a professional career? Then you need to challenge yourself.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 9, 2023

Yujiro Nakajimaya: ‘Overcoming adversity is an art’

At a young age, this hockey-playing Hokkaido native left for Canada and ended his journey playing in the NHL.
Janos Cegledy sits in a park in Tokyo's Nerima Ward. The pianist says Japan suits him, “There is a certain civility and politeness here which you don’t find anywhere else.”
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / Longform
Dec 11, 2023

The extraordinary life of a Holocaust survivor living in Japan

Janos Cegledy tours schools, telling his story. If the students ever meet a Holocaust denier, he says, they can reply, "I met someone who was there."
Trucks line up in a queue to cross the Polish-Ukrainian border at the Dorohusk-Jagodzin crossing, in Brzezno, Poland, on Dec. 4.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 11, 2023

Front-line troops in Ukraine feel bite of Polish truckers’ protest

A monthslong border blockade by Polish truckers is starting to have an effect on Ukrainian soldiers.
Gold ornaments on display for sale at a Chow Tai Fook jewellery store in Shanghai.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 11, 2023

Young Chinese spurn traditional investments in favor of gold

The trend underscores uncertainty about growth prospects in the world's second-largest economy, which has not recovered from COVID-19 as fast as expected.
The COP28 climate conference is being held at Expo City Dubai for a total of 100,000 attendees, 2,000 of which are from fossil fuel companies.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 11, 2023

COP28 like a trade show? That’s not a bad thing.

Some lament the presence of many fossil fuel representatives among the 100,000 attendees of COP28 in Dubai, failing to recognize their key role.
Nio workers inspect a vehicle on an assembly line at the automaker’s factory in Hefei, China. China misjudged the rapid expansion of its electric vehicle sector, leaving a shortfall of skilled technicians as young people shun manufacturing careers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2023

China’s electric car factories can’t hire fast enough

A frenzy of construction and expansion of factories has made electricians and robotics specialists a hot commodity.
A record number of Japanese investors have put their money into domestic private credit deals in search of higher returns this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2023

Private credit is attracting record numbers of Japanese investors

An unprecedented 236 limited partners have provided money to private capital managers this year through September, more than triple the level of 2017.
FACTEV shows that a Nissan Leaf electric car driven in Hokkaido will get between 106 kilometers and 212 kilometers per charge in its first year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2023

Using big data to speed up Japan’s slow electric car transition

Gaming company DeNA has developed an EV simulation tool that can assess the lifespan and cruising range per charge of battery cars over time.
Cybersecurity is a growing concern in Taiwan as the island sits at the center of U.S.-China tensions and has a critical presidential election in January.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 12, 2023

Taiwan taps experts and U.S. to prepare banks for cyberattacks

Officials in Taipei are consulting security experts from the U.S. Treasury Department and American cybersecurity specialists to simulate attacks.
Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's largest banking group, bought 75% of AlbaCore last month to diversify its range of investment capabilities.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2023

MUFG's AlbaCore sees potential for alternative investments in Japan

Mitsubishi UFJ bought 75% of AlbaCore last month to diversify the range of investment capabilities.
Newly recruits in the Houthi military force march through Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, on Dec. 2.
WORLD
Dec 12, 2023

Yemen's Houthis claim attack on Norwegian tanker

The ship had loaded vegetable oil and biofuels in Malaysia and was headed for Venice, Italy.
A Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric vehicle charges at Chaevi Stay Charging Station in Seoul on Oct. 18
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2023

South Korean auto-battery firms cautious on challenging China rivals

Feeding their worries is slowing growth in electric vehicle sales, price competition and the potential for changes in United States subsidies.
Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” received Golden Globes nominations for best animated motion picture and best original score for a motion picture this week.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 12, 2023

'The Boy and the Heron' and 'Godzilla Minus One' win over U.S.

While both Japanese films broke records at the North American box office, Hayao Miyazaki's latest also received two Golden Globes nominations.
Chinese influencer Li Ying used social media to help tell the world about last year’s protests in China. Now in exile, he has been threatened and lost his livelihood for his defiance.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 12, 2023

‘I have no future’: China’s rebel influencer is still paying a price

To some Chinese, painter and art school graduate Li Ying is a superhero who stood up to their authoritarian government and leader.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng meet for talks in Beijing on Aug. 29.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2023

The Washington-Beijing tech war is just getting started

U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo emphasizes the need to prevent China from accessing cutting-edge technology, citing national defense concerns.
The partnership between Nissan and Renault was jolted in 2018 by the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, chairman of both companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2023

Renault selling part of Nissan stake to partner for €765 million

The move follows last month’s finalization of a plan for Renault to reduce its interest in Nissan.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un waves as he takes poses for photos during the Fifth National Mothers' Convention in Pyongyang.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 13, 2023

Kim Jong Un admits rare weakness as North Korea population falls

The rare admission indicates Kim is just as worried about a demographic crunch as he is about the U.S. forces that he says want to end his regime.
An oil pump outside Saint-Fiacre, near Paris, in 2019
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2023

Big Oil's bid to woo ESG investors fails to impress

A pledge by 50 of the biggest oil and gas companies at the U.N. climate talks in Dubai commits to reaching near-zero methane emissions by 2030.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2023

Marijuana sees image shift as Japan revises control law

The revised cannabis control law, enacted in early December, will allow the use of medicines containing substances derived from cannabis.
Armed men stand on a beach as the Galaxy Leader commercial ship, seized by Yemen's Houthis last month, is anchored off the coast of al-Salif, Yemen, on Dec. 5.
WORLD
Dec 13, 2023

With missiles and ship attacks, Yemen’s Houthis gain regional clout

In a major escalation of Houthi actions against Israel, the Iran-backed militia hit a Norwegian tanker on Monday with a cruise missile.
The construction of TSMC’s new plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, has seen companies anticipating expanded collaborations with the semiconductor firm grow keen to establish footholds in the area.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 19, 2023

Semiconductor projects in Japan whip up local optimism

Companies anticipating expanded collaborations with TSMC are keen to establish footholds in the area around its new plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s new factory in Kumamoto Prefecture. New chipmaking plants in Japan are raising questions about securing workers and adequate water supplies.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 19, 2023

Kumamoto and Hokkaido face common tasks of securing water and talent

With ambitious projects advancing, the two prefectural governments forged an agreement in August, aiming to facilitate exchanges of information.
Newly recruited Houthi fighters march during a parade in Sanaa, Yemen, on Dec. 2.   REUTERS
WORLD
Dec 14, 2023

U.S. working with allies to stop Houthi Red Sea attacks

The Houthis — based in Yemen and backed by Iran — vowed to target Israel’s assets until it abandons its campaign to destroy Hamas.
U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday
WORLD
Dec 14, 2023

Biden impeachment inquiry authorized by House Republicans

The White House has dismissed the inquiry as unsubstantiated by facts and politically motivated.
Eddie Jones at a news conference after being named as Japan rugby head coach in Tokyo on Thursday
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 14, 2023

No guilt for Eddie Jones after taking Japan job

Jones quit his native Australia after leading them to a dismal showing at the Rugby World Cup.
While Hayao Miyazaki’s return to filmmaking, “The Boy and the Heron,” did not attain the ¥10 billion milestone that the beloved animator’s movies had once routinely surpassed, it debuted at the top of the North American box office and became the first original anime film to lead the box office in the United States and Canada.
CULTURE / Film / 2023 in Review
Dec 15, 2023

Japan’s auteurs and anime triumphed in 2023

From Hayao Miyazaki's “The Boy and the Heron” to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” the box-office hits kept coming.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight