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September 19, 2025
 

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BIG

Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet, presented a vision of AI that was at once optimistic about the technology’s possibilities and sober-minded about some of its present limitations, at an event at the Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 5, 2025
Alphabet CEO expects to keep hiring engineers while AI advances
Alphabet's CEO presented a vision of AI that was at once optimistic about the technology’s possibilities and sober-minded about some of its present limitations.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers a speech during the Meta Connect event at in Menlo Park, California, in September 2023. The partnership between Zuckerberg's Meta and defense firm Anduril to build battlefield XR gear underscores how working with the military, once taboo in Silicon Valley, is now actively embraced.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2025
Mark Zuckerberg finally found a use for his Metaverse — war
Anduril and Meta are partnering to design, build and field a range of integrated XR products that provide warfighters with enhanced perception on the battlefield.
Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York on May 23
BUSINESS / Tech
May 28, 2025
Apple reels from share selloff as Trump’s 25% tariff threat drives uncertainty
Some are skeptical the tariffs will come to pass, but any such measures would require Apple to absorb costs or raise prices, eroding demand.
A demonstration is held in Malawi as part of government efforts to pilot test the use of drones for humanitarian purposes, with assistance from UNICEF. As this and other technologies become more accessible, we must ensure their use advances sustainable development.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2025
How efficiency can transform sustainable development
In our haste to improve efficiency, we can't ignore the interests of humanity. Democratizing access to AI and other technologies is a fundamental step in this direction.
Meta’s rapid AI chatbot rollout is raising safety concerns as critics cite inappropriate responses and poor accountability despite its access to vast user data.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2025
Meta’s defense of its rogue AI sounds painfully familiar
The social media platform Meta is going on the attack instead of worrying about its users. How did that work out the last time?
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The ministry summoned Japan Airport Terminal president Kazuhito Tanaka over misconduct related to a massage chair business in a terminal at Haneda Airport.
Japan Airport Terminal President Nobuaki Yokota and Chairman Isao Takashiro resigned amid an internal probe into favoritism toward a consulting firm led by a son of Makoto Koga, former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, related to massage chair installations at the terminal buildings of an airport.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2025
Japan Airport Terminal's top execs step down amid corruption scandal
The company said it accepted resignation offers from the two top executives the same day.
Google has been pushing back on the remedies proposed by the U.S. to address its search dominance — one of which is sharing search data with rivals.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 3, 2025
U.S. presses for Google to share data by citing Yahoo Japan deal
Google has long had a relationship with Yahoo Japan to provide it with search results and some backend work related to search advertising.
While the results were better than analysts had expected, investors are focused on how tariff concerns will play out in the coming quarter.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 2, 2025
Tim Cook says unchanged U.S. tariffs could dent Apple’s next-quarter margins
Apple Q2 beats expectations but warns that unchanged tariffs could cost the company $900 million and requires drastic supply-chain realignment.
The Apple App Store app on an iPhone on June 25, 2024
BUSINESS / Tech
May 1, 2025
Apple must halt non-app store sales commissions, judge says
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sided Wednesday with Fortnite maker Epic Games over its allegation that the iPhone maker failed to comply with a court order.
Amazon packages at a distribution center in Washington
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2025
Amazon denies tariff label pivot after Trump called to complain
The administration’s broadsides against Amazon on Tuesday highlighted the potential political risk for companies if they decide to break out the cost of tariffs for customers.
Microsoft signage in New York on Oct. 25, 2024. Microsoft’s sudden decision to pause work on some data centers suggests cloud computing providers may be reevaluating expenditures.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 29, 2025
Big Tech’s earnings problem is estimates may be way too high
There’s little expectation executives will be able to give estimates with any degree of confidence, given the high level of macroeconomic uncertainty.
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.
Apple responded fiercely to the European Union penalty, accusing the bloc’s regulators of discriminating against the company and forcing it to give away its technology for free.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Apple and Meta hit by $798 million in EU tech fines after Trump threats
The punishments are far lower than previous ones under traditional EU competition law, and are likely to be seen as an attempt to avoid provoking Trump.
The Google logo at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas in 2024.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2025
Google could use AI to extend search monopoly, DOJ says as trial begins
The search giant argues that subjecting it to the DOJ's proposed remedies "would hold back American innovation at a critical juncture."
A U.S. judge’s ruling against Google’s ad tech business marks a rare antitrust case with a clear remedy, threatening a key revenue stream and signaling a potential shift in the digital advertising landscape.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2025
Google’s money-printing machine can be easily dismantled
On Thursday, a district court judge handed down a ruling that threatens to dismantle part of that money-printing machine.
The proposal reportedly calls for a legal framework that would obligate telecom operators to store communication records for a fixed period.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2025
LDP proposal would require telecom companies to store usage records
The proposal calls for a legal framework that would obligate telecom operators to store metadata and usage records for a fixed period.
The U.S. Justice Department and a group of states sued Google in 2023, arguing the company illegally monopolized three separate markets related to the technology used for online display advertising: ad servers, exchanges and networks.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 18, 2025
Google loses key antitrust case over ad tech practices
Google has lost a key antitrust case over its ad tech dominance, as a judge found it used exclusionary tactics that hurt rivals, publishers, and consumers.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta, departs federal court in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 17, 2025
Meta saw TikTok as ‘highly urgent’ threat, Zuckerberg says at trial
Zuckerberg was composed, but occasionally evasive, when challenged to explain past messages indicating a concerted effort to muscle out competitors.
A U.S. security report cites DeepSeek’s ties to Chinese government interests as "significant.”
WORLD / Politics
Apr 17, 2025
DeepSeek poses ‘profound’ security threat, U.S. house panel claims
The committee urged Nvidia to hand over information on sales of chips that the Chinese startup may have used to develop its breakthrough chatbot model.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japan dispatches five language education 'partners' to India
Five members of the Japan Foundation's Nihongo Partners program (front) gather at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
End of U.S. de minimis exemption causes headaches for some businesses in Japan
Proxy-shopping services — companies that ship Japanese products ranging from cosmetics and snacks to limited-edition stationery on behalf of customers abroad — are already feeling the impact of the U.S. suspending de minimis exemptions.
Over 90% of low-income families in Japan struggling to feed children
Save the Children Japan domestic program chief Sonoko Kawakami speaks at a news conference in Tokyo in July. A survey conducted by the group in June has found that over 90% of low-income households with children face food insecurity.
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan’s front-line researchers see bright path ahead for dementia treatment
A scientist looks at scans of grains at the Memory Centre at the Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics of the University Hospital (HUG) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 6, 2023.
Still plenty to fight for, says Japan’s team leader at worlds
Race walker Hayato Katsuki earned bronze for Japan on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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