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June 05, 2025
 

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CARMAKERS

Akio Toyoda’s involvement in the $33 billion buyout of Toyota Industries signals a potential corporate comeback, and that’s a good thing despite criticism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 4, 2025
For Toyota, more Akio Toyoda would be a good thing
This opposition is nonsensical. Akio turned Toyota into the biggest automaker in the world during a period of intense industry change.
Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China in 2010.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 4, 2025
Global alarms rise as China's critical mineral export curbs take hold
China has a stranglehold on minerals crucial for sectors ranging from aerospace to semiconductors.
Toyota group companies could establish a new holding company to privatize Toyota Industries.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2025
Toyota Industries receives $33 billion buyout offer from group companies
The deal would be in line with government efforts to encourage big companies to unwind cross-held shares with subsidiaries and other businesses.
Honda will provide a fleet of cars for athletes, officials and stakeholders, along with motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and other multipurpose vehicles during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2025
Honda joins 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games as major partner
The carmaker will provide a fleet of cars for athletes, officials and stakeholders, along with motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and other multipurpose vehicles during the event.
Toyota plans to start the production of the GR Corolla compact car at its Burnaston plant in Britain in 2026.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 1, 2025
Toyota to build GR Corolla in Britain from 2026
The automaker hopes to utilize the surplus production capacity of the plant, which is capable of producing 150,000 vehicles annually at present.
The Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, China.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2025
Carmakers warn China's rare-earth curbs could halt production
Auto executives are sounding the alarm on an impending shortage of rare-earth magnets from China that could force the closure of factories within weeks.
Toyota's global sales reached 936,718 units in April, a 12% increase from a year earlier year and a record for the month.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2025
Toyota sales hit second monthly record on U.S. demand amid tariff rush
Toyota and Lexus brand sales jumped 10% in the U.S. last month thanks to steady demand and an influx in orders as duties on imported cars and parts kicked in.
An employee of Nissan Motor works on a Leaf electric car on an assembly line at its Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2025
Factory that symbolized Nissan's rise may become victim of its decline
Nissan faces a mountain of debt repayment and is scrambling to upgrade its aging lineup of vehicles, but hasn't said which of its 17 plants will be closed.
Workers assemble a Nissan Juke at the production line at Nissan's factory in Sunderland, England, in November 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025
Nissan seeks to raise $7 billion with backing from U.K. government
The struggling automaker plans to issue debt and sell assets to raise funds for keeping its operations on track, according to internal documents.
A view of the construction site of BYD's electric vehicle factory at the Industrial Complex in the city of Camacari, in the state of Bahia, Brazil, on Jan. 9
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025
Brazil sues EV giant BYD over ‘slavery’ conditions at plant
Prosecutors said 220 Chinese workers were found in December in conditions "analogous to slavery” and described them as victims of human trafficking.
An employee of Kyowa Industrial walks next to the company's factory in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2025
Tariff crossfire hits Toyota, Nissan and Ford suppliers in Japan
Thousands of small and midsize makers of auto parts in Japan, including suppliers for Toyota and Nissan, are facing a crisis as U.S. tariffs threaten their bottom lines.
Honda's assembly plant in Greensburg, Indiana, seen Friday, makes the hybrid and gasoline versions of its popular CR-V SUV and flagship Civic.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2025
Honda to boost hybrid vehicle production in U.S.
The automaker will also expand procurement of U.S.-made vehicle parts, including batteries for hybrid vehicles.
Institutional Shareholder Services backed the reappointment of Chairman Akio Toyoda to Toyota’s board, reversing its position from a year ago.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 23, 2025
ISS reverses stance and backs Toyota chief's reappointment
"There are no particular concerns about the nominee,” Institutional Shareholder Services said of Akio Toyoda in a report Thursday.
Toyota executives say the automaker is listening to U.S. dealer requests for a truck smaller than the brand’s best-selling Tacoma midsize and Tundra full-size pickups.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2025
Toyota considers making tiny trucks for U.S. market as demand booms
Full-size and midsize pickups dominate the U.S. market, but their price — along with their size — have increased steadily in recent years.
Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda. Toyota Industries investor Zennor Asset Management said a plan by Toyoda to take over the Japanese auto parts maker raises governance issues and may undermine minority shareholders’ interests.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2025
Toyota Industries investor Zennor says it wants minority safeguards
A founding partner of Zennor said the buyout plan would benefit the founding family and may undervalue the target’s stock and real estate holdings.
A RAV4 model in 2018. The latest generation of the compact crossover available later this year comes equipped with a standard or plug-in hybrid powertrain, dropping the gas-powered option that makes up the bulk of current sales in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2025
Toyota takes all-hybrid plunge with its bestselling U.S. vehicle
Toyota has long been skeptical of the industry push to go all-in on fully electric vehicles, opting instead for a multipronged approach.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe says the company's investment plans for electric vehicles have been scaled back during a news conference in Tokyo Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 20, 2025
Honda walks back EV investment and sales targets on poor demand
Honda now sees hybrids accounting for 2.2 million of 3.6 million in global sales by 2030, up from the 2 million it previously saw.
A lot at a Nissan plant in Mexico. The company may have overextended itself during the Ghosn era.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
May 20, 2025
Nissan’s troubles might go all the way back to Ghosn 
Some analysts argue that aggressive expansion by the iconoclastic executive left the company overextended.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, at a news conference on Tuesday. He said that when Japan states it wants the tariffs reviewed, it means Tokyo wants them removed.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 20, 2025
Japan confirms hard-line position ahead of possible tariff talks in Washington
Tokyo wants all new levies put into place by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump completely removed.
Toyota Industries' Nagakusa plant in Obu, Aichi Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
May 20, 2025
Toyota Industries to accept tender offer from Toyota Motor group
The trend comes amid rising pressure from the Tokyo Stock Exchange and activist shareholders to dismantle what are called parent-child listings.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Hakuho’s departure highlights worrying sumo trend
Former <i>yokozuna</i> Hakuho performs a ring-entering ceremony at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in February 2020.
Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima dies at 89
Shigeo Nagashima (left), then the manager of the Tokyo Giants, waves to fans with players and coaches during a victory parade in central Tokyo in 2000. Nagashima died at the age of 89 on Tuesday.
‘A garden is a grand teacher’: The Kamakura Gardener nurtures via YouTube
American Robert Jefferson runs a YouTube channel called The Kamakura Gardener that invites viewers to enjoy the pleasures of gardening, cooking and slow living.
Waves of umami: Awaji Island's culinary trove
Silversea Cruises' culinary program takes guests on a rich gourmet experience at wellness retreat Zenbo Seinei, where the local produce is presented in an eight-course meal.
Hegseth to prioritize China and more allied spending in Asia — but questions remain
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives for a trilateral meeting between Japan, the U.S. and Australia at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday.

Podcast

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

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after
Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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