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June 06, 2025
 

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CARS

Keita Ueno (right), the owner of Kiki Driving School and an instructor who supports both foreign nationals and Japanese citizens returning from abroad in getting their foreign driver’s licenses converted, is worried about the current lax system for the process.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jun 6, 2025
Accidents raise concern over how Japan vets foreign drivers
A driving school owner points out that traffic signs could carry different meanings in other countries, and driving standards might vary significantly.
A Mercedes-Benz production line in Rastatt, Germany, earlier this month. European auto suppliers alone have filed hundreds of requests to China for rare earths since early April, with only about a quarter granted.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 6, 2025
The world's auto supply chain is in the hands of a few Chinese bureaucrats
China holds a near-monopoly on rare earth magnets — a crucial component in EV motors — and it added them to an export control list in April.
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.
Japanese license plate samples — the top two are examples of nationwide license plates, while the bottom two are examples of "gotochi" license plates.
JAPAN
May 25, 2025
Japan to scrap monochrome special license plates
The ministry will soon allow only multicolor versions in an effort to ease the burden on license plate makers amid an expected increase in demand.
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.
Japan’s trade balance swung into a deficit in April after two months in the black as growth in its exports slowed.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 21, 2025
Japan’s exports slow as U.S. tariffs bite, risking a recession
Exports measured by value gained 2% in April from a year earlier, slowing from March’s 4% as cars and steel dragged on shipments.
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.
Tesla's story about keeping used cars for "robotaxis" fits a long pattern of unfulfilled promises to deploy self-driving vehicles — most recently announced for June in Austin, Texas.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2025
Tesla took back leased cars for use as 'robotaxis,' but sold them instead
Despite repeated promises, the robotaxis never came and Tesla flipped many of the off-lease cars to new buyers.
Cars on display at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday. The automaker posted a massive annual net loss and confirmed that it plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2025
Japanese automakers looking at a ¥1 trillion hit from Trump tariffs 
No matter what happens, they expect the new levies to cost them a lot.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a Lower House committee meeting on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 11, 2025
Ishiba vows Japan will stand its ground, demanding U.S. lift auto tariffs
The U.S. is an important market for the Japanese automobile industry, accounting for about 20% of its total car exports in terms of volume and about 30% in terms of value.
Toyota CEO Koji Sato announces the firm's financial results during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 8, 2025
Toyota cites tariffs as it forecasts 35% drop in 2025-26 net profit
Carmakers have been among the hardest-hit by Trump's multipronged assault on free trade.
While for Aston Martin, it’s all about delivering luxury, their regional president for Asia Gregory Adams' start in the auto industry in Japan was far more humble.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 6, 2025
The drive for luxury: Aston Martin Asia's president explains the desire for more
“No one needs an Aston Martin,” said the company's regional president for Asia — it is more about emotion and less about practicality.
U.S. President Donald Trump's 100th day rally in Warren, Michigan, on April 29
BUSINESS
May 4, 2025
Auto workers welcome Trump tariffs, no matter the fate of Wall Street
According to some autoworkers, the tariffs are their best chance of restoring American manufacturing might.
EV adoption is cruising along in the U.S., despite a backlash against the industry’s largest players.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 29, 2025
As Tesla falters, these new EVs are picking up the pace
Sales of electric vehicles climbed to 294,000 in the first quarter of the year, a 10.6% increase compared with the year-earlier period.
A Maruti Suzuki concept electric SUV at a trade show in Gandhinagar, India, last January
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025
Maruti Suzuki profit misses estimate on higher input costs
The disappointing earnings for the sector leader come amid a broader consumption slack in the world’s most populous country.
Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Akio Toyoda after a meeting in Beijing last month
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2025
Toyota chairman proposes record buyout of its supplier at $42 billion valuation
The proposal values Toyota Industries, which makes looms for textiles as well as parts for Toyota’s cars, at a premium of 40% over its closing stock price on Friday.
New vehicles for sale at a Toyota dealership in El Centro, California. Toyota is planning to spend $88 million at an engine factory in West Virginia to widen its manufacturing footprint in the United States.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2025
Toyota to invest ¥12.5 billion in West Virginia plant amid Trump tariff push
The spending will secure the continued employment of some 2,000 workers at the factory, but a spokesman said it won’t result in any new jobs.
Japan’s fertility rate hits record low despite government push
The total number of births dropped to about 686,000, marking the first time the figure has fallen below 700,000, according to a health ministry release on Wednesday.
Japan eyes tougher rules for foreign residents and tax hike for tourists
A tax-free shop in Kyoto in April 2024. Last week, members of a Liberal Democratic Party study group drafted a proposal seeking to scrap the country's tax-free shopping system altogether.
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.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
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.
Is Japan ready to say goodbye to tax-free shopping?
Arrows lead to the tax-free counter at a branch of discount retailer Don Quijote in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
New Naoshima museum bets on Asia, not the West
Detail of Takashi Murakami, “Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu Byobu: Iwasa Matabei RIP” (2023-25)
Japan’s prison reform focuses on rehabilitation
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Suzuki said preparations for the changes that will focus more on rehabilitation are being actively made at each correctional facility.
Six months into 2025, J-pop is having a full-on identity crisis (and a great time)
The year so far is only proving that Mrs. Green Apple is the biggest band in Japan. Their success also seems to be hinting at a change in the musical landscape more broadly.
Nintendo’s Switch 2 console is finally here
The Switch 2 is Nintendo's first new gaming console in eight years.
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.

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

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