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April 25, 2025
 

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FTC

Foreign tourists gather on a platform at Kyoto Station on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 17, 2025
Tokyo hotel operators face possible warnings over suspected price cartel
It is believed that information sharing among the hotels, such as occupancy rates and average room prices, may have influenced pricing.
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.
The Google logo is seen at the company's Bay View campus in Mountain View, California. Japanese authorities on Tuesday issued a cease-and-desist order to Google over an alleged violation of the country's anti-monopoly law.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 16, 2025
In a first, Japan issues cease-and-desist order against Google
The Japan Fair Trade Commission has accused the U.S. tech giant of violating the country's anti-monopoly law by forcing manufacturers to preinstall its apps in smartphones.
A new law in Japan will prohibit IT giants from blocking the entry of other companies into the market or giving preferential treatment to their own services.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2025
Japan's FTC to regulate Google and Apple under new smartphone law
The law will prohibit IT giants from blocking the entry of other firms into the market.
The packaging materials that Chateraise refused to receive from its subcontractor on Thursday in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 28, 2025
Japan FTC warns Chateraise over subcontract law breaches
The regulatory watchdog also urged the company, based in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, to take action to prevent a recurrence of such a problem.
Dentsu's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2025
Watchdog finds Dentsu and other Japanese firms reluctant to accept price hikes
Dentsu, Nippon Express and Kohnan Shoji have kept their transaction prices with their partners unchanged without consultation despite rising raw materials costs.
Bic Camera paid ¥557 million less than originally agreed to 51 contract makers of its private-label products including home appliances between July 2023 and August 2024, according to the Fair Trade Commission.
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2025
Japan FTC urges Bic Camera to pay subcontractors in full
Bic Camera is believed to have begun underpaying subcontractors in 2020, when it began selling items under its own name.
Bic Camera is under investigation by the Fair Trade Commission for unreasonable reductions in payments to subcontractors.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2025
Japan's FTC to advise Bic Camera not to underpay subcontractors
The commission found that Bic Camera unreasonably cut payments by a total of about ¥500 million in violation of the subcontract law.
Japan Post was asked by a subcontractor entrusted with Yu-Pack parcel deliveries to raise the commission fees it paid, in light of rising costs, but Japan Post left subcontracting fees unchanged without discussion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 8, 2025
Japan Post also received FTC guidance for second subcontractor issue
Postal service company was asked by a subcontractor to raise the commission fees it paid, in light of rising costs, but made no change.
An investigation conducted by the antitrust watchdog in 2023 and 2024 found that a post office in the Kanto region collected penalty fees from subcontractors without giving them a sufficient explanation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025
Japan Post received administrative guidance over poorly explained penalties
Penalty fees for failed deliveries and for complaints about cigarette odors were not explained adequately to subcontractors, the Fair Trade Commission found.
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 23, 2024
Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said the U.S. company forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices.
Monex Group Chairperson Oki Matsumoto (center), celebrates the debut of Coincheck on the Nasdaq Global Market on Wednesday in New York.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2024
Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck goes public in U.S.
Coincheck, effectively controlled by Japanese online broker Monex Group, aims to expand its operations through acquisitions in the U.S. and Japan.
U.S. companies Apple and Google are likely to be the primary targets of the new law to restrict activities of technology giants with at least 40 million users per month in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 10, 2024
Japan to regulate tech giants with at least 40 million users
U.S. companies Apple and Google are likely to be the main targets of the law.
Packages move along a conveyor belt at an Amazon warehouse
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024
Japan investigating Amazon for allegedly bullying other businesses
Tactics allegedly employed by the retailer involve the squeezing of business partners in exchange for visibility.
Amazon Japan allegedly pressured sellers to lower prices of their products in exchange for advantageous placement on their “Buy Box” system, which highlights one seller’s product as the preferred choice on a product page.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 26, 2024
Antitrust watchdog raids Amazon Japan over alleged price-fixing
The investigation is focused on potential breaches of antitrust laws, including abuse of a superior bargaining position and restrictive trading practices.
According to The Japan Fair Trade Commission, Kadokawa notified 26 subcontractors in January 2023 that it would unilaterally cut compensation rates for content slated for Lettuce Club from its April 2023 issue and beyond.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 13, 2024
Kadokawa warned over unfair payment practices
In a joint statement issued Tuesday, Kadokawa and its subsidiary pledged to pay the outstanding amounts once calculations are complete.
JR Central is believed to have been involved in a bid-rigging case as a coordinator.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 22, 2024
JFTC inspects JR Central and others for suspected bid-rigging
They are suspected of conspiring to decide in advance which company would win contracts for land bridge inspection work on 10 of JR Central's lines.
The Fair Trade Commission says rules preventing pro baseball players from freely choosing their agents for contract negotiations could violate the antimonopoly law.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2024
Japan FTC warns pro baseball body over agent rules
The body's rules have limited agents for players to lawyers and prohibited players from choosing lawyers who had already been picked by other players.
Lions players celebrate after a win over the Buffaloes on Wednesday at Belluna Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 25, 2024
A fight over free agency in NPB, with help from an American union
The union representing players in NPB is fighting to secure rights over players' images and give them the opportunity to make the jump to MLB sooner.
Nissin Food Products' instant noodle products that were the subjects of a Fair Trade Commission antitrust warning on Thursday
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2024
Nissin gets antitrust warning over prices of instant noodles
"We take this warning seriously and will work on improvements to further strengthen our legal compliance system," the firm said.
Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Naked man’s rampage in Saitama linked to one fatality and 10 injured
Police believe Daisuke Nishimura may have been involved in roughly 20 incidents in the 90 minutes leading up to his arrest, including a fatal hit-and-run and multiple assaults.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
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By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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