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August 30, 2025
 

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the world's largest contract maker of chips, used in everything from smartphones to missiles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 28, 2025
Taiwan prosecutors charge three with stealing TSMC trade secrets
The three people include a former TSMC engineer who went to work for Tokyo Electron's Taiwan subsidiary and two staff employed by the chipmaker.
Nikkei and the Asahi Shimbun have sued Perplexity AI over alleged copyright infringement.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2025
Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun sue Perplexity AI over alleged copyright violations
The newspapers are seeking an injunction and ¥2.2 billion each in damages from Perplexity, they said in a joint statement. The suit was filed at the Tokyo District Court.
A Yomiuri Shimbun staff prepares to distribute a special edition of the newspaper on the tariff deal between the United States and Japan, in Tokyo on July 23.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 8, 2025
Major Japan newspaper sues 'free-riding' AI firm Perplexity
The Yomiuri Shimbun is seeking damages of $14.7 million from the U.S.-based AI firm for using its articles "without permission."
Tokyo Electron's Kyushu head office in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture. Chip industry veterans say they see no clear reason for Tokyo Electron to engage in an act of intellectual property theft and risk its relationship with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chipmaker.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 8, 2025
TSMC trade secrets leak puts Tokyo Electron in hot seat
The Japanese supplier of chipmaking tools is struggling to address the potential fallout after a former employee was implicated in the case.
A San Francisco District Court has ruled that Meta's use of copyrighted works to train its AI model was "transformative" enough to constitute "fair use" under copyright law, in the second such courtroom triumph for AI firms this week.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 26, 2025
U.S. judge rules for Meta in AI training copyright case but says it isn't lawful
The ruling said the authors could have pitched a winning argument — that by training AI with copyrighted works, tech firms are creating competition in the marketplace.
A pirated DVD of the 1954 film "Godzilla", colorized and illegally sold without permission, on Tuesday in the city of Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2025
Osaka man arrested for selling colorized 'Godzilla' film from 1954
Ippei Miyamoto, a part-time worker in the Osaka city of Toyonaka, has admitted to the allegation.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addresses a meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday to discuss enhancing Japan's international competitiveness in the field of intellectual property.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2025
Government adopts new intellectual property program to enhance competitiveness
The government aims to raise the country's ranking in the World Intellectual Property Organization's annual Global Innovation Index to fourth or higher by 2035.
Takahiro Fujii (center), the president of Try and E, and his lawyers speak during a news conference on Friday in Tokyo after a ruling was handed down in a case against Amazon Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2025
Tokyo court fines Amazon Japan ¥35 million over counterfeit products
Presiding Judge Yuko Shintani deemed Amazon’s response to the issue to be “indicative of willful misconduct, or at the very least, gross negligence.”
Meta is at the center of accusations of copyright theft from authors over its "LibGen" online library.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 4, 2025
Authors hold London protest against Meta for 'stealing' work to train AI
Writer Gail Renard explained the situation by saying, "If you stole a diamond ring there'd be consequences and there has to be consequences."
The bus stop sign for the Ghibli Museum at Mitaka Station. The viral trend of AI-generated Ghibli-style images reflects both a longing for comfort in uncertain times and the ongoing debate over AI’s impact on art.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 2, 2025
For a brief moment, everything was Ghibli
ChatGPT will make almost anything Ghibli-ish, but it won’t draw Totoro.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 2, 2025
Ghibli effect: ChatGPT usage hits record after rollout of viral feature
The viral trend saw users from across the globe flood social media with images based on the hand-drawn style of the famed Japanese animation outfit.
A screenshot of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Ghibli-style profile picture on X
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 28, 2025
Copyright questions loom as ChatGPT's Ghibli-style images go viral
The images raised questions about copyright infringement by OpenAI, which already faces lawsuits regarding the use of source material without permission.
The Supreme Court has rejected FC2's appeals against two separate rulings made against it by the Intellectual Property High Court in July 2022 and May 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2025
FC2 infringed on Dwango's patent, Japan's top court rules
The Supreme Court rejected FC2's appeals against two lower court rulings ordering the Las Vegas-based firm to stop violating Dwango's patent on a video comment-posting system.
Spotify signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 2
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 27, 2025
Universal and Spotify ink multiyear deal
A joint statement said the two firms "will collaborate closely to advance the next era of streaming innovation."
Film festivals around the world are giving space to AI-generated cinematic experiences, with Venice and Cannes among the heavy hitters with sections dedicated to "immersive" works, including those made using virtual and augmented reality.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 23, 2024
Asia’s film industry should balance AI with human creativity
AI is revolutionizing cinema. Japan and Asia as a whole are well-positioned to harness technology to empower storytelling while retaining film's essentially human nature.
The Cultural Affairs Agency in the city of Kyoto
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2024
Japan to use AI to tackle online manga and anime piracy
The Cultural Affairs Agency's plan will have AI scour the web for sites pirating manga books and anime, using an image and text detection system.
Generative artificial intelligence search technology is proving valuable for searching corporate databases.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 3, 2024
Japanese firms begin adopting generative AI for information searches
AI technology is proving valuable for searching corporate databases and providing concise, natural-sounding answers.
Alarmo and other recent products reflect Nintendo's strategy of using its iconic intellectual properties to engage users while preparing for the inevitable transition to a successor console after the Nintendo Switch.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 24, 2024
Nintendo’s latest device, the Alarmo, is a $100 wake-up call
Alarmo and other recent products reflect Nintendo's strategy of leveraging its iconic IPs to engage users as it prepares for the successor to the Nintendo Switch.
Sony's potential acquisition of Kadokawa, the publisher behind Elden Ring, represents an opportunity to expand its intellectual property across gaming, anime and other media provided it learns from past failures.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 22, 2024
Like in Elden Ring, Sony must learn from its mistakes
The Japanese firm’s proposed deal for Kadokawa has great potential — if it can avoid getting stuck in the same mazes as before.
Originally debuting on a coin purse, Hello Kitty became a national phenomenon in Japan and is now the second highest-grossing media franchise worldwide.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 20, 2024
Hello Kitty looks pretty at 50 (and is worth more than ever)
Kitty’s broad appeal, especially to adults, helped popularize the Japanese concept of kawaii (cuteness), which has since become a global trend.
Most Japanese teens struggling with school find end of summer ‘painful’
Some 93.1% of Japanese teenagers who struggle with school life said they felt like they “wanted to disappear from the world" at the end of summer vacation ahead of the start of a new term, according to a recent survey released by Yokohama-based nonprofit Daisan Kazoku.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'
Virtual singer Kaf got her start in 2018 by posting songs and covers to YouTube. Now, after having performed live shows at major venues including Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, she is turning to voice acting and starring in the new anime series “Kamitsubaki City Under Construction.”
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.
In pictures: Koenji Awa Odori 2025
Japan Times
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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