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October 19, 2025
 

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MANUFACTURING

Silicon semiconductor wafers pass through a wet chemical cleaning machine at a Nexperia plant. The company is the latest to be caught in an escalating global trade spat leading up to China’s high-stakes talks with the United States.
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2025
Carmakers push to secure chips as China trade spat escalates
While Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump are to meet this month to hammer out a trade accord, both sides announced restrictions that have raised tensions.
Steel products are the target of two anti-dumping probes Japan has begun so far this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 15, 2025
Japan turns to anti-dumping measures as international trade gets complicated
An uptick in number of probes this year indicates an evolving strategy.
A worker inspects wafers at Nexperia Newport semiconductor plant in Newport, England. The European Union is considering new measures that would apply to companies seeking access to key digital and manufacturing markets like cars and batteries, requiring the firms to use a set amount of EU goods or labor, and to add value to the products on EU soil.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 15, 2025
EU considers forced tech transfers for Chinese investments
The measures would apply to companies seeking access to key digital and manufacturing markets like cars and batteries, according to people familiar with the plans.
A worker waters the site of a rare earth metals mine in Nancheng county, in China's Jiangxi province, in January 2011.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 11, 2025
The world’s chip supply chain is bracing for fallout from China’s rare-earth curbs
The restrictions represent the first major attempt by Beijing to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies to target the semiconductor industry.
A Ford F-150 pickup truck on the assembly line at a factory in Dearborn, Michigan. The Japanese government might be considering the purchase of some of the pickup trucks to meet its obligations as part of a trade deal with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 10, 2025
Ford F-150 might be imported by the Japanese government: report
The pickup trucks would be used by local transport ministry offices for construction and road patrols.
Employees assemble a Gazon Next truck at Gorkovsky Automobile Plant in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 10, 2025
Russia's industrial titans furlough workers as its war economy stalls
The push to reduce wage bills shows the toll the conflict in Ukraine and the Western sanctions are taking on corporate Russia and on the workers of its heavy industry plants.
Resonac President and CEO Hidehito Takahashi (front row, third from left) in Tokyo on Sept. 3 along with officials from companies participating in a joint framework to develop chipmaking equipment
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 8, 2025
Japanese chemical firms seeking partnerships over next-gen chips
Companies are taking measures with others, such as setting up a joint framework, to speed up the development of related materials
Isuzu Chairman Masanori Katayama (third from left) and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (center) attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the firm's vehicle plant in South Carolina on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2025
Isuzu to build first independent U.S. plant
The Japanese commercial vehicle maker aims to ease the impact of high U.S. tariffs by expanding local production.
People work at an automotive parts factory in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, on April 11. Export powerhouse Japan saw manufacturing activity shrink in September.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 1, 2025
Asian factories struggle as soft China and U.S. demand takes toll
Export powerhouse Japan and global tech hub Taiwan saw manufacturing activity shrink in September, leaving businesses in Asia on fragile footing.
The Bank of Japan is likely to raise rates by the end of this year or early next year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 1, 2025
Japan's tankan survey suggests rate increase sooner rather than later
Corporate sentiment improved as tariff uncertainty lessened following an agreement with the U.S.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has publicly demanded Taiwan to move more investment and chip production to the U.S. so half of American demand is manufactured locally.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 30, 2025
Taiwan holds investment talks as U.S. demands more chip factories
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier this week publicly demanded Taiwan to move more investment and chip production to the U.S.
Industrial production in Japan dropped 1.2% from the previous month, following the same pace of decline from July, according to the economy ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 30, 2025
Japan’s output falls as U.S. tariffs drag on global outlook
The data reflect ongoing caution among manufacturers as the U.S. continues to threaten additional tariffs to narrow its trade deficit.
Nippon Steel has announced a $300 million investment in two U.S. Steel facilities, which forms part of its $11 billion commitment to the American steelmaker.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 26, 2025
Nippon Steel to invest $300 million in U.S. Steel
The investment in two U.S. Steel plants forms part of the Japanese company's $11 billion commitment to the American steelmaker.
A robotic vehicle assembly line in Hefei, China. China is making and installing factory robots at a far greater pace than any other country.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 26, 2025
China has more robots working for it than the rest of the world combined
Chinese manufacturers have also gotten better at making factory robots, thanks to a government push.
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok. In a recent interview, Kim said that until visa issues related to South Korea's investment projects in the U.S. are resolved, progress on the projects will be "virtually impossible."
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2025
South Korea says U.S. projects unlikely to progress until visa issue resolution
Images of shackled workers have circulated widely and fueled public anger, casting a cloud over hefty investment plans by South Korean conglomerates.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. The <i>tankan</i> survey is one of key economic indicators the central bank assesses when determining monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 23, 2025
BOJ tankan expected to show slight rise in manufacturers' sentiment
The lowering of United States' tariffs on Japanese cars and auto parts earlier this month is likely to have eased makers' perception of current business conditions.
Gantry cranes and container ships at the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai on May 14. China is hurtling toward a record $1.2 trillion trade surplus.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 23, 2025
China floods the world with cheap exports after Trump's tariffs
The export surge is causing governments to weigh the potential damage to their domestic industries against the risk of antagonizing Beijing.
Japan has many positive qualities for German companies, but the market does face some challenges, such as talent acquisition and retention, particularly as demand for skilled workers grows, a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan showed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 22, 2025
German companies choosing Japan as Asia manufacturing hub: survey
The country is valued for its stability, affordability and proximity to other major markets, according to the survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about trade at the Granite City Works steel coil warehouse in Granite City, Illinois, in July 2018.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2025
Trump officials used 'golden share' to block U.S. Steel from stopping work at plant
The move highlighed the federal government’s continued influence over an iconic American firm after approving its takeover by Nippon Steel.
South Korea's LG Energy Solution was using workarounds to U.S. visa restrictions well before Donald Trump returned as U.S. president.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2025
LG Energy was using U.S. visa workarounds before Trump, documents show
South Korean companies say they face long-running problems in getting short-term visas for specialists they need for their high-tech plants in the U.S.
Why I chose Japanese citizenship over permanent residency
Jon Heese (second left) takes part in a 2024 New Year's nihonshu barrel opening ceremony.
Tokyo ordered to pay damages to South Asian woman over police response
The Tokyo High Court held that, “even taking the woman’s consent into account” for sharing her personal information, the officers breached their duty of care and acted unlawfully.
Former PM Tomiichi Murayama dies at age 101
Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama speaks during an interview in Tokyo in March 2007.
Japan's fractured politics could ensnarl Takaichi's economic plans
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of Japan's ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, attends a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Oct. 4.
Tokyo's best Sunday roasts and all their trimmings
Swan & Lion's Sunday roast, which is drenched in a red wine gravy, is part of a three-course meal.
What does Jimbocho think of its unexpected ‘cool’ status?
Tokyo's Jimbocho neighborhood is a haven for book lovers, its rows of secondhand bookstores spilling over with printed materials.
What you need to see at this year's Tokyo film festival
Chloe Zhao’s "Hamnet"
New film explores how Japan and the U.S. found common ground through baseball
Masanori Murakami became the first MLB player from Japan when he made his debut with the Giants on Sept 1, 1964.
As they wrestle for power, Japan’s political parties must remember their base
Rengo's head Tomoko Yoshino speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 8.
Sumo is about to hit London and the West with a force previously unseen
Preparations advance on Monday for the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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