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June 06, 2025
 

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STARTUPS

From left: CTO for Ispace Ryo Ujiie, founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada, CFO and director Jumpei Nozaki speak at a news conference in Tokyo. The company said it had aborted a mission to the moon after losing contact with its lander Resilience during a daunting final descent.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 6, 2025
Japanese space startup Ispace fails in second moon-landing mission
The firm had been aiming to become the first private company outside the United States to achieve a soft landing on the moon.
A TIRTIR store in Seoul on May 23
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2025
South Korean beauty brands bet boom in U.S. demand outlasts tariff pain
The startups are expanding their bricks-and-mortar presence in the world's biggest consumer market, confident their mass appeal will offset tariff costs.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (third from left) speaks at a Council for Gender Equality meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Japan to promote women's startups as part of push to stop rural outflow
Seeing fewer job prospects for women in the countryside as a problem, the government will improve consulting systems for business startups in rural areas.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace. The Resilience lunar lander could become the company's first to touch down on the moon on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 2, 2025
Japanese startup Ispace prepares for lunar lander to touch down on the moon
The goal is to achieve a soft landing near the Mare Frigoris, or Sea of Cold, in the moon’s northern hemisphere.
The Environment Ministry is offering ¥60 billion ($415 million) of support for the commercialization of homegrown climate and environmental technology through the Japan Green Investment Corp. for Carbon Neutrality, a government-backed fund that invests in ventures to reduce emissions.
JAPAN
May 29, 2025
Japan bets on homegrown startups to adapt to a hotter world
The Environment Ministry is offering ¥60 billion of support through the Japan Green Investment Corp. for Carbon Neutrality.
Innovative Space Carrier CEO Kojiro Hatada poses with a model of the planned spaceplane ASCA 3 at JFE Engineering’s factory in Yokohama on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025
Japanese reusable rocket startup ISC eyes U.S. test launch in December
Innovative Space Carrier said its ASCA 1.0 reusable launcher will conduct a 100-meter flight and landing test.
Sakana AI Chief Operating Officer Ren Ito (left) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group President Hironori Kamezawa in Tokyo on Friday. The companies have entered into a ¥5 billion ($34 million) deal to automate the creation of banking documents.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2025
Sakana AI and MUFG sign agreement to automate creation of banking documents
The AI Scientist, which was originally designed for automating scientific discovery, including manuscript writing and peer review, will be used.
FemUniti was founded in 2024 by Setsu Suzuki (right) and Meagan Ward (second from left) to empower women entrepreneurs and connect them to resources and opportunities.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
May 19, 2025
Detroit-Nagoya network empowers women-owned businesses around the world
Supporting women in business is a “blueprint for the future,” says the cofounder of femUniti — and she has the data to back it up.
Unlike Silicon Valley, many Asian societies, due to their penchant for risk aversion, need more government support to boost early-stage deep-tech innovation.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2025
Government capital is not just 'silly money'
Unlike Silicon Valley's predominantly private-sector-driven ecosystem, many Asian societies exhibit greater risk aversion, necessitating proactive government involvement.
Kyoto's gaming landscape is dominated by Nintendo's headquarters, but a contingent of foreign-born indie developers is also working in the gaming giant's shadow.
LIFE / Digital
May 17, 2025
In Nintendo’s backyard, foreign indie game devs are thriving
“Of course, we’re all in the shadow of Nintendo, but we’re also here because of Nintendo,” says one British indie game developer.
SoftBank Group reported net income of ¥517.18 billion ($3.5 billion) in its fiscal fourth quarter, helped by the Vision Fund, which swung to a profit of ¥26.1 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2025
SoftBank profit doubles as AI demand boosts chip sales and startups
The results come as SoftBank plans to invest $30 billion in OpenAI while leading a $100 billion foray into building AI hardware in the U.S.
Sakana AI CEO David Ha speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2025
Japan should produce its own AI defense solutions, Sakana AI CEO says
Sakana AI CEO David Ha said that as U.S. foreign policy becomes more U.S.-centric, AI services could serve as “a bargaining chip for countries.”
SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025 was bustling with participants of various nationalities Thursday, and multiple languages could be heard around the room as many engaged in conversations throughout the day.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 8, 2025
SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025 expands to become one of Asia's largest startup events
This year, the conference — focused on sustainable cities and high technology — feels bigger and more global.
Tokyo-based satellite maker Axelspace's initial public offering is expected to be approved by the Tokyo Stock Exchange later this month, people with knowledge of the matter said.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 8, 2025
Axelspace is latest Japan space startup to seek IPO, sources say
If successful, it would be the fifth such listing of a Japanese spacecraft venture over the last two years.
Carolina Kawakubo, head of the Japanese arm of NRW.Global Business GmbH, during an interview on April 28 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS
May 8, 2025
German agency to strengthen its support for Japan startups
The German agency plans to hold seminars in four cities across Japan through November to provide such companies with free expertise.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace, says his primary interest in space development is not to abandon Earth, but to protect it.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 7, 2025
'Big picture thinker': Ispace CEO Hakamada on reaching the moon and dreaming of starships
CEO Takeshi Hakamada envisions a distant future where humans live and work on the moon — just don't ask him to visit.
Phillip Vincent (right), Japan CEO of Plug and Play, and Ma Jingqian, head of ventures, at Plug and Play's Tokyo office, last month
BUSINESS / Companies
May 5, 2025
Plug and Play wants to help Japanese startups go global
The Japanese government is aggressively supporting startups, and large companies are seeking more opportunities to bet on entrepreneurs.
People take part in the European Defense Tech Hub hackathon in Amsterdam on March 28.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2025
Mission before money: How Europe's defense startups are luring AI talent
A sense of patriotism stirred by the war in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump's upending of security alliances is a motivation for many.
Executives from U.K. self-driving startup Wayve and SoftBank attend an event in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2025
U.K. AI startup Wayve makes Japan debut after Nissan partnership
Earlier this month, Wayve said it was joining forces with Nissan Motor to help build the next generation of its ProPilot driver-assist system.
A myocardial cell sheet using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 9, 2025
Japanese startup seeks approval for world’s first iPS regenerative treatment
The Osaka University startup is targeting patients suffering from severe heart failure for whom current treatment options are limited.
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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