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July 05, 2025
 

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TECH

The potential of AI in fighting climate change is immense. It can accelerate progress by redesigning industrial processes, optimizing transport systems, maximizing energy efficiency and significantly reducing emissions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2024
Embracing the AI-energy-climate nexus
AI's potential to fight climate change is immense. It can accelerate progress by redesigning industrial processes, maximizing energy efficiency and reducing emissions.
Yuki Kusumi, CEO of Panasonic Holdings, during an interview in Tokyo last week
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 16, 2024
Panasonic managers need ‘sense of crisis’ over low profitability, says CEO
The comments are unusually harsh in Japan, and especially at Panasonic, where the notion of lifetime employment was embraced for years.
ASML's headquarters and factory in Veldhoven, Netherlands
WORLD
Jul 16, 2024
ASML-backed university is caught in the middle of U.S.-China chip war
The Netherlands is facing increasing pressure from Washington to stem Beijing’s chip-making efforts.
The production plant of GCL Technology in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China, on July 2
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 16, 2024
Xi Jinping’s great economic rewiring is cushioning China’s slowdown
Tech advances and a resulting export boom have helped to keep economic growth within reach of its targeted pace of around 5%.
Storage tanks at the Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project controlled by oil companies Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies in Norway. The Norwegian government is funding 80% of the initial investment for the state-of-the-art facility.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2024
A giant carbon dump gives glimpse into net-zero future
As the cost of renewables declines at pace with fossil fuel use, the need for carbon, capture and storage tech will diminish, making cost reductions a challenge.
Sharp is soliciting applicants for an early retirement program at Sakai Display Products.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 13, 2024
Japan's Sharp to shed 500 jobs at Osaka plant via early retirement
The plant, run by wholly owned subsidiary Sakai Display Products, is set to discontinue production of large liquid crystal panels for television sets.
When Microsoft took a non-voting, observer position on OpenAI's board in November, it triggered unease among antitrust watchdogs in the European Union, Britain and the United States over how much control it exerts over the artificial intelligence startup.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 11, 2024
Microsoft ditches OpenAI board observer seat to avert antitrust scrutiny
The move comes amid concerns among British and U.S. antitrust watchdogs over Microsoft's influence over OpenAI and the latter's independence.
Electronic waste — also known as e-waste — from computers in a junk shop in Metro Manila, Philippines
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 11, 2024
U.N. warns digital economy drive is damaging the environment
The U.N. agency called for sustainable strategies to counter the growing environmental toll digitalization creates, particularly in developing countries.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2024
Tokyo residents seek to block building of massive data center
Residents of Akishima are concerned the center will threaten wildlife and cause pollution among other issues.
Japan's excessive dependence on certain countries for chip imports is a risk to supply networks, government white paper has warned.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 9, 2024
Government white paper flags Japan's risks of import dependencies
The paper stressed the importance of import source diversification, to prevent excessive dependence that poses a risk to supply networks.
Rapidus, which aims to produce next-generation chips domestically, is building a factory in Hokkaido.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2024
Japanese banks gear up lending for chip-related industries
Lenders have set up specialized teams and are collaborating with regional rivals to aid sectors that might benefit from the emergence of chip factories.
Samsung workers chant slogans during a walkout outside the company’s semiconductor plant in Hwaseong, South Korea, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2024
Samsung union steps up pressure over pay with three-day strike
The union has spent weeks preparing for the walkout, after negotiations over pay and vacation time collapsed last month.
One analyst argues that the billions of dollars flowing from Japan to the likes of Apple, Amazon and Microsoft might be more a positive than a negative in that more companies and individuals are using digital services.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2024
Japan’s digital deficit might be a good thing
The digital deficit indicates that digitalization has accelerated in the country, says Mitsubishi Research Institute researcher Kengo Wataya.
Renesas Electronics CEO Hidetoshi Shibata
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024
Ex-banker behind chipmaker Renesas targets $100 billion value
Renesas’ push coincides with an aggressive campaign by Japan to turn the world’s fourth-largest economy into a chip powerhouse.
A demonstration of a clear-screen translation system is conducted at a counter at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2024
Clear-screen translation system is being tested at Tokyo's Haneda
The translation system is designed to rapidly provide information to foreign travelers and those with hearing difficulties.
The focus on artificial intelligence comes as the Self-Defense Forces grapple with concerns about recruitment and its abilities to harness the power of new technologies.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2024
Japan’s Defense Ministry unveils first basic policy on use of AI
The new policy comes as Japan looks to stave off a manpower shortage and keep pace with China and the U.S. on the technology’s military applications.
Inside the TikTok office in Singapore in 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 1, 2024
China’s AI startups head to Singapore in a bid for global growth
Singapore offers many Chinese artificial intelligence startup companies better access to global investors and customers than China does.
Voters listen to a stump speech in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 29, 2024
Candidates turn to AI in Tokyo governor race
Experts warn that while social media give voters more insight into candidates, there are risks of information bias.
An employee works on a laptop next to a drone at SD Guthrie's Sungai Linau estate in Selangor, Malaysia, on June 6.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 29, 2024
Robots are stepping into one of Asia’s dirtiest farm jobs
With global stockpiles of palm oil set for the first back-to-back decline in more than 40 years, Malaysia is pushing for automation to boost production.
Sharp holds an annual general shareholders meeting at its headquarters in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2024
Sharp vows to achieve profitability at annual meeting
Sharp will "engage in selection and concentration, and invest in unique products," the executive vice president said at a shareholder meeting in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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