author

 
Menu
Search
 
February 22, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Kazuaki Nagata

Meta

Twitter

@kzinagata

Kazuaki Nagata
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that the situation surrounding Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel has improved under U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025
Ishiba questions the politics of Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal rejection
The "unjust political interference” was difficult to understand, the prime minister said, but he indicated that the situation has improved under Trump.
Japan's gross domestic product grew by an annualized rate of 2.8% in the October-December period, far more than the 1% forecast.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 17, 2025
Japan’s economic boomlet continues with strong fourth-quarter growth
Gross domestic product grew 2.8% in the three months to December, compared with a median market estimate of a 1% gain.
Minor Hotels and Royal Holdings executives explain their joint venture at a news conference last week in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 17, 2025
Thailand's Minor Hotels entering Japanese market with Royal Holdings JV
The 50-50 joint venture aims to have 21 hotels in Japan by 2035.
The U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025
Nippon Steel wants 100% of U.S. Steel, not a minority stake, report says
Last week, the deal appeared effectively dead after a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Following weeks of talks after Nissan Motor President Makoto Uchida and Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe's December announcement of a possible merger, the two automakers confirmed on Thursday that the deal is officially off.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2025
Honda and Nissan cancel megamerger after weeks of negotiations
The automakers failed to find the common ground needed to reach an agreement, though they still intend to work together in other areas.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that U.S. Steel would remain American.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2025
Nippon Steel goes quiet after U.S. Steel deal seemingly nixed for good
Comments over the weekend by U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba point to the U.S. steelmaker remaining American.
Shoppers walk past a display of cabbages for sale at a supermarket in Tokyo last month. The 2024 record summer heat and heavy rain ruined crops, driving up the cost of the usually inexpensive leafy green in what Japanese media has dubbed a "cabbage shock."
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 7, 2025
Inflation becoming a concern in Japan after being a goal for decades
Rising consumer prices are putting real wage growth at risk and possibly becoming a drag on much-needed household consumption.
Households continue to be squeezed as inflation outpaces pay increases.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 5, 2025
Real wages in Japan rise in December, but fall for third straight year
Inflation continued to outpace pay increases, which have been generous on a nominal basis in recent years.
Japanese workers are increasingly job-hopping from one full-time position to another.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2025
Job-hopping Japanese workers push salaries higher
Job mobility in Japan has traditionally been low due to lifetime employment arrangements and strong labor laws.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son (right) and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at an event on Monday to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2025
SoftBank forms joint venture with OpenAI in enterprise play
SoftBank and OpenAI said that the joint venture will help large Japanese enterprises in the adoption and training of Cristal intelligence in order to improve their businesses.
Many workers at small companies continue to fall behind as wages fail to keep up with inflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2025
Smaller Japanese companies unlikely to meet wage-increase target for 2025
For this year’s spring negotiations, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation set hike targets of more than 6% for smaller firms.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda had sounded dovish after the central bank's December policy meeting, which led some analysts to say that rate hikes might only emerge in March.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2025
BOJ takes rates to 0.5% amid calm markets after Trump inauguration
The 25-basis-point move marks the first rate increase since July and takes rates to their highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Shipping containers at an industrial port in the Keihin Industrial Zone in Kawasaki. Japanese businesses see a larger role for Japan if global trade breaks down and multilateral trade institutions become less effective without U.S. participation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025
Japan contemplates global free-trade leadership as U.S. goes protectionist
Tokyo could find opportunity in the turmoil while avoiding direct confrontation with Washington.
The Bank of Japan is set decide to raise interest rates at a policy meeting on Friday, according to Jiji Press.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025
Bank of Japan set to raise rates on Friday, report says
The move would mark the central bank's first rate hike since July last year, when it increased rates to 0.25%.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is still signaling caution ahead of the central bank's January meeting.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 21, 2025
BOJ likely to raise rates this week in absence of immediate Trump tariffs
The possibility is "quite high" if markets remain calm following Trump's inauguration on Monday as the 47th president of the United States.
Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
BUSINESS / Companies / Longform
Jan 17, 2025
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go
The CEO and president of Rapidus says the chip venture in Hokkaido is key to Japan's fortunes.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange will soon require some companies to publish their financials in English in addition to Japanese.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 13, 2025
Japanese companies rush to up English-language disclosures in 2025
The Tokyo Stock Exchange requires Prime market companies to release financial statements and other key information simultaneously in English and Japanese from April.
Prices continue to outpace wage increases in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 9, 2025
Real wages fall for a fourth month, squeezing Japanese households further
Inflation-adjusted real wages dropped 0.3% from a year earlier in November as some food prices and utility rates increased.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange wants companies to improve governance and performance.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 8, 2025
As standards rise, Tokyo Stock Exchange delistings hit decade high
A total of 94 companies were delisted from the Tokyo exchange in 2024, the highest number since it merged with the Osaka Securities Exchange in 2013.
Nippon Steel CEO Eiji Hashimoto speaks to reporters about its lawsuit against the U.S. government on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025
Nippon Steel committed to long-shot lawsuit against U.S. government
Eiji Hashimoto, the steelmaker's CEO, says he is convinced that litigation is the “best course of action” in response to the blocking of its acquisition of U.S. Steel.
Yen advances past ¥150 per dollar as BOJ rate-hike bets ramp up
The Japanese currency climbed as much as 1% to ¥149.95 against the dollar on Thursday, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
LDP and opposition lock horns over Japan budget
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in parliament on Friday
Japanese panel seeks to tighten screening of new universities
Education minister Toshiko Abe (right) receives a report on higher education from an advisory panel on Friday.
Over 80% of Japanese say death penalty system is 'unavoidable'
Former death row inmate Iwao Hakamata (left) and his sister, Hideko, attend a gathering of his supporters after his acquittal in a retrial over a 1966 murder case was finalized in October last year.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown ready to sprint past Paris disappointment
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (center) runs during a 100-meter heat at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024.
What is the ceiling for sumo’s newest yokozuna?
Newly promoted grand champion Hoshoryu (center) performs a dedication ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 31.
‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).
Japan’s English-language education doesn’t pass the test
One-third of elementary school students in Japan do not like learning English, according to a 2021 poll, an 8% rise since 2013. The pressure of taking proficiency tests is eroding children's engagement with studying English and its benefits.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
The race to save 20th-century history
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers
mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER