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April 01, 2025
 

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Nicholas Takahashi
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2024
Spy satellite race in Asia heats up with Japan rocket launch
The probe will monitor North Korean missile sites, according to Mitsubishi Heavy, and the launch comes amid a busy period for spy satellite launches in Asia.
Toyota's global production jumped 11% in November to a record level, bouncing back from last year's supply chain disruptions and benefiting from robust demand both in Japan and overseas.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 27, 2023
Toyota saw record November sales on demand from U.S. and Europe
Global sales — including that of subsidiaries Hino and Daihatsu — rose 12% from a year earlier to 986,262 units.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 21, 2023
Daihatsu offices raided after scandal halts all car shipments
The raid followed revelations that the carmaker and supplier had manipulated the results of various collision safety tests dating as far back as 1989.
A 2023 Toyota Prius vehicle during an auto show in New York in April
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 20, 2023
In the birthplace of Toyota’s Prius, hybrids now reign supreme
Japan’s biggest carmakers have only recently promised to roll out a wider slate of battery-only models in the next two to three years.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 17, 2023
Ispace to launch second moon mission following crash
The mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as early as the northern hemisphere winter of 2024.
Toshihiro Mibe, president and chief executive officer of Honda at the Japan Mobility Show, in Tokyo in October
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 12, 2023
Booming profits bolster Japan automakers’ cautious EV shift
The Japanese auto sector is on track this year to exceed its peak operating profit of around ¥5.4 trillion in fiscal 2015.
Toyota President Koji Sato speaks next to an FT-3e electric vehicle at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 1, 2023
Toyota raises profit forecast 50% on weak yen, record sales
With an unprecedented 5.6 million vehicles sold in April-September, Toyota is on track for its 11.4 million-unit goal.
Toyota’s gigacast rear component. The company plans to employ the gigacasting technology in making electric vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2023
Tesla’s latest disruption in carmaking draws followers in Japan
Carmakers in Japan are starting to embrace gigacasting as they seek to make up for lost ground in the shift to EVs.
Toyota has suspended operations at six domestic plants following a blast at a factory run by one of its component suppliers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2023
Toyota halts six auto plants after explosion at parts supplier
The explosion occurred Monday at Chuo Spring’s factory in Aichi Prefecture, where vehicle suspension coils are made.
Toyota's global sales and production for August hit record highs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 29, 2023
Toyota's global sales and output hit record high in August
Global production rose 4% to a record 924,509 vehicles, including subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors, the Japanese carmaker said Thursday.
BYD's Dolphin electric car during a test drive in Yokohama
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2023
BYD takes aim at Japan's EV market with new Dolphin hatchback
The base model Dolphin starts from ¥3.63 million and is equipped with a 70 kilowatt hour battery that offers 400 kilometers of range.
Self-propelled electric vehicles move through the factory floor during a demonstration of its new assembly line technology at Toyota's Motomachi plant in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, on Sept. 13.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2023
Toyota keeps up the push to prove it can embrace new technology
The carmaker was eager to show that it wasn’t about to sit idle as the global auto industry shifts toward electrification and automation.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2023
Japan set to shoot for the moon after Russia and India missions
Success could provide the thrust JAXA badly needs to begin rebuilding its battered reputation after a series of costly setbacks over the past year.
Simon Humphries, head of design at Toyota, speaks during the world premier of the new Land Cruiser in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2023
Toyota’s iconic Land Cruiser returns to North America
The world’s biggest carmaker has unveiled three variations of one of its most enduring models, starting at around $50,000.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2023
Top auto executives in Japan are paid a lot, but not as much as their U.S. counterparts
Japan boasts some of the world’s biggest carmakers, but pay packages for their executives pale in comparison to industry leaders in the United States.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 16, 2023
Shareholder ire takes shine off stock rally for Toyota chairman
Akio Toyoda’s reappointment to the board this week with 85% of voted shares marked a decline from 96% last year and the lowest on record for him since 2013.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 14, 2023
Toyota shares surge most since 2020 after investors reappoint chairman
A resolution calling for greater disclosure on climate lobbying was put forward by a trio of European asset managers, but failed to find support among shareholders.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2023
Dismal sales undercut Toyota and Hyundai as they push hydrogen fuel-cell cars
Such vehicles accounted for only 0.02% of global passenger vehicle sales last year, according to a report, with sales dropping in Toyota's home market.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2023
Alternative fuels take the spotlight at Japanese endurance race
Toyota's Corolla H2 Concept, running on liquid hydrogen, crossed the finish line at Fuji International Speedway 24 hours after Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda climbed into the driver's seat.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 10, 2023
Mitsubishi Motors to stick with China despite poor sales
The automaker’s retail sales in China dropped to 32,000 units in the third quarter, and those numbers are expected to decline again for the quarter that ended in March.
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination
Zensho Holdings, operator of fast-food chain Sukiya, said it will close all of its stores in Japan, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday and Friday following recent contamination incidents.
Alert raised for volcano in southwestern Japan
Shinmoedake, a volcano located between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, in November 2019
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.
Who among the opposition would join the ruling coalition?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Friday.
Traveling the Three-Star Road, the tourist route made from thin air
Scenes like this snow-covered bridge leading to the village of Shirakawa-go are what make the Three-Star Road worth traveling — its name notwithstanding.

Podcast

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

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone. 
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

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