author

 
Menu
Search
 
December 21, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Makiko Yamazaki
The entrance of the Sodegaura LNG Terminal, operated by Tokyo Gas, in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 18, 2024
Japan's draft climate strategy spurs calls for bolder cuts in carbon emissions
The government last month presented a draft plan to aim for a 60% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 from 2013 levels.
Nobuhiro Ito, who runs casting-maker Ito Tekko, which employs about 100 people, in front of his company's factory in the city of Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 13, 2024
BOJ's rate hike plans clouded by small firms' wage woes
Next year's wage prospects are crucial for sustaining a consumption-led recovery — a prerequisite for further rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.
Business sentiment among large manufacturers in Japan improved for the first time in two quarters, the Bank of Japan's tankan survey for December showed Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 13, 2024
Japan business mood improves slightly, but global risks cloud outlook
The Bank of Japan tankan survey results come ahead of a two-day policy meeting next week, when its board will debate whether to lift rates from the current 0.25%.
Masato Kanda, then-vice minister of finance for international affairs, in January 2022
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2024
As pain from weak yen deepens, Japan's ex-currency chief Masato Kanda warns of action
Kanda's warning came as the Japanese currency weakened to a three-month low of near ¥155 to the dollar.
Tokyo's Ginza shopping district. In its revised estimates, the Cabinet Office cut its inflation-adjusted GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal year ending in March 2025 to 0.7% from 0.9% projected in July.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 1, 2024
Japan cuts growth forecast again for current fiscal year on weak exports
In its revised estimates, the Cabinet Office cut its inflation-adjusted GDP growth forecast for the year ending in March 2025 to 0.7% from 0.9% projected in July.
Infcurion offers technology powering a range of payments services such as digital wallets and credit cards.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2024
Japanese payments company Infcurion says planning IPO in 2025
Infcurion, founded in 2006, offers technology powering a range of payments services such as digital wallets and credit cards.
Big nonmanufacturers' mood has improved, the Bank of Japan's <i>tankan</i> survey shows, underscoring the strength of domestic demand.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 1, 2024
Big manufacturer sentiment steady in third quarter, tankan survey shows
While the survey found optimism among manufacturers, nonmanufacturers expect conditions to worsen in the months ahead.
7-Eleven's parent company this month rejected a $38.5 billion offer from Circle-K owner Couche-Tard, citing concerns about price.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 17, 2024
7-Eleven parent's new security rating won't affect a buyout, minister says
The finance minister's comments appeared aimed at easing investor concerns about the move.
Masato Kanda, Japan's former top currency diplomat, led massive bouts of yen-buying intervention in the currency markets in 2022 and 2024.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 10, 2024
Japan nominates ex-currency diplomat Kanda to head ADB
Since its 1966 founding, the ADB's top post has always gone to a Japanese national, making Kanda a strong candidate.
Digital transformation minister Taro Kono has described Japan's current fiscal state as an "emergency situation," saying the nation has to regain fiscal discipline.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2024
Japan's budget demands hit record as leadership race steps up
The race could complicate Tokyo's efforts to restore fiscal discipline.
Seven & I is currently categorized on the Finance Ministry's classification list as a company that conducts "designated," but not "core" businesses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2024
Japanese companies cannot use national security cover to block takeovers, official says
Japanese companies cannot use a national security designation as a tool to thwart foreign takeovers, a senior Finance Ministry official said.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food climbed 2.7% in July from a year earlier, accelerating slightly from 2.6% in June.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 23, 2024
Japan's core inflation picks up, but demand-driven growth slows
The "core core" index, which is closely watched by the BOJ, dipped below the key 2% line for the first time since September 2022.
Vehicles bound for shipment parked in front of the Lyra Leader vehicles carrier ship at the Nagoya Port in Nagoya. Japan's exports rose in July but shipment volumes extended their declines.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 21, 2024
Japan's July exports growth lags expectations as volumes fall again
Japanese exports rose 10.3% year-on-year in July, less than a median market forecast for an 11.4% increase.
People walk along Takeshita street at Harajuku shopping area in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 15, 2024
Japan's economy rebounds strongly on consumption boost, backing case for more rate hikes
The Bank of Japan had forecast that a solid economic recovery will help inflation hit its 2% target and justify raising interest rates further.
The rate of the yen against the dollar displayed in the trading room at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo on April 25.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 7, 2024
Japan's April yen-buying intervention sets new daily record
Quarterly data from the Finance Ministry showed that Japan spent a record ¥5.92 trillion on a single-day yen-buying intervention on April 29.
Shigeru Ishiba speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 7, 2024
LDP bigwig Ishiba endorses BOJ's rate hikes
"The Bank of Japan is on the right policy track" in raising interest rates, Shigeru Ishiba said.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during a news conference at a Group of 20 finance chiefs meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 27, 2024
Japan touts G20 reaffirmation of forex commitments as key achievement
The commitments say G20 nations recognize that disorderly movements in exchange rates can have adverse implications for economic and financial stability.
A worker at Sakai Seisakusyo prepares to transport metal rods at its factory in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, on July 8.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2024
Japan finds a 'stealth' cure for zombie businesses: Let them fail
The shift in thinking is a clear departure for a country that has typically sought to avoid bankruptcies and protect existing jobs at the cost of productivity.
A monitor at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo shows the yen falling below ¥161 against the dollar on Friday morning.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 28, 2024
Japan names new forex diplomat as yen hits 38-year low
Atsushi Mimura, a financial regulation veteran, replaces Masato Kanda, who launched the biggest yen-buying intervention on record this year.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2024
Japan to stick to goal of primary budget surplus next fiscal year
The government will also continue to try to lower the ratio of debt to gross domestic product, a draft of annual policy guidelines for budget planning said.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
A year after going private, structural reforms bearing fruit for Toshiba
Toshiba's Corporate Senior Executive Vice President Koji Ikeya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.
With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019

Podcast

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

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER