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December 22, 2024
 

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Elizabeth Beattie
Dining habits have changed since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, with alcohol consumption experiencing a drop.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 9, 2024
Hundreds of izakaya going bust as prices rise and customers change
In the first 11 months of this year, 203 of these establishments went out of business, more than the entire year of 2020 when COVID-19 became a pandemic.
A screen displays market data at Hana Bank in Seoul on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 4, 2024
Yoon’s gambit a tempest in a teapot for financial markets
Tokyo stocks opened flat and the yen was little changed from a day earlier, when the South Korean president declared martial law in a late-night address.
Female company presidents are mostly found at small businesses in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 2, 2024
8.4% of Japanese companies led by women in 2024
Female presidents tend to be found at smaller companies, with 11.9% of companies with less than ¥50 million in annual sales having a female boss.
SoftBank is unhappy that Moody's continues to issue ratings on the company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 28, 2024
SoftBank blasts Moody’s for unsolicited ratings
It says it is considering legal action against the agency, which has continued to publish unsolicited ratings of the company over the past several years.
Packages move along a conveyor belt at an Amazon warehouse
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024
Japan investigating Amazon for allegedly bullying other businesses
Tactics allegedly employed by the retailer involve the squeezing of business partners in exchange for visibility.
According to Similarweb, average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024
Bluesky is booming in Japan — mainly for reasons other than U.S. politics
Average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October, while figures for X were down over that time.
Randy's Donuts in Inglewood, California. Replicas of the giant doughnut sculpture will be installed, where possible, at shops in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 24, 2024
An iconic 32-foot doughnut might give Randy’s an edge in Japan
The doughnut had a cameo in “2012,” where it is seen rolling down the street as an enduring symbol of end-time. Now the brand looks to tackle the tough Japanese market.
An infrastructure project in the city of Mumbai. The International Monetary Fund forecasts 7.0% growth for India in 2024 and 6.5% in 2025, compared with 0.3% growth for Japan this year and 1.1% next year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 12, 2024
India set to overtake Japan in GDP rankings
Economic stagnation and a weak yen could take Japan's economy to fifth place globally as early as next year.
Japanese exporters could be hit by higher U.S. tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 11, 2024
Trump tariffs could have a significant impact on Japanese exports
The U.S. president-elect has promised 10% to 20% duties on all goods coming into the United States.
Tokyo stocks rallied on Wednesday as ballots were counted in the U.S. presidential election.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 6, 2024
Tokyo stocks rally and yen falls as Trump nears election win
The 225-issue Nikkei stock average rose 2.61% on the day while the yen fell 1.6% against the dollar as it became increasingly apparent that Donald Trump would likely win.
A perfect storm of political uncertainty at home and abroad is brewing for markets in Japan.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 1, 2024
Investors in Japan place — and hedge — their bets ahead of U.S. election
Donald Trump's lead in U.S. battleground-state polls, coupled with the outcome of Sunday's Lower House election, is fueling bets on the dollar against the yen.
Gov. Kazuo Ueda has made it clear over the past few months that any monetary policy moves are dependent on inflation and growth data being aligned with forecasts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 31, 2024
Bank of Japan keeps policy rate steady at 0.25%, as expected
The central bank held its ground this week even as it faced considerable political and economic pressure and significant uncertainty on the horizon.
After a two-day meeting of the Bank of Japan policy board ends on Thursday, Gov. Kazuo Ueda is likely to stick to the script and repeat almost verbatim his previous remarks.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 30, 2024
Bank of Japan set to stay course with Ueda seen sticking to script
Deviations from expectations in the statement could have an impact on markets, analysts say.
People from Thailand look at used smartphones in Tokyo's Akihabara district in October 2022.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 23, 2024
Japan's secondhand smartphone market booms as households struggle
Sales of used goods in Japan have grown rapidly as households struggle to make ends meet.
Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of Mt. Gox, speaks at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Oct. 11.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 21, 2024
The unsinkable Mark Karpeles is willing to give Tokyo another shot
The former CEO of Mt. Gox, which once processed the majority of bitcoin transactions globally before it blew up in 2014, is looking to set up shop in Japan again.
Traders borrow in currencies where rates are low and put that money to work in economies where rates are high, pocketing the difference.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Oct 2, 2024
Massive carry trade still lurks in the shadows and looms over markets
Trillions might remain, slightly different, less obvious and all but forgotten by a market eager to move on.
Shigeru Ishiba speaks at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo after being elected the party's new leader Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 30, 2024
Tokyo stocks fall 4.8% in first day of trading after Ishiba's victory
The surprise result in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election “contributed to meaningful volatility” in the markets.
Kioxia Holdings was reportedly planning an initial public offering in October valuing it at $10 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 25, 2024
Kioxia reportedly pulls IPO as AI winter looms
The IPO delay comes as the chip business globally faces a number of challenges related to possible overcapacity in some products.
Catherine O’Connell has achieved a number of notable firsts in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024
Pioneering foreign female attorney stresses pragmatism within Japan Inc.
Catherine O’Connell was the first foreign woman to establish a law practice in Tokyo and to sit on the audit and supervisory boards at Toyota Motor and Fujitsu.
Pedestrians cross an intersection in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. Japan has experienced a postpandemic travel boom, with tourists pouring back in after restrictions closed the country’s borders to travelers.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2024
Japan jumps to No. 2, from sixth place, in Best Countries index
It jumped from 6th place on the 2023 list as a post-COVID boom and reforms helped bump it up on the subindexes used to calculate the overall score.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
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.
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.
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.
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
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