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Bottled and canned cocktails are predicted to be worth $21.1 billion (about ¥3 trillion) in the U.S. alone by 2027.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 31, 2023

Are canned cocktails poised for a meteoric U.S. rise?

The bottled and canned cocktail market is predicted to be worth $21.1 billion (about ¥3 trillion) in the U.S. alone by 2027.
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities sold Additional Tier 1 notes from Credit Suisse more aggressively than any other firm in Japan, with its sales making up about two-thirds of the notes taken up, which totaled ¥140 billion in value.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2023

MUFJ securities unit sued again over Credit Suisse AT1 bond losses

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities sold more than two-thirds of the Additional Tier 1 notes taken up in Japan.
Japan's industrial production fell 0.9% in November from the previous month, weighed down by a decline in auto production.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 28, 2023

Japan's November factory output falls on weaker autos

Industrial production fell 0.9% in November from the previous month, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) showed on Thursday.
Daihatsu Motor President Soichiro Okudaira speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 20. 
EDITORIALS
Dec 29, 2023

Daihatsu scandal is a warning for Japan Inc.

Investigations indicate that improprieties at Daihatsu stretch as far back as 1989, indicating a profound problem with the company’s culture.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son speaks at the SoftBank World 2023 corporate conference in Tokyo on Oct. 4.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 31, 2023

Will generative AI speed up Japan's digital transformation?

An initially cautious attitude has given way to wider acceptance in the public and private sectors, providing a boost to digitalization efforts.
Workers walk past an underconstruction area with completed office towers in the background in Shenzhen's Qianhai new district on Aug. 25, 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 1, 2024

China's strained economy casts shadow over 2024

Last year, the economy was roiled by a real estate crisis, falling consumer confidence, deflation and the disappearance of foreign investment.
Journalists gather in front of lawmaker Yoshitaka Ikeda's office in Nagoya on Sunday after he was arrested in connection to a political funds scandal.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 9, 2024

Arrested lawmaker Ikeda allegedly ordered disposal of fundraising data

Tokyo prosecutors suspect that ex-LDP member Yoshitaka Ikeda led the destruction of evidence related to alleged slush funds.
Meiji's canned liquid baby formula is in high demand following the New Year's Day quake that hit central Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 11, 2024

Meiji to boost liquid baby formula production after quake

The company has received more than twice the usual number of orders for such products so far this month.
Grounded Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes on the tarmac at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 11, 2024

Boeing's latest Max problem creates more headaches for airlines

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines together have 70% of the Max 9 planes in service and have canceled hundreds of flights.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump greets attendees at a campaign rally in Indianola, Iowa, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 15, 2024

The Trump voters in swing states who are returning to the fold

To try to understand his enduring appeal, reporters spoke to five Trump supporters in five general election battleground states.
A man rides a scooter over a bridge across from the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai on Jan. 9.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 16, 2024

China set to reach 2023 growth goal as focus shifts to new year

The figures for GDP, industrial production and retail sales are likely to show improvements from the same period in 2022, helped by a low base of comparison.
Executives at the World Economic Forum say they are grappling with how to turn early demos featuring artificial intelligence into money-makers.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 18, 2024

AI buzzes Davos, but CEOs wrestle with how to make it pay

The arrival of OpenAI's viral ChatGPT in late 2022 triggered a frenzy of venture investment and an abrupt change of course inside the world's biggest technology companies.
Japan Airlines launched a new project in March 2021 in which about 1,000 flight attendants engage in promoting tourist resources in Japan's 47 prefectures.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 22, 2024

Regional business creators system picks up steam in Japan

The system allows local governments to leverage private-sector know-how in areas including tourism promotion and digitalization.
Masakazu Tokura (center), chairman of Keidanren, meets with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (right) in Beijing on Thursday along with members of a Japanese business delegation.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2024

China vows to improve business conditions, Japan top lobby says

Beijing has embarked on a push in recent months to attract foreign investment back, with the government pledging more "heartwarming” steps.
Executive officer, producer and director Masayoshi Yokoyama poses next to a promotional poster for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The Yakuza gangster series has long been seen as a Japanese version of Grand Theft Auto, but Yokoyama dismisses any such comparison.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 25, 2024

'We don't hit women': How Yakuza differs from Grand Theft Auto

Designer Masayoshi Yokoyama sat down to discuss video game violence ahead of the Jan. 26 release of the latest in the Yakuza series.
Tokyo Metro plans to go public in the fiscal year that starts in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 26, 2024

Tokyo Metro to go public as Japan seeks to reap benefits of buoyant stock market

The company, which is owned by the national government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, will be listed in the year that begins in April.
Industrial output in December rose a seasonally-adjusted 1.8% from the previous month, following a 0.9% decline in November, with the industry ministry maintaining its basic assessment that it is fluctuating indecisively.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 31, 2024

Japan’s factory output gains to support economy’s patchy rebound

The rebound may potentially remove a hurdle for the Bank of Japan as it mulls the timing of a likely interest rate hike.
Cars ready to be loaded onto a ship for export at the port in Yantai, in China's eastern Shandong province, on Jan. 2
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 31, 2024

China seized Japan's crown for vehicle exports in 2023, data shows

The Chinese auto sector has boomed in recent years largely because of massive investments in electric cars, while Japanese firms have been more cautious.
Eisai's Alzheimer's drug Leqembi
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2024

Eisai sees 'huge' growth potential for Alzheimer's drug in China

The Japanese pharmaceutical firm aims to roll out its groundbreaking Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi to 1,500 people in China later this year.
People walk past a billboard promoting Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's defense minister and a presidential candidate, and his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the eldest son of Indonesian President Joko Widodo and current Surakarta's mayor, in Jakarta on Jan. 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 8, 2024

Generative AI faces major test as Indonesia holds election

Front-runner Prabowo Subianto is using AI tools to create campaign art, track social media sentiment, build interactive chatbots and target voters.
Polish soldiers near a K2 tank, delivered in the first batch of arms from South Korea under contracts signed in recent months, in Wierzbiny near Orzysz, Poland, in March last year
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 8, 2024

Financing uncertainty clouds South Korea's push for massive arms deals

Both parties in South Korea have introduced bills to boost the state bank as the country seeks to expedite a $22 billion weapons purchase from Poland.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group. One of SoftBank's primary objectives will be to harvest returns from its huge portfolio rather than priming unprofitable startups for growth.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2024

SoftBank’s Vision Fund swaps splashy bets for ‘timid’ investing

As other tech investors have heaped money into new artificial intelligence firms, Vision Fund has stayed out of the fray.
People walk past the Trump Building after a ruling against former U.S. President Donald Trump ordering him to pay $354.9 million and barring him from doing business in New York state for three years, in New York City on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2024

Trump keeps New York empire intact as judge rescinds asset-sale order

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was banned from doing business in New York for three years and ordered to pay $354 million for lying about his wealth.
Nissan's Ariya electric crossover sport utility vehicle assembled by robots at the company's plant in Kaminokawa, Tochigi Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024

Japan carmakers forge ahead with EV investments despite slowdown

Outside of Japan, signs of a scaling back are everywhere, with the exception of China.
An Enechange electric vehicle charging station in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture. There are around 37,000 public charging ports in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024

Japan needs more priority EV parking spots, Enechange CEO says

In space-challenged Japan, where electric vehicles only account for around 3% of new car sales, regular cars often park in charging spots instead.
When SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son bought Arm in 2016 for $32 billion, he had grand plans for the company to dominate the nascent market for connected devices, also known as the Internet of Things.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2024

Softbank’s Arm is not the AI play most people think it is

Today, GPUs are the gold standard for AI development and thus the equivalent of toilet paper during the pandemic.
Organizers say they hope that the 2024 Paris Paralympics attracts packed audiences.
PARALYMPICS
Feb 27, 2024

Paralympics chief hopes for full stadiums and extensive TV coverage

Fewer than one million tickets out of a total of 2.8 million have been sold so far.
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks during a news conference in Stockholm on Monday after Hungary's parliament voted yes to ratify Sweden's NATO accession.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

Sweden clears final hurdle to join NATO as Hungary approves accession

Hungary's vote ended months of delays to complete Sweden's security policy shift amid concerns over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei index is on a roll, having broken its bubble-era record last week.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 27, 2024

What explains the recent surge in Japanese stock prices?

Japan needs for increase domestic capital investment, technological innovation and sound risk-taking to improve long-term competitiveness.
Apple started working on a car around 2014, setting its sights on a fully autonomous electric vehicle with a limousine-like interior and voice-guided navigation.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 28, 2024

Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

Many employees on the team will be reassigned to focus on generative artificial intelligence projects, an increasingly key priority for the company.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat