Search - business

 
 
Toyota's hybrids are selling well in North America, making up for sluggish demand for its vehicles in Japan and China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024

Toyota quarterly profit rises 17% on year as weak yen drives U.S. demand

Despite ongoing turmoil from a government probe that found issues with vehicle certifications, analysts still project the carmaker will post a record profit this year.
As metal prices rise, so do cases of theft, with more and an increasing number of metal cables being stolen from solar power plants in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024

Japan's solar plants see over 9,000 cases of cable theft since 2023

The survey were the first to be conducted by the National Police Agency on the situation, at a time when metal prices are rising.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after the central bank's policy meeting, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2024

BOJ’s sudden hawkishness attributed to yen defense

Economists believe political pressure may have had something to do with the central bank’s shift in stance.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida (left) and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe hold a joint news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024

Honda and Nissan to tighten ties on software, batteries and EV knowhow

Honda and Nissan sales fell about 40% and 27%, respectively, in June alone in China following the shutdown of some of their local plants.
Seven Eleven officials receives a Guinness World Records' certificate for its product as the most sold freshly made curry bread in volume in 2023 during a ceremony in Saitama Prefecture on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024

7-Eleven's curry bread certified by Guinness World Records

The ¥160 bread, fried in store, logged 76,987,667 pieces sold.
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, outside a U.S. federal court in Santa Ana, California, in June
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 2, 2024

Bookmaker in Shohei Ohtani interpreter case to plead guilty

Bookmaker Mathew Bowyer worked with Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani's ex-interpreter and friend, who admitted to taking Ohtani's money to cover his gambling debts.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida (left) and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe shake hands prior to a joint news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 2, 2024

Honda-Nissan alliance completes Japan car industry consolidation

The carmakers' cozying up to one another follows Toyota acquiring stakes in Subaru, Suzuki and Mazda.
Founded in the early 2000s, Ichiro's Malt has since become a third pole in Japan's whisky world dominated by beverage giants.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 4, 2024

In sleepy Chichibu, Japan's whisky landscape is quietly shifting

Ichiro’s signature flavor profile of rich, woodsy flavors complemented by a clear fruitiness owes in large part to the tempermental 'mizunara' Japanese oak.
Photographer Gaku Lange says Japan's film photography scene is growing, but it still lags behind overseas communities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 5, 2024

Looking at Japan’s ‘tribal’ photography scene through a new lens

More young people in Tokyo are ditching smartphones for film cameras, but the old guard isn't necessarily pleased about it.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. A majority of the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg said this week’s rate hike by the central bank was appropriate, and nearly 70% expected the rate to be raised again by the end of this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2024

Most BOJ watchers rethink pace of hikes after Ueda’s hawkishness

Some 68% of 41 economists see the policy rate rising to 0.5% from 0.25% by the end of this year, according to a Bloomberg survey.
A government white paper stressed the need to pay attention to the impact of interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan on personal consumption.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2024

Japan warns of weak yen impact on households in government white paper

A weak yen has become a source of concern for policymakers as it has dampened consumption by inflating the cost of importing fuel, food and raw material.
Kazuo Momma, former assistant governor of the Bank of Japan
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2024

BOJ likely to hike in October after big shift, former official says

The BOJ’s basic stance now seems to be that as real rates are extremely low, they can keep raising them as long as no major shock hits the economy.
The Nikkei 225 fell more than 2,000 points on Friday, capping a volatile week in the financial markets.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 2, 2024

Japanese stocks fall almost 6% just days after shock rate rise

In the span of less than a month, the 225-issue Nikkei average went from all-time records to a shocking rout.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in April 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 3, 2024

Alongside the Trump-Russia inquiry, a lesser-known look at Egyptian influence

The Justice Department investigated whether a Trump adviser was part of an Egyptian plan, never proven, to funnel $10 million to the 2016 Trump campaign.
A man looks at an electronic stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 3, 2024

Novice investors under pressure after Japan stock rout

Newcomer investors, who are concerned about the possibility of further stock price declines, are facing the challenge of whether to continue investing.
The Nikkei stock index saw the biggest plunge in eight years Friday following the Bank of Japan's rate hike earlier in the week.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Aug 4, 2024

Investors take long-term view as rate hike whipsaws Japan

As the country normalizes after years of negative interest rates, corporate pricing power and higher pay for workers may spur economic growth, analysts say.
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has said the 50-50 control of LY, the operator of the Line app, by SoftBank and Naver leaves the messaging app vulnerable to cyberattacks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2024

SoftBank and Naver to sell down stake in Japan’s Line app

The tender comes as the capital structure of the operator of Japan’s biggest messaging app Line threatens to become a diplomatic flash point with South Korea.
The Yahoo Auction website shows new banknotes selling for much higher than their face value.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 4, 2024

New Japanese banknotes increasingly put up for auction

Notes with features that make them a collectible are being auctioned online for prices much higher than its face value.
South Korea's Lim Si-hyeon has three gold medals from the 2024 Paris Games. Archers from the country have all been given cars by team sponsor Hyundai.
OLYMPICS
Aug 4, 2024

Diamonds, meatballs and motors: How Olympians can win more than medals

Many rewards are financial, but they can also be more eclectic.
Government officials are concerned that businesses are reluctant to report cyberattack damage due to fears about a possible decline in stock prices.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2024

Japan mulls requiring private sector operators to report cyberattacks on infrastructure

The move is designed to prevent cyberattack damage from spreading to other businesses by sharing information quickly.
The 225-issue Nikkei stock average dropped more than 4,000 points on Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 5, 2024

Nikkei plunges by 12% as it registers largest-ever point fall

The drop exceeds the point fall recorded Oct. 20, 1987, the day after Black Monday in New York.
Students inside a clean room of a college of technology in Kumamoto Prefecture. The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association started holding special classes at colleges of technology to attract more people to the semiconductor industry.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2024

Japan chip industry talent race heats up

Job opportunities have expanded notably in Kyushu and Hokkaido.
The Bank of Japan released minutes from its June policy board meeting Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 5, 2024

Up rates before it’s 'too late,’ one BOJ policy board member said in June

Some members of the nine-member policy board mentioned that a weak yen could inflate import prices and put upward pressure on consumer prices.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaks during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio following their bilateral meeting at the Luxon's residence on June 19.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2024

New Zealand scraps clean, green policies to boost economy

New Zealand's government is shifting its priorities toward increasing exports to support its flailing economy.
Ukrainian Minister of Justice Denys Maliuska (center left) and Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi (center right) sign a memorandum of cooperation on judicial reforms and anti-corruption measures, in Kyiv on Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2024

Japan and Ukraine agree to cooperate on anti-corruption measures

The countries' two justice ministries will cooperate across fields such as judicial reform and the strengthening of judicial institutions via personnel training.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks at the National Press Club in Tokyo in May 2014.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 5, 2024

Bangladeshi military to form interim government after PM flees country

Sheikh Hasina had sought since early July sought to quell nationwide protests against her government, but she fled after a brutal day of unrest on Sunday.
The Nikkei stock index showed a strong rebound Tuesday morning after a historic plunge a day earlier in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 6, 2024

Tokyo stocks rebound sharply in morning trading after record fall

On Monday, the Nikkei had closed down 12.40%, or 4,451.28 points — its largest points drop in history.
Americans Simone Biles (left) and Jordan Chiles (right) bow toward Brazil's Rebeca Andrade after Andrade won gold in the floor exercise event at the Paris Olympics.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Aug 6, 2024

Brazil's Rebeca Andrade gets her moment of glory after long wait

After playing second fiddle to American superstar Simone Biles for the past week, Brazil's Rebeca Andrade finally rose to the top of the podium.
Japan's gasoline imports in June rose 20.4% from the previous month, with the Petroleum Association of Japan attributing it to maintenances and outages at plants owned by top oil refiners.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2024

Japan's gasoline imports seen rising through August as refinery outages cut output

Japan's gasoline imports are expected to stay elevated through August after rising 20% in June.
Shares faced historic sell-offs at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Monday, but some retail investors see them as an opportunity to buy the dip, betting that the downturn is temporary.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 6, 2024

Japan’s retail investors show resiliency despite market turmoil

Some small investors chose the opportunity to buy the dip, betting that the market downturn was temporary.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?