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Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito (center) during the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly's plenary session on Wednesday in Kobe
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2025

Efforts to identify whistleblower against Hyogo governor likely illegal, panel says

The report found the governor's rebukes of prefectural officials to be "largely true" and called on him to "fulfill his accountability."
Japan aims to more than triple domestic cybersecurity industry sales in the next decade, from the current ¥900 billion ($6 billion) to ¥3 trillion.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 5, 2025

Japan aims to triple domestic cybersecurity industry sales in next decade

Japan-made cybersecurity products currently occupy less than half of the nation's domestic market share.
Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, on Jan. 26, the final day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Mar 5, 2025

Can sumo avoid becoming another soulless corporate sport?

Whether sumo also falls into the trap of creating greater separation between supporters and athletes remains to be seen.
With a pact to pay Arm Holdings $250 million over a period of ten years, Malaysia joined a growing number of countries that are trying to build domestic production of a component critical to future technologies and national security.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2025

SoftBank’s Arm to drive Malaysia’s $270 billion chip goals

Malaysia, which packages roughly a tenth of the world’s semiconductors, has inked a pact to pay Arm $250 million over a period of 10 years for licenses and knowhow.
Japan and South Korea are in their most fragile political states in decades just as their ally, the United States, enters the second administration of President Donald Trump.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 5, 2025

Japan and South Korea in the age of ‘America first’

Japan and South Korea are at their most fragile political states in decades just as their ally, the United States, has begun the second administration of Donald Trump.
The international system led by the United Nations faces challenges such as failing to maintain peace, end corruption and implement reforms, raising concerns of a League of Nations-like collapse.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2025

Transitioning to a new global structure without a League of Nations-style collapse

Like many idealistic efforts throughout history, the League of Nations teetered for years before its final collapse as the end of World War II.
Mendoza, Argentina, offers a combination of natural beauty, a thriving wine industry, political conservatism and valuable resources, making it an attractive potential safe haven amid global instability.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2025

I just found my nuclear war hideaway

This question is less and less theoretical: The world seems to be living on the edge, with growing tensions between great powers.
An M777 howitzer crew firing at Russian targets near the front lines of the Dnipro region, Ukraine, on Feb. 12
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025

U.S. cuts intelligence for Ukraine, adding pressure for peace deal

The move underscores Trump's willingness to play hardball with an ally as he pivots to a more conciliatory approach to Moscow.
While you need to pass over cash for taxes, don't fall for scams that trick you into paying what you don't owe.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 6, 2025

Scams, taxes and tariffs: It's that time of year.

Financial scams abound in Japan and a new one uses tax-related terminology.
Tariffs and trade uncertainty are causing the U.S. economy to lose steam, and companies more vulnerable to slower growth are starting to show the cracks.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 6, 2025

Investors spy the dawn of a tectonic shift away from U.S. markets

For most of the last three years, investors had bet on "U.S. exceptionalism," with the country ahead of others in economic growth, stock prices and AI.
Ryota Ishibashi, president of a subsidiary of Trial (far left), in a joint news conference with Seiyu
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2025

Discount store operator Trial to acquire Seiyu

Trial currently plans to retain Seiyu's company name and staff.
Seth Fischer, chief investment officer of Oasis Management, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2025

Oasis says investors back its proposed board changes at Kao

Oasis, which holds a 5.2% stake in Kao, has presented five candidates to become outside directors of the company.
The yield on Japan’s 10-year note climbed 7 basis points to 1.5%, the highest since 2009.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025

German bond rout goes global as yields surge in Japan

The yield on Japan’s 10-year note climbed 7 basis points to 1.5%, the highest since 2009.
Foster City, California’s Gilead is laser-focused on HIV and is seeking an actual cure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2025

Gilead's Japan head says nation can be among first to end HIV epidemic

The pharmaceutical powerhouse has drugs that disrupt the transmission of the virus, one of which has been approved for prevention in Japan.
The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington in 2024. The Justice Department unsealed charges against a dozen Chinese citizens accused of being part of a sophisticated hacking ring that steals data from American businesses and people to sell to the Chinese government and others.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2025

U.S. says China paid hackers to target critics and steal data

The Justice Department has charged 10 Chinese citizens and two government agents for hacks that targeted dissidents, news outlets and American government agencies, among others.
Former Executive Vice President Ichiro Takekuro enters the Tokyo High Court for the appellate court ruling in January 2023 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2025

Acquittal of two former Tepco executives to be finalized

The Supreme Court supported the lower courts' decisions that the accident was unpredictable and decided to dismiss an appeal by lawyers acting as prosecutors.
The weighted average of wage hikes demanded by 2,939 member unions of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, in this year's shuntō labor-management negotiations came to 6.09%, a Rengo survey showed Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2025

Japan pay hike demands top 6% for first time in 32 years

It is the first time in 32 years for the average wage hike request to exceed 6%, amid the soaring cost of living and labor shortages.
Debris streaking through the sky after SpaceX's Starship spacecraft tumbled and exploded in space, in Big Sampson Kay, The Bahamas, Thursday, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2025

SpaceX's Starship explodes in space and rains debris over Caribbean

The failure of the eighth Starship test comes just over a month after the seventh also ended in an explosion.
Hiromi Okuda’s study abroad experience at the University of Mumbai inspired her to build a career at the intersection of social welfare and IT.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 7, 2025

Hiromi Okuda: 'Humans and emerging tech should exist symbiotically'

For the past 30 years, Hiromi Okuda has forged a career at the intersection of social welfare and technology.
Nintendo shares sank as much as 9.8% in Tokyo Friday, as U.S. President Donald Trump doubling levies on China means game consoles, mostly made in China, could have higher selling prices in the United States due to heftier import costs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2025

Nintendo shares plunge on tariff fears as foreign investors retreat

Nintendo sank 9.2% in Tokyo, its biggest intraday drop since the stock market rout on Aug. 5.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2025

Bank of America CEO willing to hire in Japan amid revival

The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has about 800 employees in Japan.
Trade Minister Yoji Muto speaks during a meeting with steel and aluminum company executives on Feb. 25.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Japan to send trade minister Muto to U.S. amid tariff tensions

The visit is set to take place from March 9 to March 11, just before the extra levies on steel and aluminum are expected to kick in on March 12.
Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Akio Isomata (left) and secretary to Sri Lanka's Finance Ministry, Mahinda Siriwardana, attend a joint news conference after the signing of debt restructuring agreements between the two countries in Colombo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Sri Lanka signs $2.5 billion debt deal with Japan

Japan said it was granting concessions on a ¥369.45 billion ($2.5 billion) loan under a comprehensive debt treatment plan.
A man is silhouetted beneath a screen displaying Japan's Nikkei share average in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 8, 2025

Japanese stocks expected to remain on downward trend amid tariff turmoil

Uncertainties over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs this week pushed the Nikkei 225 index below 37,000 for the first time in six months.
Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said Japan must fix "any misunderstanding" held by U.S. President Donald Trump that its central bank was intentionally weakening the yen with monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025

Japan must fix 'misunderstanding' it is manipulating yen, says ex-BOJ chief Kuroda

Trump said he had told Japan and China they could not continue to reduce the value of their currencies, as doing so would be unfair to the United States.
A makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers on Independence Square in Kyiv.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

Ten days that shook Ukraine’s world reverberate in defiant Kyiv

The U.S. shift is as calamitous for Ukraine as it is shocking for European allies. But the mood remains defiant in Kyiv.
Toyota will suspend three lines at two plants in Aichi Prefecture on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 9, 2025

Explosion and fire lead Toyota to halt production at two plants in Aichi from Monday

The suspension is believed to be due to the effects of an explosion and fire accident at a plant of Chuo Spring, a Toyota affiliate, on Thursday.

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly