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JFE's net profit for the year ended March 31 came to ¥197.4 billion ($1.28 billion), just ahead of analysts' average forecast of ¥194.90 billion in an LSEG poll, thanks to higher steel margins.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2024

Japanese steelmaker JFE eyes overseas investments amid slower profit growth

The country's No. 2 steelmaker plans to ramp up overseas investments as part of a long-term drive to double profits.
A Chinese flag is flown near a Huawei store in Shanghai in 2023.
WORLD / Politics
May 8, 2024

U.S. revokes some export licenses for firms supplying China's Huawei

Huawei was placed on a U.S. trade restriction list in 2019 amid fears it could spy on Americans.
Sony employees simulate the physical sensations of pregnancy at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo in February. The simple power of numbers can begin to remake workplace cultures, but many Japanese women still struggle to balance their careers with domestic obligations.
JAPAN / Society
May 8, 2024

It took decades, but Japan’s working women are making progress

Employers have taken steps to change a male-dominated workplace culture. But women still struggle to balance their careers with domestic obligations.
Russian officers march during the main military parade rehearsals in Moscow's Red Square on May 5.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2024

Russia’s war economy starves crucial oil industry of manpower

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, its oil and gas sector has faced increasingly strict international sanctions aimed at limiting petrodollar revenue.
A skeptical reporter (Yukichi Tanaka, right) about the existence of extraterrestrials travels to a self-proclaimed UFO city for a story in “Alien’s Daydream.”
CULTURE / Film
May 9, 2024

'Alien’s Daydream': Micro budget film delivers fresh takes

Yoshiki Matsumoto’s debut feature is an ambitious, multilayered essay on the UFO phenomenon with tongue firmly in cheek.
Rice is responsible for about 10% of global methane emissions, due to the way it’s grown.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
May 9, 2024

Rice has a methane problem that a startup is promising to fix

Rice is responsible for about 10% of global methane emissions, due to the way it’s grown.
Hong Kong is looking to Saudi Arabia in efforts to attract a new set of investors to replace Western nations who may be deterred from doing business in China at a time of rising geopolitical tensions.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 9, 2024

Hong Kong woos Saudi money in attempt to revive stock market

Its bourse operator has been having a tough time in recent years amid a stuttering Chinese economy and saber-rattling by Beijing and Washington.
Panasonic Energy's operating profit for the past business year fell short of its forecast due to lower electric vehicle battery production in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2024

Panasonic's battery unit misses annual profit estimate

Panasonic Energy faces fierce competition from other Asian battery makers such as China's CATL and South Korea's LG Energy Solution.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (second from right) and his Komeito counterpart Keiichi Ishii (second from left) hold a signed agreement on political funding reform, on Thursday in parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
May 10, 2024

Japan's ruling parties find agreement on political reform, but gaps remain

The parties' plan lacks specifics on key contentious issues.
Israeli soldiers walk amid military vehicles near the Israel-Gaza Border, in southern Israel, on Thursday. Washington has long urged the Israeli government not to invade Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip without safeguards for civilians.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2024

Israel due to get more U.S. weapons despite Biden pause

A range of military equipment worth billions of dollars, some in the works since December, remain in the pipeline as a result of a slow approval process.
Caitlin Clark was the top pick in the WNBA draft on April 15.
BASKETBALL
May 10, 2024

Caitlin Clark feeling no pressure as WNBA debut approaches

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is embracing the moment as she brings her super-sized star power from the collegiate game to the pro ranks.
Steelmakers' concerns about BHP's coking coal market power could derail a deal between BHP and Anglo American.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2024

BHP-Anglo American deal raises alarm in Japan's steel industry

Australia is the world's biggest exporter of coking coal and top supplier to Japan, making up around 60% of its imports.
The Liberal Democratic Party faction once led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds a fundrasing party in Tokyo in May 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
May 10, 2024

Abe faction's ex-treasurer pleads guilty to underreporting political funds

Junichiro Matsumoto admitted to underreporting political funds totaling ¥670 million ($4.3 million) in the period from 2018 to 2022.
The Hong Kong market's recent rally has been fueled by a reassessment of investment strategies, with previously favored markets such as Japan and Taiwan losing appeal. Bloomberg
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2024

What is behind the Hong Kong market’s fast and mysterious rally?

The reallocating of investments toward Chinese assets is likely to continue, despite the historical volatility associated with the Chinese market.
A woman speaks of her experience of being sent to Macau by an overseas prostitution broker during an interview in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on April 8.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 12, 2024

Three men rearrested over brokering of overseas prostitution

The men sent between 200 and 300 Japanese women to brothels in the United States, Canada and Australia over three years, bringing in roughly ¥200 million.
U.S. President Joe Biden touts the economic benefits of semiconductor investment at Intel’s Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, Arizona, on March 20.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 13, 2024

Global chips battle intensifies with $81 billion subsidy surge

The rush of funding has hardened battle lines in the U.S.-China trade war, including in nations like Japan.
SoftBank is regaining its footing just as founder Masayoshi Son readies sizable investments in artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2024

SoftBank to get more aggressive on AI after profit and asset sales

The company earned a better-than-expected net income in the March quarter, helped by investment gains.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark returns the ball against the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL
May 15, 2024

Basketball fans flood the stands for Caitlin Clark's WNBA debut

Ticket sales have surged across the WNBA on resale platforms, with Clark's celebrity helping bring attention to the league.
A former employee of Bandai Namco Entertainment was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly embezzling ¥54 million by selling company-owned mobile phones and other items meant for game development.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2024

Ex-employee of Bandai Namco unit arrested over ¥54 million embezzlement

The man, 59, allegedly sold about 500 company-owned smartphones and other items without permission to a Tokyo-based secondhand store.
Gloomy economic conditions, especially weak consumption, raise questions over whether the Bank of Japan will be able to take further steps toward policy normalization.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 15, 2024

Japan GDP data expected to show contraction for first quarter

The preliminary data is expected to show that spending by consumers and companies fell, while net exports dragged on growth for the first time in a year.
Tourists and locals stroll along Tokyo's Ginza shopping district where some roads are closed off for pedestrians due to the national holiday on April 29.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024

Fortress’s Japan hotel unit doubles pay to fight labor shortage

MyStays Hotel Management is offering monthly salaries of ¥500,000 ($3,210) for new hires into its fast-track program.
Sharp's plant in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, is the only remaining production site for LCD TV panels in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024

Sharp to halt LCD plant in Osaka Prefecture by September

The major electronics maker, which continues to bleed red ink, is hoping to prevent a further deterioration of its earnings.
Japan's gross domestic product shrank at an annualized pace of 2% in the three months through March.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 16, 2024

Japan’s economy contracts as consumers and firms cut spending

Gross domestic product contracted at an annualized pace of 2% in the three months through March.
Employees place items into boxes and envelopes at an Amazon fulfillment center.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024

Amazon workers say they struggle to afford food and rent

Amazon has long been criticized for its treatment of employees
Rapidus Chairman Tetsuro Higashi speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 17, 2024

Rapidus 'last opportunity' to put Japan back on global chip map

Rapidus' chairman says "Japan is more than a decade behind others" in digital technology, adding that "it will require enormous money just to catch up."
The Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito discuss the bill for the revision of the political funds control law in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 17, 2024

LDP submits its own proposal to revise political funds law

A tight parliamentary schedule has pushed the party to expedite negotiations with the opposition even at the cost of deepening a rift with its longtime ally.
Nippon Steel, Japan’s top steelmaker, is sending Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Takahiro Mori to Pittsburgh next week where he’ll meet with local staff and elected officials.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 18, 2024

Nippon Steel boosts efforts to woo U.S. Steel workers and politicians

Japan’s top steelmaker is sending Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Takahiro Mori to Pittsburgh, where he’ll meet with local staff and elected officials.
Paper producers Hokuetsu and Daio Paper are forging a strategic business tie-up to survive.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2024

Hokuetsu and Daio Paper opt to forge tie-up

With shareholders skeptical, the former rivals must prove it will be a mutually beneficial partnership.
The Eiffel Tower Stadium, under construction for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris on April 13
OLYMPICS
May 21, 2024

No reason to sanction Israel at Games, says Paralympics head

Andrew Parsons says the situations regarding Israel, Russia and Belarus are different.
A lithography system made by ASML at an Intel facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, on April 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 21, 2024

ASML and TSMC can disable chip machines if China invades Taiwan

Sources said the chipmakers have ways to shut-off the world’s most sophisticated chipmaking machines in the event of an attack.

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