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The Japan headquarters of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Explainer
Oct 13, 2023

What’s next in the Unification Church saga?

The government sought a court order on Friday to strip the Unification Church of its religious corporation status. The process is just beginning.
A portion of a Microsoft data center that supports the Pentagon, and is next door to a bitcoin mine operated by Chinese-owned Bit Origin, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Sept. 29. Aside from the intelligence-gathering concerns over Chinese bitcoin mines in the U.S., the energy sucking facilities can also put immense pressure on power grids.
WORLD
Oct 14, 2023

Across U.S., Chinese bitcoin mines draw national security scrutiny

Microsoft reported one site in because of its proximity to a nuclear missile base. Other cryptocurrency facilities have ties to the Chinese state.
Tesla, which opened a factory in Lingang, China, was expected to be one of many large, foreign companies to open facilities in the region. Few have followed.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 15, 2023

China’s slowdown casts pall over Xi’s Yangtze Delta project

The setback is particularly obvious in Lingang, a free-trade zone in the southeastern tip of Shanghai and a key part of the Yangtze Delta project.
Visitors walk down the main shopping street of Nanjing East Road, one of Shanghai's main commercial and tourist areas, on Sept. 30.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 17, 2023

China data likely to show fragile economy in need of support

Data due Wednesday will likely show gross domestic product expanded 4.5% in the July-to-September period from a year earlier.
A rendered image of the completed Rapidus factory being built in Chitose, Hokkaido
BUSINESS / Tech / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Oct 23, 2023

Hokkaido waits to gauge impact from upcoming Rapidus chip plant

The nationally backed effort to revive Japan’s semiconductor industry has been called the region’s largest-ever development project.
While there should be a balance between entrepreneurial innovation and environmental responsibility, pollution should be the primary concern, not economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2023

Embracing the green growth mindset

Some high-carbon economic activities need to shrink while low-carbon, high-efficiency sectors need to grow.
Ukrainian commandos known as Kukhar (left), 23, and Askold, 38, who conceal their identities, in a bare office used as a safe house in Kyiv on Oct. 5. Inside the commando raids unnerving Russia in Crimea; the lightning assaults are part of a larger campaign using drones and missiles to degrade Russian forces and demoralize the public.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2023

Inside the commando raids unnerving Russia in Crimea

The lightning assaults are part of a larger campaign using drones and missiles to degrade Russian forces and demoralize the public.
A pedestrian walks past an electronic signboard showing data from the Tokyo Stock Exchange and on the Japanese yen after the currency rebounded slightly after hitting ¥150 to the U.S. dollar in overnight trading, along a street in central Tokyo on Oct. 4.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2023

Germany set to eclipse Japan as No. 3 economy in 2023, IMF says

The yen’s widely watched depreciation has played an outsized role in its projected slide in position.
It’s hard to talk about space-based solar — that is, transmitting the energy — without conjuring images of a death ray. But the team at the California Institute of Technology says the power density of the beam would be comparable to the power density of sunlight.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Oct 27, 2023

Beam solar energy from space? These scientists say yes

The hurdles that have grounded space-based solar in the past aren’t merely technical, they’re also financial.
Samuel Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, testifies during a Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington in February 2022.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 28, 2023

FTX founder admits 'mistakes' but testifies he didn't defraud anyone

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried insisted he did not steal billions of dollars from customers when the cryptocurrency exchange collapsed last year.
Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried leaves court following a bail hearing ahead of his October fraud trial, in New York City on July 26.  He was found guilty on all counts against him on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Nov 3, 2023

Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty on all counts at fraud trial

The panel reached its decision after five weeks of trial, and the former crypto tycoon now faces up to 110 years behind bars.
Former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried leaves Manhattan federal court in New York in January.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Nov 4, 2023

Swift FTX case vindicates prosecution ‘need for speed’

ON Thursday, the jury took only a few hours to convict Sam Bankman-Fried of treating FTX as his personal piggy bank.
Wei Hsin-hsi and his wife pose for a picture outside their family’s temple that is located inside the proposed expansion area of an industrial park in the Longtan district of Taoyuan, in Taoyuan, Taiwan September 22, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 8, 2023

Taiwan's land squeeze pits advanced chips against ancestral temples

If TSMC shifts more production outside Taiwan, it could weaken the backbone of Taiwan's economy.
Tokyo retained third behind London and New York in this year's Global Power City Index (GPCI) report.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 9, 2023

Tokyo remains third in global power index despite downturn

Among other Japan cities, Osaka ranked 37th while Fukuoka placed 42nd in the index.
Yoon Suk-yeol, then the 2022 presidential election candidate of South Korea's main opposition People Power Party, attends a news conference in Seoul in November 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 10, 2023

President’s war against ‘fake news’ raises alarms in South Korea

Critics say South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is silencing journalists in the name of fighting disinformation.
The world’s carbon footprint is split into three roughly equal portions: China, all developed nations and the rest of the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2023

How China’s downturn could save the world

The world’s carbon footprint is split into three roughly equal portions: China, all developed nations and the rest of the world.
The government aims to have 50% of new fathers take child care leave by 2025 and 85% by 2030.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 13, 2023

Japan panel proposes child care plan covering 100% of income

The 100% allowance would only be offered for up to 28 days, with the amount for any further leave being around 80% of income.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Bangkok in November last year.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Nov 14, 2023

How an executive's arrest struck a blow to Japan-China business

The arrest of a Japanese company executive in China has had what some Tokyo officials described as a considerable chilling effect on business.
Members of the ruling parties announce a proposal on Unification Church asset protection in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 15, 2023

Lawmakers submit proposal to revise law on Unification Church assets

A group of lawmakers has submitted proposals to amend existing laws governing religious organizations, aiming to prevent the outflow of church funds.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Edinburg, Texas, on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Nov 20, 2023

Not just Biden: 77-year-old Trump also under age scrutiny

Externally, it's unclear if Trump's gaffes indicate fatigue or decline.
A photo supplied by a witness shows police officers investigating a site near the K-Arena Yokohama music venue in Yokohama after a woman was stabbed on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 24, 2023

Woman stabbed at music venue in Yokohama

The woman was taken to a hospital and is believed to be seriously injured.
Pedestrians along the Bund in Shanghai on Oct. 29. The Chinese government is pushing a narrative that the city will play an important role in reinvigorating the nation’s economy.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2023

Xi’s Shanghai visit sells city’s ‘innovation’ image

State media video footage using soaring music showed a stoic Xi making a visit to the Shanghai Futures Exchange and watching a robot demonstration.
Evergrande has become a poster child for China’s property crisis since the builder defaulted two years ago. It reported a combined loss of $81 billion in 2021 and 2022.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2023

Evergrande winding-up hearing in Hong Kong adjourned again

The world’s most-indebted property developer now has eight weeks to convince offshore bondholders to agree on a restructuring.
The Lower House plenary session approves the relief bill in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2023

Bill for victims' relief in Unification Church case clears Lower House

The bill aims to prevent a religious organization's assets from being transferred overseas so that it can be set aside to provide relief.
Workers collect recyclable garbage including plastic bottles on World Environment Day in Tokyo in June 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2023

New solutions tackle Japan’s waste problem at its core

Issues like the plastics and climate crises seem insurmountable — until we apply "systemic design," as several Japanese initiatives are showing.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange. The volume of management buyouts in Japan has increased to the highest on record this year, jumping 170% from a year earlier to at least ¥870 billion.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2023

Surge in management buyouts gives extra boost to Japanese stocks

The volume of management buyouts has increased to the highest on record this year.
Gold ornaments on display for sale at a Chow Tai Fook jewellery store in Shanghai.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 11, 2023

Young Chinese spurn traditional investments in favor of gold

The trend underscores uncertainty about growth prospects in the world's second-largest economy, which has not recovered from COVID-19 as fast as expected.
Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's largest banking group, bought 75% of AlbaCore last month to diversify its range of investment capabilities.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2023

MUFG's AlbaCore sees potential for alternative investments in Japan

Mitsubishi UFJ bought 75% of AlbaCore last month to diversify the range of investment capabilities.
U.S. President Joe Biden greets his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15 during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 19, 2023

Thaw in U.S.-China ties driven by domestic issues

There were no breakthroughs in Biden-Xi summit. But since then, there has been a lowering of tension and a rare sense of stability in the relationship.
Japan's core machinery orders climbed for a second straight month in October.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 14, 2023

Japan's October machinery orders rise despite economic uncertainty

By sector, orders from manufacturers climbed 0.2% in October from the previous month, bouncing back from a 1.8% decline in September.

Longform

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