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December 21, 2024
 

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APPS

U.S. companies Apple and Google are likely to be the primary targets of the new law to restrict activities of technology giants with at least 40 million users per month in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 10, 2024
Japan to regulate tech giants with at least 40 million users
U.S. companies Apple and Google are likely to be the main targets of the law.
A TikTok creator and advocate wears a button showing support outside of the U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 16 in Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 9, 2024
‘It’s for real this time’: TikTok creators react to potential ban
Many of TikTok’s users seemed to have only just begun to grasp that the app could be on its last legs in this country.
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Dec 2, 2024
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
An app called Timeleft hopes to combat big-city alienation through a simple meal with a diverse group of people.
A Nihon Kotsu Co. taxi departs one of the company's service offices in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 23, 2024
Japan to aid introduction of multilingual ride-hailing apps
With the number of inbound visitors rapidly increasing, rural areas are facing the urgent challenge of securing transportation options for tourists.
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 21, 2024
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
Ease of meeting a wide range of people is likely the biggest appeal of app use, underscoring a major shift in how young people meet their partners.
The Bluesky social network has soared to one of the top positions in social network downloads in app stores in the past week since the U.S. election. The company reported a recent gain of 700,000 new users joining the social media platform, an alternative to X.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 18, 2024
How Bluesky, alternative to X and Facebook, is handling explosive growth
Bluesky’s meteoric growth underscores its role as a decentralized alternative to traditional social networks, prioritizing user control and developer creativity.
Positioned as Google's answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Gemini aims to tap into Apple's vast user base to expand its footprint in a rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 15, 2024
Google launches Gemini app — with Japanese support — on iOS App Store
The app gives iOS users direct access to Gemini, which was previously accessible only by navigating through the main Google app or a web browser.
In the past two weeks, developer DeNA has raked in over $50 million for the Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket app, a free-to-play game that charges for premium features.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 14, 2024
Gotta collect 'em all: New Pokemon trading card game becomes big hit
The novel yet nostalgic app has amassed over 30 million downloads worldwide in the first two weeks of its release.
A text message sent by a scammer tells a recipient that a refund can be made only through an electronic money transfer.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 5, 2024
Police warn of refund scams involving smartphone payment apps
Scammers are exploiting smartphone payment apps, particularly PayPay, and fake online discount stores to commit fraud.
People in Japan get some of the least sleep in the world, so when the rare time comes to turn in, many are turning to bedtime stories to drift off to sleep.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 12, 2024
Can't stop tossing and turning at night? Perhaps a bedtime story would help.
“Bedtime routines vary from family to family, from person to person,” says one researcher. “It's important to find what works best for each person.”
A new U.N. report claims that use of the Telegram messaging app by criminal networks in Southeast Asia has enabled a fundamental change in the way organized crime operates.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 8, 2024
Southeast Asian crime networks thriving on Telegram, U.N. reports
Scrutiny of the app has brought attention to the criminal liability of app providers and the debate on where freedom of speech ends and enforcement of the law begins.
Attendees stand in front of the Google Play booth during the Tokyo Game Show in September 2018 in Chiba.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 8, 2024
Google Play must allow rival Android app stores, judge rules
Epic Games argued that Google Play rules and fees stifled competition and blocked app marketplaces launched by developers.
The Google campus in Mountain View, California, on May 2
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 1, 2024
Epic Games accuses Samsung and Google of scheme to block app rivals
Epic says it will also raise its competition concerns with regulators in the EU
U.S. lawmakers and others speak at a news conference in Washington in March to voice their opposition to legislation cracking down on TikTok.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2024
China’s silence on U.S. Tiktok ban speaks volumes
Beijing's past actions suggest that protecting its national interests, including ByteDance's valuable algorithm, outweighs concerns about foreign investment.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 24, 2024
Telegram CEO Durov says app to provide more data to governments
The messaging app will provide users’ IP addresses and phone numbers to relevant authorities in response to valid legal requests.
People gather for afternoon tea in the dining area of an Ikea in upscale Xuhui, Shanghai.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 10, 2024
From People’s Park to Ikea, Shanghai’s seniors look for love
China has the world's largest population of people 65 or older. As social norms change, many older singles are hoping for a second or third chance at love.
Founder and CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov delivers a keynote speech during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, in 2016.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2024
Telegram founder Durov charged and banned from leaving France
Pavel Durov was charged on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on Telegram, a popular messaging app.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is being held in France in a preliminary investigation into alleged offenses including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and promotion of terrorism.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2024
Durov's Telegram: 'Weapon of war' under increased scrutiny
Both Russia and Ukraine use Telegram, known for its encryption, with Russian troops even relying on the messaging app in the battlefield.
Gabriel, a victim of a robbery after arranging a date using a gay dating app, speaks during an interview in Sao Paulo on June 28.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 28, 2024
Gay Brazilians targeted in deadly stickups, lured by dating apps
Police have also warned of "love cons" involving straight men lured into kidnappings.
Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. The lack of opportunities to meet people was the biggest hurdle for marriage for both married and unmarried respondents, which may explain the rise in popularity of dating apps.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 27, 2024
Around 1 in 4 married couples in Japan under 40 used dating apps, survey finds
The lack of opportunities to meet people in-person was the biggest hurdle for marriage for both married and unmarried respondents.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
A year after going private, structural reforms bearing fruit for Toshiba
Toshiba's Corporate Senior Executive Vice President Koji Ikeya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.
With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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