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September 17, 2025
 

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APPS

Many Japanese dating apps have ways to detail specific interests that can be as narrow as one particular TV show, game or an artist.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2025
Swiping in Japan: How Gen Z is changing the dating app game
The once-stigmatized apps are flourishing as a new normal for dating among Gen Z in Japan, albeit with a different approach to before.
Signage at the TikTok offices in Singapore, on Aug. 4, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 7, 2025
TikTok ban thrusts Apple and Google into U.S.-China geopolitical fray
TikTok creators are posting videos promoting ways to get around a looming shutdown of the app in the U.S., which could spell trouble for companies required to enforce the ban.
Kenichi Tatsumi, 74, chairman of an association for people with visual impairment in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, speaks during an interview in November.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2025
App helping visually impaired in disasters gains traction one year on
The service, which uses the app to read out the names of evacuation centers and other necessary information, was launched in April this year.
A policeman stands near where people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year's celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 2, 2025
Trucks in New Orleans attack and Las Vegas explosion were rented using the same app
Renters of both vehicles had used Turo, a peer-to-peer app. Officials are investigating possible connections between the two cases.
International students and others participate in a disaster preparedness drill in Osaka City, where disaster information was conveyed in foreign languages.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2024
Noto quake inspires more focus on getting disaster info to non-Japanese
The earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula on Jan. 1 highlighted the need to help foreign nationals who do not speak Japanese be more informed.
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 23, 2024
Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said the U.S. company forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices.
The rise of TikTok has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024
One billion users, but controversies mount up for TikTok
In Washington, the platform has been accused of espionage, while the EU suspects it was used to sway Romania's presidential election in favor of a far-right candidate.
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
Haneda Airport security staff arrested over theft
Tokyo police have arrested a 21-year-old security inspector at Haneda Airport after he allegedly stole cash from a passenger during a baggage inspection.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
SDF spots China’s biggest aircraft carrier for first time
The Fujian aircraft carrier is seen in Shanghai in May 2024 as it leaves for its first sea trial.
White House threatens broad crackdown on liberal groups
FBI Director Kash Patel (right) listens to senior White House adviser Stephen Miller speak in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Pole vault rivals in awe after Duplantis has another historic night in Tokyo
Sweden's Armand Duplantis competes in the men's pole fault final during the World Athletics Championships at National Stadium in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
Tara Davis-Woodhall leaps to gold and finds redemption at world championships
Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates after winning the women's long jump final at the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday night.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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