Tag - industry

 
 

INDUSTRY

Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 1, 2025
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
The company is switching to paper cartons as a result of declining demand, environmental concerns and supply issues after its glass bottle supplier shut down.
The buildings sector consumes 32% of the world's energy and contributes 34% of CO2 emissions.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Mar 18, 2025
'More and faster': U.N. calls to shrink buildings' carbon footprint
CO2 emissions from the building sector rose around 5% in the last decade when they should have fallen 28%, according to a new report.
Police arrested Tsuyoshi Furusho, mayor of Saza, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Saturday in a bid-rigging case over a public works project in the town.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 9, 2025
Nagasaki town mayor arrested in bid-rigging case
Furusho, 77, was first elected mayor of the town in 2009. He is currently in his fourth term.
Created by a Hokkaido workshop, this Camembert represents the vanguard of Japanese cheeses no longer content with a reputation as low-quality, processed slices.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 16, 2025
Fresh off awards, Japanese cheese seeks a taste ‘unique to this land’
A growing number of Japanese cheesemakers are gaining international recognition, and some are aiming for a new frontier of flavor.
Construction workers in Pasadena, California, on Tuesday. The U.S. could lose millions of workers in the construction industry if President Donald Trump carries through on his campaign of mass deportations, with workers in agriculture, bars and restaurants also at risk.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 12, 2025
Trump deportations send construction workers 'back to the shadows'
Such a response could worsen a labor shortage that already threatens to delay homebuilding and exacerbate a housing affordability crisis.
The number of new units for sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area fell 14.4% last year to a record low.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025
Tokyo apartment prices retreat in 2024 as market calms
The decrease — the first in six years — came after prices rose nearly 30% to a record high in 2023 when several luxury condos went up for sale.
A dairy farming facility in Bengaluru, which Akiba Bokujo Holdings is expected to operate
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 20, 2025
Japanese dairy farm operator targeting India
Akiba Bokujo Holdings has partnered with an Indian IT startup to procure feed, raise dairy cows and produce products.
Suzuki Motor President Toshihiro Suzuki (right) listens to explanations on the use of cow feces as fuel for cooking in Gujarat, western India, on Dec. 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 15, 2025
Suzuki Motor eyes cow feces for biogas fuel in India
The automaker is exploring means other than electric vehicles for realizing carbon neutrality.
The number of corporate bankruptcies with liabilities of ¥10 million or more in Japan last year marked the third consecutive year of increases as rising prices due to the yen's weakening and labor shortages caused business failures in a wide range of industries.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 14, 2025
Japan business failures top 10,000 in 2024, worst in 11 years
The annual figure marked the third consecutive year of increases as rising prices due to the yen's weakening and labor shortages caused business failures.
A ceiling collapse at a demolition site in the city of Chiba trapped three workers in the rubble.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2025
Two dead after ceiling collapse at demolition site traps three workers
According to the fire department, the collapse caused debris to fall from the second floor to the ground, trapping the workers.
Efforts to reduce methane emissions from dairy cows in the U.K. using the feed additive Bovaer, proven safe and effective, have sparked public backlash fueled by misinformation and conspiracy theories.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2024
No, sanitizing cow burps won’t sour your milk or contaminate your cheese
The problem the project addresses is real enough. Beef and dairy products are extremely carbon-intensive food items.
There is no guarantee that bird flu will ever begin transmitting between humans, and U.S. health authorities have emphasized that the risk to the general public remains low.
WORLD
Dec 12, 2024
'Knocking on our door': Experts warn of bird flu's pandemic threat
U.S. health authorities have emphasized that the risk to the general public remains low.
Mika Abe (right) opened a restaurant committed to animal welfare in Sendai in November.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Dec 2, 2024
Restaurant committed to animal welfare opens in Sendai
Muku offers dishes including grilled pork from pasture-raised pigs and poached eggs from cage-free chickens, served as part of a salad bowl.
Global beef consumption has slowed and the carbon footprint of the global cattle herd may already be declining.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2024
Peak beef could already be here
Global beef consumption has slowed and the carbon footprint of the global cattle herd may already be declining.
Organic, unpasteurized butter is prepared at a milk farm in Saint-Colomban, near Nantes, France, in 2017.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 15, 2024
Bakers brace for costly Christmas as butter prices surge
Strong demand, tight supply and dairy processors' preference to use more milk for more profitable products such as cheese have driven the price surge.
Japan saw the highest number of bankruptcies since 2013 in the six months through September.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 8, 2024
Japan records highest number of bankruptcies in a decade as costs rise
The bankruptcies partly reflect the impact of higher prices, while a record 163 firms cited labor shortages as a reason for their struggles.
The core issue holding back the quicker adoption of electric vehicles is the high cost and complexity of installing DC fast chargers, essential for quick EV refueling.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2024
EV charging faces deeper problems than we realize
The core issue holding back the quicker adoption of electric vehicles is the high cost and complexity of installing DC fast chargers, essential for quick EV refueling.
Police officers examine the demolition site in Tokyo's Minato Ward where a piece of concrete fell and left a security guard unconscious on Monday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 2, 2024
Man left unconscious after being hit by concrete debris in Tokyo
The man, a security guard who was directing traffic at a demolition site in Minato Ward, was sent to hospital with his head bleeding, police said.
A construction worker in Tokyo's Akasaka district on Aug. 21. With 886 cases, 54 of them fatal, during the period from 2019 to 2023, the construction industry leads Japan’s tally for occupational heatstroke.
BUSINESS / Boiling Point
Sep 1, 2024
Clocking off: Japan’s hotter summers put limit on outdoor work
Climate change is forcing businesses to sacrifice productivity in the name of safety in industries ranging from construction to transportation.
A police officer distributes leaflets on Osaka's revised ordinance to eliminate organized crime groups in the city's Minami entertainment district on July 1.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 28, 2024
Osaka steps up drive to ensure expo and casino resort free of organized crime
The revised ordinance also targets the sex work industry, street solicitation and scouting.

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it