Tag - industry

 
 

INDUSTRY

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.
The number of construction workers in Japan stood at 4.83 million in 2023, down by more than 2 million from the peak of 6.85 million in 1997.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2024
Amid labor shortages, Japanese builders urged to improve conditions
The government is advocating wage increases and the full implementation of a five-day workweek.
In addition to the supply shortages, the yen's depreciation is also blamed for the recent surge in orange juice prices in Japan, which relies almost entirely on imported orange juice.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 2, 2024
Orange juice crisis hits consumers in Japan
Supply shortages have forced many Japanese makers to suspend sales of orange juice products.
U.S. President Joe Biden makes an appearance at an infrastructure construction project in Woodstock, New Hampshire, in November 2021.  Bridges and sewage systems may seem unglamorous, but common assets such as these will form the basis of economic growth for years to come.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2024
The West’s new infrastructure imperative
A dim future awaits any society that allows its infrastructure to degrade and underinvests in new needs.
The average condo price in central Tokyo's 23 wards came to ¥104.64 million in fiscal 2023, topping ¥100 million for the first time on a fiscal year basis.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2024
Tokyo-area condo prices hit record high for third year in a row
In central Tokyo's 23 wards, the average condo price rose 5.7% to ¥104.64 million, topping ¥100 million for the first time.
Rapidus' semiconductor foundry construction site in Hokkaido
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2024
Chip plant wizard weathers Hokkaido’s bitter cold in latest test
Construction firm Kajima is plowing through a series of challenges to get a chipmaking factory built on time in snowy Hokkaido.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?