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April 03, 2025
 

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MANUFACTURING

According to a tally released on Thursday, some 1,416 labor unions under the umbrella of the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Union requested a monthly base salary gain of ¥14,149 ($94.84) on average in talks expected to culminate with a deal next month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025
Japan's metalworker unions demand record pay hike
The demand by Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Union is an early sign of continued momentum for pay growth in the country.
The government will oblige some companies, particularly those in high-emitting industries including steelmaking, to participate in an emissions trading system to be introduced in fiscal 2026.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Feb 26, 2025
Japan adopts bill obliging firms' participation in emissions trading
Companies that emit at least 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year will be required to participate in the country's carbon emissions trading system.
Toshihiro Suzuki (left), president of Suzuki Motor, and Hisashi Takeuchi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki India, during an event in New Delhi on Jan. 17
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 25, 2025
Suzuki Motor unit opens first new India plant in eight years
India’s largest carmaker by sales had last opened a new factory in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in 2017.
The logo of Rheinmetall is displayed at the Eurosatory international defense and security trade fair in Villepinte, near Paris, in June 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
Rheinmetall to convert German factories to make defense equipment
The move by Europe's top ammunition maker to repurpose two automotive plants highlights the impact of an expected surge in spending in the region.
Showa Kogyo employee Yuki Maeda (right) holds fish-gathering plates she developed, alongside company president Akinori Kazeoka.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Feb 24, 2025
Fish-gathering plate proves a big hit with anglers
The plate, which reflects light under the sea to attract filefish, was developed by a Showa Kogyo employee who loves fishing.
Goods are transported through a business district in Dongguan, in China’s southern Guangdong province.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Feb 24, 2025
Trump tariffs shake up China's factory heartland
The U.S. president has targeted friend and foe alike since taking office a month ago, notably slapping additional 10% duties on products imported from China.
Murata Manufacturing President Norio Nakajima
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025
IPhone parts maker Murata eyes supply chain shift toward India
The company sees growing demand in India and is running simulations for what it would take to dial up its pace of investment there.
Toyota agreed to transfer an existing order with LG Energy Solution to LG's battery plant in Michigan, sources said, after General Motors backed out of the project amid a slowdown in the growth of electric vehicle sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025
Toyota is backing LG battery plant with $1.5 billion order
GM said in December it would sell its $1 billion stake in the Lansing, Michigan, plant, leaving LG scrambling to find new customers.
U.S. Steel workers rally outside the company's headquarters in Pittsburgh in support of the takeover by Japan's Nippon Steel back in September.
EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2025
The Nippon Steel deal’s lessons for the world
Former U.S. President Joe Biden’s stiff opposition to the deal may have created space, if not impetus, for President Donald Trump to resurrect the acquisition.
Employees assemble D-Max trucks on an assembly line at Isuzu's Samrong Plant in Samut Prakan Province, Thailand, in March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2025
Isuzu to build car plant in South Carolina as Trump tariffs loom
Isuzu plans to have the site up and running by 2027, aiming to employ more than 700 workers there by 2028 and produce 50,000 vehicles annually by 2030.
People line up outside an Apple store in Beijing.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 7, 2025
Apple’s China focus thrusts it into center of geopolitical fight
It counts China as its biggest manufacturing hub and the U.S. as its largest market, putting it at the center of an escalating geopolitical fight.
United Steelworkers President David McCall
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2025
Union chief files motion to dismiss suit by U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel
United Steelworkers called the U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel lawsuit a "frivolous and unsubstantiated attack" on the union.
Next Generation Technology Group acquires companies in need of future leadership with competitive technologies and high margins, said Eiichi Arai, the Tokyo-based firm’s CEO.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025
Tokyo’s first listing of the year soars in trading debut
The shares climbed as much as 58% to ¥3,165 in early trading in Tokyo on Wednesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump's imposed and since paused tariffs on Canada and Mexico, coupled with his broad levies on China — and possibly others soon — pose risks of economic retaliation, supply chain disruptions and long-term damage to U.S. influence.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025
The tariff man is making a risky bet
The optimal tariff argument ignores the substantial risks that Trump is taking. A generalized trade war will make everyone worse off.
China, under President Xi Jinping, is resisting Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, but may need to respond with major fiscal stimulus, currency devaluation or allowing TikTok’s sale to navigate economic challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025
China’s Mr. Big Won’t Cave in to Trump for Nothing
Does Xi Jinping have a trade war game plan? He’ll need to make hard choices.
Southeast Asian economies, once seen as beneficiaries of the U.S.-China trade war, now face challenges as escalating tariffs and trade tensions threaten their growth and regional stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025
Winners of the first trade war may not be so victorious
Stuck between the U.S. and China, Southeast Asia’s challenges this time around are much greater.
Nippon Steel and United States Steel said in an opening brief Monday that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States violated their due process rights last year by allowing "virtually no substantive engagement” with the companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2025
Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel blast Biden's 'sham' merger block
While Biden is no longer in office, President Donald Trump has expressed his own opposition to the deal.
Vehicles parked at a General Motors complex in Silao, Guanajuato state, Mexico
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2025
Car prices face $3,000 increase in U.S. as tariffs hit auto sector
The tariffs are set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, giving manufacturers less than 48 hours to figure out what to do.
A Japanese class at a job placement company in Hanoi in 2022. The number of foreign workers in Japan hit a record high in 2024.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2025
Japan’s foreign workforce hits fresh record as labor crisis deepens
Japan had a record 2.3 million foreign workers as of October 2024, marking a 12.4% increase from the previous year.
Nissan said Wednesday that it will move to a single shift from mid-April at one production line in each of two U.S. factories, and seek an unspecified number of voluntary buyouts or early retirements.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2025
Nissan plans job and output cuts at U.S. vehicle assembly plants
Nissan has pledged to cut 9,000 jobs globally and reduce production capacity by 20%.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
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, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
The U.S. says Japan has a 700% tariff on American rice. Is that the case?
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds up a piece of paper with information about tariff rates at the White House on Tuesday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
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.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.
No longer a 'bridesmaid': Yuki Tsunoda prepares for the Red Bull pressure cooker
All eyes will be on Yuki Tsunoda as he makes his Red Bull debut at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.

Podcast

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

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)
BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)

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