Tag - meti

 
Menu
Search
 
November 21, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

METI

Masahide Endo, chief consultant at Daiwa Institute of Research noted that Alimentation Couche-Tard's bid for Seven & I Holdings had spawned a sense of crisis in other industries over sudden takeover proposals.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 18, 2024
Japanese companies increasingly targeted in foreign M&A bids
The total value of inbound acquisitions from overseas is up about 3.7 times year on year.
Japan will urge automakers to make all new passenger cars biofuel-compatible by the early 2030s, with an action plan from the industry ministry expected next summer.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 12, 2024
Japan to aim for all new cars to be biofuel-compatible in 2030s
The ministry will adopt an action plan around next summer and also plans to support the necessary renovation of gas stations.
Solar panels installed along the coastline of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture. Due to the relative ease of starting solar power generation, mega solar power plants have been installed rapidly across the country.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2024
Japan to mandate solar panel recycling when lifespan ends
The number of panels reaching the end of their lifespans is projected to start rising sharply in the mid-2030s.
Equinor's bid underscores the focus some wind players are putting on Japan even as they scale back elsewhere.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2024
Norway's Equinor tries again for a Japan offshore wind lease, sources say
A latecomer to offshore wind, Japan wants to build up to 45 gigawatts of capacity by 2040, which would make it a top-five offshore wind market.
The industry ministry plans to set up a liaison committee of officials from relevant government agencies to discuss support measures for brick-and-mortar bookstores.
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2024
Ministry reports issues facing bookstores
The ministry will set up by year-end a liaison committee of officials from relevant government agencies to fully launch discussions on support measures for bookstores.
Newly appointed industry minister Yoji Muto says there is no change to a government plan to safely restart nuclear power plants.
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2024
Japan to keep nuclear and boost renewables, new industry minister says
Yoji Muto says securing energy will be "the most important part of Japan's growth."
The government is considering financial support for liquefied natural gas operators to secure storage tanks in Japan and abroad.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Sep 12, 2024
Japan considers company support measures for long-term LNG contracts
Possible measures included financial support for securing storage tank and a new program to assist LNG buyers committing to long-term contracts.
A mock-up of Toyota's next-generation Li-ion batteries for battery electric vehicles
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 6, 2024
Japan to provide new subsidies for domestic EV battery output
Handing out more subsidies will help expand the country's production capacity for storage batteries by around 50%.
The government-affiliated National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology will establish a domestic research and development base and plans to receive technical cooperation from Intel.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 4, 2024
Japan research body AIST to create chipmaking R&D base
It will be the first Japanese research institute to introduce extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment, crucial for making chips' circuit line widths narrower.
Tetsuro Higashi, the chairman of Rapidus, at the company's headquarters in Tokyo in February 2023
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2024
Japanese government considering investment in Rapidus
The government apparently hopes the move will help spur private-sector investments in and loans to Rapidus by increasing the company's credibility.
Launched in 2012 in collaboration with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nadeshiko Brand recognition aims to spotlight companies that not only prioritize gender diversity but also maintain solid financial performance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 26, 2024
METI to expand Nadeshiko Brand criteria for women-friendly listed firms
Companies that offer support for women’s health in a bid to foster corporate awareness and encourage long-term career development for women will be eligible.
Masanobu Sakamoto (left), head of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, meets with industry minister Ken Saito (right) in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 23, 2024
Head of fishery group expresses industry's concern over import bans
Such bans by other countries in response to the release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant leave the sector uncertain about its future, he says.
A worker at Sakai Seisakusyo prepares to transport metal rods at its factory in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, on July 8.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2024
Japan finds a 'stealth' cure for zombie businesses: Let them fail
The shift in thinking is a clear departure for a country that has typically sought to avoid bankruptcies and protect existing jobs at the cost of productivity.
While Tokyo has secured enough fuel to deal with expected surges in power demand as temperatures rise this summer, economy minister Ken Saito is urging people not to waste electricity.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024
Japan on ‘high alert’ for summer power shortages, economy minister says
Thermal power facilities put on maintenance earlier this year are set to come online by end-July while earlier fixes are expected for other equipment failures.
A down jacket that uses recycled feathers. An Environment Ministry survey has shown that around 60% of newly supplied clothing in Japan is expected to be discarded without being reused.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024
Japan aims to recycle 50,000 metric tons of discarded clothing
Large amounts of clothes are being thrown away as a result of massive production amid the spread of fast fashion.
Japan's excessive dependence on certain countries for chip imports is a risk to supply networks, government white paper has warned.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 9, 2024
Government white paper flags Japan's risks of import dependencies
The paper stressed the importance of import source diversification, to prevent excessive dependence that poses a risk to supply networks.
A wind farm in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture. For Japan's future energy roadmap to center on clean sources, the government should reform the institutions overseeing energy policy to avoid vested interests from slowing the transition down.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2024
It’s time for Japan to set up a climate change agency
The government is currently reviewing Japan's Strategic Energy Plan. But who's shaping this key document for the future? It's mostly older men with vested interests.
Some major world economies want to finalize a plan ahead of this year's U.N. climate summit to halt new private sector funding for coal projects.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 8, 2024
Major world economies seek to halt new private sector coal financing
The biggest pushback on the OECD proposal to halt new private sector funding for coal projects has come from Japan, sources said.
Wind turbines stand next to solar panels at a solar plant in Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture. Japan's energy plan under a review is expected to call for raising the renewable energy sources in the power mix.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 16, 2024
Japan begins review of basic energy plan amid spread of AI
Power demand could expand further if growth in the amount of information processed by advanced AI accelerates.
The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced a former industry ministry bureaucrat to 10 years in prison for drugging six women with sleeping pills and then raping or groping them in 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 13, 2024
Ex-METI bureaucrat given 10-year sentence for drugging and raping women
Dai Sato gave six women in Tokyo a beverage mixed with sleeping pills so that they wouldn't be able to resist his advances.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER