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April 14, 2026
 

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Natsuko Katsuki
The Toto Museum in Kitakyushu. Toto has suspended new orders for its prefabricated bathrooms due to a shortage of materials.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 13, 2026
Toto halts bathroom orders after Iran war upends supply chain
The firm joins a growing list of Japanese manufacturers who have cut production or hiked prices due to tightening supplies of naphtha.
A street leading to the Tsutenkaku tower in Osaka's Shinsekai district. Local reports and social media posts point to thinner crowds in Shinsaibashi and Shinsekai, once favorite haunts for Chinese groups.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2025
Osaka tourism endures heavy hit as China-Japan tensions simmer
China bookings for Osaka-bound flights for winter and early spring departures are down 55% to 65% ¡ª a sharper drop than the nationwide average.
Regulators are ratcheting up pressure on startups to gain more scale before debuting on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, warning that the TSE will seek to delist companies that fail to reach a market value of at least ?10 billion within five years of going public.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 21, 2025
Deals for startups reach record in Japan before listing curbs
Starting in 2030, the Tokyo Stock Exchange will seek to delist companies that fail to reach a market value of at least ?10 billion within five years of going public.
Residential buildings in the Harumi district of Tokyo. Condominium associations have started to invest in bonds to try and keep pace with inflation.
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2025
Japan¡¯s condo associations start buying bonds to fund repairs
The move by the associations is meant keep pace with inflation amid rising repair costs.
Hiroyuki Okuzawa, chief operating officer of Daiichi Sankyo, during an interview in Tokyo on Friday
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2024
Daiichi Sankyo eyes newer cancer drugs to stave off rivals
The Japanese drugmaker has emerged as a leader in ADC, a type of cancer therapy that targets cancerous cells while sparing the healthy ones.
The government made it mandatory for companies to disclose their gender pay gap in 2022, but disclosure alone isn¡¯t enough to improve the situation, data suggests.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2024
Disclosure rules fail to narrow Japan¡¯s yawning gender pay gap
There has been little progress toward equality, with the highest-paying firms showing some of the biggest disparities.
An employee pulls a trolley containing boxes of LD Ultra-Slim cigarettes ready for shipping at the Japan Tobacco cigarette plant in the town of Senta in Serbia. JT Group is buying U.S. discount cigarette-maker Vector Group.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2024
JT Group plans to buy U.S. cigarette-maker Vector for ?348.6 billion
The move will address a loss of anticipated growth due to Russia's war in Ukraine, and will boost Japan Tobacco's U.S. market share from 2.3% to about 8%.
Even small and indirect sums from the Government Pension Investment Fund would help startups to get their businesses going.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 29, 2024
Japanese pension funds tiptoe into moonshot tech investments
More sources of funding would help the country¡¯s on-again-off-again quest to monetize pioneering research.
Toyota's plan to buy back shares from major banks and insurers is part of a broader push to unwind strategic shareholdings with financial partners.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2024
Toyota to buy back stock worth $5.2 billion from banks and insurers
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Tokio Marine Holdings and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings are tendering shares at an 11% discount.
Sumitomo Corp. President Shingo Ueno speaks during an interview at the company's head office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 1, 2024
Sumitomo looks to tap U.S. shale boom despite exiting production
The company will seek to boost sales of pipelines used in U.S. shale fields.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will sell their Toyota shareholdings over an extended period of time lasting a few years, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 7, 2024
Two of 91²Ö¿â top banks to divest ?1.3 trillion in Toyota shareholdings
Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui will sell in stages and take advantage of Toyota¡¯s plan to buy back its own shares.
Tourists and locals stroll along Tokyo's Ginza shopping district where some roads are closed off for pedestrians due to the national holiday on April 29.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024
Fortress¡¯s Japan hotel unit doubles pay to fight labor shortage
MyStays Hotel Management is offering monthly salaries of ?500,000 ($3,210) for new hires into its fast-track program.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a meeting on AI strategy held at the Prime Minister's Office in December. Japan is beginning to draw global attention for its potential as an AI market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024
Google alums go big in Japan with months-old startup Sakana AI
Sakana is setting out to train low-cost generative AI models using small datasets, unveiling three AI models for Japanese speakers last month.
Shiseido is aiming to cut about 1,500 jobs in Japan through early retirement program.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2024
Outliers in Japanese stocks¡¯ bull run under pressure to downsize
A rising number of blue-chip Japanese companies are cutting staff ¡ª a move that used to be seen as a last resort.
Keisuke Honda is joining an inflow of investment in Japan¡¯s long-neglected startup scene.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2024
Retired soccer star Honda sets up $100 million Japan startup fund
In a country where celebrities shy away from speaking about their money or investments, the former AC Milan midfielder faces little competition from other sports stars.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2023
Japan¡¯s post-pandemic tourists shift spending to crafts and jewelry
Average spending on traditional handicrafts per visitor was ?13,338 ($92) in the July-September quarter, up 80% from the same period in 2019.
Jehovah's Witnesses followers sue Japanese government
According to court records, the plaintiffs include the Japanese branch of Jehovah's Witnesses in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Debt-laden Japan should review spending on gender equality, survey finds
A woman holds a handheld fan bearing the image of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's wedding photo, during an election campaign event in Tokyo on Feb. 7.
Japanese researchers look at 800-year-old books and trees for signs of extreme solar events
A drawing of Fujiwara no Teika, known as a courtier, <i>waka</i> poet and scholar of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods
Japan freezes visa applications for foreign restaurant workers
Filipinos with specified skills qualifications learn how to prepare fish for sushi in Tokyo in 2022.
At Ueno Station, ¡®Freedom¡¯ restored
¡°Freedom,¡± a mural in JR Ueno Station, created in 1951, has been repaired three times, most recently in 2025.
Where Tokyo goes to sweat and soak
As Tokyo&#039;s public bathhouses age, many are embracing more contemporary aesthetics to stay relevant for a younger class of customer.
At Ueno Station, ¡®Freedom¡¯ restored
¡°Freedom,¡± a mural in JR Ueno Station, created in 1951, has been repaired three times, most recently in 2025.
Inside Iizukatei, a 200-year-old home turned boutique hotel in Tochigi
Recognized as a tangible cultural property in 2003, the former residence of the Iizuka family is now a boutique hotel in Nakagawa, Tochigi Prefecture.
Tokyo¡¯s sake calendar is filled to the brim
The recently concluded Sake Park invited younger brewers to make sake more approachable for attendees in their 20s and 30s.
Japan¡¯s tighter immigration controls yielding results
An immigration control passport stamp issued in Japan. A surge in arrivals from overseas has coincided with a tightening of immigration controls under a government initiative aimed at reducing overstayers.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
Can AI replace a priest? Japan¡¯s temples and shrines are testing the limits.
By Alex K.T. Martin

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