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January 23, 2026
 

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RAKUTEN

Ting Cai, head of Rakuten Group¡¯s artificial intelligence team, has the task of creating AI systems that would augment the company¡¯s many businesses at a minimal cost.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 23, 2025
Rakuten AI boss diverges from Big Tech in prioritizing low cost
The Tokyo-based company is expanding its AI team under the stewardship of a Google veteran and building models with a focus on cost efficiency.
Sports fan Tadashi Yokoyama streams basketball and fencing on three screens.
SPORTS
Nov 13, 2025
Japan fully enters sports streaming era as fans face new dilemmas
Japan, where viewing habits have been slow to change, is now fully in the streaming era, though not everyone is ready to come along for the ride.
Rakuten Group issued a local bond with this year's highest coupon of 4.691%, highlighting the impact of rising interest rates on corporate borrowing costs in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2025
Japan gets highest-yielding yen bond this year with Rakuten deal
Japanese bond yields have climbed over concerns the next administration may pursue a more expansionary fiscal policy.
KDDI has launched a new service that allows direct linkups between smartphones and the Starlink satellite communication network.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2025
In shift from price-cutting trend, 91²Ö¿â telecom firms hike rates as costs rise
Desperate to ensure price hikes are accepted by subscribers, telecom carriers have improved their networks and service quality, and offered extra services.
Rakuten Bank CEO Tomotaka Torin is interviewed in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 14, 2025
Rakuten Bank to refrain from JGB buying as more rate hikes seen
"We¡¯re not going for any aggressive buying of JGBs until we¡¯ve seen at least another rate hike or two,¡± CEO Tomotaka Torin said in an interview.
After accounts in several online brokerage were hacked, three major online brokerage firms announced they will compensate customers for half of the damage.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 27, 2025
Three online brokerages to cover half of damage from account hacking
However they will not compensate for cases in which stocks held in hacked accounts since before the hack were sold, since the proceeds remain in the accounts.
Rakuten Group's stock dropped after the Japanese e-commerce firm reported a 19th straight quarterly loss, fueling concerns about the financial drag from its ailing mobile business.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025
Rakuten Group shares sink on worse-than-expected quarterly loss
The stock plunged as much as 10% in Tokyo on Thursday, its biggest intraday drop since April 7.
One 36-year-old man, a company employee who had used Rakuten Securities for over a decade, lost about ?2.1 million ($14,700) in the scheme.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 17, 2025
Japanese online brokerage accounts hacked in growing scandal
Rakuten Securities has disclosed a series of account takeovers, with Nomura Securities, SBI Securities and other firms also confirming similar incidents.
Learning the ropes of Japan¡¯s online marketplaces can yield hidden treasures and also help you freshen up your home or closet from time to time.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 31, 2025
How to navigate Japan¡¯s e-commerce platforms and online flea markets
Looking to refresh your wardrobe or home with the arrival of spring? Check out our tips for how to make the most of Japan¡¯s online marketplaces.
The computers and smartphones seized by the Metropolitan Police Department on Thursday in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 28, 2025
Three teens arrested over fraudulent subscriptions to Rakuten Mobile
Police believe the suspects obtained at least about 2,500 subscriptions and sold them for a total of about ?7.5 million in crypto assets.
Rakuten Group said it no longer plans to list its securities arm on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and will instead focus on deepening its partnership with Mizuho Securities.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 30, 2025
Rakuten scraps plan to list securities unit on Tokyo bourse
The Japanese e-commerce pioneer had planned an initial public offering for Rakuten Securities Holdings as part of a push to shore up finances.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani says the company sees an opportunity in Japan, which has been a laggard in the adoption of digital and artificial intelligence-powered technologies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 21, 2025
Rakuten founder defends costly mobile foray with big AI bet
Rakuten Mobile and its 8 million-plus users help train an AI poised to expand the conglomerate¡¯s business, according to billionaire founder Hiroshi Mikitani.
Rakuten Group CEO Hiroshi Mikitani speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2025
Rakuten¡¯s Mikitani wants to sell bonds to Japanese investors
Market pricing indicates that views on Rakuten are improving after years of losses and a stretched balance sheet.
Rakuten Group is targeting the sale of as much as $550 million of subordinated notes with price talk for the deal at around 8.375%.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2024
Rakuten targets its lowest-cost junk bond sale since 2021
The e-commerce giant is targeting the sale of as much as $550 million of subordinated notes that can be called after five years.
Rakuten Group is considering the sale of hybrid perpetual notes that can be called after five years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2024
Rakuten plans return to dollar bond market with hybrid notes
Rakuten¡¯s liquidity has improved but an increased reliance on the dollar bond market may indicate weakened domestic funding access.
Rakuten's sale of 15% stake in its credit card arm to Mizuho Financial Group would give the e-commerce pioneer a one-time gain of ?159.4 billion in the current quarter.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2024
Rakuten sells Mizuho 15% of credit card arm for ?165 billion
The sale would give the e-commerce pioneer a one-time gain of ?159.4 billion in the current quarter, Rakuten said in a statement Wednesday.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Japan should develop its own generative AI.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 27, 2024
Nvidia to support development of AI based on Japanese language data
The move is seen helping local efforts to protect critical infrastructure and strengthen industrial competitiveness without relying on other countries.
The new V Point program offers a feature allowing members to earn double reward points when making payments with credit cards.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Aug 26, 2024
New V Point spurs corporate economic bloc race in Japan
Competition among corporate groups in Japan is intensifying further as they strive to expand their economic influence through shared reward points.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2024
Toyota chairman and 12 other Japanese executives banned from entering Russia
Others include Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani and Japan International Cooperation Agency President Akihiko Tanaka.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani said that the mobile company now has more than 7 million subscribers, and is seeking to hit 10 million subscribers next.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2024
Money-losing Rakuten Mobile rolls out new 700 MHz service
The new offering, which is being introduced incrementally, will improve connectivity, including in densely populated areas, it says.
Thai woman arrested in Japan for smuggling 'zombie cigarettes'
Seized cartridges containing etomidate are shown at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture on Tuesday.
Kabuki actor Nakamura Tsurumatsu arrested for alleged damage at Tokyo restaurant
Kabuki actor Nakamura Tsurumatsu, whose real name is Daiki Shimizu, has been arrested on suspicion of breaking a Tokyo restaurant's door by kicking it on Sunday, sources said.
Growing number of anime studios setting up bases outside Tokyo to secure talent
Mappa¡¯s employees work at the anime studio¡¯s office in the city of Osaka in September. Some parts of the image are blurred for privacy reasons.
Heavy snow hits wide areas of Japan as extreme cold front hits
Central Sapporo on Wednesday morning. Around 50 centimeters of snowfall is expected in Hokkaido in the 24 hours between Wednesday and Thursday morning.
Osaka says 'I'm a little strange' after Melbourne fashion statement
Naomi Osaka arrives for her first round match against Croatia's Antonia Ruzic on Tuesday at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
In calling a snap election this soon, Takaichi is making it personal
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announces her will to dissolve the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday.
U.S. and Japan turn to drones to help offset China¡¯s military advantages
Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones are positioned on the tarmac at a base in the U.S. Central Command operating area in November.
Snap election in February presents wintry challenges in Hokkaido
Workers in Sapporo's Odori Park prepare for the annual Snow Festival, which will take place during next month's Lower House campaign and Feb. 8 election.
Beijing row highlights need for Japan to reduce cleantech dependence on China
A solar farm in Nakai, Kanagawa Prefecture, in March 2016. Japan gets about a tenth of its electricity from solar panels despite having nearly no domestic production of photovoltaics (PVs).
Shinkansen vs. Amtrak and the lost art of small talk
The Amtrak Cascades line provides service along the Pacific Northwest from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Eugene, Oregon.

Podcast

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

Longform

After a busy couple of weeks on the public lecture circuit, German-born physicist Albert Einstein took a few days of relaxation on Hiroshima Prefecture¡¯s Miyajima island.
When Einstein came to Hiroshima
By Patrick Parr

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