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July 01, 2026
 

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MANUFACTURING

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s plant in Kumamoto Prefecture. The go-to chipmaker for Nvidia and Apple has decided to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fabrication plant in the prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2026
TSMC plans major upgrade of Japan chip plant in win for Takaichi
The go-to chipmaker for Nvidia and Apple has decided to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fabrication plant in Kumamoto.
Sony has effectively handed control of its TV business to China’s TCL, allowing the Sony brand to live on screens made by others while the company concentrates on higher-value areas.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 2, 2026
Sony switches off the TV and that’s just fine
It is the end of an era as Japan’s iconic electronics giant, Sony, cedes TV business to TCL.
The Japanese Association of Metal, Machinery and Manufacturing Workers holds a meeting in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Jan. 16.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Feb 1, 2026
Small firms in Japan struggling to raise wages
It is difficult for small companies to narrow the pay gap with large corporations at a time when prolonged inflation is driving up costs.
Shares of Next Generation Technology Group, which focuses on buying manufacturing firms without a clear succession plan, rose 202% since their listing last February.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2026
Japan’s succession crisis yields country’s best-performing IPO
Shares of Next Generation Technology Group, which focuses on buying manufacturing firms without a clear succession plan, rose 202% since their listing last February.
Employees work in an automobile spare parts factory in Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok. Thailand recorded roughly 2,000 factory shutdowns last year; officials cited cheap Chinese imports as a major factor.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2026
How Asia’s Gen-Z is losing out to China’s $1 trillion surplus
Thailand recorded roughly 2,000 factory shutdowns last year; officials cited cheap Chinese imports as a major factor.
As well as shutting factories, Nissan is cutting 20,000 jobs, reducing production and has even sold its headquarters.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 23, 2026
Chinese car exporter Chery to buy Nissan plant in South Africa
Chery will buy the land, buildings and associated assets of Nissan facilities in Rosslyn, Pretoria, as the Japanese carmaker undergoes a major restructuring.
Silicon wafers shown on screens at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Renovation Museum in Hsinchu, Taiwan. While Taiwan's economy soared in 2025 on exports of AI hardware and semiconductors, companies in more traditional manufacturing sectors have struggled.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 21, 2026
Taiwan’s traditional manufacturers miss out on export boom
Exports of a range of goods including machinery, metals and chemicals are becoming less profitable amid U.S. tariffs and unfavorable currency conditions.
A Honda CR-V in California. Honda is planning to increase production of cheaper gasoline-fueled vehicles in the United States this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 15, 2026
Honda to boost output of cheaper, less fuel-efficient vehicles in U.S.
The move comes as many American car-buyers are struggling to afford new-car prices that average nearly $50,000.
A water processing facility at TSMC's plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, is shown to media on Nov. 12. Numbers and maker names on the devices have been blurred upon the company's request.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2025
TSMC Kumamoto plant leaves concerns over water impact
About 75% of up to 30,000 metric tons of water used at the plant per day is recycled water, according to the company.
Shigenobu Nagamori
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 20, 2025
Nidec chairman quits board after spate of accounting issues
The move follows the discovery of accounting issues that damaged the reputation of the Japanese maker of electric motors.
Toyota Industries, whose shares are worth ¥5.6 trillion, was offered a buyout price in June nearly ¥1 trillion, or 16%, below the value of its holdings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2025
Toyota Industries buyout bid dips 16% below stock holdings
The gap between the take-private proposal and the value of Toyota Industries’ holdings has become a major sticking point for activist fund Elliott Investment Management.
Workers operate at the sewing section of a factory, in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, on Nov. 18.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Dec 18, 2025
Step aside fashion police, here comes fashion immigration
Clothes destined for Europe could soon require digital passports to prove their green credentials, opening a new era of transparency for the world’s $1.7 trillion fashion industry.
Akio Toyoda, the chairman of Toyota Motor, leads unlisted real estate company Toyota Fudosan, which is leading the offer to take Toyota Industries private.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2025
Elliott woos other Toyota industries investors in buyout fight
The activist fund wants to push Toyota group to sweeten its ¥4.7 trillion bid.
Honda will suspend output in Japan on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, a spokesperson said Thursday, highlighting the lingering fallout of the global chip shortage.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2025
Honda to halt production at plants in Japan and China due to chip shortage
The Japanese carmaker has been hit hard after China blocked Nexperia — owned by Chinese company Wingtech Technology — from exporting products made at its local plants.
This week brought a cascade of signals that the electric vehicle era is entering a more uncertain, more contested phase.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Dec 17, 2025
The electric car transition unravels slowly, then all at once
This week brought a cascade of signals that the EV era is entering a more uncertain, more contested phase.
The Bank of Japan's <i>tankan</i> survey showed that confidence among large manufacturers in Japan has risen to the highest level in four years, while the gauge for nonmanufacturers has remained near the strongest level since the early 1990s.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 15, 2025
Japan’s factory sentiment improves, firming up BOJ hike case
The business sentiment index advanced to 15 this month from 14 in September, the BOJ’s quarterly tankan business survey has shown.
By fiscal 2030, Nippon Steel aims to raise its consolidated business profit, excluding items such as inventory valuation differences, to at least ¥1 trillion from the average of ¥770 billion projected for fiscal 2021-2025.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2025
Nippon Steel to invest ¥6 trillion over five years to fiscal 2030
The new plan sets overseas business as the core of growth amid a prolonged steel market slump caused by falling demand in Japan.
Though China remains a one-party state that disappears dissidents and censors ideas, it has vaulted past Japan, Germany and France to become the world’s 10th-most innovative economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2025
How China achieved innovation without freedom
Smart authoritarianism is not about maximizing growth; it is about balancing economic objectives with the imperative of regime survival.
Katahiro Yasukochi, head of the Japanese Association of Metal, Machinery and Manufacturing Workers, explains the group’s wage hike demand in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2025
Japan small makers’ unions to seek ¥17,000 pay scale hike
The Japanese Association of Metal, Machinery and Manufacturing Workers will make its largest-ever demand to narrow the wage gap between small and larger firms.
A JFE Steel plant in Kanagawa Prefecture. JFE will invest 157.5 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) in an equal joint venture with India’s JSW Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2025
JFE Steel to form $3.4 billion venture with India’s JSW Steel
Demand for steel in the South Asian country is surging, led by a push for infrastructure projects by the government and growing real estate construction.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay&#039;s Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team&#039;s loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan&#039;s currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI

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