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July 04, 2026
 

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TECH

Components for Murata's Echorb Wonder Stone device. The company is the world’s leading supplier of multilayer ceramic capacitors, essential components for every device that uses electricity because they regulate power flow.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2026
Murata beats profit estimates as AI data-center demand strains production
The company says it is struggling to catch up with runaway demand for its multilayer ceramic capacitors, sought by U.S. hyperscalers for artificial intelligence data centers.
A Walker S2 humanoid robot demonstrates its skills at the UBTech Robotics headquarters in Shenzhen, China, on April 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2026
U.S. adopts China’s playbook on tech and security
U.S. thinking is only catching up with that of China, which has long considered technology essential to the country’s sovereignty and survival.
SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son is driving a plan to establish a standalone artificial intelligence robotics and data center company in the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2026
SoftBank to create and list AI firm Roze in U.S.
The investment firm aims to create and float such a vehicle as soon as this year, though the timing on that could slip to 2027, people familiar with the matter said.
In Japan, where AI companion robots are being introduced in nursing homes to cope with a growing caregiver shortage, their use underscores both the urgency of the global aging crisis and the danger of placing too much reliance in technology.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2026
AI is coming for our aging parents, ready or not
Japan, long a leader in industrial automation, has been trying to make eldercare robots happen for a long time.
Applied Materials, which has significant business supplying China, is among those believed to ​have received a letter from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 29, 2026
U.S. orders chip equipment companies to halt some shipments to China’s Hua Hong
The move is the latest U.S. action to slow China’s development of advanced chips, two people familiar with the matter said.
The Samsung dynasty’s wealth doubled to $45 billion in just one year, making them Asia's third-richest family.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2026
Samsung dynasty’s wealth doubles to $45 billion in just one year
Faced with crisis, speculation grew that the family might lose control of the conglomerate. Instead, they made a massive financial comeback.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations are displayed at the Korea Exchange in Seoul on March 4.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 28, 2026
South Korea passes U.K. to become world’s eighth-largest stock market
The total market capitalization of Korean-listed companies has surged more than 45% this year to $4.04 trillion, while the U.K.’s has climbed about 3% to $3.99 trillion.
A stock ticker displays market information inside the Indonesia Stock Exchange in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Jan. 20. Indonesia, along with India and the Philippines, has seen strained trade balances and tumbling stocks as a result of higher oil prices.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 27, 2026
AI boom drowns out war fears to fuel Asia’s great market divide
Investors are punishing economies exposed to higher energy costs while looking past near-term risks to gain exposure to industries seen as critical to future growth.
Denso’s signboard outside its office in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2026
Denso mulls withdrawing acquisition offer for chipmaker Rohm
Denso, part of the Toyota Motor group, is finding it difficult to gain support from Rohm for the acquisition offer, sources said.
A Justice Ministry panel discusses how the voices of individuals should be protected under publicity and portrait rights, amid a rise in the unauthorized use of celebrities' voices by generative artificial intelligence, at the ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2026
Japan to protect celebrity voices against AI use
The Justice Ministry is set to compile guidelines on the scope and standards for illegal acts under current law by this summer.
Denso’s office in Tokyo in March
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 25, 2026
Denso to withdraw proposal to take over Rohm, report says
Denso was unable to get Rohm’s support for the acquisition, the Nikkei daily reported.
DeepSeek has unveiled preview versions of a long-awaited new flagship model called V4, which costs less than many alternatives to use but doesn’t meaningfully narrow the U.S. lead in AI capabilities.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 25, 2026
DeepSeek’s long-awaited new model fails to narrow U.S. lead in AI
DeepSeek unveiled the V4 Flash and V4 Pro series on Friday, touting top-tier performance in coding benchmarks and big advancements in reasoning and agentic tasks.
Japan's Zoom asked Zoom Video Communications to stop using the logo for the videoconferencing service in April 2020.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2026
Zoom ordered to pay damages for violating Japan firm’s trademark
In handing down the ruling, the presiding judge acknowledged that the two companies’ logos were similar in appearance and name.
Softbank Corp. CEO and President Junichi Miyakawa
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2026
SoftBank prepares to manufacture batteries for AI data centers
The Tokyo-based group is one of the world’s foremost supporters of AI, having committed hundreds of billions of dollars to investment in data centers, cloud services and startups.
Members of the Samsung Electronics labor union hold signs reading "Change it to be transparent!" as they stage a mass rally demanding the removal of a cap on performance bonuses, outside the company's foundry and semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2026
Samsung workers protest over huge pay gap with SK Hynix amid AI chip boom
Protesters, which union organizers put at 40,000, plan to strike for 18 days from May 21 if their demands are not met.
Anthropic's Mythos, a powerful new AI model, signals a turning point in cybersecurity, where advanced AI tools may democratize powerful hacking capabilities faster than governments and companies can respond.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 23, 2026
New AI tool reshapes the cybersecurity landscape
There appears to be consensus that Mythos represents a “step change” in capability and is a taste of the new digital world that we now inhabit.
A professional table tennis player competes against Sony AI autonomous robot Ace in December in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2026
Table tennis robot Ace makes history by beating top-level human players
The feat could presage an array of other applications for similarly adept robots.
SoftBank has been piling on debt as its founder Masayoshi Son seeks to position himself as a linchpin in the global AI boom, with large-scale investments into OpenAI.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2026
SoftBank seeks $10 billion margin loan backed by OpenAI shares
SoftBank has been piling on debt as its founder Masayoshi Son seeks to position himself as a linchpin in the global AI boom.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2026
Japan finance minister to discuss Mythos threat with banks
Satsuki Katayama plans to meet officials from the country’s biggest financial institutions to discuss Anthropic’s latest AI model as early as this week.
A logo of Meta AI outside Meta House on the opening day of the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2025
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2026
Meta to capture U.S. employee mouse movements and keystrokes to train AI
The new tracking software will run on work-related apps and websites and will also take occasional snapshots of the content on employees’ screens, according to an internal memo.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
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.

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

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