Features

Major Japanese banks are competing for a slice of inherited savings worth nearly 60 trillion yen that are expected to flow out of regional lenders over the next 30 years.
Datawatch

Japan's big cities become magnets for inherited rural savings

Trend leaves key regional 'shinkin' lenders in tight spot

20 April 2024
A surge in electric vehicle sales is driving up demand for equipment used to produce batteries and other parts. But some Japanese companies are struggling to keep up.
Business Spotlight

Japan's small EV battery suppliers feel the heat in race for scale

Tokyo urges alliances to stay competitive but companies wary of giving up control

19 April 2024
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden found novel diplomatic channels to send each other messages on April 10. Xi used a former Taiwanese president to carry his words, while Biden spoke up by hosting the leaders of Japan and the Philippines. (Source photos by Getty Images and Xinhua/Kyodo)
China up close

Analysis: Why Xi and Biden chose the same day to send a message on Taiwan

The wording of a 45-year-old U.S. law gives China an opening in the Taiwan Strait

18 April 2024
A girl chases a bird atop piles of dirty plastic waste washed up on Labuan Beach in western Java, Indonesia. Experts say much of the trash has been imported via "waste trafficking" from developed countries. (Photo by Dimas Ardian)
The Big Story

Southeast Asia's plastic tidal wave: Imported trash swamps region

From Indonesia to Myanmar, China's 2018 import ban fed an already critical domestic waste problem

17 April 2024
China's Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2009, makes up nearly one-fifth of the population and is key for policies aiming to spur spending.
Asia Insight

China's Gen Z turns frugal as economy doubts linger

Youth disillusionment raises alarm over 'degradation of consumption'

16 April 2024
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, right, has been pressuring Bank of Thailand Gov. Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput to cut interest rates for the good of the country's slowing economy. (Nikkei montaage/Source photos by Hiroki Endo and Ken Kobayashi)
Market Spotlight

Bank of Thailand ignores Srettha's pressure to cut interest rate

Central bank expects inflation to pick up, punts baht-weakening structural problems to government

15 April 2024
Japan looks to create a new legal category for midsize businesses to spur growth in key industries.
Datawatch

Japan lags South Korea and Taiwan in boosting midsize businesses

Rigid classification stands in the way of corporate growth

13 April 2024
Oppstar's IPO was a big hit -- it was oversubscribed by 77 times -- but the frenzy also showed how far Malaysia has to go to return to its former tech glory.
Business Spotlight

Malaysian 'Silicon Valley' seeds homegrown chip startups

Former Intel engineers attempt to push Penang to higher end of value chain

12 April 2024
Chinese President Xi Jinping and former Justice Minister Tang Yijun. Xi's crackdown on political foes might be morphing into a purge of old allies. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images, Kyodo, and Yusuke Hinata)
China up close

Analysis: Xi Jinping's latest purge hints property crisis has reached inner circle

Former justice minister with possible links to Evergrande under corruption investigation

11 April 2024
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who will address a joint session of the U.S. Congress on April 11, poses for a portrait after an interview with Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on April 4. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
The Big Story

Kishida: Japan ready to step up as U.S. 'global partner' at Biden summit

Deeper defense integration and economic ties top Japan's agenda, but Trump looms large

10 April 2024
With Expo 2025 in Osaka just over a year away, organizers face a host of issues, including a construction logjam. As of March 28, work on only 12 of about 50 country pavilions had begun. (Source photos by Yo Inoue)
Asia Insight

Japan's Expo 2025: Osaka triumph or billion-dollar folly?

World fair site on 'Dream Island' mired in construction delays and doubling of costs

9 April 2024
At least three Singapore-listed REITs have increased their stakes in data centers over the past year, with analysts predicting similar moves by other real estate investors in Asia. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters and Yo Inoue)
Market Spotlight

Singapore REITs snap up Japan data centers amid AI boom

Acquisitions show investors' hunger in Asia for tech-related property assets

8 April 2024
The Japanese government compiles official job statistics by relying on a public placement service that young people increasingly shun, making it difficult to paint an accurate picture of the country's economy.
Datawatch

Japan's official statistics miss the depth of the labor shortage

Younger workers shun public job placement service, making its data less reliable

6 April 2024
Lahiru Madhushan, second from right, a second-year student at Nissan Automobile Technical College in Yokohama, says he has "always loved cars" and intends to work as a mechanic in Japan after graduation. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Business Spotlight

Japan's auto industry opens door to foreign car mechanics

Labor shortage leads trade schools to welcome Asian students from Vietnam to Nepal

5 April 2024
Global investors are trying to puzzle out what President Xi Jinping puts first, his regime's security or economic growth. Hong Kong's recent history offers a clue. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Yusuke Hinata and Ken Kobayashi)
China up close

Analysis: Hong Kong's lost freedom shows Xi Jinping's priorities

Causeway Bay Books incident was a harbinger of regime's security-first principle

4 April 2024
Legal experts say a growing number of China's leading tech companies are using noncompete agreements to retain even junior talent as the U.S.-China tech war heats up. (Illustration by Yoshiko Kawano)
The Big Story

China's tech workers trapped in jobs by noncompete contracts

From Tencent to Pinduoduo, companies use surveillance and lawsuits to retain staff as competition ramps up

3 April 2024
The No. 8146 bus carries dozens of cleaners and security guards from a working-class area of northern Seoul to the glitzy Gangnam district. Politicians' pledges are not striking a chord with many of these workers ahead of pivotal elections next week.
Asia Insight

South Korea's working class unmoved by election campaign 'lip service'

One early morning bus route provides a journey through inequality in Seoul

2 April 2024
Even following the BOJ's rate hike, Japan's bond yields largely remain lower than other advanced economies, failing to temper the speculative strategies. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Nanami Sato and Jo Miyaguchi)
Market Spotlight

BOJ's rate hike leaves wide yield gap with U.S., Europe, causes yen to slide

Lowest-yielding G10 currency's use for carry trades helps push it to 34-year low

1 April 2024
Eager to expand abroad, Japanese exporters have become more reluctant to convert overseas earnings into yen, leading to a drying up of yen buying during Tokyo trading hours.
Datawatch

Yen falls on Japan Inc.'s reluctance to repatriate profits

Tokyo market sees net daytime yen selling for 4th straight year

30 March 2024
Stream article image
Special Reports

From India to Australia, Myanmar is flooding Asia with cheap meth

Myanmar conflict leads to growing supply and falling prices for deadly stimulant

29 March 2024
TikTok is fighting for its future in the U.S. as the lawmakers target the short video platform. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by AP and Reuters) 
Business Spotlight

TikTok sell-or-ban bill heads to Senate: What's next?

A total ban in the U.S. would prove difficult while Beijing could block a sale

29 March 2024
In Xi Jinping's China, Japan-bashing has become the politically safest way for people to vent their frustration. (Nikkei montage/Source photo by Yusuke Hinata)
China up close

Analysis: Japan-bashing Chinese unwittingly target Xi's lucky temple

What might be a shallow-minded movement promises a commercial jackpot

28 March 2024
Many Japanese consumers and workers at small companies have yet to see real-life benefits from the country's recent flurry of economic good news.
The Big Story

Japan's tale of two economies: BOJ hike and stock boom yet to trickle down

'Lost decades' linger for most in spite of record pay raises and Nikkei highs

27 March 2024
Turbines silhouetted in the sunset at Noshiro Port, Akita, Japan, will form part of the country's biggest offshore wind farm as Japan seeks to allay fears of impacts on fishing communities while ramping up its wind power capacity fivefold by 2030. (Photo by Masayuki Kozono) 
Asia Insight

Japan sails close to offshore wind snags as fisheries, tech challenges lurk

Fishing co-ops must clear plan to connect turbines to central grid amid seabed doubts

26 March 2024
The Bank of Japan overhauled its monetary policy on Tuesday, and ended the purchases of exchange traded funds. (Nikkei montage/Source photo by Reuters) 
Market Spotlight

Japan stocks could grow more volatile with end of BOJ ETF purchases

Central bank had bought most of country's exchange traded funds

25 March 2024