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August 14, 2026
 

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BUSINESS ETHICS

The FTC believes that bid-rigging in the Tokai region has been conducted for several years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 29, 2026
Firms in central Japan suspected of condo repair bid-rigging
The Japan Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday conducted on-site inspections of more than?20 companies in Aichi, Gifu and Mie prefectures.
Seven-Eleven Japan has warned against franchise owners and employees setting aside popular animation and game character products before putting them on store shelves.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2026
Seven-Eleven Japan warns stores over unauthorized character item resale
There were reportedly cases where owners and employees bought up or set aside such products before putting them on store shelves and reselling them.
If competition for refrigeration equipment contracts was restricted through bid-rigging, the alleged conduct may have increased costs for both the convenience store chain operator and its franchisees.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 14, 2026
Three firms raided over suspected Seven-Eleven refrigeration bid-rigging
The three companies are suspected of having prearranged winners in bids for refrigeration equipment contracts held every few years by Seven-Eleven Japan.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the Microsoft Build conference at the Seattle Convention Center Summit Building in Seattle in May 2024.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 11, 2026
Apple sues OpenAI for trade secret theft in pivotal case
The iPhone maker said in a suit Friday that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees to share information, components, drawings and other materials related to upcoming products.
Japan Airlines has fraudulently received about ?280 million in subsidies for a state project on next-generation air mobility, sources have said.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2026
JAL fraudulently receives subsidies for state project
The major Japanese airline plans to return the subsidies, totaling about ?280 million. The misconduct may date back to 2022.
Alibaba¡¯s American depositary receipts sank to a session low on the news, falling more than 3% to $99.10 at 3:38 p.m. in New York on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2026
Anthropic accuses Alibaba of ¡®illicitly¡¯ accessing AI models
The U.S. AI developer had previously decided to keep its products out of China.
The Fair Trade Commission conducted on-site inspections Tuesday at major staffing firms, including Persol Tempstaff and Recruit Staffing, over allegations they operated a cartel to raise staffing service fees, according to informed sources.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 2, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ FTC inspects five staffing agencies over alleged service fee cartel
The inspections were the first to have been conducted on-site by the antimonopoly watchdog on companies in Â鶹´«Ã½ temporary staffing industry, sources said.
Chubu Electric Power's Hamaoka nuclear power station in Shizuoka Prefecture on May 17, 2013
JAPAN
May 27, 2026
Japan weighs criminal penalties for nuclear plant data fraud
The plan is being considered following earthquake risk data fraud by Chubu Electric Power over its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' headquarters in Tokyo
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2026
Tepco employees recorded civil trials in violation of court rules
On the same day, Shikoku Electric Power and Chugoku Electric Power also admitted to making audio recordings in the courtroom.
Takeda Pharmaceutical headquarters in Tokyo. The company said it will "vigorously pursue" an appeal after a U.S. jury on Monday found the company liable for causing about $885 million in damages by delaying a generic version of its constipation drug through an anticompetitive scheme.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2026
Takeda engaged in antitrust scheme to delay generic constipation drug: U.S. jury
The verdict is the ?first time ?a jury has found a pharmaceutical company liable in class-action litigation over what is called a ¡°pay-for-delay¡± agreement with generic rivals.
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani attends the 51st Gems and Jewellery Awards in Jaipur, India, in 2024.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2026
U.S. drops charges against Gautam Adani after settlements and investment pledge
The move is a boon for Asia¡¯s richest person and his companies, and a reversal by U.S. officials on cases brought at the end of the Biden administration.
Unlike his predecessors, U.S. President Donald Trump didn¡¯t divest or move his assets into a blind trust with an independent overseer.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 18, 2026
Trump¡¯s more than 3,700 trades astonish Wall Street insiders
In the first quarter, the U.S. president bought at least $1 million each in companies including Nvidia, Oracle, Microsoft, Boeing and Costco Wholesale.
The U.S. has an opportunity to use its lead in artificial intelligence technology to create a global governance mechanism to ensure safer, more resilient systems, OpenAI¡¯s vice president of global affairs, Chris Lehane, said.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 14, 2026
OpenAI floats idea of global AI governance body with U.S. and China
Such an organization could resemble the International Atomic Energy Agency, OpenAI Vice President of Global Affairs Chris Lehane says.
Under Mark Zuckerberg, Meta plans to use employee computer activity data to train AI systems while investing heavily in automation that could replace human workers.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2026
Meta is making workers train their AI replacements
Meta plans to put tracking software on its employees¡¯ computers to track their mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes.
The Google logo during the CERAWeek energy conference 2026 in Houston, Texas, on March 24. A reported agreement between Google and the U.S. Department of Defense requires the tech giant to help adjust its AI safety settings and filters at the government's request.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2026
Google inks deal allowing Pentagon to use AI models for classified work
A reported agreement requires the tech giant to help adjust its AI safety settings and filters at the government¡¯s request.
Employees on loan to Toyota from three major Japanese nonlife insurers, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, took out company information without permission.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2026
Three nonlife insurers fraudulently take out information from Toyota
The acts by the employees of the insurers may amount to violations of the personal information protection law or the unfair competition prevention law.
Environmental advocacy group Market Forces is calling on investors at Japan's three megabanks ¡ª Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui ¡ª to vote against directors failing to recognize the risks posed by fossil fuels.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 23, 2026
Climate investor calls for votes against directors at Â鶹´«Ã½ megabanks and trading houses
Environmental advocacy group Market Forces is arguing that directors are failing to oversee material ?financial risks to the banks and trading houses¡¯ businesses.
Prudential Life CEO Hiromitsu Tokumaru (center) and other executives from the firm during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2026
Prudential Life Insurance suspends sales for additional 180 days
The Japanese insurer has received more complaints related to alleged misuse of customer funds.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on Friday indicted five Japanese oil distributors, including East Japan Usami, Eneos Wing and Enex Fleet, over their alleged operation of a price cartel for gas oil.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 17, 2026
Five Japanese oil distributors indicted over cartel after FTC probe
According to the indictment, officials from the firms allegedly agreed to raise the selling prices of gas oil and curb price reduction at meetings in Tokyo in 2024.
Members of Nihon Hidankyo at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2026
Nihon Hidankyo urges investment ban on makers of nuclear weapons
The organization will make the request directly to financial institutions, including some of Â鶹´«Ã½ largest banks.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
New ¡®Katsu Curry Index¡¯ aims to show how weak the yen really is
A CoCo Ichibanya curry house in Tokyo.
Mexican man arrested over attempt to smuggle some 200 lizards into Japan
Mexican alligator lizards seized by Tokyo Customs from a Mexican man who attempted to smuggle them into Japan on Saturday through Haneda Airport
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.

Podcast

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

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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