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Economy

Japan film studios Toho and Toei charge back into US market

Makers of Godzilla, Kamen Rider shift to simultaneous releases Following the global success of the movie "Godzilla Minus One" in 2023, Toho will release the next film in the series in the U.S. within days of its Japan release. © 2023 TOHO CO., LTD. TOKYO -- Japanese film studios Toho and Toei are reentering the U.S. with revised strategies, shifting from releasing content that has already become a hit in Japan to simultaneous releases and leveraging the spread of streaming services.

July 29, 2026

Economy

Japan’s Seven Bank to provide retailers with consumer financial services

Lender's 'banking as a service' to help companies capture customer data Retailers in Japan are joining the trend of offering financial services from banks to get more customer data. (Source photos by Nikkei) TOKYO -- Japan's Seven Bank plans to provide retailers with financial services functions they can offer directly to consumers, as these companies pursue greater use of customer data.

July 29, 2026

Economy

Japan’s public pension ‘dolphins’ outperform GPIF whale

Equity bull market lifts portfolios of smaller funds weighted toward stocks Smaller pension funds outperformed the GPIF by as much as 2 percentage points for fiscal 2025. (Source photos by Nikkei) TOKYO -- Smaller Japanese pension funds are outperforming the country's massive Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) by capitalizing on stock market gains.

July 29, 2026

Economy

Major Japan quake traps people inside Kumamoto shopping mall, factory

TSMC, Sony and Fujifilm evacuate plants after magnitude-7.1 temblor An Aeon mall in Japan's Kumamoto prefecture was damaged in an earthquake on July 28, with authorities saying many people could be trapped inside. © Kyodo TOKYO -- More than two dozen people may be trapped inside a mall in Japan's southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto after a magnitude-7.1 earthquake triggered an explosion and caused part of the building to collapse Tuesday afternoon. Four people have been rescued from the shopping center, all of whom were conscious, while 10 people were unaccounted for. Police sources said employees were among the 20-30 people who may still be inside the complex. The explosion occurred at Aeon Mall Kumamoto in the town of Kashima after customers had been evacuated, major Japanese retailer Aeon reported. Aeon said it was investigating the cause of the explosion. A senior government official said a gas leak may have caused the blast. Elsewhere, 11 people were trapped after a smokestack collapsed at Nippon Paper Industries' mill in the city of Yatsushiro, authorities said. Two people have been rescued in critical condition, while 9 were missing.

July 29, 2026

Economy

Panasonic to end TV production in Malaysia, cutting jobs

Taiwan will be home to Japanese manufacturer's last in-house television factory A portion of Panasonic's higher-end TVs for the Japanese market are made in Malaysia. (Photo by Kyoko Hariya) OSAKA -- Panasonic plans to stop making televisions in Malaysia by September, closing a plant there by March 2027 and eliminating most of the facility's roughly 400 jobs.

July 29, 2026

Economy

Toyota accelerates succession planning to meet auto industry challenges

Chairman Akio Toyoda will see his son Daisuke take up a place in Toyota's core manufacturing operations this week. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Mayumi Tsumita and Reuters) Chairman's son goes from smart city to shop floor in classic Toyoda family move TOKYO -- On June 1, the day Toyota Motor lost its stock market position as Japan's most valuable company to SoftBank Group for the first time in more than two decades, the automaker announced a personnel move that made few global headlines. Daisuke Toyoda, son of its chairman Akio Toyoda, would come back to the main group from a tech subsidiary on Aug. 1.

July 29, 2026

Economy

China, Russia exercises highlight holes in Japan’s Pacific defenses

Tokyo weighs more monitoring, deterrence in long-overlooked area with key sea lanes China's firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile fueled concerns about Japan's defenses in the Pacific Ocean. (Xinhua via AP) TOKYO -- Recent military exercises by China and Russia near Japan have raised alarm in Tokyo about defensive gaps on the country's Pacific flank and spurred discussions about measures to bolster deterrence.

July 29, 2026

Economy

Japan’s new investment rules open the gate to offshore wind partnerships

Tokyo wants to attract long-term strategic partners, not opportunists Wind turbines are seen along a beach in Japan's Akita prefecture. The nation's government wants to spur the development of offshore wind farms, but its plans have stalled. © Reuters Tim Daiss is a journalist and analyst who has covered energy markets, sustainability and geopolitics in the Asia-Pacific region for the past 15 years.

July 29, 2026

Economy

Takaichi’s falling approval ratings fuel interest rate concerns

Japanese leader may use tax cut to burnish image as cabinet reshuffle rumors fly Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has indicated that she intends to submit legislation to cut the consumption tax. (Photo by Takashi Miyazaki) TOKYO -- The domestic bond market sees the plunging approval ratings of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet as putting upward pressure on interest rates as concerns spread about future risk premiums due to expansionary fiscal policies aimed at winning support.

July 29, 2026

Economy

SK Hynix Q2 profit surges but misses market forecast; shares slide

South Korean chipmaker's earnings come as concerns rise over broader AI-fueled boom South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix has benefited from the ongoing boom in demand for semiconductors spurred by artificial intelligence. (Photo by Ahn Seong-bok) SEOUL -- South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix's operating profit soared 557% to 60.54 trillion won ($41.6 billion) in the second quarter from the same period last year, the company said on Wednesday, as the expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure continued to drive demand for memory chips and other products.

July 29, 2026

Economy

13 confirmed dead after Kumamoto quake rattles Japan chipmaking hub

TSMC evacuates workers and suspends some construction as authorities assess damage A building collapsed due to the earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto prefecture, shown on the morning of July 29. (Photo by Yo Inoue) TOKYO -- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Wednesday that 13 people had been confirmed dead following an earthquake in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto the previous day. Speaking to reporters at the prime minister's office, Takaichi said that as of 8:30 a.m., authorities had also confirmed widespread damage, including casualties, collapsed buildings, fires and damaged roads. The earthquake struck around 4:27 p.m. on Tuesday at a depth of about 16 kilometers, the Japan Meteorological Agency reported. It registered the maximum intensity of 7 on Japan's seismic scale in the city of Uki and the town of Hikawa. Shaking of such intensity can tilt or topple buildings with low seismic resistance. The prefecture is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s production hub on the island of Kyushu. The seismic intensity reached upper-5 in Kikuyo, the site of TSMC's chip factory.

July 29, 2026

Economy

Taiwan’s space industry prepares for lift-off

Tech Latest: Tune in to Nikkei Asia's podcast for the freshest updates on the tech sector Welcome to the Tech Latest podcast. Every Tuesday, our tech experts Katey Creel and Shotaro Tani deliver the hottest trends and news from the sector. In this episode, Katey speaks with Taipei correspondent Cheng Ting-Fang about Taiwan's most ambitious space mission yet and the island's plans to build a homegrown space industry.

July 28, 2026