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June 30, 2026
 

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TECH

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.
Investigators search a rental office in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Monday in connection with a body abandonment case.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 21, 2026
Police search Tokyo rental office over abandonment of body
The suspect, Katsuya Mizuguchi, who was arrested on Friday on suspicion of abandoning a body, virtually lived in the rental office, sources said.
A Sanrio store in Tokyo's Asakusa district. Sanrio is launching a new gaming brand, with some 10 titles to be released over the next three years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 21, 2026
Sanrio launches gaming brand, tapping fast-growing global market
Sanrio’s push into gaming reflects a broader trend among Japanese intellectual property owners to diversify revenue by extending popular franchises into interactive entertainment.
Attendees at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, China, take pictures of various service robots on display.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 21, 2026
China flashes new tech swagger to world markets convulsed by war
The world’s factory floor is increasingly getting retrofitted for a new era of artificial intelligence and robotics, churning out technological innovation the world craves.
Batteries on display at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, China, on April 15
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 20, 2026
Cheap batteries are taking over the world’s power grids
If fuel disruptions persist, the pivot to batteries could gain further momentum.
A robot and its engineers take part in the second Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Half Marathon in Beijing on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 20, 2026
Humanoid robots race past humans in Beijing half-marathon, showing rapid advances
Developers showed off the fast-improving robots and their autonomous navigation skills, highlighting the sector’s rapid technical advances.
The office of the IT firm run by Katsuya Mizuguchi in Minato Ward, Tokyo
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 19, 2026
Arrested IT firm head may have wiped up blood in office
The bloodstains were not apparent at first glance and were discovered through a detailed on-site probe by police, investigative sources said.
Katsuya Mizuguchi, the 49-year-old president of Linux Japan, is taken to Azabu Police Station in Tokyo's Minato Ward after being arrested Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2026
Tokyo IT firm chief arrested for allegedly abandoning body
The suspect, Katsuya Mizuguchi, 49, has denied the allegations against him.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. The White House said a meeting Friday with Amodei was "productive and constructive” as the U.S. seeks wider access to Anthropic’s powerful new Mythos artificial intelligence model.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 18, 2026
Anthropic and Trump officials meet to discuss Mythos access
The White House said opportunities for collaboration and for addressing the challenges from artificial intelligence were discussed.
Shoji Terayama, co-CEO of ACSL, at the company’s headquarters last month
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 17, 2026
Japanese drone maker notes tailwind as demand jumps and China frozen out of U.S.
Escalating geopolitical tensions might present opportunities for Japanese companies in a market long dominated by China’s DJI. 
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team'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.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
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."
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.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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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