Japan’s corporate goods prices rose 4.9% in April from a year earlier, far exceeding market expectations as soaring crude oil prices linked to tensions in the Middle East pushed wholesale inflation to its highest level in nearly three years. (News On Japan)

Subaru announced on May 15th that it will postpone the launch of its self-developed EV, or electric vehicle, which had been scheduled for 2028, as the automaker shifts its strategy toward hybrid and gasoline-powered vehicles. (News On Japan)

Free roll-type plastic bags once available to shoppers at supermarkets are being removed one after another as shortages of naphtha, a petroleum-derived raw material used in plastic production, spread across Japan amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. (News On Japan)

Kagome announced on May 14th that it will temporarily redesign several ketchup products by reducing printed packaging areas and adopting mostly transparent labels as worsening tensions in the Middle East continue to disrupt supplies of white ink and other petroleum-based packaging materials across Japan. (News On Japan)

JR Hokkaido is moving ahead with discussions over a so-called "vertical separation" system for railway lines the company says it can no longer maintain on its own. (News On Japan)

ENEOS Holdings announced that a tanker operated by one of its group companies has successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East. (News On Japan)

Aichi Financial Group, which owns Aichi Bank, and Mie Prefecture-based Sanjusan Financial Group announced that they have reached a basic agreement toward a management integration. (News On Japan)

Nissan Motor announced its financial results for the year through March 2026 on May 14th, reporting a net loss for the second consecutive year as the company continues efforts to rebuild its business. (News On Japan)

Despite a prolonged downturn in the publishing industry, a bookbinding machine manufacturer based near Lake Biwa has continued to expand globally by adapting to a major shift in the way books are produced. (News On Japan)

The impact of Japan’s growing naphtha shortage is spreading across a widening range of industries, raising concerns about manufacturing, logistics, and even daily consumer life. (News On Japan)

The yield on Japan’s benchmark newly issued 10-year government bond rose to 2.60% in the Tokyo bond market on May 13th, marking its highest level in approximately 29 years since June 1997. (News On Japan)

The “ink shock” caused by tensions in the Middle East is beginning to spread across Japan’s food packaging industry, prompting manufacturers to simplify designs and reduce ink usage as concerns grow over naphtha supplies and rising printing costs. (News On Japan)

Bloomberg reported on May 11th that SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son held discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron regarding investment in AI data centers in France. (News On Japan)

Foreign acquisition of Japanese land has become a growing topic of debate in recent years, and now the trend is reaching Ashiya, one of the Kansai region’s most prestigious residential areas, where soaring property prices are increasingly being linked to demand from wealthy Chinese buyers. (News On Japan)

A tanker carrying approximately 45,000 kiloliters of crude oil from Azerbaijan arrived in Japan on May 12th, marking the first time Azerbaijani crude has reached the country as the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues. (News On Japan)

Major snack manufacturer Calbee will switch the packaging of some of its products to black-and-white designs as instability in the Middle East disrupts the procurement of printing ink and other materials. (News On Japan)

The Nikkei Stock Average reversed early gains and closed 295.77 points, or 0.4%, lower at 62,417.88 on May 11 after surging more than 1,600 points earlier in the day, as selling spread across AI-related and semiconductor shares despite record highs in the U.S. Nasdaq and Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, while concerns over Middle East tensions and U.S. interest rate policy weighed on investor sentiment. (News On Japan)

Major sushi chain Sushiro will make its first entry into the United States this autumn, with plans to open its inaugural North American outlet near Times Square in New York. (News On Japan)

Japan’s so-called “national debt,” which includes government bonds, borrowings and other liabilities, reached 1,343.8426 trillion yen as of the end of March, marking a record high for the 10th consecutive year, the Finance Ministry announced. (News On Japan)

Toyota Motor has become the first Japanese company to surpass 50 trillion yen in annual revenue, although the automaker expects profits to decline this fiscal year due to the impact of Middle East tensions and U.S. tariff policies. (News On Japan)