Toyota Motor announced that its overseas vehicle sales in April reached a record 756,190 units, up 9.7% from the same month last year. The surge was driven in part by last-minute demand in the United States ahead of additional tariffs on imported vehicles proposed by the Trump administration. (News On Japan)

Ten months after the release of Japan’s redesigned banknotes, an unusual detail has caught the public’s eye: the letter F on the new bills appears oddly rounded. (News On Japan)

NTT Docomo is set to acquire major online bank Sumishin SBI Net Bank as it prepares to enter the banking sector, marking a significant shift for the mobile carrier as it looks to catch up with rivals in the growing financial services space. (News On Japan)

Japan’s leading industrial and electronics firms are accelerating efforts to commercialize next-generation batteries, with Toyota, Toshiba, TDK, and China’s CATL unveiling advanced technologies that promise breakthroughs in performance, safety, and supply chain resilience. (News On Japan)

Nissan Motor has revealed that it paid a total of 646 million yen in resignation-related compensation to four former executive officers, including former President Uchida. (News On Japan)

Japan’s net foreign assets hit a record high at the end of last year, but the country has fallen from the top global position for the first time in 34 years, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance. (News On Japan)

Former U.S. President Donald Trump is once again accusing Japan of deliberately weakening the yen to boost its exports, claiming the government is guiding the currency downward in a move reminiscent of the 1985 Plaza Accord. (News On Japan)

SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son is pursuing the idea of launching a Japan-US joint sovereign wealth fund aimed at investing heavily in American technology and infrastructure. (News On Japan)

SoftBank Group, which oversees major operations including telecom company SoftBank and the Vision Fund investment vehicle, has set out an ambitious plan involving over 1 trillion yen in investments since January. (News On Japan)

As major corporations like Panasonic move to reduce headcounts, a quiet revolution is underway among Japan’s younger workers: the rise of quiet quitting. (News On Japan)

The redevelopment plan for the former Nakano Sunplaza site has been formally scrapped, raising concerns among local residents about the area potentially becoming a neglected eyesore. (News On Japan)

Many employees received their paychecks on May 23rd, but for a growing number, those paychecks now include a portion that used to be paid as bonuses. A new compensation trend is emerging among Japan's major corporations: splitting up bonuses and distributing them as part of monthly salaries. (News On Japan)

In a dramatic reversal from past resistance to foreign ownership of U.S. Steel, President Donald Trump has now announced his approval of what he is calling a partnership between U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel. (News On Japan)

As workplaces reopen following the Golden Week holidays in Japan, agencies offering "retirement代行" (job-quitting proxy) services are reporting a surge in requests. These services, which inform employers of a worker's resignation on their behalf, are increasingly used by new employees—many of whom find themselves overwhelmed in their first year of work due to power harassment, excessive unpaid overtime, or discrepancies between job listings and actual duties. (News On Japan)

Japan’s consumer inflation continued its upward trajectory in April, marking the 44th consecutive month of increase, with rice in particular climbing 98.4% year-on-year. (News On Japan)

Real wages in Japan declined for the third consecutive year, as rising prices continued to outpace wage growth. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s Monthly Labour Survey for fiscal 2024, inflation-adjusted wages fell by 0.5% compared to the previous year. (News On Japan)

FamilyMart has unveiled a new retail strategy dubbed the "Apollo Plan," aiming to expand its sales space by attaching small, three-tsubo (about 10 square meters) white containers to existing stores. At a location in Kanagawa Prefecture, curious customers noticed the unfamiliar structure next to the usual storefront, wondering aloud what it might contain. (News On Japan)

Japan is facing a growing crisis not just with rice, but also with seafood, as supply shortages and rising prices begin to hit the consumer's dinner table. (News On Japan)

The average price of a newly built condominium in the Greater Tokyo area in April dropped 8.7% from a year earlier to 69.99 million yen, falling below the 70 million yen mark for the first time in 16 months, according to a report by the Real Estate Economic Institute. (News On Japan)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to waive basic water charges for all ordinary households in the city this summer, covering approximately 8 million households. (News On Japan)