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)

With rice prices continuing to hover at historically high levels and empty store shelves becoming more common, the Japanese government is under increasing pressure to implement consumer- and producer-friendly policies. In response, authorities are revising the bidding system for releasing reserve rice stocks, aiming to make it more accessible to smaller wholesalers. (News On Japan)

A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the final phase of a major redevelopment project around Shibuya Station, where Tokyu Corporation and JR East plan to construct two new complex buildings at Shibuya Scramble Square and develop a pedestrian deck connecting the station's east and west sides. (News On Japan)

Cases of online securities accounts being hijacked via computers and smartphones are rapidly increasing, with individual investors seeing their carefully built portfolios vanish in unauthorized trades—often involving unfamiliar Chinese stocks. (News On Japan)

U.S. investment fund Dalton Investments has issued a statement criticizing Fuji Media Holdings for rejecting its proposed board nominees, calling the move "regrettable" and stating it "does not appear to have been seriously considered." (News On Japan)

Toyota Group unions have secured the highest average wage increase since 2000, with 123 manufacturing unions achieving pay hikes averaging 16,430 yen and a 5.72% increase, according to the All Toyota Labor Federation, which represents about 362,000 members across 307 unions. (News On Japan)

A Japanese man in his 50s was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Chinese court on May 13 under the anti-espionage law, following his December 2021 detention in Shanghai and formal arrest in June 2022 after six months of interrogation. (News On Japan)

Nissan's plan to shut down several of its production facilities has drawn concern from Kitakyushu Mayor Kenji Takeuchi, who said at a press conference on May 15th that the move is "a matter directly linked to citizens' employment and livelihoods." (News On Japan)

Japan’s three largest banking groups have all reported record net profits for the past fiscal year, with their combined earnings nearing 4 trillion yen. (News On Japan)

Toshiba announced that it returned to profitability in its earnings report for the fiscal year ending March 2025, posting a net profit of 279 billion yen. Operating profit, a key indicator of core business performance, surged nearly fivefold from the previous year to 198.5 billion yen, driven in part by increased sales of hard disk drives for data centers. (News On Japan)