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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.