Blowfish season kicks off in Japan with first auction
シーズン到来!トラフグ初競り 高温続きで需要伸びず…最高値去年より2000円↓

Before dawn, some 1.7 tons of the torafugu variety arrived at the city's Haedomari fish market, where blowfish is landed most. The catch included the coveted wild blowfish from the Sea of Japan and the Seto Inland Sea. The largest blowfish weighed about 4.5 kilograms.
The auction coincides with the start of blowfish fishing season this month.
Bidding began at 3:20 a.m. Deals were negotiated the traditional way. Individual buyers thrust their hands through a sleeve worn by the seller and indicated how much they would pay by touching his fingers.
This way, their bids were hidden from other buyers.
Bids sank for the third year in a row. The highest price was more than 110 dollars per kilogram, about 14 dollars cheaper than last year. ...continue reading

business-standard.com - Feb 07
Japanese investor SoftBank Group reported Tuesday that it sank into a deep loss for the October-December quarter, slammed by the global plunge in technology shares.

capitalfm - Feb 07
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said Tuesday it had abandoned its struggling project to develop a passenger plane, a decade after the jet was due for commercial rollout.

NHK - Feb 06
The yen weakened against the US dollar on Monday. Financial markets are speculating that the Bank of Japan will maintain its massive monetary easing policy under a new governor.

Nikkei - Feb 05
People in Japan are hoarding the cash they accrued during the pandemic despite an easing of restrictions, with savings actually increasing to 62 trillion yen ($478 billion), or more than 10% of the country's gross national product.

Nikkei - Feb 04
Japan's food exports soared to a 10th straight annual record in 2022, as the economic reopening from the pandemic in many countries sparked renewed interest in dining out.

NHK - Feb 04
The Bank of Japan's unrealized losses on government bonds reached 8.8 trillion yen, or about 68 billion dollars in December.

UPI - Feb 04
Japan's massive public pension fund continued its longest ever losing streak, reporting on Friday a $14.2 billion loss for the third quarter, its fourth straight quarter of negative returns.

macaubusiness.com - Feb 03
Despite boasting an early start with electric vehicles (EVs), Japan has been seen as a laggard in the EV market over the past decade when the rest of the world is actively riding on the transformative shift.

Nikkei - Feb 03
Japan's Z Holdings announced that it will merge with its two wholly owned subsidiaries -- internet portal Yahoo Japan and messenger app LINE -- in an effort to revamp operations and speed up decision-making.

The Peninsula - Feb 01
A major Japanese trading company has relaxed its rules to allow employees to pursue side careers, such as being a YouTuber or an artist, aiming to retain younger workers who are demanding more flexible work rules.

Bloomberg - Feb 01
Niseko sits on the western edge of the island of Hokkaido, where Siberian winds sweeping across the Sea of Japan drop heavy snow almost daily during the winter months.

NHK - Feb 01
The operator of Tokyo Disney Resort is the latest major employer in Japan to announce wage hikes. Average pay will rise by 7 percent from April.

Japan Times - Jan 31
Japan’s average job availability in 2022 improved for the first time in four years as economic and social activities revived with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, government data showed Tuesday.

stockhead.com.au - Jan 31
Shenzhen-based automaker, Tesla hunter and global electric vehicle hopeful, China’s BYD Co, has forecast a bumper 2022 of pure profit.

Asianometry - Jan 31
Since the beginning of the century, Sharp has found itself increasingly trapped in a single incredibly competitive business.

Japan Today - Jan 30
Toyota Motor Corp was the world's top-selling automaker in 2022, retaining its lead over German rival Volkswagen for the third year, company data showed Monday.