Japan’s Sony to form alliance to build taxi-hailing system

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp said on Tuesday it would become the latest blue-chip firm to jockey for position in Japan's taxi and ride-hailing market, with plans for a joint venture to develop an artificial intelligence-based hailing system. ( read original story ...)

Japan’s top financial diplomat puts strong yen on notice

TOKYO -- Japan's point man on currency diplomacy sees the yen's recent ... vice minister of finance for international affairs, told The Nikkei in an interview Tuesday. He nonetheless indicated plans to reaffirm the agreement among the Group of 20 major ... ( read original story ...)

Japan to host G-20 summit in Osaka in 2019

The G-20 presidency is currently held by Argentina. In the past, the city of Osaka hosted the summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in November 1995 and the Group of Eight finance ministers' meeting in June 2008. The administration ... ( read original story ...)

Uber focuses on filling Japan’s ride-hailing void

The Nikkei reported on Monday that the U.S. company is negotiating to add taxi operator Daiichi Koutsu Sangyo's vehicles to its network. "The Japanese taxi industry is [high] quality but it suffers from low utilization rates," Khosrowshahi said. ( read original story ...)

Japan logs first trade deficit in eight months

TOKYO -- Japan's imports exceeded exports for the first time in eight months in January, due largely to a rise in crude oil prices that pushed up import figures, official preliminary data showed Monday. The monthly trade deficit on a customs-cleared basis ... ( read original story ...)

Here’s Who Really Matters at the Bank of Japan

When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated Haruhiko Kuroda to a second term as governor of the Bank of Japan, he gave the central banker a gift that might hold the key to policy over the next five years. Far from simply pushing the Bank of Japan ... ( read original story ...)