Japan's Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market. The futures contract in Chicago is currently at 40,260 and its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 40,480 compared to the index's previous close of 39,931.98.

“It’s DeepSeek for sure,” said one Tokyo-based fund manager of the sudden drop in Japanese tech shares, adding that the market was readjusting to the idea that hardware spending on AI — a theme that had benefited certain Japanese companies — could be a lot lower than current estimates.

Smart packaging helps ensure that consumers are buying the real thing. Cosmetics companies in Japan are turning to intelligent packaging technologies such as quick response (QR) codes, near field communication (NFC) tags,

Japan PM Ishiba is seeking to arrange a meeting with US President Donald Trump. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Japan's concerns over a potential U.S. retreat from the region have grown amid China's increasingly assertive military posture.

Workers help them bathe, eat, walk and take their medication. But this isn’t a nursing home – it’s Japan’s largest women’s prison. The population here reflects the aging society outside ...

Japan will continue to strengthen its defence capabilities given the security situation in East Asia, Japan's foreign minister told his U.S. counterpart in a meeting on Tuesday, his spokesperson said.

Japanese electric motor maker Nidec posted a 5% rise in third-quarter operating profit on Thursday to 54.5 billion yen ($348 million), compared to 51.8 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

There will be the usual month-end data dump from Japan. Inflation, labour, industrial production and retail sales will be released on the last day of January. The Tokyo CPI is expected to ease from 3.0% year-on-year in December to 2.6% YoY in January, as the government resumed its utility subsidy programme from January.

Japanese exports rose 2.8% year-on-year in December, up for a third straight month, data from the Ministry of Finance showed on Thursday.

Prime Video has named Keisuke Oishi as its new country manager for Japan, effective Jan. 20. The veteran Amazon executive, who most recently served as director and general manager of Amazon Music Japan, will report to Gaurav Gandhi, VP of Prime Video Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. He replaces Kodama Takashi.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, struggling to stabilize his minority government, says he will seek to maintain regional security and prepare for tough negotiations with U.S. President Donald T