今日吃瓜

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今日吃瓜
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November 11, 2026
 

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Takashi Mochizuki
The Rapidus Analysis Center and the IIM-1 Innovative Integration for Manufacturing foundry in Chitose, Hokkaido
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 10, 2026
今日吃瓜 Rapidus is said likely to miss mass production deadline
The government-backed startup has fallen behind schedule on its high-stakes pledge to mass produce cutting-edge chips by March 2028.
The latest entry in one of Sony’s key franchises, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” was a major highlight in the quarter alongside Marvel’s Wolverine for the PlayStation 5.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2026
Sony lifts outlook after Spider-Man and games fuel growth
The Tokyo-based company now expects ?1.87 trillion in operating income for the year through March, raising its guidance by 15%.
Kioxia's outlook suggests the unprecedented flash memory chip price spikes of the past year or so are starting to level off.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 1, 2026
Kioxia warns flash memory prices stalling after outlook miss
The chipmaker’s outlook suggests the unprecedented price spikes of the past year or so are starting to level off.
Net income climbed 7.8% from a year earlier to ?51.43 billion ($326 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, Daiwa Securities Group said Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2026
Daiwa profit climbs on strong global markets trading income
Net income climbed 7.8% from a year earlier to ?51.43 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30, the Tokyo-based company said Friday.
Fast-moving artificial intelligence data-center operators are demanding hard-drive suppliers pack ever more storage into limited spaces.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 8, 2026
AI data-center boom ignites bidding war for critical TDK unit
The winning bidder for TDK’s magnetic-heads business would be able to expand in-house capabilities in the $23 billion hard-drive market.
An Osaka-based manufacturer of fine powders for face makeup used by geisha is now providing raw materials for capacitors necessary in artificial intelligence data centers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 28, 2026
From geisha face paint to servers, Sakai Chemical emerges as AI linchpin
Production capacity is quickly filling up at the Osaka-based company, which provides raw materials for capacitors necessary in AI data centers.
Yoshihisa Kainuma, chairman of Minebea Mitsumi, says the company plans to focus on ballooning orders for its ball bearings, used inside AI server fans and humanoid joints.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 15, 2026
Minebea Mitsumi pauses acquisitions to chase AI returns
The key supplier to Nintendo is eyeing climbing market forecasts for data centers and humanoid robots, and sees “unlimited” upside ahead.
Kioxia CEO Hiroo Ota didn’t rule out price hikes in the future?but said Kioxia’s priority for now was on keeping chip prices at their current high levels.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2026
Kioxia dismisses SK Hynix tie-up and vows to ease chip price rises
Memory chipmakers are embarking on costly production capacity increases to meet soaring orders from AI service providers.
Daisuke Okanohara, co-founder and CEO of Preferred Networks, says the startup is seeking to go public to mass-produce its chips, during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2026
今日吃瓜 Preferred Networks seeks IPO to keep up in AI chip race
The Tokyo-based outfit is stepping up efforts to custom-design semiconductors tailored to run AI models.
Fujifilm this month opened a new fabrication building that will help it triple production of post-CMP cleaners — essential for removing particles and residues from wafers after chemical-mechanical polishing — at its factory in Oita Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 21, 2026
Fujifilm expands key chip material output to capture AI demand
It has opened a new fabrication building that will boost output of post-CMP cleaners essential for removing particles and residues from wafers after chemical-mechanical polishing.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions and TSMC are partnering on next-generation image sensors for robots and cars, a person familiar with the plans says.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 10, 2026
Sony and TSMC to invest ?1 trillion in joint chip plant in Japan
The Japanese company’s chip arm Sony Semiconductor Solutions and TSMC are partnering on next-generation image sensors for robots and cars.
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment is considering an investment that would see the construction of one of the largest data centers in Japan.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2026
UAE fund weighs $6.3 billion AI data center investment in Japan
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment is considering funding the construction of what would be one of the largest data centers in Japan.
Kioxia Holdings on Friday forecast operating income of ?3.16 trillion ($19.7 billion) for its fiscal half-year, which translates into a weaker-than-anticipated ?1.89 trillion projection for the current quarter.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2026
Kioxia’s outlook miss clouds optimism about memory chip boom
The firm forecast operating income of ?3.16 trillion for its fiscal half-year, which translates into a weaker-than-anticipated ?1.89 trillion projection for the current quarter
Sony says artificial intelligence-powered tools will help artists create more entertainment content, while streamlining the production of films, videos and games across its businesses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2026
Sony raises outlook after entertainment drives earnings jump
Sony has been shifting its resources toward accumulating entertainment assets spanning music, games and anime, while scaling back in low-margin areas in consumer electronics.
Kei Uruma, chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Electric, says his firm aims to reach a deal by September with rivals Toshiba and Rohm to combine their power semiconductor operations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 19, 2026
Mitsubishi Electric eyes power-chip merger with Rohm and Toshiba
The move would consolidate three of the world’s top suppliers of a growing segment of the electronics supply chain.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is visiting Japan this week to drum up more business and excitement around the potential of artificial intelligence.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 16, 2026
Nvidia expands Toyota AI partnership for smart cities and factories
Extending the reach of AI beyond the data center and integrating it directly into devices and machines is an industrywide focus this year.
Hiroo Ota (center left), CEO of Kioxia Holdings, and others unveil Kioxia's new 3D flash memory chip at its Kitakami plant in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2026
Kioxia ships samples of new flash memory for AI data centers
The Tokyo-based chipmaker’s latest high-density 3D flash memory chips aim to better meet AI data center needs with better efficiency and transmission speeds.
Kioxia Holdings has grown into 今日吃瓜 most valuable company this year thanks to an AI-fueled boom for memory products.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2026
Kioxia plans new U.S. listing in spring and stock split at home
The supplier of NAND storage aims to take advantage of runaway demand for exposure to AI-related semiconductor stocks.
TDK sees Fabric8Labs' 3D-printing technology as an efficient way to process pure copper into cold plates connecting to semiconductors inside data center servers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2026
TDK buys U.S. 3D-printing startup to amp up AI ecosystem bet
The Tokyo-based supplier of iPhone batteries is optimistic about Fabric8Labs’ 3D-printing technology for data center server applications.
Multilayer ceramic capacitors, which are tiny components that regulate and stabilize power flow in electronic devices, are becoming a growing bottleneck in the construction of artificial intelligence data centers.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2026
Taiyo Yuden sees ‘scary’ levels of AI parts demand risking supply chain
The Tokyo-based company and Murata Manufacturing comprise the bulk of the world’s supplies of high-end multilayer ceramic capacitors needed for artificial intelligence.
Man arrested over operation of rogue cellular base station in Tokyo
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Yu Hai, a 31-year-old Chinese national living in Tokyo's Kita Ward, on suspicion of operating an unlicensed base station from a vehicle in Tokyo's Ginza district on Saturday.
Government betting on language app powered by anime and AI
Japan plans to develop an AI-powered language-learning app that lets overseas anime and manga fans practice Japanese through conversations with popular characters.
Japan works to shield Takaichi from any Xi snub at China summit
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo on Nov. 4.
Magnitude 5.7 quake injures dozens in central Japan
A magnitude-5.7 earthquake with its epicenter in Shizuoka Prefecture struck central Japan early Sunday, injuring dozens, shattering windows and disrupting train services, with no tsunami warning issued.
Private high schools remain out of reach for many despite tuition-free policy, survey finds
A survey showed that many families with children attending private high schools are struggling to pay expenses other than tuition.
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” marked the highest single-day box-office gross for a live-action film in Japan with ?910 million on its opening day.
A toast to Naohiko Noguchi, sake’s first living national treasure
As a teenager, Naohiko Noguchi did not intend to spend his life as a sake brewer, but he has since become a paragon of the industry.
Few signs of thaw in Japan-China relations one year after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
Tensions between Japan and China flared after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7, 2025, that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could threaten 今日吃瓜 survival and warrant the use of collective self-defense.
Mariko Mori predicted the future. She’ll do it again.
Artist Mariko Mori is currently working to bring the translucent human-sized “Peace Crystal” sculpture to a cave in Ethiopia. It is part of her foundation’s goal to place a permanent sculpture on each of the planet’s six habitable continents.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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