While Japan was closed to tourism for approximately two years due to the global spread of COVID-19, in June 2022 it reopened its doors to guided tours in limited numbers. In September 2022, Japan began to further relax entry restrictions i…

Earlier this year, the editors of PayPay Inside-Out and SoftBank News teamed up to learn more about the state of cashless payments around the world by checking with PayPay employees, who hail from more than 40 countries and regions. As the…

Walking through a grocery store, you may have noticed foodstuffs that show the “Halal Certified” mark. “Halal” means “permitted” in Arabic, and when a food product is halal certified, it means that it’s been prepared in accordance with Isl…

Battery life is vital when using a smartphone. Sometimes it’s essential to conserve battery power, especially when you forget to charge up your smartphone or bring a portable charge on the go. Persistent heat can also drain battery life an…

In late June this year, temperatures in Japan reached sweltering record highs. And, amidst a power shortage, the Japanese government called on households and businesses to reduce their energy consumption for the first time in seven years. …

The Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS professional baseball team and SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) are collaborating to bring Fukuoka PayPay Dome—home stadium of the HAWKS—to the metaverse so fans can enjoy sports and entertainment in entirely new way…

An extensive and efficient network of trains and buses often comes to mind when Japan’s transportation infrastructure is mentioned. To avoid crowded trains and get to locations between stations and bus stops, however, bike-sharing is gaini…

Japan is facing considerable demographic challenges—including a low birthrate and an aging population—that are causing labor shortages and posing a threat to economic growth. Against this backdrop, in 2019 the Japanese government created a…

On March 16, 2022, OYO Japan held a virtual press conference to announce it will re-launch under a new brand name, “Tabist.” OYO Japan’s President and Chief Executive Officer Ryota Tanozaki unveiled the new brand and company name that will…

On February 16, 2022, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) and Cameo, a US-based leading marketplace connecting the world's talent directly with their biggest fans, announced a commercial partnership that will expand Cameo's global network to Japa…

When talking about the group companies of SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434), one would be remiss not to mention PayPay Corporation. Jointly formed by SoftBank Corp. and Yahoo Japan in 2018, in collaboration with India’s largest digital payment …

The need to communicate with others who use different languages is universal. Ongoing technological advances in machine translation software are gradually closing the communication gap to enable conversations among those who speak differen…

One the major strengths of SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is its unparalleled number of customer touchpoints. This customer foundation spans SoftBank’s mobile and broadband subscribers (55 million), and the users of platforms provided by gro…

In Tokyo, a state of emergency was declared for the fourth time in July 2021 to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and restaurants in the metropolis were once again particularly impacted. The restaurant industry is experiencing a decline in …

Whether it's sushi or ramen noodles, Japanese food is enjoying an unprecedented boom around the world. But Japanese food is much more than sushi, tempura or ramen – there are all kinds of processed foods and snacks, drinks and ingredients …

On October 2, 2020, UK-based mobile analytics firm Opensignal announced its Global Mobile Network Experiences Awards 2020, and in its report SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) was ranked the global no. 1 carrier for Voice App Experience and no. …

After an almost three month delay caused by the spread of COVID-19, professional baseball in Japan this season got off to a start in June, first with empty stadiums and then limited spectator admittance from July 10 in line with government…

In this day and age, we benefit from a multitude of Internet-based services, and the sharing economy, or XaaS—an abbreviation for ‘X (anything) as a Service’—in particular is getting a lot of attention recently. Among XaaS offerings, ride …

Not far from the hustle and bustle of Shibuya’s “Scramble Square,” one of the busiest pedestrian crossings in the world, lies “Pepper PARLOR,” a café that offers a completely new dining experience. Pepper PARLOR is nestled among the array …

Japan has seen typhoons of increasing intensity in recent years. Typhoon Hagibis and Typhoon Faxai caused especially widespread damage, flooding and outages in the Kanto region and other parts of Japan in the fall of 2019. Japan is also pr…

Whether relaxing at home or entertaining important guests, nothing is more refreshing than green tea in Japan. Although popular since ancient times, in recent years green tea plantations have come up against a major issue: a lack of succes…