Information & Communications Technology

Japanese crypto-exchange operators unexpectedly faced major problems last year due to the unprecedented hack in late January of Tokyo-based Coincheck Inc., which lost digital tokens estimated at the time to be worth ¥58 billion and caused commotion across the industry.

At the push of a button, an automated train conducted a test run over Tokyo's iconic Yamanote Line in the wee hours of Monday morning, as operator East Japan Railway demonstrated technology it aims to put into practical use by 2027 as it girds for a shortage of drivers.

Like many in Sanriku, Iwate Prefecture, Kenichiro Yagi lost his waterfront business in the March 2011 Tohoku disasters. But in an imaginative bid to get his fishery company back online, that’s literally what he did: He connected to the internet.

The number of shrines and temples in Japan that accept saisen monetary offerings via e-money is increasing as the country moves toward a cashless society.

Japanese convenience store chain FamilyMart will introduce an app-based proprietary mobile payment service in July.

Japan will promote the free flow of personal data with the U.S. and the European Union by creating common rules on privacy protection, Nikkei has learned.

Information technology giants like Google and Facebook should face greater antitrust oversight in Japan to prevent them from abusing their dominant market positions to stifle competition and infringe on consumer privacy, according to a government report compiled Wednesday .

Major convenience store operator Seven-Eleven Japan Co. has launched an experimental outlet in Tokyo with an unmanned payment system and facial recognition technology.

The Financial Services Agency has decided to integrate the names of bitcoins and other virtual currencies, which are traded online as if they were money, into a category called “crypto-assets,” The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

As the global shortage of skilled information technology experts hits Japan hard, companies are scrambling to lure and keep top talent with hefty annual pay packages.