Japan has called on equipment makers to help one of its biggest chipmakers restore production, the latest government move aimed at easing a semiconductor shortage that has hit production at car companies and is now pressuring makers of electronic devices.

Japan's Renesas Electronics halted production at one of its main plants in Hitachinaka, northeast of Tokyo, after a fire broke out, the chipmaker said late Friday.

US President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order as early as this month to accelerate efforts to build supply chains for chips and other strategically significant products that are less reliant on China, in partnership with the likes of Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

Honda Motor is promoting its current head of research and development Toshihiro Mibe to chief executive, the latest in a number of bold moves the automaker is taking to step beyond its more than half-a-century-long reliance on selling gasoline-powered cars.

The earthquake that struck Saturday night off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, shaking northern and eastern Japan, has tripped up operations for many companies in a faint echo of the disruption brought by the much larger quake that hit the same area in 2011.

A powerful earthquake that hit Japan on Saturday was an aftershock of the devastating 9.0 magnitude quake that struck the same area almost 10 years ago, according to the national Meteorological Agency.

Japan's Renesas Electronics is fabricating more of its automotive semiconductors in-house as contract manufacturers are swamped with orders, Nikkei has learned.

All new vehicles sold in Japan by the mid-2030s will be hybrid or electric as the government begins to unveil concrete steps for reaching its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, broadcaster NHK said.

More than 30 major Japanese firms will begin experiments next year towards issuing a common, private digital currency to promote digitalisation in one of the world's most cash-loving countries, the group's organising body said on Thursday.

Japan's Shin-Etsu Chemical will spend an estimated JPY30 billion (US$285 million) to raise capacity for a crucial semiconductor plant material by 20%, expanding its supply for cutting-edge chip production, Nikkei has learned.

Japan's NTT said it is looking at taking full control of its wireless carrier business in a deal that could be worth around 4 trillion yen ($38 billion) and pave the way for price cuts in the sector.

Business investment stalls amid heightened uncertainty

The world's third-largest economy shrank 7.8% in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter, the country's Cabinet Office said on Monday.

The British government has asked Japan to help build its 5G wireless networks without Huawei, the Nikkei said on Sunday, a further step in a global technology and security war between the United States and China.

DRAM designed in Japan by a team of 100 will help combat US sanctions

Media reports say Samsung has cooperated with equipment manufacturers in Japan and Europe to build a small, 7nm production line that doesn't use US equipment. Samsung hopes to actively attract multiple customers through this move.

Japan's Mitsubishi Electric said on Thursday it would buy part of a plant in western Japan from Sharp to meet growing demand for power management chips used in electric vehicles (EVs).

British officials have discussed supplies of 5G networking equipment with companies in South Korea and Japan as part of a bid to develop alternatives to China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Japan's Sharp, an Apple Inc supplier, reported a 37% decline in annual operating profit and refrained from releasing an earnings outlook for the current year because of uncertainty over the novel coronavirus impact.

Japan's economy has entered recession, and the coronavirus pandemic will likely make things even worse.

Japanese mobile carriers NTT Docomo and SoftBank said they will delay their launches of Apple's new iPhone SE model until May 11 instead of the scheduled April 27 amid the coronavirus outbreak.

A nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Japan due to the country's worsening coronavirus outbreak.

Recently there are concerns that COVID-19 cases will grow sharply in Japan, and production is increasingly coming to a halt in autos and other sectors worldwide.

The governor of the Japanese capital warned on Monday that a lockdown of the city was possible if it saw an explosive rise in coronavirus cases, and called on event organizers and residents to exercise restraint to avoid such a drastic step.

Japan's economy shrank at the fastest pace in almost six years in the December quarter as last year's sales tax hike hit consumer and business spending, highlighting a fragile outlook made worse by growing coronavirus risks.

SoftBank Group's stock was last 10.58% higher on Wednesday morning after skyrocketing more than 12% earlier in the session.

The Japanese government has reversed curbs on exports of photoresists to South Korea, one of three technology materials which it had restricted since July, a Trade Ministry official said on Friday.

The agreement came after months of uncertainty that also involved intense talks with Apple, which has agreed to make an equity investment of $200m in Japan Display, according to people involved in the deal. Taiwan-based Wistron is also in talks to invest about $50m.

Bigger-than-expected spending plan marks return to free-spending days of 'Abenomics'

The robots will be controlled remotely by tablet and deliver a live camera feed

SoftBank Corp plans to merge internet subsidiary Yahoo Japan with messaging app operator Line Corp to create a $30 billion tech group, as it strives to compete more effectively with local rival Rakuten and U.S. tech powerhouses.

Japan Display OLED iPhone screens could still be at least two years away, according to a new report today.

Japan's curbs on exports of high-tech materials to South Korea could backfire in the long run, eroding its dominance over a key link in the global chip supply chain, suppliers and experts say.

Semiconductor sales fell 30 per cent, while exports to China fell 20 per cent, suggesting joint headwinds of global electronics slowdown and US-China trade war

Japan has approved shipments of a high-tech material to South Korea for the second time since imposing export curbs last month, two sources said, ahead of talks by government officials this week to resolve a dispute stemming from their wartime past.

Japan has $1.12 trillion Treasury securities, and China, $1.11 trillion.

South Korea is removing Japan from a list of trusted trading partners, escalating a dispute with its neighbor that is already disrupting the global supply chain for big tech companies.

Japan has approved shipment of a high-tech material to South Korea for the first time since imposing export curbs last month, but doubled down on political pressure and warned it could broaden restrictions on deliveries to its Asian neighbor.

Japan will remove South Korea from its list of trusted trade partners, deepening a bitter row between the two countries.

There's a sense of panic within Japan Inc and the government - the world's No. 3 economy doesn't have enough experts in artificial intelligence and it's time to do something about it.