TOKYO/WASHINGTON -- A rate check on the yen by U.S. officials in January has become viewed by some in the market as a political favor from Washington to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government in return for being a major creditor.

WASHINGTON -- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi achieved some success in bringing the U.S. diplomatic approach to China more in line with that of Japan in her summit with President Donald Trump, with a document released by the White House afterward mentioning "commitment to stability in the Taiwan Strait."

ISLAMABAD -- More oil tankers heading to Pakistan are likely to cross the Strait of Hormuz "in the coming days," government officials told Nikkei Asia, as U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran's closure of the waterway squeeze oil supplies and hamper energy-importing economies.

TOKYO -- U.S. President Donald Trump kept the security and economic pressure on Japan light during his meeting Thursday with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, underscoring his lack of diplomatic options and risk of isolation as Europe declines to help in the Strait of Hormuz.

OSAKA -- Nintendo soon will release a Switch 2 console in the European Union that allows users to replace batteries on their own, as the Japanese game maker moves to comply with the bloc's "right to repair" directive.

BEIJING -- China's exports of rare-earth magnets to Japan in the January-February period rose 9.7% on the year to 443 metric tons, but according to a Japanese government official, shipments of heavy rare-earth elements such as dysprosium have fallen.

NEW YORK -- After years of producing office chairs, desks and other home furnishings as a contract manufacturer, China's Sunon is ready compete in the U.S. under its own brand.

HONG KONG -- Chinese tech giant ByteDance will sell its mobile game studio Moonton to Savvy Games, a Riyadh-headquartered gaming and esports conglomerate owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), for more than $6 billion, according to people close to the deal.

The two parties have signed an agreement and the completion of the deal will be subject to regulatory approvals, one of the people said.

SEOUL -- Superstar K-pop group BTS will stream its comeback concert from Seoul worldwide on Saturday, but only to Netflix subscribers -- a choice that has led to hand-wringing over how South Korea can harness the boom in its cultural exports.