TOKYO -- Toyota Motor on Thursday raised its full-year net profit forecast through March 2022, expecting the impact of recent production cuts to dissipate, along with chip shortages.

But the Japanese automaker stressed in its latest earnings announcement that the upward revision stems largely from a weaker yen and other favorable market conditions, and is "in substance a downward revision." It predicted lower unit sales for the year and sounded the alarm over soaring prices for raw materials.

Toyota said it now expects to post a

TOKYO -- Concerns are mounting in Japan over its access to materials considered key in the push toward decarbonization, with most production of mineral resources such as lithium and cobalt concentrated in just a handful of countries.

Any threat to supplies of metals used to churn out everything from batteries for electric vehicles to electricity poles could stall the drive for a greener society in Japan and other places such as Europe and the U.S.

That comes as Australia, Chile and China account for nearly 90% of the world's

BANGKOK -- Fully vaccinated visitors from dozens of countries can now enter Thailand quarantine-free, but the Southeast Asian nation's hopes for reviving its crucial tourism industry also hinge on policies at departure points -- especially China.

China accounted for 11 million, or more than a quarter, of the arrivals Thailand welcomed in 2019. But even though China is among the 60-plus countries and territories to which Thailand has thrown open its doors as of this month, travelers may not rush back

TOKYO -- Nintendo on Thursday reported a 19% decline in its net profit for the first half of this fiscal year versus the same period a year ago as the company suffered from a slowdown in game software sales, while production of its Switch console was hampered by the global chip shortage.

The Japanese gaming company logged a net profit of 171 billion yen ($1.5 billion) for the April to September period on the back of a 19% drop in revenue from a year earlier to

Robert Alloway is co-founder of Viridian Zero Carbon.

With world leaders gathering in Glasgow for COP26, Bitcoin boosters and naysayers continue to clash over its 50 million-tonne -- and growing -- carbon footprint, and whether cryptocurrencies are a force for good on climate change or part of the problem.

According to a recent 70-page report from Bitcoin pioneer NYDIG, a subsidiary of Stone Ridge Asset Management, Bitcoin does not have a carbon problem.

The rationalizations are not new. They have

TAIPEI -- Taiwan's leading provider of electronic components plans to expand its production capacity across Asia despite flagging the possibility of a near-term dip in demand, as the company bets on the emergence of parts-hungry tech like 5G and electric vehicles to drive growth for years to come.

Chiao Yu-heng, chairman and CEO of Passive System Alliance, told Nikkei Asia in an interview that PSA already has 40 production sites across China, Japan, Malaysia and its home market. This diversified production footprint

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's top court on Thursday ruled that individuals can generally be convicted of the crime of rioting only if they were present at the scene or had incited others to join in, dealing a blow to government efforts to prosecute some residents linked the city's 2019 demonstrations.

The Court of Final Appeal's five-judge panel explained in its written judgment that the offenses of rioting and unauthorized assembly are both participatory in nature and that there must be sufficient evidence shown of having

TOKYO -- Humans have succeeded in sending people and animals into space. Japanese companies are now putting their minds together to see if they can instantly "teleport" gourmet food to the heavens and other faraway places.

A project called Open Meals, led by Japanese ad powerhouse Dentsu, is researching and developing 3D printers and base materials that can build food, in an effort to realize such food transfer in the near future.

Open Meals was launched in 2016 by Ryosuke Sakaki, an art director at Dentsu

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor on Thursday raised its full-year net profit forecast through March 2022 to 2.49 trillion yen ($ 21.8 billion), up from the 2.3 trillion yen profit it had predicted in May, as the Japanese automaker expects an aggressive output increase in the coming months will lift its profit and make up for an earlier production cut.

Pressures from lingering chip shortages, as well as COVID-19 restrictions affecting production of parts in Southeast Asia,