In the last two decades, sleepy islands and towns in Japan have been hosting a new wave of contemporary art and design set-ups attracting tourists and new residents, some of whom are staying for good. Japan held more art festivals in 2015 than any other country studied, Takahashi found. The population growth even spurred the reopening of a kindergarten and school for children, the Japan Times reported in 2016. That is a big step up from 2013, when there were no children residing on the island at

Pedestrains walk in front of a board displaying the Tokyo 2020 logos for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 23, 2019, nearly one year before the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. “You are looking at a market that is really a geared play on global trade, and the chances are that global trade will be rebounding after the pressures it had from Sino-U.S. tensions last year,” Nicholas Smith, Japan strategist at CLSA, told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Monday. He added that Japanese m

The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.7% early in the trading session, with tech stocks jumping out to 1.4% gains as all sectors and major bourses headed into the black. Market focus is largely attuned to geopolitical developments following Washington’s targeted killing of Iran’s top military commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq. Equity markets fell the past two sessions amid a flight to safety, but look to be changing course as Monday passed with no new escalation in tensions. In Asia, equities ros

Signage for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is displayed outside the central bank’s headquarters in Singapore. Singapore has received 21 applications from several consortiums and companies for the five digital bank licenses that are up for grabs, the country’s financial regulator said on Tuesday. The Monetary Authority of Singapore shook up the country’s banking sector for the first time in two decades when it announced last year it would issue two digital full bank and three digital w

ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 1.8195%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at around 2.2972%. Market focus is largely attuned to geopolitical developments, as investors reassessed the risk of an all-out conflict in the Middle East. Instead, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told reporters that the letter was an unsigned draft that “should never have been released.” The confusion came less than

As workers across the globe haul themselves back to the office for their first full week after the extended Christmas break, Finland’s newly-installed prime minister has sought to soften the blow for her citizens with the prospect of a condensed working week. Sanna Marin, 34, has proposed putting the entire country on a four-day workweek consisting of six-hour workdays in a bid to transition the country to what she called “the next step for us in working life.” “I believe people deserve to spend

Eight months on a cruise ship — could you do it? Take the Viking Sun’s Ultimate World Cruise. Around the World in 245 DaysA round trip on the Ultimate World Cruise starts and finishes in London, England. The Ultimate World Cruise itinerary. He noted that a “good number” of guests on Viking’s first World Cruise also booked on the latest, much longer cruise.

Samsung showed off some new gadgets at its CES keynote, including a spherical robot assistant and glasses for augmented reality. The company kicked things off with a robot companion the size of a tennis ball, called Ballie. The device, which comes equipped with a camera, was seen following Samsung Consumer Electronics CEO H.S. Kim around onstage at the event late Monday, even rolling into his hand when he said the phrase: “Come here Ballie.” The video from Samsung showed it communicating with a

China remains vague on how much the country will increase purchases of U.S. farm goods, considered a critical part of a trade agreement with Washington. Han Jun, vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs, confirmed to Chinese financial news site Caixin that import quotas for wheat, corn and rice will not increase. “These are global quotas. We will not adjust them just for one country,” Han told Caixin, according to a CNBC translation of his Chinese-language quotes in an article published Tu

Even with the price cut, Tesla’s Model 3 starts at over 300,000 yuan ($43,133). The China-built Tesla Model 3 is unveiled at a Tesla store on November 22, 2019 in Shanghai, China. Executives at those startups are hoping Tesla’s entrance into the Chinese market will give them a boost too. It will attract more potential buyers to look into EVs,” Freeman Shen, CEO of Chinese electric car start-up WM Motor, told CNBC. “Some of them will buy Tesla’s cars and some will buy WM’s cars.

U.S. stock index futures were hovering around the flatline Tuesday morning, despite ongoing geopolitical tensions. ET, Dow futures rose 33 points, indicating a higher open of more than 4 points. Strong gains in the tech sector helped markets overcome initial concerns over tensions between the United States and Iran. President Donald Trump announced last week that the U.S. had killed Iran’s top military commander in Baghdad. Market players are now waiting to see if the situation will escalate wit

As Nissan’s former Chairman Carlos Ghosn made his way from Osaka, Japan to Istanbul, Turkey in a private jet, the price of the flight was likely the least of his concerns. Evidence reviewed by CNBC shows a man named Dr. Ross Allen involved in securing the flight. Officially, Al-Nitaq Al Akhdhar for General Trade Limited, a firm out of Dubai, leased the getaway plane. With a range of 7,077 miles, the plane would easily be able to make the 5,430 mile flight from Osaka to Istanbul. MNG Jet, which o

Asian markets were poised to rise on Tuesday, after falling a day earlier, amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Gold prices surged on Monday to a near seven-year high as investors fled riskier assets amid U.S.-Iran tensions that have shot up in the past week with the killing of Iran’s top commander. Oil prices, which also surged on the back of those geopolitical tensions, continued to rally on Monday, rising more than 2% but settling little changed. “Geopolitical tensions remain

Starbucks announced Tuesday that it would introduce oat milk regionally and add two new dairy-free drinks to its U.S. and Canadian menus. Oat milk will be coming to 1,300 cafes in the Midwest, including locations in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. Oat milk sales have skyrocketed 636% in the 52 weeks ended Oct. 26, according to Nielsen. But oat milk makes up only a small fraction of the larger alternative milk market, which reached $2.3 billion in 2018, according to M

A United Airlines passenger airplane passes over Whittier, Calif., on its way to Los Angeles International Airport. The airline quickly added service from several cities in West Texas, including Amarillo and Lubbock, and Las Vegas, which was hosting the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo that December. An altogether new destination requires the blessing of Southwest’s CEO but planners frequently pitch service for events or popular cities, Decaire said. The airline also added capacity to Las Vegas fr

Jim Cramer’s US-Iran conflict playbook: ‘Cash lets you take advantage’ of buying opportunities”The market’s rebound today may not be as crazy as it looks … but I’m still recommending proceeding with caution” because of the U.S.-Iran conflict, CNBC’s Jim Cramer says.

Burger King, owned by Restaurant Brands International, has been selling Impossible’s meatless burger nationwide since August, helping its same-store sales jump 4.8% during the third quarter. With Impossible Pork, the company’s new ground meatless pork product, however, the real opportunity could lie in China, the world’s top pork consumer. As with Impossible’s other product, the Impossible Burger, Impossible Pork will contain soy leghemoglobin, produced from genetically modified yeast and also r

Rolls-Royce had its best year ever in 2019, driven in large part by its three-ton SUV that sells for over $400,000. The main drive was the new Rolls-Royce Cullinan, a hulking giant of an SUV that starts at $330,000 but typically retails for over $400,000 with the usual add-ons and customizations. The company reported strong growth worldwide, with North America still its largest market, at about a third of its sales, followed by China and Europe. Russia, Singapore, Australia and Japan all reporte

Neon isn’t a robot or a voice assistant like Siri or Alexa. Instead, it’s a simulated human assistant that appears on a screen and learns about people to help it give seemingly intelligent and life-like responses — think of it like an animated chatbot. Samsung claims the Neons will be able to provide a response to questions in milliseconds. “We are not looking to replace human jobs, but rather enhance the customer service interactions, have customers feel as if they have a friend with Neons,” a