Over more than 25 years of building Rakuten into a global innovation company, one truth has remained constant: Genuine innovation can only flourish to its full potential in an environment of freedom. True innovation rarely emerges from top-down directives or rigid hierarchical structures. Instead, breakthrough ideas come from…

The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver crossed the finish line in fifth place at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, securing his fourth Formula 1 World Championship. On the podium, the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team, with Russell and Hamilton, took the top two spots. Verstappen’s World of Racing…

‘Tis the season for getting cozy with a good book – at least according to the most recent survey by Rakuten Books, Rakuten’s online platform in Japan for physical entertainment. Over 10,000 users were quizzed about their habits, nearly 30% of whom revealed that they read every day,…

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix closed a historic F1 season for McLaren, finishing a 26-year Constructors’ Championship drought, thanks to Lando Norris’s victory, who also secured second place in the Drivers’ Championship. The season also saw emotional farewells from Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, who concluded their respective…

At the recent Rakuten Technology Conference in Tokyo, company Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani took to the podium to share Rakuten’s innovation backstory and offer a bold vision for its future with engineers around the globe. “When we started Rakuten in 1997, some of you were not even…

Max Verstappen, after securing his fourth championship, claimed his ninth victory of the season at the Qatar Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc, with his second-place finish, has narrowed the gap with Lando Norris in the battle for the runner-up spot, which will be decided at the final race…

Entrepreneur Makoto Watanabe has a dream to revitalize Japan. Since 2015, Watanabe’s company mov has worked to support Japanese businesses in navigating the complexities of online marketing to welcome inbound tourists and domestic customers alike. mov recently made headlines in Japan for completing its Series B funding first…

As social media becomes an essential tool for brands, media companies, teams, and influencers, keeping up with trends and monitoring performance is more important than ever. With the recent shutdown of CrowdTangle, many social media managers have found themselves seeking a reliable, data-driven solution to fill the void.…

Worldwide, according to the Global Gender Gap Report (2023) by World Economic Forum, women comprise only 29.2% of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workforce, compared to nearly 50% of non-STEM occupations. In Japan, the disparity is even more stark, with women representing only 16% of graduates in…