Alliances & Technology Transfer

Major Japanese and Chinese e-commerce companies Rakuten Inc. and JD.com Inc. said Thursday they will tie up and commercialize an unmanned delivery service in Japan to save the time, cost and labor involved in parcel shipments in the wake of the explosive growth of online shopping.

The alliance of Nissan Motor, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors plans to join Google's camp for developing autonomous taxis and other services using self-driving vehicles, Nikkei has learned.

Nintendo and messaging app operator Line are teaming up to release a Dr. Mario smartphone game early this summer, a move that is expected to help the iconic Japanese game maker tap into Asia's increasingly well-off, smartphone-carrying middle classes.

Earlier this month, Japan and the United States began sharing fingerprint data among their law enforcement agencies under a bilateral agreement.

Toyota Motor is entering the electric car market at full force, an area it was one step behind in, with technological help from battery partner Panasonic, as it shores up its presence in the world's largest auto market of China.

Toyota Motor and Panasonic announced on Tuesday the establishment of a joint venture by end-2020 to develop and manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.

U.S. food company Just Inc. and Japanese meat producer Toriyama Chikusan Shokuhin have forged a partnership for the development of lab-grown wagyu beef, with the aim of distributing their product globally.

Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings will purchase the French over-the-counter drugmaker UPSA from Bristol-Myers Squibb, the latest move by Japan's top seller of nonprescription medicines to expand overseas.

Hitachi is in the final stages of talks to acquire the power grid business of Switzerland's ABB for up to an estimated 800 billion yen ($7.06 billion), seeking to build up its overseas presence in a market poised for rapid growth.

Last year, Huawei Technologies Co. and wireless carrier SoftBank Group Corp. jointly demonstrated advanced 5G technology by pitting a human against a robotic arm in a game of air hockey in Japan.