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September 16, 2025
 

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Erica Yokoyama
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato reaffirmed in a joint statement their commitment to allowing markets to determine currency exchange rates and not targeting them for competitive advantage.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2025
U.S. and Japan pledge not to manipulate forex for competitive advantage
Tokyo has spent close to $150 billion in the last three years trying to prop up the yen with the last move in July last year.
Kono Taro, Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker and former digital transformation minister, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 9, 2025
BOJ should raise rates to strengthen yen and curb inflation, says Taro Kono
The comments come days after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s decision to resign raised questions about the outlook for economic policies.
Minimum hourly wages in Japan's 47 prefectures are set to average ¥1,121, up by a record ¥66 from the previous year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2025
Japan to hike minimum wage by record amount, backing BOJ’s rate hikes
A record 6.3% increase takes the minimum wage to an average of ¥1,121 per hour across the country's 47 prefectures, the largest increase since 1978.
Japan's nominal wages increased 4.1% in July from a year earlier, marking the steepest increase since December.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2025
Japan's wages make biggest gain in seven months, backing case for rate hike
Real wages also rose for the first time this year in July, edging up by 0.5%.
The Finance Ministry plans to set the provisional interest rate on government bonds at 2.6% for the next fiscal year, the highest level in 17 years, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2025
Japan eyes 2.6% provisional rate for government bonds in FY2026, Yomiuri says
The rate for interest payments on such bonds will be the highest in 17 years.
Exports fell 2.6% in value in July from a year earlier, posting the biggest downturn since February 2021, led by cars, auto parts and steel.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 20, 2025
Japan’s exports tumble most in four years as U.S. tariff pain intensifies
Exports fell 2.6% in value from a year earlier, sliding more than the median forecast of a 2.1% decline, the Finance Ministry has reported.
GDP grew at an annualized pace of 1% in the three months through June from the prior period, surpassing economists’ forecast of a 0.4% gain, according to the Cabinet Office.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 15, 2025
Japan growth beats forecasts, boosting rate-hike case for BOJ
Better-than-expected economic growth has given Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba some good news as he fends off calls to resign after July's election setback.
The government revised its real growth projection for fiscal year 2025 to 0.7%, down from the previous forecast of 1.2%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2025
Japan lowers this year’s growth forecast as tariffs kick in
The downgrade partly reflects a darkening global economic outlook as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
The National Personnel Authority recommended Thursday a 3.62% increase in average monthly base pay for public employees in the current fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2025
Japan’s public workers set to get largest pay hike in 34 years
The rise in wages will come as a welcome development for policymakers at the Bank of Japan, who are seeking broad-based and lasting growth to support stable inflation.
Nominal wages in Japan rose 2.5% in June from a year earlier, accelerating from a revised 1.4% gain the previous month, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 6, 2025
Japan’s nominal pay rises faster in June, backing case for BOJ rate hike
Nominal wages increased 2.5% in June from a year earlier, accelerating from a revised 1.4% gain the previous month and marking the steepest increase since February.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2025
Japan’s Kato voices concern with yen at weakest since March
Kato’s comments came after the yen slid past the 150 level against the dollar on Thursday, following the BOJ’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
"Japan said that tariffs aren’t really the right tool to fix excessive current accounts imbalances,” Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025
Finance minister says tariffs not right tool to fix trade imbalances
Katsunobu Kato's comments come as the global economy braces for higher U.S. tariffs.
Only two months into his role as agriculture minister, Shinjiro Koizumi has become the face of a risky political bet by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025
Japan’s ‘rice minister’ is ruling party’s biggest election gamble
Shinjiro Koizumi’s reformist drive is testing the loyalty of Japan's rural population — the LDP’s most dependable voter bloc.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to reporters in Washington on June 27.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2025
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent to visit Japan next week for Expo
The visit comes after Donald Trump stated his intention to raise tariffs on all Japanese imports to 25% — slightly higher than the 24% rate initially announced in April.
Workers at 5,162 companies affiliated with Rengo secured an average wage increase of 5.25% in this year’s negotiations, according to the final update of pay deals announced Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 4, 2025
Japan’s 2025 wage talks conclude with highest gain in 34 years
Workers at 5,162 companies affiliated with Rengo secured an average wage increase of 5.25% in this year’s negotiations.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in June.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 2, 2025
Japan’s record tax haul leaves questions over Ishiba’s handout pledge
Ishiba’s plan to distribute cash handouts of ¥20,000 per adult is expected to cost around ¥3.5 trillion, according to his Liberal Democratic Party.
Apartment rents in the capital climbed 1.3% from a year earlier in April and May for the largest gains since 1994, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 26, 2025
Tokyo rents rising at fastest pace in 30 years backs case for BOJ rate hikes
Bigger outlays for accommodation are likely to further fuel a change in inflation expectations and behavior among households of all sizes.
The Finance Ministry will trim the volume of 20-, 30- and 40-year bonds sold in regular auctions by a combined ¥3.2 trillion ($21.7 billion) through the end of March 2026.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 24, 2025
Japan approves plan to cut super-long bond sales by $22 billion
The changes come after an imbalance between supply and demand for long tenors in Japan’s government bond market led to surges in yields to record highs.
The Business Sentiment Index for large firms registered minus 1.9 for the April-June quarter, slipping into negative territory for the first time since the first quarter of 2024.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2025
Japan’s firms see business climate worsen amid U.S. tariff hits
The Business Sentiment Index for large firms slipped into negative territory for the first time since the first quarter of 2024.
Japan's gross domestic product shrank at an annualized pace of 0.2% in the three months through March, the revised data showed, confirming the country's economy shrank even before U.S. President Donald Trump amped up tariff pressure in April.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 9, 2025
Japan confirms GDP contraction, backing BOJ’s cautious stance
GDP shrank at an annualized pace of 0.2% in the three months through March, a less severe drop than the initial estimate of a 0.7% decline.
SDF spots China’s biggest aircraft carrier for first time
The Fujian aircraft carrier is seen in Shanghai in May 2024 as it leaves for its first sea trial.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens?
Convenience stores are a fixture of Japanese life and 7-Eleven, a chain that began in the U.S. in 1927, opened its first store in Japan in 1974 — and then became wholly Japanese-owned in 2005 through parent company Seven & I Holdings.
Final weeks of World Expo in Osaka likely to see large crowds
With one month left to go, crowds are expected to swell at the World Expo in Osaka during its final weeks.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
Strikes on Qatar and Poland shake U.S. sway among friend and foe
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Museum of the Bible in Washington on Sept. 8. Israeli strikes in Qatar and Russian drone incursions into Poland have challenged the U.S. leaders claims of global respect.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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