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April 25, 2025
 

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Erica Yokoyama
A business district in Tokyo. Japan plans to strengthen pre-screening measures for overseas investors that could potentially cooperate with foreign intelligence gathering efforts, addressing rising national security concerns.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2025
Japan to tighten investment pre-screening amid security concerns
While the updated regulations will impose an additional step for a broader range of investors, those who pass the screening can still invest in Japanese companies.
Masakazu Tokura (second from left), head of Keidanren, holds talks with Rengo leader Tomoko Yoshino (second from right) in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 22, 2025
Japan business lobby cites positive price trend ahead of BOJ decision
Keidanren head Tokura’s comments create a positive backdrop for the BOJ as its board prepares to deliver its policy decision on Friday.
Japan’s primary balance is once again set to miss its long-standing target of achieving a balanced budget by the year ending March 2026.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2025
Japan now expects to miss its 2025 primary balance goal
The primary balance, which excludes interest payments on public debt, is projected to remain in the red with a deficit of around ¥4.5 trillion.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 15, 2025
BOJ’s Ueda joins deputy chief in flagging chance of January hike
Following Ueda’s remarks, the yen strengthened as much as 0.4% to ¥157.34 against the dollar.
The yen hit its lowest level against the dollar since July on Tuesday, prompting a warning from Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato over speculative moves.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 7, 2025
Japan warns on speculative FX moves after yen hits six month low
Any further changes in expectations over the trajectory of rates in the U.S. or Japan could sharply ramp up speculation of renewed intervention.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday that Japan will take appropriate action if there are excessive moves in the currency market, as the yen resumed its rapid downturn.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 20, 2024
Japan warns on yen after BOJ’s dovish messaging extends slide
Recent sharp movements in the yen feed into concerns that the government may intervene in the currency market.
Akihiro Kaneko, president of the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Unions, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 3.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2024
Japan union head calls for government to work more on raising pay
The call comes as Japan prepares for annual wage negotiations that culminate in the spring.
Masato Kanda, former vice finance minister for international affairs, will start his role as Asian Development Bank's president in February.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 6, 2024
Incoming ADB chief Kanda keeping eye on U.S. policy as Trump return looms
Any changes in tariffs, taxes and immigration restrictions in the U.S. could have a major impact on Japan and other Asian economies, he notes.
Japan's base salaries grew at a 32-year-high pace in October, offering statistical support for the prospects of a central bank rate hike this month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 6, 2024
Record base pay gains keep door open for BOJ hike
Base pay for full-time workers increased by 2.8% in October from a year ago, the biggest gain for comparable data back to 1994.
"No matter who takes the helm, Japan’s fiscal discipline will worsen in a situation like this," said Mana Nakazora, a credit analyst on an economic panel advising Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 3, 2024
Japan needs a wake-up call on debt, government advisor warns
The advisor criticized the government’s decision to resume subsidies for utilities as part of the stimulus package.
"I asked for cooperation in next year’s wage negotiations for a substantial wage increase, building on this year’s momentum,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said.
BUSINESS
Nov 26, 2024
Ishiba renews pressure on companies to ramp up pay
Average wage deals this year hit a 33-year-high as firms responded to demands to raise pay amid ongoing inflation.
Rengo chief Tomoko Yoshino speaks at a news conference in Tokyo in October.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2024
Union chief calls for Ishiba to step up wage hike efforts
Rengo's Tomoko Yoshino was keen to emphasize that wage gains have to spread more to workers at smaller firms.
Japan's exports rebounded in October, led by a pickup in chip equipment demand in China.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 20, 2024
Japan’s exports grow, helped by China even as global risks rise
Exports rose 3.1% from a year ago, led by strong growth in shipments of chip-making equipment, especially sales to China.
Japan spent ¥3.17 trillion on dollar-selling intervention on July 11 and ¥2.37 trillion on July 12, quarterly data from the Finance Ministry showed on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 8, 2024
Japan intervened twice last quarter to bring yen below ¥160
The Finance Ministry intervened on July 11 and 12, spending ¥3.17 trillion and ¥2.37 trillion respectively to prop up the yen.
The pace of gains in Japanese workers' base pay quickened to 2.6% year on year in September, versus a 2.4% clip in August.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 7, 2024
Japan’s biggest base pay gains in 31 years support case for rate hikes
While base pay rose in September, real wages fell for a second straight month even as price gains slowed.
UA Zensen President Tomoko Nagashima addresses the labor union's meeting in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2024
Japan’s UA Zensen union aims for continued 6% wage hike in 2025
UA Zensen’s target follows an announcement last month by Rengo that it will continue to aim for at least a 5% pay rise in the next round of negotiations.
Japan's jobless rate decreased to 2.4% in September, falling to its lowest level since January.
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2024
Job market tightened in September, supporting wage gains and BOJ policy goals
Higher demand for workers is expected to pressure companies to raise salaries to retain them, potentially feeding into a virtuous cycle between prices and wages.
Core consumer prices in Japan's capital rose 1.8% in October from a year earlier, slipping below the central bank's 2% target for the first time in five months.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 25, 2024
Tokyo inflation slows below 2% ahead of election and BOJ meet
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 1.8% in the capital in October.
Exports declined 1.7% from a year ago, led by cars, mineral fuels and construction machinery and slipping to negative growth for the first time since November last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 17, 2024
Japan’s exports fall most since 2021 amid global slowdown
Exports declined 1.7% from a year ago, led by cars, mineral fuels and construction machinery.
Japan saw the highest number of bankruptcies since 2013 in the six months through September.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 8, 2024
Japan records highest number of bankruptcies in a decade as costs rise
The bankruptcies partly reflect the impact of higher prices, while a record 163 firms cited labor shortages as a reason for their struggles.
Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Naked man’s rampage in Saitama linked to one fatality and 10 injured
Police believe Daisuke Nishimura may have been involved in roughly 20 incidents in the 90 minutes leading up to his arrest, including a fatal hit-and-run and multiple assaults.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society
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