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July 05, 2025
 

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Masaki Kondo
Veteran Japanese investors are split over whether to put their money into Chinese bonds.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 27, 2023
Friends who help manage $640 billion clash on China bonds
While they’ve been friends for at least a decade, their take on trading China bonds couldn’t be more diametrically opposed.
Japanese retail investors have increased bets on volatile currencies.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 24, 2023
Japan’s mom-and-pop traders boost emerging-market currency bets
Japanese retail investors have increased bets on volatile currencies.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2023
Yen weakens to ¥145 per dollar, nears 2022 intervention level
Last year, the currency’s slide toward ¥146 triggered intervention, and in the buildup to that there were repeated official warnings.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2023
BOJ’s Ueda likely to hold with bond market on his side for now
Gov. Kazuo Ueda has repeatedly signaled his intention to take time before making any major changes to the central bank’s stimulus.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 1, 2023
Sky-high hedging costs push biggest Japanese insurers to riskier avenues
Currency swaps protected more than 11% of overseas securities owned at the end of the fiscal year to March, according to earnings reports from nine of the largest life insurance companies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 19, 2023
Netflix and Amazon addiction turns into ‘digital deficit’ and hassle for the yen
The deficit from spending on such services reached ¥4.8 trillion last year, almost 90% of Japan’s services account deficit.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 1, 2023
A $3 trillion threat to global financial markets looms in Japan
Just over a week before a momentous leadership change at the Bank of Japan, investors are gearing up for the seemingly inevitable end to a decade of ultralow interest rates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2023
Global bond bulls face reckoning however new BOJ chief shapes policy
Beyond the yield fireworks any hawkish policy shift may soon ignite, steady selling of overseas bonds in favor of local alternatives by Japanese investors is already a market fact.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 9, 2023
Japan investors sold record foreign debt in 2022 as hedging costs rose
Money managers in the nation cut holdings of foreign fixed-income securities by ¥23.8 trillion over the period, an all-time high in data since 1996.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2023
Traders eye chance of further BOJ tweaks with ‘Pandora’s box open’
Another increase in the key 10-year yield's permitted trading ceiling is seen as the most likely course of action, should the BOJ act.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 13, 2023
Bets grow on BOJ shift that could rattle global markets
Japan's benchmark bond yield breached the central bank's new ceiling, with traders positioning for more changes to its yield-curve control policy next week.u00a0
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 12, 2023
BOJ may end yield-curve control next quarter
The forecast mirrors growing expectations among investors that the BOJ's decision last month to double the 10-year yield ceiling to 0.5% was just the first step of more policy changes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2022
Bank of Japan buys record amount of bonds to defend governor’s new target
The combination of additional fixed-rate and fixed-amount purchases announced Friday have boosted this month's buying to about u00a517 trillion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 8, 2022
Japan’s life insurers are dumping foreign bonds at a record pace
While the yen has already seen a strong rebound from its October low, expectations for further gains make it unlikely Japanese investors will rush back into foreign securities.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2022
Stealth intervention talk permeates market as yen approaches ¥150
Dropping to u00a5150 is seen as an important psychological level in Japan and a break may increase pressure on authorities for further action.
BUSINESS
Oct 12, 2022
Yen weakens past level that triggered last intervention
The currency fell to u00a5146.23 per dollar, surpassing the u00a5145.90 level that prompted Japan's first intervention to buy the yen since 1998.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 30, 2022
Yen’s reversal toward ¥140 revives talk of currency intervention
The Japanese currency has tumbled close to 4% this month and traded around the u00a5138.50 level Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 20, 2022
Traders need to rethink tumbling yen as a carry funding favorite
Analysis shows investors may be better off considering the Swiss franc, Taiwan dollar and euro rather than the rapidly weakening yen.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Apr 1, 2022
Shifts in yen signal Japan has ‘lost its mojo’ as supreme safe haven
When measured against a basket of units of trading partners, the yen's fading allure can clearly be seen.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 27, 2022
Day traders in Japan bet the world is wrong about a weak yen
As the yen slumped to a six-year low against the dollar last week, retail investor net-long aggregate positions in the currency climbed to u00a5258 billion — an all-time high.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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