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November 22, 2025
 

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Mia Glass
An employee counts Turkish lira banknotes at a currency exchange bureau in Istanbul. The lira has for years been one of the world’s most volatile currencies, but offers carry traders interest rates that are hard to beat.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 20, 2025
Japan traders' fondness for Turkish lira prompts fears of intervention losses
The lira is one of the world’s most volatile currencies and Tokyo is increasingly uneasy with the weakness of the yen, leaving day traders exposed on all sides.
The yen has fallen about 4.5% against the dollar so far this quarter, the most among its Group of 10 peers.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 13, 2025
Japan’s slumping currency intensifies debate over intervention
As the yen slumps toward levels that previously drew authorities into the market, traders are increasingly skeptical that direct intervention will work this time.
Nomura Asset Management has been buying U.K. government bonds as their yields appear more attractive than those of other European countries.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2025
Nomura’s Maeda says gilts are most compelling bet in Europe
Despite a tumble in gilt yields this month, the 10-year maturity is yielding about 4.4%, making it appealing for investors in Japan.
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.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks to reporters at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday. The party’s loss in the July 20 Upper House election has become the defining factor for the yen.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 30, 2025
Yen option traders brace for more weakness ahead of BOJ decision
Analysts warn that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba may resort to populist spending to shore up support for his weakened coalition.
An electronic board shows the broad Topix index hitting a record high on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 27, 2025
Japan investors brace for BOJ and earnings results after Trump-fueled rally
As the dust settles following the U.S.-Japan trade deal that sent markets on a wild ride, investors are questioning whether the rally was a sign of things to come.
The BOJ holds its next policy meeting on June 16-17, when the board is widely expected to keep the benchmark rate unchanged.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 6, 2025
Pressure mounts for Japan to adjust bond sales as soon as July
The BOJ holds its next policy meeting on June 16-17, when the board is widely expected to keep the benchmark rate unchanged.
The Finance Ministry in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS / Markets
May 28, 2025
Weak 40-year bond sale keeps pressure on Japan to tweak issuance
The 40-year yield rose 5 basis points following the sale, to 3.335% as of 4:20 p.m. in Tokyo, while the 30-year rate jumped 7 basis points.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Investors are shunning an auction of government debt and yields are soaring as the BOJ reduces its purchases of government bonds.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 21, 2025
Buyers recoil from Japanese bonds in warning to BOJ on balance-sheet cuts
The rout in the nation’s $7.8 trillion government bond market is most acute for longer-maturity debt.
Yields in Japan’s $7.8 trillion government debt market are now rising rapidly after years of moving at a glacial pace.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 16, 2025
Japan’s steep bond curve divides investors and challenges economy
Yields in the country’s $7.8 trillion government debt market are shifting higher at breakneck speed after years of moving at a glacial pace.
As the global trade war intensifies, the debt, the main investment for Japan’s life insurers, has seen wild swings along with its U.S. counterparts.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 18, 2025
Major Japan life insurer to pile into domestic superlong bonds
Investment decisions by Japan’s life insurers can move global markets, and Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance will be the first among its major peers to report such plans.
The yen rose 2.3% against the dollar last week and hit its strongest level since September on Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2025
Hedge funds and asset managers boost bullish yen bets amid tariffs
The yen has been one of the best performers against the dollar this month as investors anticipate that the trade war may hurt global economic growth.
Some market participants predict that benchmark 10-year borrowing costs won’t climb as sharply as the fiscal year that ended Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 1, 2025
Japan confronts biggest bond loss globally as BOJ rate hikes upend market
The past year marked a sixth straight year of losses for Japan’s sovereign debt as the central bank raises rates while its other counterparts elsewhere are cutting them.
According to the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative, there were about 30 cases of bonsai theft last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 14, 2025
Bonsai thefts sweep Japan as miniature trees grow more popular
About 30 cases of such theft occurred last year, according to the Nippon Bonsai Growers Cooperative.
The yield on Japan’s 10-year note climbed 7 basis points to 1.5%, the highest since 2009.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025
German bond rout goes global as yields surge in Japan
The yield on Japan’s 10-year note climbed 7 basis points to 1.5%, the highest since 2009.
Japanese nominal wages rose at the fastest pace in nearly three decades according to data out this month, and GDP figures showed Japan’s economy outperformed forecasts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 27, 2025
Yen traders raise focus on Japanese data as economy shifts gears
The news marks a mindset change since the Bank of Japan ended its negative-rates policy last March.
The Japanese currency climbed as much as 1% to ¥149.95 against the dollar on Thursday, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 20, 2025
Yen advances past ¥150 per dollar as BOJ rate-hike bets ramp up
Japan’s currency climbed as much as 1% to ¥149.95 against the dollar, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9.
A monitor in Tokyo shows the yen at the ¥153 level against the dollar on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 12, 2025
Yen underperforms major currencies on Trump tariff uncertainties
Japan’s currency has dropped to ¥153.73 against the dollar, its weakest level in a week and lagging all major peers.
A monitor in Tokyo shows the yen at the ¥155 level against the dollar on Monday, when it began rallying after a sharp decline in the previous week.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 7, 2025
Yen’s weekly surge underscores growing case for a hawkish BOJ
The Japanese currency has rallied more than 2% this week, heading for the biggest gain since late November.
Investment trusts that cater to Japanese individuals bought a net ¥10.4 trillion of overseas equities and funds last year after the government expanded the scope of the Nippon Individual Savings Account system.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025
Japan’s love of foreign stocks risks pushing the yen even lower
Investment trusts that cater to Japanese individuals bought a net ¥10.4 trillion of overseas equities and funds last year.
Japanese court orders Cloudflare to pay ¥500 million over manga piracy
Cloudflare has been ordered to pay ¥500 million after four major publishing firms accused the firm of copyright infringement for its role in hosting sites that distribute pirated copies of manga titles.
The reality of human trafficking in Japan
A view of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward at night. Last year in Japan, 66 people were put in protective custody as victims of human trafficking. Among them, 58 — including all 41 minors — were Japanese nationals. International pressure to act on human trafficking led Japan to make efforts to crack down on the crime, such as a tightening of conditions in 2005 for entertainer visas.
First foreign president of Hosei University looks abroad for change
Hosei University President Diana Khor, who herself was an international student, aims to encourage students to look outward and cultivate a global mindset.
Yen and Japanese bonds continue to retreat as verbal intervention lacking
The yen has deepened recent lows against the dollar as the 'sell Japan' trade gains steam ahead of big fiscal stimulus.
A dictionary revision illustrates how Japanese keeps on evolving
The reference text A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar recently underwent a revision for the first time in nearly four decades.
First foreign president of Hosei University looks abroad for change
Hosei University President Diana Khor, who herself was an international student, aims to encourage students to look outward and cultivate a global mindset.
Japanese companies advised to change mindset about investment in Africa
Bernard Laurendeau, chief of Enkopa Lab Japan, in Tokyo last month
Munetaka Murakami headlines quartet looking to move to MLB via posting system
The Swallows' Munetaka Murakami has 246 career home runs in eight NPB seasons.
The reality of human trafficking in Japan
A view of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward at night. Last year in Japan, 66 people were put in protective custody as victims of human trafficking. Among them, 58 — including all 41 minors — were Japanese nationals. International pressure to act on human trafficking led Japan to make efforts to crack down on the crime, such as a tightening of conditions in 2005 for entertainer visas.
Why we can’t get enough of the sham of the rental family
“Rental Family,” directed and co-written by the single-named Hikari, follows out-of-work actor Phillip (Brendan Fraser), who is hired as the “token white guy” at a Tokyo agency called Rental Family.

Podcast

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

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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