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July 13, 2025
 

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Sumio Ito
Junko Koeda, one of the latest members of the Bank of Japan's policy board, speaks during an interview at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 9, 2025
New board member hints at possible raising of BOJ's price outlook
Junko Koeda, a former Waseda University economics professor, on Monday gave her first media interview since joining the board in March.
Inflation is surprisingly strong, increasing the possibility that the Bank of Japan will raise its interest rate by the end of the year, according to Tsutomu Watanabe, an emeritus economics professor at the University of Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 4, 2025
Japan's inflation is outpacing BOJ's view, expert says
The remarks of Tsutomu Watanabe, a former central bank official, are likely to feed market expectations for another interest rate hike this year.
Bank of Japan officials now see inflation slightly outpacing earlier forecasts, potentially paving the way for rate hike talks if global trade tensions subside, sources say.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 13, 2025
BOJ is said to see inflation running stronger than expected
Some officials see the relative strength in inflation reflecting a change in price-setting behavior with sharp increases in the price of rice likely to harden inflationary views.
Since last summer, the Bank of Japan has been reducing its buying of government bonds by ¥400 billion every quarter, but that process will come to a halt, according to former board member Makoto Sakurai.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2025
BOJ likely to stop cutting bond purchases in next fiscal year, ex-official says
The government’s cost for debt servicing has risen to about a quarter of its budget for this fiscal year, thanks partly to higher interest rates.
The Bank of Japan will likely postpone raising interest rates due to uncertainties stemming from U.S. tariff measures that could deal a blow to Japan’s economy, a former executive director said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 15, 2025
BOJ will likely put rate hike aside for now, ex-official says
"They will be in a wait-and-see mode for a while,” said Kenzo Yamamoto, a former executive at the Bank of Japan.
Seiji Adachi, a former member of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board, says there is a chance of a May rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 3, 2025
Ex-board member who just left BOJ sees chance of May rate hike
Seiji Adachi, whose five-year term ended last week, said he would probably vote for a rate hike in the central bank's May meeting if one was proposed.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda has indicated he has little problem with the recent rising yield trend.
BUSINESS
Mar 13, 2025
Shift in BOJ stance favors free market functioning over intervention
People familiar with the central bank's policy approach say the market should decide rates, and that investors need to get used to a world without yield curve control.
Kazuo Momma, a former executive director in charge of monetary policy at the Bank of Japan, says June is the favored option for the central bank's next rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 11, 2025
BOJ’s next rate hike likely in June, former executive says
Kazuo Momma, a former executive director in charge of monetary policy, says the central bank is likely to move roughly every six months to maintain expectations.
The Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda last month reiterated his long-held position that he needs more time to mull the fate of the ETFs because it’s a complicated issue.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 17, 2025
BOJ shifts focus to ETF assets as end of bank stock sales nears
The ETF holdings are the last major piece of Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s policy puzzle.
"The short-term interest rate should be at the 1% level by the second half of fiscal 2025,” up from the current 0.5%, the Bank of Japan’s most hawkish board member Naoki Tamura said Thursday in a speech to local business leaders in Nagano Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 6, 2025
BOJ’s Tamura says interest rate needs to rise to at least 1%
A speech by the board member is likely to further fuel market speculation that more rate hikes are in the pipeline.
Based on his own assessment, Hideo Hayakawa, a former Bank of Japan executive director, says he sees the BOJ’s terminal rate in this cycle somewhere around 1.5%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 5, 2025
BOJ’s rate likely to go higher than consensus, ex-official says
"My base view is that there is a lot more coming,” the former director said. "There is little logical reason to believe that rate hikes will stop early.”
The Bank of Japan's phasing out of its fund-provisioning program underscores Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s determination to slowly but steadily proceed with the normalization of policy after more than a decade of radical monetary easing.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2025
BOJ to shrink balance sheet by around ¥77 trillion with end of loan program
All outstanding loans from the central bank's fund-provisioning program to stimulate bank lending are expected to be wiped off its books by March 2028.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference after a two-day monetary policy meeting at BOJ headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jan 25, 2025
BOJ’s clear guidance on rate hike calms markets but may backfire
For some economists, the latest move was too completely priced in, begging the question of how explicitly the BOJ intends to signal its plans in the future.
Former Bank of Japan board member Makoto Sakurai sees the likelihood of a hike in March as high as 70%, as the central bank may be better off waiting out at least the first couple of months of the new administration of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 9, 2025
Former BOJ board member sees rising chance of March rate hike
Makoto Sakurai says the central bank may wait out at least the first couple of months of the new administration of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said in a Nikkei interview last month that hikes are "nearing.”
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2024
BOJ said to see little cost to waiting for next rate hike
At the same time, some officials are not against a rate hike at this meeting if it is proposed, sources have said.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 11, 2024
BOJ signals before meeting leave traders guessing
The confusion has caused sharp swings in market bets on rate hikes, with overnight indexed swaps pricing in a 22% chance of a December rate increase.
Eiji Maeda, former executive of the Bank of Japan
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 9, 2024
BOJ’s next hike likely to come in January, former official says
The central bank will be watching the U.S. presidential election, the trend in service prices this autumn and momentum ahead of next year’s annual wage talks.
The Bank of Japan won't be able to introduce another rate hike this year, according to former board member Makoto Sakurai.
BUSINESS
Aug 12, 2024
Ex-BOJ board member rules out another rate hike this year
Recent market upheaval and the BOJ’s reaction to it are making market participants wary about the outlook.
Bank of Japan officials are divided over whether to raise interest rates at a policy meeting next week, people familiar with the matter say.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 23, 2024
BOJ is said to see weak consumer spending complicating rate call
Weak consumer spending has prompted the government to cut its fiscal year growth forecast to 0.9%, with central bank likely lowering its projection to 0.5%.
The Bank of Japan's headquarters in Tokyo. Some investors are expecting the central bank to cut bond purchases this month and then raise rates in July.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2024
BOJ weighs reducing bond buys as early as June meeting
The bank will conclude its two-day policy meeting on June 14.
Tokyo hit by torrential rainfall at rush hour
People line up at Shibuya Station in Tokyo as they try to avoid the heavy rain on Thursday.
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
Chinese fighters came within 30 meters of Japanese spy aircraft, Tokyo says
A Chinese JH-7 fighter jet makes an near an Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea this week in this image released Thursday.
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off a set of emoji at a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.
‘Our ultimate goal is to save every single Japanese video game’
After nearly shuttering earlier this year, the Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society continues its work to save the early history of Japanese gaming.
Rare vintage shots and first-time shows at TOP’s 30th anniversary
The museum's curators selected a wide array of works from the archives for the milestone exhibitions. Among other photos, Nobuyoshi Araki's work from the series "Winter Journey" (1990) was included in the "Continuity and Change" exhibition that concluded in June.
New IG Arena set to dial down temperature at Nagoya Basho, in a good way
With IG Arena getting glowing early reviews as the Nagoya Basho’s replacement venue, it may be a while before fans wax nostalgic about the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.

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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