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August 26, 2025
 

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BUSINESS

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U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that an agreement between the U.S. and Japan will be made public soon.
BUSINESS / Economy
Agreement on Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge to be released this week
The U.S. commerce secretary continues to insist that the U.S. president will control the funds.
BUSINESS / Economy
Finance Ministry seeks record budget for debt financing
The ministry’s request would be the highest amount ever budgeted for debt-servicing costs, which already account for about a quarter of Japan’s national budget.
BUSINESS / Economy
Japan Post to stop accepting some parcels for shipment to the U.S.
Packages containing commercial items or valued above $100 will be rejected.
Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook attends the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's 2025 Jackson Hole economic symposium, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2025
Trump to fire Fed board's first African-American woman over mortgage allegations
The unprecedented step could test the boundaries of presidential power over the independent monetary policy body should it be challenged in court.
An employee at a wholesaler puts a price tag on a package of sea urchins from Hokkaido at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2025
Warming seas add to food inflation woes as urchin rice bowls hit ¥18,000
By Yuka Obayashi and Katya Golubkova
Policymakers have mostly blamed rising food prices on the weak yen's upward pressure on import costs, but the effects of global warming now also loom as a risk.
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 25, 2025
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
By Kazuaki Nagata
Many prefectures are choosing increases higher than the 6% suggested by the ministry.
Summers in Japan have grown hotter and hotter, and people have had to spend more money as a result.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 25, 2025
Tokyo household budgets further squeezed by heat wave
By Francis Tang
On average, monthly expenses are up more than $23 a month as a result of high temperatures.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda (second from left) walks with Fed Chair Jerome Powell (left), European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde (second from right) and Bank of England Gov. Andrew Bailey outside the Fed’s Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 24, 2025
BOJ's Ueda expects tight labor market to keep upward pressure on wages
By Toru Fujioka and Amara Omeokwe
The remarks are likely to support growing speculation of another interest rate hike this year, although the BOJ governor didn’t directly discuss monetary policy in a presentation.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney walks after speaking, as Canada announced that it is removing many retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods as a goodwill gesture designed to restart stalled trade talks, during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Aug 23, 2025
Carney’s tariff shift helps business and creates a political headache
On Friday, Carney announced the end of 25% retaliatory tariffs imposed by his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, on a wide range of food and other consumer goods.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell attends the Kansas City Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Moran, Wyoming, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 23, 2025
U.S. Fed chair opens door to rate cut as Trump steps up pressure
But Fed chief Jerome Powell also continued to argue that policymakers must guard against the prospect that President Donald Trump’s tariffs lead to persistent inflation.

Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
Man arrested in Kobe stabbing had been staying at hotel near victim’s home
Masashi Tanimoto arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a woman in Kobe, is sent to prosecutors on Sunday.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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