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BUSINESS

Economy

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda holds a news conference after a policy meeting at the BOJ's headquarters in Tokyo on March 19.

BUSINESS / Economy

May 2, 2024

BOJ saw need to let markets drive yields upon March exit: minutes

By Leika Kihara

The bank ended eight years of negative interest rates and its bond yield control at its March policy meeting.

An electric screen displaying the Nikkei share average and yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Friday.

BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS

May 1, 2024

For Japan Inc., the weak yen may be too much of a good thing

By Daniel Leussink and David Dolan

The currency's weakness has pushed up costs of raw materials, food and fuel.

Japan's industrial production rose 3.8% in March from February, as demand picked up after two straight months of declines.

BUSINESS / Economy

Apr 30, 2024

Japan’s factory output records weakest quarter since pandemic

By Yoshiaki Nohara and Erica Yokoyama

The yen’s plunge to a fresh 34-year low versus the dollar could spur a resurgence of cost-push inflation via higher costs for imports of food and energy.

Krishna Srinivasan, director of Asia and Pacific at the International Monetary Fund, wrote in a blog post that global disinflation and the prospect of lower central bank interest rates had made a soft landing more likely.

BUSINESS / Economy

Apr 30, 2024

IMF boosts Asia growth forecast this year on China and India prospects

By Katia Dmitrieva

It expects Asia to grow 4.5% from the prior year — 0.3 percentage points higher than its previous forecast but still slower than last year’s 5% pace.

Japan's government debt has grown to the equivalent of more than 250% of the nation’s economy, more than any of its peers.

BUSINESS / Economy

Apr 30, 2024

Japan’s debt dilemma may doom any FX intervention, Brooks says

By Anya Andrianova

The consequences have been a sharply weaker yen, which has lost more than a quarter of its value against the U.S. dollar since March 2022.

Then-U.S. President Donald Trump announces Jerome Powell as his nominee to become chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington in November 2017.

BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS

Apr 29, 2024

Trump’s economic confidants battle for sway on taxes and Fed policy

By Nancy Cook, Saleha Mohsin and Catarina Saraiva

For months, the Trump campaign has been trying to rein in proposals from various factions with limited success.

Core inflation in Japan's capital slowed much more than expected in April, falling below the central bank's 2% target.

BUSINESS / Economy

Apr 26, 2024

Tokyo inflation slows sharply as education subsidy cuts outlays

By Erica Yokoyama and Yoshiaki Nohara

A plunge in costs for public and private high schools shaved around half a percentage point from the overall figure, the internal affairs ministry said.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.

The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces

By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

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