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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 13, 2023

BOJ watchers see earlier policy shift after December’s surprise

While a survey of 43 economists showed all but one predicting the central bank to leave policy unchanged next week, some 38% of respondents now forecast moves either in April or June.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 13, 2023

World economy walks tightrope between recession and soft landing

A variety of factors are combining to dissipate some of the gloom that engulfed financial markets at the end of 2022.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 28, 2022

Haruhiko Kuroda spent 2022 showing the courage to be disliked

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda ticked nearly everyone off in a chaotic year. He won't care.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2022

Shipping’s oil era is coming to an end

It's a good start, but reducing shipping's carbon footprint it's not the holy grail of decarbonization. That would entail plugging the industry into the emerging hydrogen economy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2022

Bank of Japan policy review likely in 2023, economists say

All 47 economists polled expect no change in the BOJ's negative interest rate and yield curve control program at the end of the two-day gathering on Dec. 20.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 14, 2022

Fed to downshift to half-point hike but points to higher peak

The tricky part for Chairman Jerome Powell will be convincing investors that this isn't a dovish pivot and that officials won't prematurely end their assault against inflation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 5, 2022

The year’s big yen short set for a dramatic U-turn in 2023

Analysts' bullishness is a marked change in tune from September, when hedge funds couldn't get enough of shorting the yen — a high profile casualty of the BOJ's ultradovish monetary policy.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2022

From Kyoto Protocol to ‘fossil’ awards: Japan’s climate image stained by inaction

A quarter century after Japan hosted the COP3 climate talks where the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, the country's record at the national level is a study in contrasts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 1, 2022

U.S. Fed chair signals rate hikes will slow, likely next month, but continue

Policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yields fell on Powell's remarks, erasing increases on the day, and the dollar slipped in value against major rivals on foreign-exchange markets.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 18, 2022

Celebrities give a needed boost to Japan’s podcast industry

Companies are putting in greater efforts to make the podcast medium mainstream by teaming up with high-profile names such as Hideo Kojima to drive a shift in listener interest.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 8, 2022

High-tech tensions in the Japan-U.S. relationship

Diverging perceptions between Japan and the United States of China business opportunities on technology spell trouble.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2022

Vulnerable yen’s bigger problem now importers, not speculators

Japan's need for foreign goods creates constant demand for dollars that is insensitive to yield differentials, technical levels and expectations for monetary policy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023

BOJ's Ueda meets Kishida but says yen volatility wasn't discussed

The talks took place after the dollar's recent ascent above ¥145, a level that last September triggered Japan's first yen-buying operation since 1998.
A Matsumotokiyoshi drugstore in Tokyo. Matsumotokiyoshi Holdings and Cocokara Fine integrated their operations in 2021.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Oct 10, 2023

Japanese drugstores under pressure for realignment

One analyst has described realignment in the drugstore sector as "a natural course of development."
Germany, which likely plays a key role in determining Europe’s China strategy, unveiled its 64-page strategy on China on July 13.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 14, 2023

Germany’s China strategy is epoch-making but ambiguous

While attempting to protect its interests, Berlin has had to deal with business circles attempting to avoid damaging ties with Beijing.
Core inflation in Tokyo slowed below the central bank's 2% target to hit the lowest level in nearly two years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 26, 2024

Tokyo’s sharp cooling of inflation complicates BOJ’s policy outlook

Tokyo consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 1.6% in January, compared with 2.1% growth in December.
No politicians, government officials, bankers or business leaders have voiced strong opposition to Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda's intention to put an end to the world’s last negative rate regime.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2024

Lack of political opposition opens way for BOJ rate hike

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is in a rare sweet spot for such a move, in sharp contrast to the experiences of his BOJ predecessors.
Seiji Adachi, member of the policy board at the Bank of Japan
BUSINESS / Economy
May 29, 2024

BOJ policymaker hints of rate hike if yen fall has big impact on inflation

While short-term currency moves alone would not trigger a policy shift, the central bank could raise interest rates if excessive yen falls persist.
Nawaf Al-Osimy, chief technical officer of the Jazlah Water Desalination plant, which draws vast quantities of water from the Persian Gulf and makes it drinkable, in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, on March 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 30, 2024

Saudi Arabia eyes a future beyond oil

The kingdom is trying to juggle its still-vital petroleum industry with alternative energy sources like wind and solar as it faces pressure to lower carbon emissions.
Chinese electric vehicles bound for shipment at the Port of Taicang in China
BUSINESS / Tech
May 30, 2024

EU seeks roadblocks for Chinese EVs without sparking trade war

Crucially, the bloc must strike a balance with its aim for more Europeans to drive EVs as it prepares to outlaw the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars from 2035.
Chinese President Xi Jinping reviews the honor guard at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last month. China is likely to adopt limited and targeted retaliation against the European Union after the bloc unveiled tariff increases on Chinese electric cars.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 14, 2024

China likely to retaliate in targeted ways after Europe raises levies on EVs

Beijing is expected to avoid an excessive response that encourages further trans-Atlantic alignment against China.
The dollar’s reign has wreaked havoc across currency markets, especially in Japan where ultralow interest rates have sent the yen spiraling down more than 11% against the greenback this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 22, 2024

Dollar winning streak extends into fifth week as yen slumps

The dollar’s reign has wreaked havoc in Japan where low interest rates have sent the yen spiraling down more than 11% against the greenback this year.
Speculative investors flipped to a net long position on the yen just before Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the nation wasn’t ready for further interest rate hikes, data shows.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 8, 2024

Hedge funds warming to yen caught out by biggest drop in 15 years

Many bought the yen just before cautious comments by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on rate hikes and strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls data.
Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo’an (center) during a news conference in Beijing on Saturday
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 14, 2024

China leaves economists wanting more action to defeat deflation

The supportive measures announced by Finance Minister Lan Fo'an over the weekend gave little indication Chinese authorities feel any urgency to boost consumption.
The likelihood of interest-rate hikes from the Bank of Japan and further cuts from the Federal Reserve will drive the yen's recovery to as far as ¥130 against the dollar, according to some strategists.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 18, 2024

Yen bulls lie in wait for U.S.-Japan yield gap to shrink next year

The likelihood of Bank of Japan interest-rate hikes and further Federal Reserve cuts will drive the yen's recovery, some say.
President Donald Trump’s order making English the official language of the country is unnecessary, as nearly 80% of people in the U.S. already speak it at home.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2025

America doesn’t need an official language

After all, what is our shared culture if not the mix of cultures — including languages — that make and remake America every day?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Japan does not intend to seek direct confrontation with the U.S. over the newly levied tariffs, during a parliamentary committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 7, 2025

Japan to avoid direct confrontation with the U.S. over Trump tariffs

The Japanese prime minister is calling for a more diplomatic and fact-based approach, in part by examining U.S. allegations about trade barriers.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a U.S. Democrat from Massachusetts, speaks on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. Warren says a series of rash actions by the U.S. president are seeding uncertainty across the economy.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 21, 2025

Wall Street ‘cops are gone’ after Trump overhaul, Democratic senator warns

The moves to purge federal regulatory agencies would leave consumers and markets vulnerable to fraud and corruption, Sen. Elizabeth Warren says.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami