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May 20, 2025
 

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ECONOMY

The average for summer bonuses this year was slightly higher than the ¥845,453 in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and trailed only the ¥870,731 in 2018, the labor ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 9, 2023
2023 summer bonuses second-highest on record in Japan
Bonuses at major Japanese companies this summer averaged ¥845,557, up 1.59% from a year before, the labor ministry has announced.
Kazuo Ueda
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 9, 2023
BOJ's Ueda signals chance of ending negative rates, report says
The central bank could have enough data by year-end to determine whether it can end negative rates, Gov. Kazuo Ueda said in an interview.
Japan's economy grew less than initially estimated in the second quarter as capital expenditure slid, suggesting heightening overseas uncertainties are weighing on business confidence.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 8, 2023
Japan economic growth revised down as firms and consumers cut back
Gross domestic product grew at an annualized 4.8% from the previous three months, revised figures from the Cabinet Office showed Friday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the China-Africa leaders’ roundtable on the closing day of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on Aug. 24
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2023
China and doubling of BRICS size challenges the U.S.-led global order
Although China is the world’s second largest economy, it still claims to be a developing country and depicts itself as the champion of the Global South.
Kohei Saito, a philosophy professor at the University of Tokyo who appears regularly in Japanese media to discuss his ideas, at home in Tokyo on March 16.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 7, 2023
Can shrinking be good for Japan? A Marxist bestseller makes the case.
Saito has tapped into what he describes as a growing disillusionment in Japan with capitalism’s ability to solve the problems people see around them.
People make their way through Tokyo's Ameyoko shopping district. In a sign rising inflation is already taking a toll on consumption, Japan's household spending suffered its biggest drop in nearly 2½ years in July.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 7, 2023
China's economic gloom hangs over Japan's long-awaited recovery
If Beijing fails to shore up demand with meaningful stimulus, that could potentially delay an exit from the Bank of Japan's ultraloose monetary policy.
Hajime Takata, a member of the policy board at the Bank of Japan
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 6, 2023
BOJ policymaker sees signs of change in deflationary mindset
Conditions for phasing out the bank's massive stimulus seem to be falling into place, central bank policymaker Hajime Takata said.
Tourists drive rental go-karts while dressed up as game characters through the streets of Shibuya and other areas of Tokyo in December 2018.
COMMENTARY
Sep 6, 2023
A 10-year tourist boom and all I got was this lousy 'Mario Kart'
Like cockroaches in a nuclear apocalypse, seemingly nothing can destroy the "Mario Karts": not legal action, not the government and not even the pandemic.
A construction site of residential buildings by Chinese developer Country Garden in Beijing. Some economists now see growth in China’s economy slowing to 3.5% in 2030 and to near 1% by 2050.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2023
China slowdown means it may never overtake U.S. economy: forecast
Some economists now see growth in China’s economy — the world’s second largest — slowing to 3.5% in 2030 and to near 1% by 2050.
Japan's household spending dropped 2.7% in July from the previous month, as persistent inflation continued to erode purchasing power.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2023
Japan’s households cut back spending as Kishida considers measures
Weak data indicate an economy struggling to build momentum as inflation outpaces wage gains and consumer spending remains below pre-pandemic levels.
Workers unload sacks of onions from a truck at a wholesale market in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, on April 5.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 4, 2023
How these grocery staples became emblems of inflation in Asia
From war to disease to the effects of climate change, global food prices have been shaken by various factors in recent years.
The total value of unpaid household tasks was ¥111 trillion for women and ¥32 trillion for men in 2021, according to a recent Cabinet Office report, indicating the amount of men's work around the home is less than a third of what women do.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 4, 2023
Japanese women are missing out on ¥111 trillion in unpaid wages
A recent report has highlighted both the wage gap between men and women, as well as the sheer amount of uncompensated work that gets done in Japan.
Buildings in Guangzhou, China. Aside from short-term solutions, economists see three options for China to restructure its economy.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 4, 2023
Part of China's economic miracle was a mirage. Reality check is next.
While many analysts see a slow drift towards Japan-style stagnation as the most likely outcome, there is also the prospect of a more severe crunch.
An air raid shelter converted into luxury apartments at Ungererstrasse 158 in Munich, Germany
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 4, 2023
Market flop: How Germany's property boom ended
The country's property sector in Europe's largest economy is suffering its worst slump in decades.
The Port of Los Angeles. AI tools are helping many organizations simplify trade-data analysis in ways that may help smooth cross-border commerce.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 3, 2023
AI fused with trade data may smooth clunky supply chains
Technology may soon sort through hundreds of millions of shipment records and error-prone datasets in a fraction of the time it takes today.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is seen on a screen during a video address for the Global Trade in Services Summit, at the media center for the China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2023
The U.S., allies see opportunity and risk in slowing China economy
The U.S. and other G7 nations increasingly see evidence of deep-seated structural problems that ultimately will strengthen the West’s hand.
Japan's economic output ran above full capacity in April-June for the first time in nearly four years, a government estimate showed, suggesting that conditions for ending its policy of ultralow interest rates could be falling into place.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2023
Japan's economic output runs above capacity in signal for BOJ
The data suggests that conditions for Japan to end its policy of ultralow interest rates could be falling into place.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng meet in Beijing on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2023
U.S.-China 'de-risking' will face stress test in election season
While Democrats favor de-risking, Republicans are firmly in the decoupling camp and are attacking Biden's China policy for being too meek.
Japanese companies raised spending on plants and equipment in the April-June quarter but the pace of annual gains slowed to the lowest in five quarters, reflecting global recession worries amid China's slowing growth.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 1, 2023
Japan firms cut capital spending over global growth concerns
The latest figures feed into a picture of Japan’s growth being overly reliant on overseas demand.
Bank of Japan board member Toyoaki Nakamura says it is uncertain whether smaller companies can earn enough profits to keep hiking wages next year and beyond.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 31, 2023
BOJ policymaker warns against premature monetary tightening
Tightening monetary policy before rising prices are accompanied by higher wages would hurt domestic demand and corporate profits, Toyoaki Nakamura said.
Australian firm produces heavy rare earth, in first outside China
The Lynas Rare Earths processing plant in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Random stabbing cases in Japan raise fears: Could the next victim be me?
Police officers stand guard on May 7 outside Todaimae Station in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward after a random stabbing that injured a University of Tokyo student.
Nissan to solicit early retirements while eyeing plant closures in Japan
Nissan's Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, may be closed as part of the struggling carmaker's streamlining efforts.
Police arrest Chinese man in Saitama hit-and-run case
Police questioned a man who turned himself in as he closely resembled the driver recorded on the dashcam of another vehicle that happened to pass by the scene of a hit-and-run incident in Saitama Prefecture.
Princess Aiko arrives in Ishikawa to visit quake-hit areas
Princess Aiko is greeted by Ishikawa Gov. Hiroshi Hase (left) at the Kanazawa Station on Sunday.
Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.
In Nintendo’s backyard, foreign indie game devs are thriving
Kyoto's gaming landscape is dominated by Nintendo's headquarters, but a contingent of foreign-born indie developers is also working in the gaming giant's shadow.
Akazawa's dilemma: no tariff deal or a half-baked deal
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa and his delegation in the Oval Office of the White House in April. Since then, Japan's trade negotiations with the U.S. have produced no tangible results.
Nissan hoping to electrify home crowd as Formula E returns to Tokyo
Nissan's Oliver Rowland drives during qualifying for Miami E-Prix at Homestead Motor Speedway in Homestead, Florida, on April 12.
For his first feature film, director Ryuya Suzuki created a masterpiece
"Jinsei," which follows its protagonist over a century, probes themes of identity and societal issues with a dark comic touch. The director, however, says he created the story without knowing where it would lead.

Podcast

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

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb
By Alex K.T. Martin

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