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May 19, 2025
 

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ECONOMY

The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. The central bank will probably discuss revising up its projection for growth in consumer prices for the current fiscal year, sources said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 10, 2024
BOJ said to mull raising inflation view on strong pay deals
Rising oil prices and the weak yen are spurring inflationary pressure that could fuel speculation of earlier moves by the BOJ.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway would be the first major non-financial overseas debt issuer to sell yen bonds after the Bank of Japan last month scrapped the world’s last negative interest rate.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 9, 2024
Berkshire plans to sell first yen bonds since BOJ move
The U.S. company last turned to the yen bond markets in November, with a ¥122 billion ($803 million) five-tranche deal.
NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg (left) and the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a news conference in Washington on Jan. 29
WORLD / Politics
Apr 9, 2024
World rush to rearm could cost G7 countries $10 trillion over next decade
Security challenges include an aggressive Russia, a volatile Middle East, and the Chinese military tugging U.S. attention toward the Pacific.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda has indicated the central bank's debt buying will be dialed back at some point.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2024
Japan’s bond market liquidity improves as BOJ loosens its grip
Among the signs of progress, the average bid-ask spread to trade the country’s debt has tightened to the narrowest in at least six months.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki says authorities are watching exchange-rate moves closely and won't rule out any options.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 9, 2024
Japan warns against excessive volatility as yen slides near fresh lows
The yen briefly hit ¥151.840 to the dollar, within striking distance of the 34-year low of ¥151.975 marked last month.
A street in Ota Ward, Tokyo, on March 15. In the year through March, bankruptcies mainly rose among small and midsize companies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 8, 2024
Japan's business failures top 9,000 for first time in nine years
In the year through March, bankruptcies mainly rose among small and midsize companies as they struggled to raise prices to reflect higher costs.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda listens to a question during a news conference after a two-day monetary policy meeting at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on March 19.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 8, 2024
Ueda's first year as BOJ chief marked by smooth handling of policy shift
But the central bank governor now has to balance various factors, including how further rate hikes might affect not just the yen but also households.
Digital minister Taro Kono rides in a car driven by a private driver using a personal vehicle in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 8, 2024
Tokyo starts ride-hailing service — but it may not be what you expect
The apps Go, Uber, S.Ride and Didi can all be used to hail private drivers alongside taxis during specific times of the day.
Real cash earnings for Japanese workers in February dropped 1.3% from a year earlier, government data has shown.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 8, 2024
Japan’s decline in real wages likely to keep BOJ on hold for now
The latest decline in real wages comes as growth in consumer prices accelerated to 2.8% in February, the quickest pace since November.
A lone Tesla charges in the basement of a commercial property in Tokyo. One of Japan’s biggest obstacles to electric vehicles is subpar charging infrastructure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 8, 2024
How three high-tech countries became laggards in electric vehicles
Japan's slow adoption traces back to a decade-old bet on hydrogen fuel-cell technology, while U.S. and South Korea have hit bottlenecks.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 7, 2024
Yellen and Li express hope for U.S.-China cooperation
The U.S.-China relationship can only move forward with direct and open communication, Treasury chief Janet Yellen told Premier Li Qiang.
Developing nations feel that international trade rules favor developed countries and undermine their interests, particularly in areas like agriculture and fishing subsidies.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2024
Why have developing countries soured on multilateralism?
The efforts of advanced economies to link trade agreements to labor and environmental standards could disadvantage developing nations.
Japanese household spending fell 0.5% in February from a year earlier, down for a 12th straight month, indicating the impact of persistent price increases on spending patterns.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 5, 2024
Japan’s households continue to cut outlays as inflation hits
Outlays decreased 0.5% in February from a year ago, sliding for a 12th consecutive month.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 5, 2024
BOJ downgrades biggest number of regional economies in two years
The central bank kept its appraisals of just two areas unchanged, according to a quarterly regional economic report Thursday.
The Bank of Japan's steady policy normalization process will probably start next year, with potentially a 25-basis-point rate increase every six months, a former policy board member says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 4, 2024
BOJ will wait until October before hiking rates again, says ex-board member
Makoto Sakurai believes a steady policy normalization process may start next year, with potentially a 25-basis-point rate increase every six months.
The yen remains around the three-decade low in the ¥151 range against the dollar even after the Bank of Japan's interest rate hike.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 4, 2024
Why even the BOJ's historic rate hike has failed to revive the yen
Japan’s first interest rate hike in 17 years has failed to deliver the boost to the yen that policymakers had hoped for.
Citigroup is betting that Japan’s bond market revival will gather steam after the Bank of Japan's rate hike.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 4, 2024
Citigroup sees ‘exciting market’ for Japan bonds after BOJ move
"Normalization has started, so we foresee a lot of activity going forward”
Japan's law-abiding pedestrian culture and norms may help explain its economic performance.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2024
The economic consequences of legal behavior
There is a complex relationship between cultural norms, legal systems and economic development.
A seafood restaurant at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. In a proposal to the government's top economic council, the panel urged policy changes in the face of rising domestic prices and interest rates, as well as wage growth at a 30-year high as companies face job shortages.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2024
Japan panel calls for shift away from stimulus-driven economy
The panel urged policy changes amid rising domestic prices and interest rates, as well as wage growth at a 30-year high as companies face job shortages.
China’s greenhouse footprint can be boiled down to three factors: its economic growth, the energy intensity of that growth and the carbon intensity of that energy.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2024
China’s growth ambitions will erase the world’s climate gains
Global greenhouse pollution hit a record and increased 1.1% last year, the International Energy Agency reported. That was almost entirely a China story.
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.
Australian firm produces heavy rare earth, in first outside China
The Lynas Rare Earths processing plant in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
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.
Wholesalers may be behind elevated retail rice prices
Wholesalers added ¥7,593 on average to their selling prices for stockpiled rice, far more than the ¥2,206 to ¥4,689 added for the 2022 rice.
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
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.
Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.

Podcast

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

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?
By Tomoko Otake

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