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October 26, 2025
 

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FOREX

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivers remarks on Wednesday on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 16, 2025
Bessent says yen will settle if BOJ keeps taking right policies
The statement follows the U.S. treasury secretary's remarks in August that Japan’s central bank was behind the curve in addressing inflation.
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 10, 2025
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
Stocks fell and the yen rose after the coalition collapsed
Despite heightened geopolitical tensions and escalating trade wars, the U.S. dollar’s global dominance is unlikely to fade in the near term, leaving Asian economies vulnerable to dollar shocks.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2025
How Asia can reduce its dollar dependence
While geopolitical tensions and the risk of sanctions have fueled diversification efforts, the greenback’s international dominance is unlikely to diminish in the near term.
For decades, investors have turned to the yen during market shocks, but that instinct is now under strain.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 9, 2025
Yen’s haven status undercut by gold surge and BOJ rate-hike doubts
For decades, investors have turned to the yen during market shocks, from financial crises to geopolitical blowups.
Against the yen, the dollar was last up 0.53% at ¥152.7. It earlier reached ¥152.99, the highest since Feb. 14, and has risen from ¥147.44 on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 9, 2025
Yen weakest since mid-February on fiscal fears
The dollar has likely benefited from a lack of U.S. government economic data as the federal government remains shut.
Despite concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and global trade disruptions, the dollar remains dominant in global finance, with the Chinese yuan gaining ground but still far from challenging its supremacy.
COMMENTARY
Oct 8, 2025
Best evidence yet that the U.S. dollar isn’t close to being dead
The dollar was on one side of 89.2% of all trades, up a touch from the 2022 result.
Sanae Takaichi, newly elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 5, 2025
Takaichi's win to support Japanese stocks but weigh on yen and bonds
Bank stocks will likely struggle on expectations rate hikes will be pushed back, while domestic demand and small-cap shares may get a "significant tailwind," experts say.
James Baker speaks at the funeral service for former U.S. President George Bush in Houston in December 2018. As Treasury secretary in 1985, he was the key U.S. negotiator of the Plaza Accord, the landmark deal to weaken the dollar and realign global currencies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 22, 2025
Why the Plaza Accord is still the gold standard
Rather than grieve Plaza, salute it. The deal reflected a confluence of national interest, diplomatic nous and a sense that common interests dictated collaboration.
The Plaza Hotel in New York, where finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Five countries met and struck the Plaza Accord on Sept. 22, 1985.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 21, 2025
40 years after Plaza Accord, Japan still at mercy of forex swings
Monday marks the 40th anniversary of the accord, struck between Japan, the U.S., the U.K., France and what was then West Germany.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato reaffirmed in a joint statement their commitment to allowing markets to determine currency exchange rates and not targeting them for competitive advantage.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2025
U.S. and Japan pledge not to manipulate forex for competitive advantage
Tokyo has spent close to $150 billion in the last three years trying to prop up the yen with the last move in July last year.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2025
Japan’s Kato voices concern with yen at weakest since March
Kato’s comments came after the yen slid past the 150 level against the dollar on Thursday, following the BOJ’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
The Finance Ministry said on Thursday that surplus in the Japanese government's foreign exchange special account stood at a record high of ¥5.36 trillion at the end of fiscal 2024.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2025
Japan's forex special account logs record-high surplus
The ministry will transfer ¥3.2 trillion out of the surplus to the general account of the government's fiscal 2025 budget.
Trading volumes in dollar-yen call options, which gain in value if the yen depreciates against the dollar, more than doubled those of put options on July 11.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 14, 2025
Yen traders revamp option bets ahead of Japan election
Expectations that the election outcome may pave the way for additional fiscal stimulus have already started to drive long-term Japanese yields higher.
The yen-dollar exchange rate is displayed outside a securities firm in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 10, 2025
Japan unlikely to face U.S. pressure to strengthen yen, ex-top FX diplomat says
Masatsugu Asakawa was deeply involved in Japan's trade and currency negotiations with the U.S. when he was vice finance minister for international affairs.
The Government Pension Investment Fund suffered a loss in the January-March quarter as a global trade war due to higher U.S. tariffs hurt equities and the outlook for interest-rate cuts dragged down the dollar against the yen.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 4, 2025
GPIF logs $61 billion loss as weak dollar hits overseas assets
The pension fund incurred losses on all four of its asset classes in the January-March period, the first time this has occurred since July-September 2022.
The U.S. dollar was back at multiyear lows against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, erasing a brief respite provided by safe-haven flows related to Middle East tensions earlier in the week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 27, 2025
No love for the dollar as markets fret about Fed independence
Respect for independent institutions such as central banks has long been viewed as a key attraction of major economies, helping anchor economic stability.
Nomura Holdings predicts the dollar to trade around ¥136 by the end of September, against around ¥145 currently.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 8, 2025
Nomura flags risk of sharp yen rally on U.S.-Japan policy pressure
The investment bank, among Japan’s largest, now recommends shorting the greenback versus the yen, targeting a move in the pair to ¥136 by the end of September.
Despite doubts and talk of alternatives in Asia and beyond, the dollar remains dominant because there are no viable rivals and it continues to serve as the world’s key safe asset.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2025
The problem with Asia's ‘sell America’ moment
The region’s currencies are enjoying a healthy rally. History warns against anti-dollar triumphalism.
Japan’s biggest life insurers collectively lowered bullish yen wagers tied to their foreign investment holdings, a move that suggests they see a lower likelihood of the yen showing the kind of strength it did in the past.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 30, 2025
Japanese life insurers cut bullish yen hedges to 14-year low
Nine of Japan’s biggest life insurers collectively lowered bullish yen wagers tied to their foreign investment holdings to 44.4% at the end of March from 45.2% six months earlier.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are expected to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of a G7 finance leaders' gathering to be held this week in Canada.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 20, 2025
Japan’s Kato plans Bessent meet to discuss topics including FX
The yen gained to as much as ¥144.73 against the dollar following Kato’s remark, after trading around ¥145.50 earlier in the morning.
Bear kills another person in Japan in record year for fatal attacks
Police investigate the scene of a bear attack that killed one person and injured three others on Friday in the village of Higashinaruse in Akita Prefecture.
Tokyo launches English-language international school database
A screenshot of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's international schools portal site
New ‘immigration minister’ post signals Takaichi Cabinet’s priorities
Kimi Onoda, economic security minister and minister for harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals, arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Takaichi focuses on economic and security concerns in first policy speech
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers her first policy speech in the Lower House in Tokyo on Friday.
New tourism minister calls concentration of tourists in certain areas 'very serious'
Tourism minister Yasushi Kaneko holds a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Loss to Wallabies doesn't dampen Japan’s optimism
Japan's Michael Leitch controls the ball during the match against Australia on Saturday.
Stars align for Kim-Trump meeting — but any talks will be on N.K. leader’s terms
A South Korean soldier stands next to a TV broadcasting a news report about a possible summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, at the main railway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
New ‘immigration minister’ post signals Takaichi Cabinet’s priorities
Kimi Onoda, economic security minister and minister for harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals, arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Number of suicide cases among students in Japan hits record high in 2024
The health ministry's Suicide White Paper for 2024 has found that numbers for both men and women peak at age 21, with “concerns over future career paths” being identified as the most likely cause.
The newly formed LDP-JIP coalition may not be as solid as it seems
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura sign a policy agreement between the two parties at the Diet in Tokyo on Monday.

Podcast

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

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
By Thu-Huong Ha and Mike Fu

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