Tag - inflation

 
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September 04, 2025
 

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INFLATION

A man harvests coffee beans in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Among other issues, a poor crop yield has caused coffee prices to surge in the country.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 3, 2025
Coffee roasters hike prices in Brazil as raw bean costs surge
The price increases come as the world's top producer of coffee has experienced a poor crop yield and other issues impacting the industry.
Tourists order sushi using an interactive touchscreen at a Sushiro restaurant in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 1, 2025
Growth overseas aids sushi chain Sushiro amid rice inflation at home
Osaka-based chain has been able to avoid across-the-board price hikes at its Japanese restaurants to offset volatile rice costs that have nearly doubled from a year ago.
Sukiya plans to cut prices for its beef bowls for the first time since 2014 starting on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2025
Sukiya to slash beef bowl prices for first time in 11 years
The move, which comes after a hike in March, will effectively bring prices back down to levels below its major rivals Yoshinoya and Matsuya.
In September, prices will rise for seasoning products, such as sauce and mayonnaise, as well as for many frozen food products and confectionery items such as chocolate, according to research firm Teikoku Databank.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2025
Prices of 1,422 food items, including chocolate, to rise in Japan in September
The monthly total of food products and beverages with higher prices will rise 0.6% from a year earlier, up for the ninth consecutive month.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.5% in Tokyo in August from a year earlier, versus a 2.9% clip in the previous month, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2025
Tokyo inflation slows on subsidies as BOJ stays on hike path
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.5% year on year in the capital in August, versus a 2.9% clip in July.
Bank of Japan rate hikes may continue though trade uncertainties remain, board member Junko Nakagawa says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 28, 2025
BOJ board member reaffirms stance on raising interest rates
Junko Nakagawa's remarks indicate there’s at most a low chance of a move coming at the board's next meeting, which concludes on Sept. 19, as of now.
For Suzunobu, a small rice specialty shop in Tokyo's Meguro Ward, distribution delays have resulted in it struggling to sell stockpiled rice secured from the government, owner Toyozo Nishijima said.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 26, 2025
Rice woes weigh down Koizumi's first three months as farm minister
Early forecasts have also indicated that the relatively poor rice harvest this year will drive the price of the staple back up.
An employee at a wholesaler puts a price tag on a package of sea urchins from Hokkaido at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2025
Warming seas add to food inflation woes as urchin rice bowls hit ¥18,000
Policymakers have mostly blamed rising food prices on the weak yen's upward pressure on import costs, but the effects of global warming now also loom as a risk.
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 25, 2025
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
Many prefectures are choosing increases higher than the 6% suggested by the ministry.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda (second from left) walks with Fed Chair Jerome Powell (left), European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde (second from right) and Bank of England Gov. Andrew Bailey outside the Fed’s Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 24, 2025
BOJ's Ueda expects tight labor market to keep upward pressure on wages
The remarks are likely to support growing speculation of another interest rate hike this year, although the BOJ governor didn’t directly discuss monetary policy in a presentation.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell attends the Kansas City Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Moran, Wyoming, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 23, 2025
U.S. Fed chair opens door to rate cut as Trump steps up pressure
But Fed chief Jerome Powell also continued to argue that policymakers must guard against the prospect that President Donald Trump’s tariffs lead to persistent inflation.
Consumer prices in Japan rose 3.1% from a year earlier in July, slowing from a 3.3% gain in the previous month but still suggesting that inflation remains relatively sticky.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2025
Japan’s inflation hovers well above BOJ’s goal even as it slows
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.1% from a year earlier in July, slowing from a 3.3% gain a month earlier.
The agriculture ministry believes it is difficult to sell all of the stockpiled rice by the original deadline set at the end of this month due to slow deliveries to retailers.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2025
Government extends deadline for stockpiled rice sales
While a new deadline will not be set, the ministry will ask businesses concerned to make sure the rice sells out within a month of delivery.
The Bank of Japan maintains a wait-and-see approach as calls grow for it to raise rates.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Aug 19, 2025
Bank of Japan encouraged to increase rates soon, before it’s too late
Business and political leaders argue that inflation is too high and must be brought under control soon.
Rice retailed for an average ¥3,737 per 5-kilogram bag at about 1,000 supermarkets nationwide from Aug. 4 to 10, up ¥195 from the previous week and around 1.4 times the value a year earlier, according to the agriculture ministry.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 19, 2025
Rice prices climbed in early August as stockpile release slowed, data shows
Retail prices averaged ¥3,737 per 5-kilogram bag from Aug. 4 to 10, up ¥195 from the previous week and around 1.4 times the price a year earlier.
The number of Japanese students who applied to the National Taiwan University in Taipei in 2025 is more than 60% higher than last year due partly to affordability and proximity.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2025
Japanese students who want to study abroad looking at options in Asia
Amid a weak yen, students are increasingly picking more affordable schools in the region, such as Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.
A person holds a Binance cryptocurrencies QR code at a store in La Paz, Bolivia. Binance is favored in the country for its low fees and educational resources for new users.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2025
In land of 25% inflation, crypto is starting to replace money in Bolivia
From small coffee shops to large corporations, signs of cryptocurrencies being rapidly adoption are everywhere in the landlocked nation of 11 million in South America.
A Bank of Japan board member suggested the possibility of a rate hike by year-end, depending on the impact of U.S. tariffs, according to a summary of opinions from the central bank’s policy meeting last week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2025
BOJ may exit wait-and-see mode by year-end, policy meeting summary says
Depending on the impact from U.S. tariffs, another rate hike then might be possible, an unnamed board member hinted.
The government revised its real growth projection for fiscal year 2025 to 0.7%, down from the previous forecast of 1.2%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2025
Japan lowers this year’s growth forecast as tariffs kick in
The downgrade partly reflects a darkening global economic outlook as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
The National Personnel Authority recommended Thursday a 3.62% increase in average monthly base pay for public employees in the current fiscal year.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2025
Japan’s public workers set to get largest pay hike in 34 years
The rise in wages will come as a welcome development for policymakers at the Bank of Japan, who are seeking broad-based and lasting growth to support stable inflation.
Surrounded by Chinese bases, a tiny Philippine island stands firm
A Philippine Navy sailor looks at a China Coast Guard vessel just off the coast of Pag-asa Island in the disputed South China Sea last month.
Anger in Japan after Instagrammer drinks burial site offering
Foreign tourists visit a park near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in August.
Musk voices support for anti-immigration rally in Japan
Elon Musk has voiced support for anti-immigration protest in Japan, where a "Japanese First" party saw gains in recent elections.
Suntory CEO Takeshi Niinami resigns over alleged possession of illegal drugs
Takeshi Niinami, then-chief executive officer of Suntory Holdings, in May 2024
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
Xi — joined by Kim and Putin — delivers stark warning at military parade
Chinese leader Xi Jinping walks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing on Wednesday.
Tamagotchi hatches 100 million shipments worldwide thanks to ’90s nostalgia
The latest version of Tamagotchi, called Tamagotchi Paradise, is awarded the best digital toy at Tokyo Toy Show on Aug. 28.
Why Stalin didn’t invade Hokkaido still largely unknown, 80 years after WWII
During a survey to collect the remains of victims from the Taito Maru, one of the vessels involved in the Three Ships Incident, a metal helmet was found near the stern of the vessel on Aug. 5, 1984, at Rumoi Port. No human remains were discovered.
More sweltering days forecast for September after hottest summer on record
By the end of August, 8,341 people had been transported by ambulance for heatstroke in Tokyo alone.
Surrounded by Chinese bases, a tiny Philippine island stands firm
A Philippine Navy sailor looks at a China Coast Guard vessel just off the coast of Pag-asa Island in the disputed South China Sea last month.

Podcast

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By Alex K.T. Martin

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