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September 18, 2025
 

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INFLATION

The Liberal Democratic Party’s pledges ahead of the Upper House election are in sharp contrast to those of the opposition parties, which have all promised tax cuts in various degrees.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2025
LDP pledges cash handouts and a better economy ahead of Upper House vote
“Driving Japan forward, enriching lives” will be the ruling party’s campaign slogan as it prepares for the upcoming Upper House election.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings will cut July electricity bills for standard households by ¥616 from the previous month to ¥8,236.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025
Tepco to cut household electricity bills in July
Nine other major power suppliers and four major city gas providers are also likely to considerably reduce their rates.
Japan’s deepening corporate governance reforms and exit from more than a decade of deflation have rekindled global investor interest in the world’s fourth-largest economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 16, 2025
Hedge funds reap cash from investors ‘starved’ of Japan exposure
Japan’s deepening corporate governance reforms and exit from more than a decade of deflation have rekindled global investor interest.
For Japan residents, an unrelenting upward trend in the cost of living is changing the calculus for how to manage daily expenses — and long-term financial goals.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / Age Wise
Jun 16, 2025
Planning for the future in a time of inflation
A retirement expert says that income, investments and interest rates are all long-term factors to consider for Japan residents facing soaring prices.
Reports about fraudulent online rice shops to consumer affairs centers around the country spiked to 335 cases in April and May alone.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2025
Reports of online rice scams surging in Japan
Reports about fraudulent online rice shops to consumer affairs centers around the country spiked to 335 cases in April and May alone, as much as is normally seen in a year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters last month in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 13, 2025
Ishiba pledges cash handout for all citizens ahead of election
The handout would be ¥20,000 per person and an additional ¥20,000 would be added on top of that per child or low-income earner, Ishiba said.
Bank of Japan officials now see inflation slightly outpacing earlier forecasts, potentially paving the way for rate hike talks if global trade tensions subside, sources say.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 13, 2025
BOJ is said to see inflation running stronger than expected
Some officials see the relative strength in inflation reflecting a change in price-setting behavior with sharp increases in the price of rice likely to harden inflationary views.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2025
Japan to move up auctions for imported rice
This year's first auction for rice as a staple food will take place on June 27 instead of the usual September, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Thursday.
Bags of rice from the government's stockpile are sold at a Don Quijote store in Tokyo's Ota Ward on June 1.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2025
Applications open for latest batch of stockpiled rice
Retailers who previously bought stockpiled rice under no-bid contracts can reapply, but only for amounts they can sell by August.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks in a news conference after a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 10, 2025
Japan to release extra 200,000 tons of stockpiled rice as prices fall
The average price of a 5-kilogram bag of rice at supermarkets in the week through June 1 was ¥4,223, down ¥37 from the previous week.
Japan faces soaring rice prices, a powerful farming cooperative resistant to change, declining farmer numbers, falling rice consumption and conflicting government policies that hinder effective reform of the sector.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2025
How ‘vintage’ rice is shaking up Japanese politics
Rice is where consumers have drawn the line. The staple rose by 98% in the past year, adding almost half a percentage point to headline inflation.
Tokyo's Asakusa district near Sensoji Temple. The Japanese government vowed to realize pay raises that exceed price increases in a stable way.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 7, 2025
Japan highlights wage hikes as cornerstone of economic growth strategy
Seeing wage hikes as a key part of its growth strategy, the government vowed to realize pay raises that exceed price increases in a stable way.
Many curry shops are going bankrupt in Japan as prices of mainstay ingredients have gone up due to a rice shortage, adverse weather and a weak yen.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2025
Soaring rice prices take a bite out of Japan's beloved curry shops
A total of 13 shops with more than ¥10 million in debt filed for bankruptcy in the year ended March — a record high for a second consecutive year.
Japan's household spending fell 0.1% from a year earlier in April, as the elevated cost of living weighs on consumer spending.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 6, 2025
April household spending drop deals blow to Japan's shrinking economy
Domestic demand will likely be a key factor in determining whether a technical recession can be avoided after the economy shrank in the first quarter.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi attend the first ministerial meeting on stable rice supply, held at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2025
Ishiba seeks probe on high prices at first rice meeting
A key issue in future discussions at the ministerial council will be how to optimize rice distribution.
Wages in Japan are falling on a real basis, in part because of rising food prices.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 5, 2025
Real wages in Japan fell 1.8% year on year in April
Inflation-adjusted pay has now fallen for four straight months.
Lawson plans to sell 1-kilogram and 2-kg bags of rice it bought from the government's stockpile at ¥360 ($2.50) and ¥700 respectively.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2025
Aging rice? Lawson prefers to call it 'vintage.'
As convenience stores prepare to sell government stockpiled rice from older harvests to consumers, Lawson says it will offer rice balls made of "vintage rice."
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 4, 2025
Komeito to propose sales tax cut on food, Yomiuri reports
A Komeito official confirmed the report, saying the tax cut idea will be among proposals in the campaign pledge due on Friday.
The number of "zombie companies" in Japan, which do not make enough to cover their interest payments, was estimated to have grown some 228,000 in fiscal 2023, one of the highest in a decade.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 3, 2025
'Zombie company' apocalypse might be the point of Japan's minimum wage push
Government efforts to accelerate the pace of pay increases could lead to poorly performing companies going out of business.
The average price of rice sold at some 1,000 supermarkets across Japan in the week through May 25 stood at ¥4,260 ($29.80) per 5 kilograms, down ¥25 from the previous week.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2025
Retail prices for rice across Japan make first dip in three weeks
The average price in the week through May 25 stood at ¥4,260 ($29.80) per 5 kilograms, down by ¥25 from the previous week.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japan dispatches five language education 'partners' to India
Five members of the Japan Foundation's Nihongo Partners program (front) gather at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
Japan’s front-line researchers see bright path ahead for dementia treatment
A scientist looks at scans of grains at the Memory Centre at the Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics of the University Hospital (HUG) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 6, 2023.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
Tara Davis-Woodhall leaps to gold and finds redemption at world championships
Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates after winning the women's long jump final at the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday night.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.

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By Alex K.T. Martin

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