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August 31, 2025
 

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INFLATION

Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.1% in the capital in June from a year earlier, lower than the median economist forecast but still well above the Bank of Japan’s price goal of 2%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 27, 2025
Tokyo inflation eases as energy costs cool ahead of election
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.1% in the capital in June from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Apartment rents in the capital climbed 1.3% from a year earlier in April and May for the largest gains since 1994, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 26, 2025
Tokyo rents rising at fastest pace in 30 years backs case for BOJ rate hikes
Bigger outlays for accommodation are likely to further fuel a change in inflation expectations and behavior among households of all sizes.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 25, 2025
BOJ record signals consensus that inflation is faster than expected
The board’s views indicate it’s possible the bank will raise its inflation forecast in a quarterly economic report at the July meeting.
Bentos are popular with a wide range of people in Japan for convenience and price.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2025
Bento shop bankruptcies could hit a record in 2025
Inflation, weak economic growth and work-at-home arrangements are leading to a decline in sales, lower profits and losses.
A customer picks up a bag of government-stockpiled rice sold at a convenience store in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2025
Price of rice in Japan falls below ¥4,000 per 5 kilograms
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had aimed to push down rice prices to the ¥3,000-¥4,000 range by as early as mid-June.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food quickened for a third month to 3.7% from a year earlier in May.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 20, 2025
Japan’s prices climb by most in two years ahead of Upper House election
Consumer prices excluding fresh food quickened for a third month to 3.7% from a year earlier in May, according to an internal affairs ministry's release Friday.
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.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Top Japan trade negotiator canceled U.S. trip over rice, report says
Ryosei Akazawa
Most Japanese teens struggling with school find end of summer ‘painful’
Some 93.1% of Japanese teenagers who struggle with school life said they felt like they “wanted to disappear from the world" at the end of summer vacation ahead of the start of a new term, according to a recent survey released by Yokohama-based nonprofit Daisan Kazoku.
Most Trump tariffs are not legal, U.S. appeals court rules
Workers hang a large poster of U.S. President Donald Trump on the facade of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Washington on Wednesday.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
YouTube Music Weekend is where Japan’s internet-born performers go global
Headlining the second day of YouTube Music Weekend is Vocaloid artist Kikuo, who, with 1.46 million YouTube subscribers, is one of the most popular artists in the genre.
Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.

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SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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