Tag - japanese economy

 
Menu
Search
 
July 19, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

JAPANESE ECONOMY

The government is looking to ease the overconcentration of businesses in Tokyo to tackle labor shortages in the countryside, ensure nationwide economic growth and realize a sustainable society.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 13, 2025
Government aims to create 10,000 jobs via business relocations from Tokyo
The move is aimed at easing overconcentration of companies in the capital and bridge an urban-rural divide in economic growth.
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.
The Business Sentiment Index for large firms registered minus 1.9 for the April-June quarter, slipping into negative territory for the first time since the first quarter of 2024.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2025
Japan’s firms see business climate worsen amid U.S. tariff hits
The Business Sentiment Index for large firms slipped into negative territory for the first time since the first quarter of 2024.
A Japanese actress known for voicing Hello Kitty sparked national debate with an anti-immigration blog post, highlighting rising tensions over Japan’s growing foreign population and the government's slow response to related concerns.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 12, 2025
Cultural anxiety and Japan's immigration pains
Japan must address legitimate public worries without inflaming xenophobia — or risk populist backlash.
World Bank Deputy Chief Economist Ayhan Kose speaks during an interview on Monday in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 11, 2025
World Bank sees Japan's growth slowing in 2025
The institution has lowered its 2025 growth estimate for Japan's gross domestic product to 0.7% in inflation-adjusted real terms.
All 53 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the Bank of Japan to hold its benchmark rate at 0.5% at the end of a two-day meeting on June 17.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 11, 2025
Most BOJ watchers expect slower pace in reducing bond purchases
All 53 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the BOJ to hold its benchmark rate at 0.5% at the end of a two-day meeting on June 17.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a Liberal Democratic Party executive meeting in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 10, 2025
As election looms, Ishiba pledges ¥1 quadrillion GDP by 2040
Ahead of the Upper House election, the prime minister has unveiled the ambitious target, along with raising the average income by at least half.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, is expected to head to Washington soon for a sixth round of high-level trade talks with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 10, 2025
Akazawa talks of 'dense fog' in U.S. trade talks ahead of G7 summit
Japan is sticking to its demand that all new tariffs be removed, the country's tariff czar insists.
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.
Japan's gross domestic product shrank at an annualized pace of 0.2% in the three months through March, the revised data showed, confirming the country's economy shrank even before U.S. President Donald Trump amped up tariff pressure in April.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 9, 2025
Japan confirms GDP contraction, backing BOJ’s cautious stance
GDP shrank at an annualized pace of 0.2% in the three months through March, a less severe drop than the initial estimate of a 0.7% decline.
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.
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.
Japan's exports in terms of value dropped 3% in the first 20 days of May from the same period a year earlier, indicating the impact of U.S. tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 6, 2025
Japan’s early May exports drop as tariff woes upend commerce
Exports measured by value dropped 3% in the first 20 days of May, which compared with a 2% rise for April.
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.
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.
The draft also expresses strong concern about China's attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 5, 2025
Japan to name China as its biggest strategic challenge
It is unusual for the annual economic and fiscal policy guidelines to criticize China for its coercive behavior toward neighboring countries.
Japan and the United States are aiming for a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and President Donald Trump at the Group of Seven leaders summit on June 16 and 17.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 4, 2025
U.S. doubles steel and aluminum tariffs as Japan counts on a breakthrough
The United Kingdom is exempt from the higher rates because it struck an early trade deal with the United States.
Solar panels at an industrial complex in Rajasthan, India, are an example of India-Japan renewable energy cooperation. The two countries can strengthen their ties by co-developing green and advanced technologies, solar energy among them.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 4, 2025
The ground is fertile for Japan-India green economy partnerships
Japan and India can build on their long-standing relationship to spearhead the development of green and advanced technologies such as renewable energy and chips.
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.
Business and household sentiments "have deteriorated recently," Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said Tuesday at an event in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 4, 2025
Uncertainties over Trump tariffs extremely strong, BOJ chief says
The Bank of Japan will continue to raise interest rates if the Japanese economy and prices move in line with the central bank's outlook, Gov. Kazuo Ueda added.
Living conditions index hits lowest level in 15 years in Japan
The share of respondents to a Bank of Japan quarterly survey in June who said they have become worse off came to 61.0%, up 5.1 percentage points from the previous survey.
Tokyo emerges as a top market for global tech talent
Tokyo ranks among the world's top tech talent hubs alongside Beijing, the San Francisco Bay Area, Bengaluru, Paris, New York and Dublin, according to Colliers' newly released global tech markets report.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
CDP leader criticizes ‘Japanese First’ policy and calls for inclusive society
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda said it is obvious that Japanese society could not function without the help of foreign workers in manufacturing, health care, construction and public transportation.
JSA’s 100th anniversary event is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for sumo fans
Egyptian wrestler Osunaarashi has some fun with children during a special Japan Sumo Association event in 2017.
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Kawaii Lab redefines idol pop for the TikTok generation
Misa Kimura is the main producer for Kawaii Lab, a project by entertainment agency Asobisystem whose groups have found success by pairing a social media-first strategy with a fresh perspective on traditional idol-pop tropes.
Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”
With China and Trump, Japan defense report says world entering ‘new era of crisis’
A senior member of a Self-Defense Forces honor guard inspects a formation before the arrival of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for a visit to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on June 30.

Podcast

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

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER