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November 18, 2025
 

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JAPANESE ECONOMY

U.S. tariffs are starting to take their toll in Japan, especially on companies manufacturing products for export.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 17, 2025
Japan's GDP drops as tariffs bite and domestic demand flags
The decline in the three quarters ending in September was less than forecast.
Hinako Mori, 22, arranges products at a Don Quijote outlet in Tokyo in October. The Japanese retailer, which relaxed its rules concerning hair and nail polish three years ago, says nearly a quarter of its employees sport brightly colored hair.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 17, 2025
More Japanese firms relax rules in tussle for workers
The country's labor shortage has led companies to ease up on various aspects, such as hair and nail polish color, to secure enough part-timers.
Japan's National Diet Building in Tokyo on Oct. 21. The Takaichi administration is set to finalize an economic stimulus package exceeding ¥17 trillion for Cabinet approval on Friday, according to a report.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 16, 2025
Japan's finance minister says stimulus package to exceed ¥17 trillion, Nikkei reports
Since taking office in October, Takaichi has pledged to compile a sizeable package of spending measures to cushion the economic blow from rising living costs.
Labor productivity per worker in fiscal 2024, which ended in March, rose 0.2% in real terms from the previous year, marking a fourth consecutive annual increase, according to Japan Productivity Center data.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 16, 2025
Japan labor productivity up 0.2% in FY 2024
Despite the good news, progress is still required to ensure that real wages keep rising by 1% as envisioned in a government target, according to the Japan Productivity Center.
Finance minister Satsuki Katayama answers questions from reporters in a group interview on Oct. 24.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 16, 2025
The challenges awaiting Japan’s new finance minister
Satsuki Katayama’s shattering of another glass ceiling last month puts her in charge of selling Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s “responsible and proactive fiscal policy.”
The Japanese government is mulling an extra budget for the current fiscal year which will be larger than last year’s, according to local media reports.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 15, 2025
Japan plans bigger extra budget this fiscal year, reports say
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is mulling an extra budget for the current fiscal year which will be larger than last year’s.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Friday that Japanese businesses are focusing too much on shareholders, expressing frustration that companies are not using more capital to raise wages.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 14, 2025
Takaichi pushes back against companies' focus on shareholders
The Prime Minister's comments flicked at her frustration with firms for not using more capital to raise wages.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi talks with Japan’s then-leader, Shinzo Abe, her mentor, at the Lower House of Parliament in December 2014. Takaichi, under so-called Abenomics 2.0, must convert the nation’s asset boom into broad-based economic prosperity benefiting all. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 14, 2025
How Takaichi can make 'Abenomics 2.0' succeed
For now, there is absolutely no evidence that the rise in Japanese asset prices — both stocks and real estate — is feeding a positive wealth effect.
Producer prices in Japan rose 2.7% in October from a year earlier, driven by higher food and copper costs, the Bank of Japan has said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 13, 2025
Producer prices rose 2.7% on year in October, with agricultural goods up 31.4%
The producer price index, which measures the cost of goods traded between businesses, rose for the 56th consecutive month, Bank of Japan data shows.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2025
Japan panel members call for extra budget topping ¥14 trillion
Members also urged the government to abandon its goal of achieving a surplus in the primary balance at the central and local governments.
The yen has fallen about 4.5% against the dollar so far this quarter, the most among its Group of 10 peers.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 13, 2025
Japan’s slumping currency intensifies debate over intervention
As the yen slumps toward levels that previously drew authorities into the market, traders are increasingly skeptical that direct intervention will work this time.
The travel services trade surplus rose to ¥3.31 trillion thanks to an increase in visitors to Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 11, 2025
Japan's April-September current account surplus hits record high
The current account balance expanded mainly because the trade balance swung to a surplus following lower imports.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and other members of a government panel on economic growth strategy gather for their first meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 11, 2025
Takaichi eyes stimulus package to jump-start growth plan
Takaichi has signaled a shift toward more expansionary fiscal policy and said that Japan remains only halfway toward achieving stable inflation supported by wage growth.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks after the October rate-setting meeting, where the policy rate was kept at 0.5%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 10, 2025
Bank of Japan signals it's inclined to increase rates, with the usual caveats
The central bank will make the move as long as wages keep moving up at a healthy pace, and there are no big surprises.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a Lower House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 7, 2025
Takaichi makes the case for economic growth in parliament debate
Friendly and smooth-sailing exchange between Takaichi and her LDP colleagues in the morning was followed by a more critical line of questioning from CDP lawmakers.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to a panel on promoting economic security in Japan on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 7, 2025
Takaichi calls for the updating of Japan's economic security law
The prime minister argues that the geopolitical situation has changed and economic threats are increasing.
Outlays by households gained 1.8% in September from a year earlier, led by transportation and entertainment, but the rise was lower than expected, reflecting falling spending on housing and education.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 7, 2025
Japanese households boost spending despite inflation hit
Outlays by households adjusted for inflation gained 1.8% in September from a year earlier, led by transportation and entertainment.
UA Zensen, a major labor union covering service sectors, plans to push for a 6% bump in overall wages for regular employees in negotiations set to conclude in March.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 6, 2025
Major Japan union group seeks 6% wage hike as BOJ watches
UA Zensen said it plans to target the same level of wage gains for regular workers in next year’s pay negotiations as it did for this year.
Japan Innovation Party co-leader Fumitake Fujita said on Wednesday that a Bank of Japan rate hike amid government calls for more corporate investment would likely send a mixed policy message.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 6, 2025
JIP cautions against mixed message of a BOJ hike
Such a move could seem contradictory amid calls for more investment in the private sector, Japan Innovation Party co-leader Fumitake Fujita says.
Real cash earnings fell 1.4% in September, marking the ninth consecutive monthly decline in line with analyst forecasts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 6, 2025
Japan’s wage growth stays firm, keeping rate hike bets alive
Nominal wages rose 1.9% from a year earlier, accelerating from August, the labor ministry reported Thursday, coming in line with economist expectations.
A beloved Tokyo penguin’s end presages Suica’s shift to payments giant
JR East is retiring the beloved Suica penguin as part of a rebrand to transform the contactless payment platform, used for both transit and retail, into a mobile fintech powerhouse.
Fears rise of rupture in Japan-China ties in wake of Taiwan remarks
Two Chinese tourists wearing kimonos take a selfie as they visit Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Saturday.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
At Ginza’s newest hotel, luxury is a private treasure
At Fufu Tokyo, each guest room comes with its own private "onsen" (hot spring) — a luxury nearly unheard of in the heart of Tokyo's capital.
Ashfall warning issued in southern Japan as volcano erupts
View of Sakurajima from the mainland of Kagoshima Prefecture
Japan uses series against South Korea to prep for World Baseball Classic title defense
Japan's Ryuhei Sotani pitches against South Korea at Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.
Good fortune, wrapped in fried tofu
Golden "age-fukuburo," a culinary take on Japan's new year "lucky bags," can be served on their own.
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom
Located near the Imperial Palace, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan prides itself on the accessibility of its events and the support it offers to budding and established journalists. The club is currently headed by Dan Sloan, a former reporter for Reuters.
The challenges awaiting Japan’s new finance minister
Finance minister Satsuki Katayama answers questions from reporters in a group interview on Oct. 24.
At Ginza’s newest hotel, luxury is a private treasure
At Fufu Tokyo, each guest room comes with its own private "onsen" (hot spring) — a luxury nearly unheard of in the heart of Tokyo's capital.

Podcast

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

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo
By Kathryn Wortley

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