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September 06, 2025
 

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JAPANESE ECONOMY

Minimum hourly wages in Japan's 47 prefectures are set to average ¥1,121, up by a record ¥66 from the previous year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2025
Japan to hike minimum wage by record amount, backing BOJ’s rate hikes
A record 6.3% increase takes the minimum wage to an average of ¥1,121 per hour across the country's 47 prefectures, the largest increase since 1978.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, sign trade agreements on Thursday in Washington.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2025
Japan's $550 billion investment pledge outlined in MOU
U.S. President Donald Trump will direct the investments and the projects funded by Japan will be controlled by the United States.
A former Bank of Japan chief economist says growing market speculation about a potential rate hike in October is underestimating the uncertainty caused by U.S President's Donald Trump's tariff campaign.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2025
BOJ’s October rate stance tough to call, its ex-chief economist says
Speculation over a potential rate hike underestimates the uncertainty wrought by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign, Toshitaka Sekine says.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, shake hands.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2025
Trump signs order reducing tariffs on Japanese autos
The executive order signed by the U.S. president on Thursday in Washington sets auto tariffs on Japan at 15%.
Japan's nominal wages increased 4.1% in July from a year earlier, marking the steepest increase since December.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2025
Japan's wages make biggest gain in seven months, backing case for rate hike
Real wages also rose for the first time this year in July, edging up by 0.5%.
The Finance Ministry building in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2025
Government agencies' fiscal 2026 budget requests hit record
The total requested amount rose sharply from ¥117.6 trillion in the previous year to ¥122.4 trillion.
Global markets are bracing for a shift as rising Japanese yields draw investors back home, says RBC Capital Markets.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 4, 2025
Japanese investors face ‘sea change’ in rising yields, RBC says
"For the first time since 2020, Japanese investors will have yields attractive enough to invest at home,” said Richard Cochinos, a currency strategist.
Former Suntory Holdings CEO Takeshi Niinami said he did not violate the law.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2025
Niinami, a tough and respected leader, remains at helm of Keizai Doyukai for now
He has championed fast wage increases and a tough approach to wrongdoing.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, is reportedly planning to travel to Washington on Thursday for another round of talks over tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 3, 2025
Akazawa likely to leave Thursday for 10th round of tariff talks with U.S.: report
Akazawa abruptly canceled a to the United States just before departure last week, raising concern that the trade deal reached by the two countries on July 22 was in danger.
Dan Kerrigan, CEO of Interactive Brokers Securities Japan, said inflation is here and more money is likely to move into stocks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2025
Last man standing is bullish on Japanese stocks
Dan Kerrigan, the CEO of Interactive Brokers, has been here for decades and seen it all.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 3, 2025
Ishiba meets with BOJ's Ueda to discuss economy and markets
The pair’s first meeting since February suggests Ishiba is trying to show market participants that his government and the BOJ will be coordinating closely.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief negotiator, said he will be watching legal developments in the United States as tariff cases there move forward.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2025
Hope in Tokyo as Trump tariffs declared illegal
The decision is seen as potentially having some significance.
Japanese issuers are set to exceed $100 billion in bond issuance this year, marking a record in both dollars and euros, with companies surging into the primary debt market on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2025
Japanese companies near $100 billion milestone in global bond issuance
Nomura Holdings and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group have kicked off dollar bond sales in a week expected to be among the busiest of the year for global debt offerings.
Capital expenditure by Japanese businesses on goods excluding software gained for a fifth consecutive quarter in the three months through June.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 1, 2025
Japanese firms pare back capital spending as U.S. tariffs hit
Capital expenditure on goods excluding software gained for a fifth consecutive quarter, but slowed to a pace of 0.2% compared to the previous period.
The Finance Ministry building in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2025
Japan fiscal 2026 budget requests likely to top ¥122 trillion
The increase is due to surges in debt-servicing costs, including loan repayments and interest payments, and policy-related expenses reflecting rising prices and wages.
A robot serves as a porter at Mita Garden Hills, a large apartment in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 31, 2025
Robots increasingly used in Japan to enhance business efficiency
As the country needs to address labor shortages urgently, companies and workers are exploring how robots and humans can work together better for business efficiency.
Japan's chief tariffs negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, expects to visit the U.S. at least once more before the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump issues an executive order to formally lower tariffs on Japanese imports.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2025
Akazawa expects to make another trip to U.S. ahead of executive order
Various consultations need to be completed before the agreement can be implemented, Japan's chief tariff negotiator says.
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.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.3% in July, down 0.2 points from the previous month, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2025
Japan's unemployment rate falls to 2.3% in July
The number of jobless people decreased 4.7% to 1.64 million as more people found new jobs after leaving their previous positions for better opportunities.
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.
Bangladesh is a South Asian time bomb
Many Bangladeshis hoped that the overthrow of long-time leader Sheikh Hasina last year would revitalize the country’s democracy after an authoritarian lurch under the “iron lady.” Instead it has led to proliferating human-rights abuses, intensifying repression and widespread Islamist violence.
‘Confugenics’ and East Asia's demographic crisis
East Asia’s fertility plunge is driven not just by financial costs but by perfectionist cultural expectations that burden parents with intense educational and social demands.
Tropical Storm Peipah brings heavy rain to parts of western Japan
Tropical Storm Peipah made landfall in western Japan on Friday, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue warnings of landslides and other disasters due to heavy rainfall in several areas.
Trump signs order reducing tariffs on Japanese autos
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, shake hands.
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.
London’s calling and sumo’s top division — along with Hello Kitty — are ready to answer
Yokozuna Hoshoryu and Hello Kitty, an ambassador for sumo's upcoming tour to London, at Tokyo's Kokugikan on Tuesday
Resonac creates 27-member consortium to pursue advanced chip developments
Representatives from member companies of JOINT3, a consortium working together on semiconductor-related developments announced by Resonac, pose for a photo in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Haru Nemuri’s radical new album refuses easy listening
Musician Haruna Kimishima, better known as Haru Nemuri, confronts Japan’s politics, nationalism and censorship on her recent output.
Overseas sluggers step up to bat in small-town Hokkaido
The Betsukai Pilot Spirits welcomed new players (left to right) Yuta Yamanaka, Roman Guthrie, Scott Bellina and Leo Jiminian this year, pictured here with Yassir Lachkar of the Ishikari Red Phoenix.
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.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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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