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July 08, 2025
 

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JAPANESE ECONOMY

Yen traders are bracing for 160 to the dollar or even further declines.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 16, 2024
Yen traders brace for 160 level even as intervention risks rise
The yen weakened 1% last week alone as fears of higher-for-longer U.S. borrowing costs spurred a stampede to the dollar.
Some analysts say machinery orders are on track for a recovery as core machinery orders rose 7.7% in February from the previous month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 15, 2024
Machinery orders rise sharply, possibly easing domestic demand worries
Some analysts say machinery orders are on track for a recovery.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden during a joint news conference at the White House on Wednesday
BUSINESS / EXPLAINER
Apr 15, 2024
Biden-Kishida summit drives home U.S.-Japan economic union
The leaders used their meeting to bake economic cooperation into the allies' relationship in hopes of making it harder to pull out of in the future.
Average age of Japanese chief executives increased for 33 consecutive years to 60.5 last year.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2024
Japan biz leaders' average age rises for 33rd straight year
As of December last year, the average age of company leaders stood at 60.5 years old. In 1990, the average age was 54.
Masayoshi Matsumoto
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2024
Osaka Expo legacy could bolster Kansai's economy
Kansai accounts for about 5% of Japan’s GDP, but by utilizing the new technologies to be showcased at the expo, it could possibly increase the size to 20%.
The departure hall at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Now with inflation at its strongest in decades, Japanese are starting to realize that years of static wages leave many of them budgeting each month before their next pay check.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024
Japan’s young workers head abroad as huge wage gap persists
The outflow is also a sign that many Japanese aren’t buying into the nation’s economic optimism as it exits from decades of deflation.
Sweden is known for its generous parental leave system, with parents allowed to share 480 days of leave per child and 90% of fathers taking such time off.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 12, 2024
Swedish-style paternity leave could unleash Japan’s potential
In Sweden, most new fathers take paternity leave, with direct benefits for the economy and families — an approach that holds important lessons for Japan.
Global banks are responding to increased demand for information about Japan’s companies and markets amid a resurgent stock market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024
Global banks ramp up roadshows for clients eager to bet on Japan
Foreign investors bought the most Japanese equities since 2013, last week.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Apr 10, 2024
Kishida’s U.S. trip highlights economic and political compatibility
Kishida has worked closely with Biden to enhance the Japan-U.S. alliance, with the countries labeling their bilateral ties a “global partnership.”
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. The central bank will probably discuss revising up its projection for growth in consumer prices for the current fiscal year, sources said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 10, 2024
BOJ said to mull raising inflation view on strong pay deals
Rising oil prices and the weak yen are spurring inflationary pressure that could fuel speculation of earlier moves by the BOJ.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway would be the first major non-financial overseas debt issuer to sell yen bonds after the Bank of Japan last month scrapped the world’s last negative interest rate.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 9, 2024
Berkshire plans to sell first yen bonds since BOJ move
The U.S. company last turned to the yen bond markets in November, with a ¥122 billion ($803 million) five-tranche deal.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda has indicated the central bank's debt buying will be dialed back at some point.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2024
Japan’s bond market liquidity improves as BOJ loosens its grip
Among the signs of progress, the average bid-ask spread to trade the country’s debt has tightened to the narrowest in at least six months.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki says authorities are watching exchange-rate moves closely and won't rule out any options.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 9, 2024
Japan warns against excessive volatility as yen slides near fresh lows
The yen briefly hit ¥151.840 to the dollar, within striking distance of the 34-year low of ¥151.975 marked last month.
A street in Ota Ward, Tokyo, on March 15. In the year through March, bankruptcies mainly rose among small and midsize companies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 8, 2024
Japan's business failures top 9,000 for first time in nine years
In the year through March, bankruptcies mainly rose among small and midsize companies as they struggled to raise prices to reflect higher costs.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda listens to a question during a news conference after a two-day monetary policy meeting at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on March 19.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 8, 2024
Ueda's first year as BOJ chief marked by smooth handling of policy shift
But the central bank governor now has to balance various factors, including how further rate hikes might affect not just the yen but also households.
Real cash earnings for Japanese workers in February dropped 1.3% from a year earlier, government data has shown.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 8, 2024
Japan’s decline in real wages likely to keep BOJ on hold for now
The latest decline in real wages comes as growth in consumer prices accelerated to 2.8% in February, the quickest pace since November.
A lone Tesla charges in the basement of a commercial property in Tokyo. One of Japan’s biggest obstacles to electric vehicles is subpar charging infrastructure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 8, 2024
How three high-tech countries became laggards in electric vehicles
Japan's slow adoption traces back to a decade-old bet on hydrogen fuel-cell technology, while U.S. and South Korea have hit bottlenecks.
Japanese household spending fell 0.5% in February from a year earlier, down for a 12th straight month, indicating the impact of persistent price increases on spending patterns.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 5, 2024
Japan’s households continue to cut outlays as inflation hits
Outlays decreased 0.5% in February from a year ago, sliding for a 12th consecutive month.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 5, 2024
BOJ downgrades biggest number of regional economies in two years
The central bank kept its appraisals of just two areas unchanged, according to a quarterly regional economic report Thursday.
The Bank of Japan's steady policy normalization process will probably start next year, with potentially a 25-basis-point rate increase every six months, a former policy board member says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 4, 2024
BOJ will wait until October before hiking rates again, says ex-board member
Makoto Sakurai believes a steady policy normalization process may start next year, with potentially a 25-basis-point rate increase every six months.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
China’s housing crisis is worse than it seems
Residential buildings under construction in Shanghai in July 2022. The Chinese government risks long-term decline by repeating Japan’s policy mistakes in handling its real estate and demographic crises.
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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Longform

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What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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