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October 14, 2025
 

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WAGES

Japanese household spending fell in September for the second straight month as higher prices choked consumers' appetite.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 8, 2024
Japan’s households cut spending once again as prices rise
Consumer spending in Japan has consistently failed to show clear signs of strength as shoppers have been forced to cope with prices increasing.
The pace of gains in Japanese workers' base pay quickened to 2.6% year on year in September, versus a 2.4% clip in August.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 7, 2024
Japan’s biggest base pay gains in 31 years support case for rate hikes
While base pay rose in September, real wages fell for a second straight month even as price gains slowed.
UA Zensen President Tomoko Nagashima addresses the labor union's meeting in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2024
Japan’s UA Zensen union aims for continued 6% wage hike in 2025
UA Zensen’s target follows an announcement last month by Rengo that it will continue to aim for at least a 5% pay rise in the next round of negotiations.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2024
Japan’s potential kingmaker says BOJ shouldn’t hike before March
The central bank needs to closely examine the results of next year’s wage deal results before moving on policy again, Tamaki said.
Boeing workers hold signs during a strike rally for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at the Seattle Union Hall in Seattle, Washington, on Oct. 15.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 1, 2024
Striking Boeing workers set to vote on union-endorsed 38% wage hike offer
The vote on Monday, if approved, would be a boost for new CEO Kelly Ortberg, who is pushing for a "fundamental culture change" at the beleaguered company.
Leaders of the three major business groups — Keidanren, Keizai Doyukai and the Japan Chamber of Commerce — meet Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Oct. 4 in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024
¥1,500 minimum wage or bust, Japanese companies told
Managers unable to keep up with the minimum-wage increase schedule “are unfit for their positions,” Keizai Doyukai Chair Takeshi Niinami has said.
Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, stresses the significance of supporting all households with children at all stages of life.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 21, 2024
LDP calls for higher incomes for young people
Secretary-general Hiroshi Moriyama said, "It's important to increase the incomes of young people and families with children."
Workers picket outside the Boeing Co. manufacturing facility during a strike in Renton, Washington, on Oct. 3.
COMMENTARY
Oct 20, 2024
Time for unions to join the 21st-century economy
Automation stands to make U.S. ports and transportation of goods cheaper and more efficient. And it is easy to see why unions oppose it.
Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2024
Big wage increase sought by Japan’s largest union slightly underwhelms
For the 2025 spring wage negotiations, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation is aiming for a wage hike of "over 5%," the same goal as this year.
New economic revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks during an interview on Tuesday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 10, 2024
Japan is aiming for a growth-oriented economy, new minister says
The new minister also underlined his resolve to attain the government's target of raising the weighted average of minimum wages in the 2020s.
Japan's real wages fell in August year-on-year after turning positive for the previous two months for the first time in more than two years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 8, 2024
Real wages in Japan drop in August after two months of gains
Analysts say that real-wage growth could turn positive again in September, in part due to the reintroduction of electricity bill subsidies.
Keidanren chief Masakazu Tokura (center, left) presents the business lobby group's policy requests to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba alongside the Japan Association of Corporate Executives' Takeshi Niinami (far left) and Ken Kobayashi of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Friday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2024
Japan's three major business lobbies submit policy requests to Ishiba
Ishiba told the three business leaders that ending the Japanese economy's deflationary state is a top priority.
A tea field in Makinohara, the birthplace of Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, in August. The city in Shizuoka Prefecture, which once thrived on a now-declining tea industry, exemplifies disparities between Japan's struggling rural areas and its bustling megacities.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 4, 2024
In Bank of Japan chief's birthplace, Ueda's policy puzzle is laid bare
Makinohara's mayor says the Shizuoka Prefecture surf town is not keeping pace with Japan's broader recovery.
Labor union members rally and call for an increase of the average minimum wage in Tokyo in July.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 2, 2024
Japan’s new prime minister moots minimum wage moon shot
To achieve Ishiba’s target, increases of over 7% a year would be needed, which economists say would be a challenge.
Suntory alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 26, 2024
Suntory to raise monthly wages by 7% in 2025
Suntory will carry out a 7% raise for the third straight year.
A user receives ¥50,000 of their salary through the PayPay app.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2024
SoftBank makes first salary payments via its digital platform PayPay
Employees asking to receive part of their salaries via cashless payment services received the money through the PayPay platform, operated by a SoftBank Group affiliate.
Union members react as Aerospace Machinists District 751 President Jon Holden (out of frame) announces that union members rejected a proposed Boeing contract and will go on strike, following voting results at their union hall in Seattle, Washington, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024
Boeing workers going on strike after 96% vote for walkout
The Boeing workers' last strike in 2008 shuttered plants for 52 days and hit revenue by an estimated $100 million per day.
Labor market reform will likely be a hot economic debate topic in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, the campaign of which kicked off on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2024
Labor market reform becoming hot topic in LDP leadership race
Candidates differ in how they intend to tackle labor market issues, especially on whether to give firms more flexibility in the dismissing of workers.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. The BOJ was seen as having contributed to the global market meltdown in early August after its 0.25% hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 6, 2024
BOJ’s hiking pace may be faster than expected, ex-official says
While almost no economists expect the BOJ to adjust its benchmark rate on Sept. 20, many BOJ watchers expect another rate hike by January.
Real cash earnings for workers in Japan climbed 0.4% in July from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2024
Japan real wages unexpectedly rise, keeping BOJ on hike path
Real cash earnings for workers climbed 0.4% in July from a year earlier, the labor ministry has reported.
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
After ruling bloc collapses, LDP and opposition scramble to find needed votes for PM
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday after leaving the ruling coalition earlier in the day.
After plenty of ups and downs, Osaka Expo concludes with message of unity
The sun sets on the Grand Ring on the final day of the Osaka Expo on Monday.
Hamas hands over surviving Israeli hostages as Trump visits region
Released Israeli hostages, twins Gali and Ziv Berman, held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, speak to each other after being released, as part of a prisoner-hostage swap and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Reim, Israel, on Monday.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
A Japanese comedian walks into an Aussie bar … and stays there
Takashi “Waka” Wakasugi stopped by the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya Ward last month following his stint at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing his show “Comedy Samurai.”

Podcast

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

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By Patrick St. Michel

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