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January 10, 2025
 

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BUSINESS

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Consumer spending in Japan has been on a downtrend for months.
BUSINESS / Economy
Japan’s household spending falls, weighing on BOJ rate hike path
Outlays adjusted for inflation fell 0.4% in November from a year earlier, led by household durable goods and clothing.
BUSINESS / Economy
Real wages fall for a fourth month, squeezing Japanese households further
Inflation-adjusted real wages dropped 0.3% from a year earlier in November as some food prices and utility rates increased.
BUSINESS / Economy
Japan sales of foreign-brand vehicles fall 8.5% in 2024
Sales of foreign-brand vehicles priced lower than ¥4 million plunged 28.6%, while sales of those priced between ¥4 million and less than ¥10 million dipped 2.2%.
Former Bank of Japan board member Makoto Sakurai sees the likelihood of a hike in March as high as 70%, as the central bank may be better off waiting out at least the first couple of months of the new administration of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 9, 2025
Former BOJ board member sees rising chance of March rate hike
By Toru Fujioka and Sumio Ito
Makoto Sakurai says the central bank may wait out at least the first couple of months of the new administration of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
People shop at a market in New Delhi on Nov. 4. On Tuesday, India forecast annual growth of 6.4% for its fiscal year ending March, the slowest in four years and below the government's initial projections.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 8, 2025
India looks to new economic playbook as risks mount
By Shivangi Acharya and Nikunj Ohri
Disappointing economic indicators and a slowdown in corporate earnings in the second half of 2024 have forced investors to rethink the country's earlier outperformance.
Economy minister Yoji Muto during a meeting on Wednesday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 8, 2025
Economy minister calls for continued wage increases
"Now is the time to step on the accelerator on wages and investment in order to transition to a growth-oriented economy," said Yoji Muto.
A retired power station in the Keratsini suburb, near Athens
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 7, 2025
Europe's power price divide hits southeastern economies
By Angeliki Koutantou, Forrest Crellin and Edward McAllister
Since 2021, Greece has spent €11 billion on energy subsidies to try to protect customers.
With the continued wage and price hikes, the Japanese economy will likely grow steadily in fiscal 2025 that will start in April, according to some private think tanks.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jan 2, 2025
Economists see continued rise in Japan's wages and prices in fiscal '25
Uncertainty surrounding the impact of policies under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump are seen as a key risk factor.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a news conference after a policy meeting in Tokyo on Dec. 19.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 1, 2025
After historic year, the Bank of Japan ambles into 2025
By Kazuaki Nagata
Two or three rate hikes expected this year could take the central bank's benchmark to 1% for the first time in three decades.
Atsushi Mimura, vice minister of finance for international affairs, speaks during an interview at the ministry on Dec. 20.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 30, 2024
Japan sees G7 role increasing in divided world
"There are not many countries like Japan that can speak with the U.S. on equal terms," said top financial diplomat Atsushi Mimura.

TV networks drop Japan boy band star over sex allegations
Masahiro Nakai in Tokyo in October 2017
Emanuel leaves reform legacy amid historic shifts in U.S.-Japan alliance
Rahm Emanuel professes that the biggest thing he has brought to the U.S.-Japan relationship might be a fresh injection of vitality.
Police rearrest suspect in McDonald's attack on murder charge
Masanori Hirabaru, 43, is escorted out of a police station in Kitakyushu on Dec. 20 to be brought to prosecutors in relation to a double stabbing at a McDonald's outlet in Fukuoka Prefecture. He was rearrested Thursday on a charge of murder.
New York Times chooses Toyama and Osaka as top places to go in 2025
The Toyama City Library, designed by Kengo Kuma, in November. The library is part of a building called Toyama Kirari that also houses the Glass Art Museum.
Japan to deepen U.S. alliance, former Prime Minister Suga says in Washington
Former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (right) and Sen. William Hagerty, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, hold talks in Washington on Wednesday.
Hair removal for kids — boosting confidence or preying on insecurities?
Beauty salon Dione, which has over 100 branches nationwide, offers hair removal treatments for children as young as 3 years old. It uses hair removal equipment that emits a special light heated to around 38 degrees Celsius, unlike conventional equipment that involves temperatures of 60 to 80 C.
Sumo’s brotherhood gets latest inductee
Chugo Saito at Isenoumi stable on Friday. Saito has joined his older brother, Seigo, at the stable.
As standards rise, Tokyo Stock Exchange delistings hit decade high
The Tokyo Stock Exchange wants companies to improve governance and performance.
Swiping in Japan: How Gen Z is changing the dating app game
Many Japanese dating apps have ways to detail specific interests that can be as narrow as one particular TV show, game or an artist.
Blinken in final Japan visit as Trump's return weighs on Tokyo's mind
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya at the start of their working lunch at a hotel in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Podcast

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

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake
By Kathryn Wortley

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