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March 31, 2025
 

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Leika Kihara
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 16, 2017
Frugal households offer no respite for BOJ, retailers
Naruhito Nogami, a 37-year-old systems engineer in Tokyo, drives to discount stores on weekends to buy cheap groceries in bulk, even though he earns enough to make ends meet and the prospects for Japan's economic recovery are brighter.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2017
U.S. may find tough negotiator in fiery minister Aso
In his presidential campaign last year, U.S. President Donald Trump promised to scrap trade deals that gave unfair advantages to other nations and replace them with new ones that would revitalize the U.S. economy and bring jobs back home.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 16, 2017
Souring relations with market puts BOJ's bold experiment to test
Japan's attempts to revive anemic consumer spending through unconventional monetary policy have created new problems for the central bank in its daily dealings with financial markets, as rising global yields muddle its efforts to manage local rates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2016
Bank of Japan tries financial education where a mound of money failed
Having spent more than three years and trillions of dollars in a losing battle against deflation, the Bank of Japan is hoping that a little financial education will convince a nation of inveterate savers to put their cash to better use.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 25, 2016
As Abenomics loses shine, Japan's shoppers seek bargains
Three years of Abenomics, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bold stimulus program, has failed to dislodge a deflationary mindset among businesses and consumers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2016
BOJ makes contingency plans for Brexit, sees dollar squeeze a risk
Policymakers are in frequent contact with their European counterparts on how to soothe markets if Britain votes to leave the European Union, with the first line of defense aimed at preventing a shortage of dollar liquidity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 13, 2016
BOJ to debate exempting $90 billion in short-term funds from negative rates
The Bank of Japan's policy board is set to discuss this week whether to exempt $90 billion in short-term funds from its newly imposed negative interest rate, people familiar with the matter said, after the securities industry warned that investment money would be driven into bank deposits.
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2015
Kuroda's call for firms to do more to fight deflation seen indicating BOJ's out of QQE ammo
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda J is urging companies to do more to tackle deflation, a tacit admission that his massive money-printing exercise has failed and policymakers are losing faith in the point of delivering more of the same.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 23, 2015
BOJ to snip GDP, inflation forecasts for 2015, 2016
The Bank of Japan will cut its growth and inflation outlook for this fiscal year at a rate review next week, but only slightly tweak its projections for next year, sources said, possibly tempering expectations that the central bank will soon ease monetary policy further.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2015
Bank of Japan to stand pat even as goals depart from reality, sources say
Bank of Japan policymakers are in no mood to expand monetary stimulus this week, sources familiar with their thinking say, even as poor data challenges their presumption that economic recovery will boost inflation to its 2 percent target next year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 20, 2015
Worries over Chinese yuan put BOJ in a bind
China's devaluation of the yuan exposes an undefended flank in the Bank of Japan's efforts to jolt its flagging economy out of decades of deflation, which rely heavily on a solid pick-up in overseas demand.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jul 5, 2015
Japan using robots as fix for labor, growth woes
Factory worker Satomi Iwata has new coworkers, a troupe of humanoid automata that are helping to address two of Japan's most pressing concerns — a shortage of labor and a need for growth.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 29, 2015
Spending slump casts doubt on Bank of Japan optimism
Household spending slumped unexpectedly in April and consumer inflation came in roughly flat, casting doubt on the central bank's view that a steady economic recovery will help move inflation toward its ambitious 2 percent target.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 22, 2015
Abe-Kuroda 'honeymoon' risks being soured by fiscal friction
The rift between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his hand-picked central banker is becoming hard to conceal, leaving “Abenomics” and its money-printing program under a dark cloud.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2015
China eager to learn from Japan's economic missteps
China is poring over Japanese history for economic lessons to keep its massive economy away from the recession and deflation that has blighted Japan for 20 years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Dec 9, 2014
BOJ increasingly likely to cut price forecasts, sources say
The Bank of Japan looks increasingly likely to cut its inflation forecasts next month, sources say, making its target of 2 percent in the year from April look ever more ambitious, just three months after it eased monetary policy to keep the goal in sight.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2014
Kuroda sprang easing surprise to head off damaging inflation forecast
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda not only surprised the markets with his latest splurge of monetary easing. He sprang it on his own Policy Board members just two days earlier, jolted into action to stop them from making a lowball forecast that might have sunk his flagship inflation target.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 10, 2014
Kuroda sprang easing surprise to head off damaging inflation forecast
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda not only surprised the markets with his latest splurge of monetary easing. He sprang it on his own Policy Board members just two days earlier, jolted into action to stop them making a low-ball forecast that might have sunk his flagship inflation target.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
May 27, 2014
Confident of recovery, Bank of Japan eyes stimulus exit
The Bank of Japan has begun shifting its focus from supporting growth to phasing out its massive stimulus, taking the first tentative steps toward a potentially momentous move for the world economy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 12, 2014
Weak exports, not tax hike, could shake BOJ
The Bank of Japan is increasingly confident that the economy is weathering the recent tax increase and on its way out of deflation, but another threat to that optimistic scenario is lurking in the form of weak exports.
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination
Zensho Holdings, operator of fast-food chain Sukiya, said it will close all of its stores in Japan, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday and Friday following recent contamination incidents.
School-age suicides in Japan hit all-time high
A volunteer handles an incoming call at the Tokyo Befrienders call center, a suicide hotline center in Japan's capital.
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
In Tokyo, Pentagon chief provides assurances that Japan-U.S. alliance remains robust
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left) and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo ahead of their talks Sunday.
Alert raised for volcano in southwestern Japan
Shinmoedake, a volcano located between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, in November 2019
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.
Traveling the Three-Star Road, the tourist route made from thin air
Scenes like this snow-covered bridge leading to the village of Shirakawa-go are what make the Three-Star Road worth traveling — its name notwithstanding.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.
Hanami season to have record ¥1.39 trillion economic impact on Japan
Cherry blossoms along a road in Tokyo on Tuesday. The 2025 cherry blossom season is expected to have an economic impact of around ¥1.39 trillion on Japan.

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