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April 12, 2025
 

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ECONOMY

One problem with assessments of China’s economic health is that they tend to treat China like a “normal” modern economy, and assume that policy tools familiar to Western economies are similarly useful.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024
China’s economy has not peaked
What happens to the world economy and global geopolitics in 2025 will depend significantly on China. But prevailing assessments of its economic health are deeply flawed.
The Japanese economy is expected to grow 1.2% in fiscal 2025 in price-adjusted real terms, according to a government forecast.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2024
Japan's government expects 1.2% economic growth for fiscal 2025
The government maintained its view that personal consumption will be solid thanks to stable inflation and the effects of its economic package.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at the meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2024
Japan wage growth projected to outpace inflation in fiscal 2025
In fiscal 2025, nominal wages are projected to increase 2.8% from the previous year, while the overall consumer price index is forecast to rise 2.0%.
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Type 10 main battle tank fires ammunition during a live fire exercise at the JGSDF's training grounds in the East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 26, 2024
Japan set to approve record budget, spending more on defense and regions
While the government will have to lean heavily on debt issuance, record tax receipts will enable the cutting back of fresh bond issuance by almost a fifth.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda appears to want to keep his options open by noting the need to keep rates low to support the economy while flagging the risk of maintaining them at low levels for too long.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 25, 2024
Ueda avoids giving clear hint on chances of January rate hike
The Bank of Japan governor is sticking to his view that the central bank needs to keep monitoring risks for the economy.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from the left) making a statement at a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2024
Japan eyes regional revitalization and economic growth
A basic concept for the promotion of regional revitalization was drawn up to promote economic growth and address the issue of overcrowding in Tokyo.
"In order to secure quality talent, we have to raise wages above inflation," Daiwa Securities CEO Akihiko Ogino has said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024
Daiwa aims to raise wages at least 5% next year amid competition for talent
Daiwa is discussing a pay raise of at least 5% for the financial year beginning in April 2025, after hikes of 5%, 4% and 7% in the three years prior.
Small businesses in Ino, a town in Kochi Prefecture known for its paper industry, show how a labor shortage is a growing threat to smaller companies that provide seven out of every 10 jobs in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 24, 2024
Small businesses with low wages struggle to tackle labor shortages
A worker shortage is threatening firms that are otherwise robust, including those that have invested in automation and creative hiring.
A Wall Street sign in front of a U.S. Flag outside the New York Stock Exchange before the Federal Reserve announcement in New York on Sept. 18.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 24, 2024
Risks stack up for the global economy in 2025
New spending priorities beckon for national budgets already stretched after the pandemic, from tackling climate change to boosting armies to caring for aging populations.
Minutes from the Bank of Japan's October policy meeting highlight how overseas economic risks, particularly those surrounding the new U.S. administration's policies, will be key to how soon the BOJ will hike rates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 24, 2024
BOJ debated need for caution in raising rates, meeting minutes show
Contrary to its concern over external risks, the BOJ board was mostly optimistic on domestic economic conditions.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in October 2017. Canada, like other nations in the president-elect's crosshairs, is scrambling to blunt the impact of his threat to implement steep tariffs once he re-takes office.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2024
The creep of national security threatens the WTO
In Trump's mind, tariffs are the cure-all for virtually everything that ails the United States.
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda said in July that the central bank’s holdings would decrease by 7% to 8% in about two years’ time, but they are set to stay at higher-than-desirable levels in the long-term.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 23, 2024
Japan's bond supply set to reach decade high as BOJ bond purchases slow
The BOJ’s plan to almost halve bond purchases comes as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans additional spending in an extra budget.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Strategists are now feeling less optimistic on the yen’s outlook after Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda opened up the possibility of waiting longer for the next rate hike.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 23, 2024
Yen bulls retreat as Fed and BOJ dim hopes of quick narrowing of rate gap
Wide gaps in interest rates could bring back the yen carry trade, in which investors borrow in Japan and deploy the funds in higher-yielding markets.
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Personal debt is overwhelming an increasing number of Japanese as higher interest rates and the rising cost of living bite.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Dec 21, 2024
Economists see BOJ's policy review as insufficient
The massive easing policy has caused adverse effects, such as a loosening of fiscal discipline, economists said.
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2024
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The poll found that people worry most about their own health, plans for life after retirement, and the outlook for future income and assets.
A pedestrian crossing in Tokyo's Ginza district. In an economic report released Friday, the government cut its assessment on corporate profits for the first time since March 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 20, 2024
Japan says overall economy recovering, but cuts view on corporate profits
Among key economic areas, the government cut its assessment on corporate profits for the first time since March 2023 as the pace of its recovery was moderating.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday that Japan will take appropriate action if there are excessive moves in the currency market, as the yen resumed its rapid downturn.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 20, 2024
Japan warns on yen after BOJ’s dovish messaging extends slide
Recent sharp movements in the yen feed into concerns that the government may intervene in the currency market.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier driven by higher energy costs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 20, 2024
Japan’s inflation accelerates on energy as BOJ seeks more data
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier driven by higher energy costs.
Nissan and Honda may be nearing a merger to address Nissan's struggles, forming a second major hub in Japan's auto industry to rival Toyota.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 19, 2024
A Honda-Nissan merger is a slow-moving savior
Nissan is struggling — burning through cash and with billions of dollars of debt due in a little over a year.
Takayasu’s latest heartbreak makes sumo history
Takayasu during the one-day Annual Sumo Tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Feb 9, 2020
How police are cracking down on 'scout' sex broker groups
The skyline during sunset in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Japan's new underground criminal groups operate under a highly organized and brutal system.
The man who sent Japan's cherry blossoms out to the world
Masatoshi Asari is one of Japan’s foremost living authorities on cherry trees and their blossoms.
Tokyo cheers Trump’s tariff U-turn with second-biggest market gain ever
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday in Washington.
Berkshire sells $628 million in yen bonds in smallest Japan deal
Berkshire Hathaway concluded a ¥90 billion ($628 million) bond deal on Friday, the smallest yen deal by investor Warren Buffett’s firm since it started tapping the Japanese market in 2019.
How police are cracking down on 'scout' sex broker groups
The skyline during sunset in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Japan's new underground criminal groups operate under a highly organized and brutal system.
Tokyo cheers Trump’s tariff U-turn with second-biggest market gain ever
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday in Washington.
Takayasu’s latest heartbreak makes sumo history
Takayasu during the one-day Annual Sumo Tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Feb 9, 2020
Who is Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's tariffs negotiator?
Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, who Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has appointed Japan's tariff negotiator, is one of his closest allies and busiest ministers.
After a tumultuous buildup, a first look at the Osaka Expo
A large statue of Osaka Expo mascot Myaku Myaku sits near the east entrance of the event's venue in Yumeshima island, Osaka, on Wednesday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.
By Tomoko Otake

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