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April 02, 2025
 

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ECONOMY

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Jan. 24.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 31, 2025
BOJ's Ueda voices confidence conveying rate hike message to market
Ueda said the BOJ’s policy settings are still accommodative after recent rate hikes and that would remain the case as the central bank continues to support the inflation trend.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2025
Japan wary of taking another hit if Trump slaps tariffs on China
Policymakers, investors and economists are watching Trump’s trade policy amid fears that his threatened use of tariffs could batter global commerce.
Prices of some 1,600 food items, including Ezaki Glico's chocolate snack Pocky, will be raised in February.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2025
Prices of 1,656 food items to increase in Japan in February
There are notable price hikes for chocolate confectioneries, flour products and frozen food using rice.
YouTuber Kazuki Nakata looks at his indoor farm at his home in Kawasaki on Monday. The 37-year-old now has nearly 90,000 subscribers eager to learn how to stretch out store-bought vegetables and grow new ones amid soaring produce prices.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 31, 2025
Japanese look for creative ways to fight soaring food prices
As the price of agricultural products has risen, Japanese have also been eating less of them.
Donald Trump’s rapid use of tariffs, disregard for conventional diplomacy and fixation on strength risk undermining the global economic order, isolating the U.S. and triggering widespread economic harm.
EDITORIALS
Jan 31, 2025
The Trump test begins: Tariffs, power plays and economic risk
The speed with which the U.S. president reached for this tariff tool — against an ally no less — is proof that his threats are not empty words.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food in Tokyo climbed 2.5% in January from a year earlier, the fastest pace since last February.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 31, 2025
Tokyo inflation hits fastest pace in a year, supporting BOJ view
Consumer prices excluding fresh food in the capital climbed 2.5% in January from a year earlier.
Even before U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office this month, uncertainty motivated businesses to rush shipments.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Jan 31, 2025
Companies race to ship goods to the U.S. ahead of potential tariffs
Even before Trump returned to office, uncertainty motivated many businesses to rush shipments to the U.S.
A Japanese class at a job placement company in Hanoi in 2022. The number of foreign workers in Japan hit a record high in 2024.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2025
Japan’s foreign workforce hits fresh record as labor crisis deepens
Japan had a record 2.3 million foreign workers as of October 2024, marking a 12.4% increase from the previous year.
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino speaks during an interview in June 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2025
BOJ deputy signals more room to hike given negative real rates
The deputy governor cemented the BOJ’s message that the central bank is looking to hike rates further in the future.
The Finance Ministry raised its economic assessment for Hokkaido while keeping it unchanged for the remaining 10 of the country's 11 regions covered in the report.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2025
Japan's Finance Ministry raises its economic view for Hokkaido
On consumption, the ministry left its assessments unchanged for 10 regions, while upgrading its view for Hokkaido.
The latest projection underscores the growing financial strain Japan will likely face amid anticipated additional rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2025
Japan sees debt-service costs jumping 25% by 2028 as BOJ hikes
The latest projection underscores the growing financial strain Japan will likely face amid anticipated additional rate hikes by the central bank.
The Bank of Japan's phasing out of its fund-provisioning program underscores Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s determination to slowly but steadily proceed with the normalization of policy after more than a decade of radical monetary easing.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2025
BOJ to shrink balance sheet by around ¥77 trillion with end of loan program
All outstanding loans from the central bank's fund-provisioning program to stimulate bank lending are expected to be wiped off its books by March 2028.
Nidec announced its takeover bid for machine manufacturer Makino Milling Machine without first making a proposal. Such nonconsensual takeover bids are increasing.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 29, 2025
Japanese ministry opens door to taboo corporate takeovers
It used to be common for takeover bids to be launched after both sides reached an agreement in behind-the-scenes negotiations.
Many workers at small companies continue to fall behind as wages fail to keep up with inflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2025
Smaller Japanese companies unlikely to meet wage-increase target for 2025
For this year’s spring negotiations, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation set hike targets of more than 6% for smaller firms.
People were more concerned about the direct and specific impact of the Bank of Japan's latest rate hike on their personal lives, according to an artificial intelligence-driven analysis of various platforms, including social media.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2025
Japan begins feeling the pain of BOJ rate hikes more concretely
As time goes on, the BOJ’s rate increases appear to be having a stronger impact on people’s everyday lives, shifting from more abstract concepts to more concrete effects.
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda during a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Oct. 31, 2014
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2025
BOJ policymakers divided over additional easing in Oct. 2014
The actions taken as a result of the meeting took market players by surprise, sending the yen lower against the dollar and Japanese stocks higher.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a House Republican members conference meeting at Trump National Doral resort in Miami on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 28, 2025
Trump pledges tariffs ‘much bigger’ than 2.5% and on key sectors
The American president's remarks were the latest in a string of major signals that he’s preparing widespread levies to reshape U.S. supply chains.
Economic coercion has become a prominent tool in global geopolitics, with both China and the U.S. relying on it to pursue their policy goals, and more so with Donald Trump now in office.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2025
When big countries wave their big economic sticks
There is no agreed definition of economic coercion under international law; like pornography, we know it when we see it.
Despite Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s efforts to explain his thinking, many struggle to grasp the BOJ's position as businesses face high costs and weak demand while consumers deal with rising prices and stagnant wages.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 28, 2025
The Bank of Japan’s communication challenges
Despite limited developments that would justify a policy shift since December, Japan's central bank nevertheless went ahead to raise interest rates.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a news conference following the central bank's policy meeting on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 28, 2025
BOJ watchers think next interest rate hike will be in six months
The central bank is likely to pause a while before bringing the rate up to 0.75%, the highest rate since 1995.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
Japan, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
Osaka Expo's Japan Pavilion completed
A ceremony is held to mark the completion of the Japan Pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka on Saturday.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.
No longer a 'bridesmaid': Yuki Tsunoda prepares for the Red Bull pressure cooker
All eyes will be on Yuki Tsunoda as he makes his Red Bull debut at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
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.
Who among the opposition would join the ruling coalition?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Friday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
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