Tag - finance-ministry

 
Menu
Search
 
January 21, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

FINANCE MINISTRY

A visitor holds a ¥1,000 banknote to offer a prayer on the first business day of the year at the Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo on Monday. The yen has declined against the dollar for four straight years amid a wide gap between interest rates in Japan and the United States.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 10, 2025
Yen intervention risk creeps higher as U.S. jobs report approaches
The yen is within reach of ¥160 per dollar, a breach of which would increase concern about the weak currency’s impact on business and consumers.
The yen hit its lowest level against the dollar since July on Tuesday, prompting a warning from Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato over speculative moves.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 7, 2025
Japan warns on speculative FX moves after yen hits six month low
Any further changes in expectations over the trajectory of rates in the U.S. or Japan could sharply ramp up speculation of renewed intervention.
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.
Official prices of nearly half of drugs in Japan will be reduced to lower the burden on patients.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024
Japan ministers agree on price cuts for half of all drugs
Ministers also agreed to raise the upper limit on out-of-pocket medical expenses.
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.
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.
Honmoku pier in Yokohama. While the value of exports has risen, trade is giving limited support to the economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 18, 2024
Weak yen helps Japan’s exports rise ahead of BOJ meet
Exports measured in value rose 3.8% from a year earlier led by chipmaking machinery and nonferrous metals.
A photo of Yasutaka Yoneda from the website of the Japan Science and Technology Agency
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 16, 2024
Finance Ministry official arrested over alleged 'upskirting' photo
The official, who is also a temporary associate professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, denies the allegation, according to police sources.
Nobuhiro Ito, who runs casting-maker Ito Tekko, which employs about 100 people, in front of his company's factory in the city of Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 13, 2024
BOJ's rate hike plans clouded by small firms' wage woes
Next year's wage prospects are crucial for sustaining a consumption-led recovery — a prerequisite for further rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.
Japan's current account surplus declined 13% in October from a year earlier to ¥2.46 trillion.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 9, 2024
Japan's current account surplus declined 13% in October
The country's trade deficit decreased to ¥155.7 billion from the year-before level of ¥487.4 billion.
Masato Kanda, then the foreign ministry's vice minister for international affairs, speaks during a news conference in Sao Paulo in February.
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2024
Former top Japanese currency diplomat Masato Kanda chosen as next ADB chief
Masato Kanda will be tasked to navigate the ADB through fresh challenges such as helping Asia reduce poverty and mitigate risks from climate change.
Japan’s megabanks have resumed trading activities with Nomura Holdings, people with knowledge of the matter said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 18, 2024
Nomura's trading clients return after market manipulation probe
Many of the firms returned to Nomura after the brokerage explained measures it is taking to prevent a recurrence of the breach, sources said.
Masato Kanda, then-vice minister of finance for international affairs, in January 2022
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2024
As pain from weak yen deepens, Japan's ex-currency chief Masato Kanda warns of action
Kanda's warning came as the Japanese currency weakened to a three-month low of near ¥155 to the dollar.
Japan spent ¥3.17 trillion on dollar-selling intervention on July 11 and ¥2.37 trillion on July 12, quarterly data from the Finance Ministry showed on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 8, 2024
Japan intervened twice last quarter to bring yen below ¥160
The Finance Ministry intervened on July 11 and 12, spending ¥3.17 trillion and ¥2.37 trillion respectively to prop up the yen.
The Finance Ministry noted firm private consumption in raising its economic assessments in the Kanto region and other areas.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 7, 2024
Government upgrades economic views for five regions
In a quarterly report, the Finance Ministry raised its views for the Kanto, Hokuriku, Tokai, Shikoku and Okinawa regions.
The vote of confidence in Masaso Kanda, former Japanese vice finance minister for international affairs, will be taken over a period of a month from Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024
Masato Kanda, former top currency diplomat, sole candidate to head ADB
A vote of confidence in 59-year-old Kanda, who was recommended by the Japanese government, will be taken over the course of a month from Monday.
Exports declined 1.7% from a year ago, led by cars, mineral fuels and construction machinery and slipping to negative growth for the first time since November last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 17, 2024
Japan’s exports fall most since 2021 amid global slowdown
Exports declined 1.7% from a year ago, led by cars, mineral fuels and construction machinery.
The Finance Ministry plans to suspend Nomura from the primary group of Japanese government bond dealers for a month from Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2024
Japan suspends Nomura from bond auctions after manipulation
The action is another setback for Nomura after the revelations led several companies including Toyota Finance to take their bond underwriting business elsewhere.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato attends an interview with media outlets at the Finance Ministry on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 7, 2024
Japan's new finance minister vows to finish the job as deflation czar
Katsunobu Kato's message indicates that financial conditions might remain accommodative for some time.
Masato Kanda, Japan's former top currency diplomat, led massive bouts of yen-buying intervention in the currency markets in 2022 and 2024.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 10, 2024
Japan nominates ex-currency diplomat Kanda to head ADB
Since its 1966 founding, the ADB's top post has always gone to a Japanese national, making Kanda a strong candidate.
Chinese buyer of Okinawa island to make visit in summer
Yanaha Island in Okinawa Prefecture as seen from a ferry.
More bird flu cases found in Japan; 1.44 million birds to be culled
Officials with the agriculture ministry hold a news conference in Nagoya on Friday following an outbreak of avian influenza in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, earlier this month.
Fuji TV loses more advertisers amid inquiry into host’s behavior
Fuji TV is losing more advertisers following allegations about inappropriate behavior by a celebrity host and questions about its handling of the case.
As Trump returns, will Japan be able to weather the storm?
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in May 2019.
Top sumo pros to enter the ring in Paris in June 2026
Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku (right) alongside David Rothschild, the promoter of an upcoming tournament in Paris, on Sunday in Tokyo
As Trump returns, will Japan be able to weather the storm?
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in May 2019.
Amid rising world hunger, a Japan-inspired group in Kenya is making a big impact
Wawira Njiru, the founder of Food4Education, serves food during the opening of a new kitchen in Mombasa County, Kenya, in 2022. The organization started in 2012 by feeding 25 children out of a single kitchen. Now it feeds nearly half a million every day.
From Tokyo to Manhattan, Takuma Watanabe stirs up a stiff drink
It's taken Takuma Watanabe little time to establish himself as one of New York's hottest bartenders.
For tourists in search of seasonal sights, Yamagata makes its case
For some time away from Tokyo's suffocating urban sameness, Yamagata Prefecture is home to a soothing array of natural abundance.
A slow dive into ‘a moment and an eternity’ with Ryuichi Sakamoto
From the mid-2000s onward, Ryuichi Sakamoto created a number of installation works, often in collaboration with Shiro Takatani, of multimedia art collective Dumb Type.

Podcast

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

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go
By Kazuaki Nagata and Richard Meyer

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers
mission sustainability vol.14 : Unicharm Corp.Unicharm recycles diapers back into diapers

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER