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November 22, 2024
 

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INFLATION

Leaders of the three major business groups — Keidanren, Keizai Doyukai and the Japan Chamber of Commerce — meet Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Oct. 4 in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024
¥1,500 minimum wage or bust, Japanese companies told
Managers unable to keep up with the minimum-wage increase schedule “are unfit for their positions,” Keizai Doyukai Chair Takeshi Niinami has said.
Ramen shop Menya Taisei's owner Taisei Hikage cooks ramen at his shop in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024
Japan's rising ramen prices give election voters food for thought
The problems facing ramen shop owners reflect a cost-of-living crunch that has become a top issue for voters in the general election on Sunday.
Most economists expect the Bank of Japan to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged during their policy meeting next week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024
BOJ watchers believe rate hike unlikely now as half brace for year-end shift
Analysts will be closely watching for policy hints from a two-day meeting that ends on Oct. 31, a few days after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s first general election.
Senior IMF official Vitor Gaspar speaks during an interview in Washington last Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024
IMF official warns Japan of debt deterioration in event of future shock
The IMF predicts that Japan's debt will exceed 250% of its gross domestic product this year before gradually decreasing.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2024
Ueda says right-sizing BOJ normalization ‘keeps me awake 24/7’
Ueda and his fellow board members are widely expected to keep their benchmark rate unchanged at the next policy meeting, ending Oct. 31.
People from Thailand look at used smartphones in Tokyo's Akihabara district in October 2022.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 23, 2024
Japan's secondhand smartphone market booms as households struggle
Sales of used goods in Japan have grown rapidly as households struggle to make ends meet.
High construction costs due to rising material and labor costs continue to push up sales prices of new condominiums.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 22, 2024
Tokyo-area condo price hits new high in first half of fiscal 2024
The average price in the area, which includes Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, rose 1.5% from ¥78.36 million a year earlier.
Debt-laden companies in Japan are rapidly growing in number, in some measures even faster than in 1992 after the collapse of its asset price bubble.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2024
Zombie companies may finally succumb to bankruptcy on BOJ hikes
Bankruptcies topped 5,000 cases for the first time in a decade between April and September, a report by Tokyo Shoko Research showed earlier this month.
Japan's core inflation slowed in September due to the rollout of energy subsidies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 18, 2024
Japan’s inflation slows for first time since April
The slowdown in price gains largely hangs on government subsidies.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba greets voters in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, on Tuesday, as campaigning for the Oct. 27 Lower House election kicked off.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 17, 2024
Parties pledge household support without debates on funding
Almost all the parties made pledges to raise the minimum wage.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 16, 2024
Bank of Japan policymaker calls for 'very moderate' pace of rate hikes
There are doubts about whether Japanese firms will keep sufficiently raising wages next year due to lingering global risks.
Organic, unpasteurized butter is prepared at a milk farm in Saint-Colomban, near Nantes, France, in 2017.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 15, 2024
Bakers brace for costly Christmas as butter prices surge
Strong demand, tight supply and dairy processors' preference to use more milk for more profitable products such as cheese have driven the price surge.
Yoshihiko Noda, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks during a party leaders' debate at the Upper House of parliament in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 11, 2024
Opposition party shakes up Japan’s rate debate with new inflation target
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan calls for redefining the Bank of Japan’s inflation target to “above 0%” from the current 2%.
The corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, rose 2.8% in September from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 10, 2024
Japan's wholesale inflation perks up, while yen rise eases cost pressure
The decline in import costs will likely shift the BOJ's attention to whether a more demand-driven rise in inflation takes hold in the country.
To lessen the impact from any shocks, including a U.S. economic slump, Mizuho has been buying Treasurys and other assets that are easier to sell or hedge against price falls.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2024
Mizuho choosing liquid assets, bracing for risk of failed U.S. soft landing
Market participants appear overconfident that U.S. policymakers will be able to tame inflation without causing a recession, the bank's co-head of global markets has said.
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.
The average price of new condos in Tokyo's 23 wards in the first half of this year stayed over ¥100 million and a notable wave of price increases was observed in urban areas surrounding Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2024
Tokyo area condo prices remain sky-high
The average price of new condos in central Tokyo's densely populated 23 wards stood at ¥108.55 million in the first half of this year.
International Monetary Fund spokesperson Julie Kozack
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2024
IMF says Japan should keep raising rates if inflation data warrants it
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Wednesday that Japan is not in an environment requiring an additional rate hike.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 2, 2024
Ishiba to focus on fighting inflation ahead of election
He also aims to calm financial markets by signaling a willingness to spend flexibly in the wake of a stock market plunge following his accession in the ruling party.
Cracked ground at a farm in Lincoln, U.K. Extreme weather worldwide is pushing up prices for food staples in ways that could eventually flow through to higher grocery bills.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 1, 2024
Rising food costs due to extreme weather likely to drive up grocery bills
One index of nine major food products has recorded a monthly gain of more than 7% — the most since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent markets soaring in early 2022.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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