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April 04, 2025
 

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JAPANESE ECONOMY

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on April 1. He has said that Japan is facing a "national crisis" following the introduction of new tariffs by the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 4, 2025
Japan digs deep to address 'national crisis' caused by Trump tariffs
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba vows to "unite the entire country" in response to the crisis.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s JASM plant in Kumamoto Prefecture. Ensuring stability in the semiconductor supply chain is a matter of national security and must be based on cooperation between the government and private sector.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 4, 2025
Identifying choke points in the semiconductor supply chain
Addressing bottlenecks in chipmaking is essential for Japan's economic security and requires public-private collaboration, including aimed at information sharing.
Household outlays declined 0.5% in February from a year earlier, led by falling outlays on clothes and footwear, housing and food.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 4, 2025
Japan’s household spending drops for first time in three months
The drop, ahead of sweeping tariffs announced by the U.S., was led by falling outlays on clothes and footwear, housing and food.
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 3, 2025
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
The duty rate for Japanese products is the "worst among the scenarios that had been imagined" by the market.
Seiji Adachi, a former member of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board, says there is a chance of a May rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 3, 2025
Ex-board member who just left BOJ sees chance of May rate hike
Seiji Adachi, whose five-year term ended last week, said he would probably vote for a rate hike in the central bank's May meeting if one was proposed.
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 3, 2025
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
The higher "reciprocal” rates are based on a government tally of levies and nontariff barriers that countries impose on U.S. goods.
Japanese cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama. The United States will start collecting new 25% import duties on cars and car parts from Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 2, 2025
Japan has some cards to play in trade war with the United States 
It could offer voluntary restraints on exports, or it could offer to buy more from the U.S. in order to reduce the trade surplus with that country.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda told parliament on Wednesday that new U.S. tariffs could have a large impact on trade activities among nations, depending on their size and the area they cover.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2025
U.S. tariffs could have big impact on global trade, BOJ chief says
Gov. Kazuo Ueda also underlined the potential of such tariffs affecting households and business sentiment, which would go on to influence overall spending.
A Bank of Japan rate hike in May would likely be too early given the need to assess the impact of upcoming U.S. tariffs and ongoing wage talks, Kazuya Shimba, Secretary General of the Democratic Party for the People, said on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2025
A May BOJ hike would be too early given tariffs and wages, DPP says
Most economists see the next increase in borrowing costs coming in June or July, but many have said a May hike is possible.
A report from Dai-ichi Life Research Institute shows that the cost of typical food items eaten at the gatherings known as hanami has risen 21.4% in the past six years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2025
Inflation casts shadow over Japan’s cherry blossom season
A report shows that the cost of typical food items eaten at flower viewing gatherings has risen 21.4% in the past six years.
DOGE, the U.S. government reform project, embodies America's brash, fast-paced approach to change, while Japan’s cultural norms emphasize slower, more deliberate decision-making rooted in consensus.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 2, 2025
The DOGE solution? 'No thanks,' says Japan, with reason
I can’t imagine a DOGE-like beast in Japan. No one can. It is utterly alien to every tradition, precedent or cultural inclination in this country.
The Bank of Japan's tankan survey indicates that large business are still positive on their prospects.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2025
Japanese businesses maintain optimism ahead of looming tariff storm
In the BOJ's latest tankan survey, the headline index for big manufacturers was 12, which indicates confidence in the business outlook.
Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Itsunori Onodera said on Tuesday that tariffs announced by the U.S. could result in a big economic crisis for Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2025
Trump tariffs may spell economic crisis for Japan, Onodera says
Auto tariffs in particular would have a huge impact given the breadth of the sector's supply chain in the country, the Liberal Democratic Party's policy chief says.
Some market participants predict that benchmark 10-year borrowing costs won’t climb as sharply as the fiscal year that ended Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 1, 2025
Japan confronts biggest bond loss globally as BOJ rate hikes upend market
The past year marked a sixth straight year of losses for Japan’s sovereign debt as the central bank raises rates while its other counterparts elsewhere are cutting them.
Prices of over 4,000 food and beverage products, including the Asahi Super Dry beer, will increase in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 31, 2025
Prices for 4,225 food and drink products set to rise in Japan
The price increases in April reflect rising wages and logistics costs being increasingly passed on to consumers, research firm Teikoku Databank says.
Japanese stocks declined on Monday as auto and electronics shares were hit hard.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 31, 2025
Japanese stocks fall about 4% ahead of Trump's 'Liberation Day'
Traders and analysts are expecting a week of volatility as the U.S. tariff situation becomes clearer and waivers, if any, are granted.
Factory output in February marked the fastest gain since March last year thanks to strong demand before the U.S. implements new tariffs on autos and auto parts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 31, 2025
Japan production rises most in 11 months ahead of new U.S. tariffs
Factory output increased in February by 2.5% from January, the first advance in four months and marking the fastest gain since March last year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba emphasizes the need to consider measures to help Japanese companies with financing while the government tries to grasp the entire scope of the impact on the nation’s key industry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 28, 2025
Ishiba pledges measures to protect jobs from Trump’s car tariffs
Ishiba emphasized the need to consider measures to help Japanese companies with financing while the government tries to grasp the entire scope of the tariffs' impact.
According to the internal affairs ministry on Friday, consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.4% in March from a year earlier as inflation in processed food accelerated.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 28, 2025
Tokyo inflation exceeds forecasts, keeping BOJ on rate hike path
The leading indicator for nationwide inflation is likely to keep BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda mulling over the right timing for further rate hikes.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a meeting of the Upper House Budget Committee on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 27, 2025
Ishiba’s remarks on inflation relief measures draw ire as budget deadline looms
Confusing messages about an economic package to counter rising prices came as negotiations were heating up on when to hold a vote on the budget.
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.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
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.

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
By Johan Brooks

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