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April 10, 2025
 

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JAPANESE ECONOMY

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after the central bank's policy meeting in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ raised its rate by a quarter-point to 0.5% that day.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2025
Japan’s central bank drops the drama and wins on rates
The quarter-point increase, which took the main rate to 0.5%, was probably the most telegraphed this century.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on Friday
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 25, 2025
Central bank appears poised to break through 0.5% rate barrier this year
The central bank's board voted Friday to increase its target for its short-term policy rate to around 0.5% from around 0.25%.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference after a two-day monetary policy meeting at BOJ headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jan 25, 2025
BOJ’s clear guidance on rate hike calms markets but may backfire
For some economists, the latest move was too completely priced in, begging the question of how explicitly the BOJ intends to signal its plans in the future.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato holds a news conference at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo in October last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2025
Finance chief vows to balance economic revival and fiscal consolidation
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato highlighted the need to improve Japan's fiscal health, which is the worst among major countries.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda had sounded dovish after the central bank's December policy meeting, which led some analysts to say that rate hikes might only emerge in March.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2025
BOJ takes rates to 0.5% amid calm markets after Trump inauguration
The 25-basis-point move marks the first rate increase since July and takes rates to their highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Katsumi Shinagawa prepares to shred cabbage to serve with pork cutlet dishes at the restaurant Katsukichi in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 24, 2025
Climate change cooks up Japanese 'cabbage shock'
It is the latest pain point for shoppers and eateries in Japan already squeezed by inflation.
Service inflation accelerated a tad to 1.6%, while an index excluding energy costs and fresh food prices advanced 2.4%, unchanged from the pace in November.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2025
Inflation in Japan jumps to 3%, supporting the BOJ's rate-hike case
The solid inflation data support the case for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates on Friday, a move widely anticipated by markets and economists.
The number of new units for sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area fell 14.4% last year to a record low.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025
Tokyo apartment prices retreat in 2024 as market calms
The decrease — the first in six years — came after prices rose nearly 30% to a record high in 2023 when several luxury condos went up for sale.
The Bank of Japan is set decide to raise interest rates at a policy meeting on Friday, according to Jiji Press.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025
Bank of Japan set to raise rates on Friday, report says
The move would mark the central bank's first rate hike since July last year, when it increased rates to 0.25%.
Japan's exports gained 2.8% in December from a year ago, led by chipmaking machinery and semiconductor parts, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025
Japan’s exports rose in December ahead of anticipated Trump tariffs
Exports measured in value gained 2.8% from a year ago led by chipmaking machinery and semiconductor parts, although shipments fell in terms of volume.
Investment trusts that cater to Japanese individuals bought a net ¥10.4 trillion of overseas equities and funds last year after the government expanded the scope of the Nippon Individual Savings Account system.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025
Japan’s love of foreign stocks risks pushing the yen even lower
Investment trusts that cater to Japanese individuals bought a net ¥10.4 trillion of overseas equities and funds last year.
Tourists visit shops near Kyoto's Fushimi Inari Shrine on Jan. 13. The nation's growing tourism sector, set to hit 40 million visitors in 2025, boosts the economy but is straining the nation's infrastructure.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 23, 2025
Japan has '$100 billion' reasons to welcome more visitors
Japan's growing tourism, set to hit 40 million visitors in 2025, boosts the economy but strains infrastructure, highlighting a need for smarter policies to manage overtourism.
Instead of the Bank of Japan's actions strengthening the yen as once hoped, recent steps have only caused further weakening.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2025
Ueda’s doctrine for the BOJ is finally emerging
Instead of the Bank of Japan's actions strengthening the yen as once hoped, recent steps have only caused further weakening.
Masakazu Tokura (second from left), head of Keidanren, holds talks with Rengo leader Tomoko Yoshino (second from right) in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 22, 2025
Japan business lobby cites positive price trend ahead of BOJ decision
Keidanren head Tokura’s comments create a positive backdrop for the BOJ as its board prepares to deliver its policy decision on Friday.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is still signaling caution ahead of the central bank's January meeting.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 21, 2025
BOJ likely to raise rates this week in absence of immediate Trump tariffs
The possibility is "quite high" if markets remain calm following Trump's inauguration on Monday as the 47th president of the United States.
The country's net assets, or the value of properties, cash, deposits, stocks and other assets in the country minus that of loans and other debts, totaled ¥4,158.4 trillion at the end of 2023, up 4.1% from a year before, a Cabinet Office estimate showed Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 21, 2025
Japan's national wealth hit record ¥4 quadrillion at end of 2023
Of the total, households accounted for a record ¥2.97 quadrillion, up 3.7%, marking the fifth consecutive year of growth.
Economists, legal experts and business leaders concur that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to implement fresh tariffs — whether directly aimed at Japan or not — could hurt the country's export-reliant machinery and automobiles industries while shattering the global economy.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jan 20, 2025
Japanese firms weigh fallout from Trump tariff pledges
Additional tariffs — whether directly aimed at Japan or not — could hurt its export-reliant machinery and automobiles industries while shattering the global economy.
Core machinery orders, excluding orders for ships and power equipment, totaled ¥899.6 billion ($5.77 billion) in November, the Cabinet Office said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 20, 2025
Japan's core machinery orders up 3.4% in November
Orders totaled ¥899.6 billion ($5.77 billion), the Cabinet Office said, marking a second consecutive month of growth.
World Bank Deputy Chief Economist Ayhan Kose says there is room for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 19, 2025
Japan likely to see 'healthy growth' through 2026: World Bank exec
In its economic forecast released Thursday, the World Bank predicted Japan's gross domestic product will grow a real 1.2% in 2025 and 0.9% in 2026.
Customers carry shopping bags outside a supermarket in Tokyo. A new survey has found that more people are feeling the pinch from higher prices compared with a year ago.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 18, 2025
Over 95% in Japan feel impact of higher prices: BOJ survey
The survey also showed that 85.7% of respondents think prices will rise over the next year, up from 85.6%.
Wall Street will regret helping the world burn
Wall Street banks, under political pressure and tempted by short-term gains, are abandoning climate commitments and pouring billions into fossil fuels, risking both environmental catastrophe and massive future economic losses.
Trump's tariff gambit leaves Asia stunned and scrambling
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he attends the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington on Tuesday. Trump allowed new tariffs — including a 24% levy on Japan — to go into effect as scheduled on Wednesday.
Japan and U.S. appoint tariff negotiators after Ishiba-Trump phone call
Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa enters the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japanese makers rush to mitigate possible Nankai Trough earthquake damage
Toyota is considering transferring some production in the key Tokai region, which is expected to be hit hard in a Nankai Trough earthquake, to the Tohoku and Kyushu regions.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it
An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Japan gets a new U.S. ambassador — and he has his work cut out for him
George Glass, U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to be ambassador to Japan, attends a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on March 13.
Online art scene eager to go offline, at least for the moment
Digital artist Polygon1993 revels in the physicality of nostalgic technology, making art out of materials such as miniature CDs, holographic prints layered with plexiglass shards and a giant custom-made floppy disk.
Tottori takes a bold leap forward in the arts
The city of Kurayoshi in Tottori Prefecture celebrated the opening of its public art museum with festivities such as a parade that drew 1,000 revelers.
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.

Podcast

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

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it
By Alex K.T. Martin

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