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JAPANESE

Business service prices for hotels rose 51.8% in November compared with the previous year, on the back of a surge in inbound tourism following the lifting of pandemic controls and domestic demand for travel.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2023
Japan's service price growth holds steady, maintaining 30-year high
Prices for services rising at the fastest pace since April 1992 will likely fuel speculation that the Bank of Japan may normalize policy in coming months.
An electronic board displays various companies' share prices at a business district in Tokyo in October.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2023
Japan’s labor demand holds steady in positive sign for wages
The job-to-applicants ratio eased a tad to 1.28, meaning there were 128 jobs offered for every 100 applicants, the labor ministry reported.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) shakes hands with Masakazu Tokura, head of Keidanren, during the business lobby's meeting in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2023
Kishida asks firms to achieve larger pay hikes in 2024 than this year
Kishida also underscored the need to support people's disposable incomes, with a scheduled tax cut to be implemented next year.
Filmmaker Tatsuhito Utagawa, who heads the nonprofit organization the Japanese Film Project, says there has been little improvement of the gender gap within Japan's film industry.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 24, 2023
Women representation in Japanese film production fell in 2022
The study also showed female representation among editors, scriptwriters and theater producers were also on a downward trend.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a policy speech to the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo in January.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2023
Pivot to pre-COVID normalcy tests Japan's fiscal spending appetite
A projected expansion of nominal GDP beyond ¥600 trillion for the first time may bring about the BOJ's gradual shift in policy.
An artist's depiction of Masaaki Osaka as he listened to the judge's verdict on Friday at the Tokyo District Court
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 23, 2023
Leftist gets 20 years for policeman's 1971 murder after 45 years on run
According to the ruling, the man killed the policeman during a protest with students and other activists on Nov. 14, 1971, in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
Holiday classic "Tokyo Godfathers" centers on three homeless people who have formed a makeshift family.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 23, 2023
Satoshi Kon’s unexpected anime classic for the holidays
The late director and animator's "Tokyo Godfathers" celebrates 20 years with new screenings.
Toranosuke Katayama is a photographer who's photo assignments lead him to become a soba researcher with 70 publications on the cuisine.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 22, 2023
Toranosuke Katayama: ‘Soba is about saving history and identity’
A photographer who chose to document soba for a book soon found himself drawn into the deeper world of the buckwheat noodle.
Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.5% in November from a year earlier, marking the slowest pace of increase in over a year in a sign of easing cost-push pressures in the world's third-largest economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 22, 2023
Japan’s cooling inflation also offers encouraging signs for BOJ
Consumer prices excluding fresh food items rose 2.5% from a year earlier as falls in energy costs deepened and gains in processed food prices eased.
Commissioner Yasuhiro Tsuyuki speaks at a news conference at the National Police Agency on Dec. 7.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2023
Japanese police to restrict online posts on making guns
The National Police Agency plans to penalize malicious online posts regarding the manufacturing and transfer of guns that incite unlawful possession.
Police officers explain bicycle rules during an event in Tokyo last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2023
Police panel proposes fines up to ¥12,000 for cycling violations
The agency hopes to finalize a proposal at a meeting of the panel in January and submit a bill to parliament next year to amend the Road Traffic Act.
Prosecutors demanded a fine of ¥200,000 for YouTuber Johnny Somali during his trial at the Osaka District Court on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2023
Japanese prosecutors demand fine for controversial American YouTuber
According to the indictment, Ismael Ramsey Khalid, known as "Johnny Somali," obstructed a restaurant business by taking a video while playing loud music.
Japan's real economic growth rate for fiscal 2023 ending in March 2024 is estimated at 1.6%, up from 1.3% seen half a year ago.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 21, 2023
Japanese government lifts economic growth estimates
The real economic growth rate for fiscal 2023 ending in March 2024 is estimated at 1.6%, up from 1.3% seen half a year ago.
Tokyo police officers head to host clubs in the Kabukicho district in Shinjuku Ward for inspections on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2023
Women arrested for prostitution in Shinjuku tripled in 2023
The issue of women going into prostitution as a result of loans used to finance host club visits has become a huge problem.
A supporter of Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki holds up a sign on Wednesday in front of the Fukuoka District Court's Naha branch saying that the court's ruling — effectively clearing the way for further landfill work to relocate a U.S. base in Okinawa — is "unjust."
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2023
Court orders Okinawa governor to approve base relocation work
The move by the high court's Naha branch circumvents Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki, who has not approved the plan amid staunch local opposition.
Plaintiffs for a lawsuit against the construction of a Ground Self-Defense Force garrison site for Ospreys walk to the Saga District Court in Saga on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2023
Saga residents sue to halt construction of base for GSDF Ospreys
Plaintiffs in the suit filed with the Saga District Court dispute ownership of the land designated for the garrison and have raised safety concerns.
Some analysts believe Japan's stock market will be fragile in the coming months due to such factors as weak consumer spending and political instability.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 20, 2023
Japanese stocks expected to face early hurdles in 2024
Analysts see the nation’s equities indexes struggling over the next few months due to factors such as a stronger yen and weak consumer spending.
Japan's exports in November fell for the first time in three months, dragged down by China-bound chip shipments, underscoring worries that slowing overseas economies will complicate policymakers' efforts to wind back on stimulus.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 20, 2023
Japan’s exports dip as global slowdown puts pressure on recovery
Exports fell 0.2% from a year earlier despite weakness in the yen, dashing economists' hopes for a 1.4% increase and support from overseas demand.
Foreign tourists take pictures in Tokyo's Asakusa district in November.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2023
Japan’s post-pandemic tourists shift spending to crafts and jewelry
Average spending on traditional handicrafts per visitor was ¥13,338 ($92) in the July-September quarter, up 80% from the same period in 2019.
The government reiterated that the recovery in capital investment appeared to have stalled, while industrial production showed signs of picking up.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 19, 2023
Japan ups assessment of business mood and sticks to view on economy
In a report, the Cabinet Office said the economy was "recovering moderately although some areas stalled recently."

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