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July 07, 2026
 

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BOJ

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda arrives for a news conference after a BOJ policy meeting in Tokyo last month.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 9, 2026
Japan bets on Washington and BOJ for extra punch in yen battle
The strategy is reliant on a small cast of heavyweights and is aimed less at a dramatic turnaround than at raising the cost of betting against the yen.
Inflation-adjusted wages increased 1% in March from a year earlier, slowing from a revised 2% gain in February, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2026
Japan’s real wages rise for third month to keep BOJ on hike path
It remains unclear whether higher wages will lift consumption.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda (center) attends a monetary policy meeting with other high-ranking officials in Tokyo on April 28.
EDITORIALS
May 8, 2026
Japan pulls out the stops to halt the yen’s slide
While the yen’s dive has been abetted by speculators, the real causes of the currency’s weakness are structural.
A Finance Ministry official cited an International Monetary Fund rule on Monday noting that three days of intervention count as a single market operation.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 5, 2026
Japan can intervene twice more before November under IMF rules, official notes
The comments came after the yen surged last Thursday following reported intervention by the authorities, and also saw a number of intraday rallies during days that followed.
The yen has traded in a narrow ¥158 to ¥159 range against the dollar for two months as Japan steps up efforts to contain further weakness.
COMMENTARY
May 5, 2026
‘Keep phones on,’ Tokyo warns as yen battle intensifies
Traders are going to need to hold onto their devices going forward, as these kinds of interventions are becoming the new normal.
The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it needed to hold rates steady because “developments in the Middle East are contributing to a high level of uncertainty about the economic outlook.”
BUSINESS / Economy
May 2, 2026
The world’s central banks are wrestling with a gigantic problem
Surging inflation, an economic slowdown, and uncertainty over how long the energy shock will last has forced central banks to adjust.
An electronic board displays the foreign exchange rate of the yen against the dollar along a street in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
May 2, 2026
Japan determined to prop up yen through intervention
Many analysts believe the effects of the latest intervention will be short-lived as the factors that contribute to a weaker yen remain unchanged.
The yen was back in ¥150-to-the-dollar territory after reports of intervention by the Japanese government.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 1, 2026
Japan mum on yen intervention, heavy on jawboning, ahead of long holiday weekend
Multiple reports say that the government did seek to prop up the currency, and traders are bracing for another round.
The consumer price index excluding fresh food rose 1.5% in April from a year earlier in Tokyo, the smallest gain since March 2022, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 1, 2026
Tokyo inflation cools on childcare support, backing BOJ caution
The consumer price index excluding fresh food rose 1.5% in April from a year earlier in the capital, the smallest gain since March 2022.
Pedestrians walk past a stock quotation board showing the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen, outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 1, 2026
Yen soars as Japan intervenes after issuing ‘final’ warning
Until the government stepped in, the currency had been trading close to its cheapest levels in four decades.
The yen is trading at levels last seen in July 2024.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 30, 2026
Yen, Japanese government bonds and Tokyo stocks decline as oil prices spike
The Japanese currency is at its weakest since July 2024 and at levels that could trigger intervention.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Expectations of a rate increase cooled over the past few weeks in part due to the absence of clear signals from BOJ officials.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 28, 2026
Three dissents at BOJ policy board meeting suggest hawkishness ahead
The war in Iran was a factor in keeping the policy rate at 0.75% at the April meeting.
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda, pictured here in March, said last week that the Iran war could fuel inflation while also potentially being a drag on growth.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 24, 2026
Bank of Japan set to hold rates steady, with Iran war a factor
Forecasts have changed significantly in recent weeks as conflict continues and the price of oil remains high.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda meets with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Moran, Wyoming, in August 2023.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 24, 2026
Rethinking how Japan chooses its central bank governor
The future challenge for Japan is therefore not to depoliticize central bank appointments completely, but to build institutions that make expertise visible.
Yuichiro Tamaki, head of opposition party the Democratic Party for the People, says the government should present a five-year road map toward achieving a primary surplus by around 2030.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 20, 2026
Japan’s opposition DPP presses for 5-year road map to primary surplus
Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki said that while a deficit is acceptable in the near term, Japan should aim for a surplus by around 2030.
Rengo's tally showed that the average wage gain secured by labor unions stayed above the group's 5% target for a third straight year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 17, 2026
Japan’s wage growth holds momentum after small firms reach deals
The development comes even after results from smaller firms were factored into the tally, an outcome that will keep the Bank of Japan on track for a near-term interest rate hike.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 17, 2026
Ueda cites upside and downside risks, avoiding clear hints before BOJ meet
The BOJ Policy Board meets on April 28.
Olivier Blanchard, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, speaks at a meeting of the Japanese government’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo, on March 26.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 16, 2026
Takaichi’s economic ambitions meet interest-rate realities and doubts about debt
The math is looking less favorable with the war in the Middle East fueling inflation and the BOJ ready to make a move.
Scott Bessent, U.S. treasury secretary, during a news conference in Washington on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 16, 2026
Katayama hints at yen intervention after talks with U.S. counterpart
Japan’s authorities have been ramping up their warning language as the yen continues to hover around ¥160 to the dollar, a key psychological threshold for markets.
Rahul Anand during an interview at the International Monetary Fund's headquarters in Washington on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 16, 2026
BOJ urged to keep clear message on policy as war clouds outlook
Anand’s remarks come ahead of the BOJ’s closely watched April 27-28 meeting, with markets still seeing a slim chance of a rate hike.
Japan might be giving the currency market the silent treatment
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has issued verbal warnings recently using the same language and the same tone, saying authorities “will take appropriate action at any time, as necessary.”
Murakami says his novels are ‘different’ from AI literature
Haruki Murakami's first book in three years hit shelves in Japan on Friday.
Suspected Asian fraud ring exec served fresh warrant in Japan
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Osaka Prefectural Police have issued arrest warrants for three people, including a suspected fraud network leader, over alleged immigration and residency violations.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Tokyo hospital baby hatch accepts 20 newborns in first year
Hitoshi Kato (left), head of San-ikukai Hospital in Tokyo's Sumida Ward, speaks during a news conference at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building on Thursday.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Japanese nail salons are tourists’ new obsession
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.

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