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July 04, 2026
 

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BOJ

Japan's exports gained 6.1% in November from a year earlier, according to the Finance Ministry, beating economists' forecasts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 17, 2025
Japan’s exports to U.S. rise for first time since Trump’s April tariffs
A turnaround in shipments to the U.S. helped power the biggest gain in overall exports since February, paving the way for a widely expected interest-rate hike later this week.
The Bank of Japan plans to offload its substantial holdings of exchange-traded funds little by little, to avoid roiling markets.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 16, 2025
BOJ may begin decadeslong sale of ¥83 trillion ETF hoard from January
The bank will offload the assets little by little to avoid roiling markets, as was decided at a September policy board meeting, people familiar with the matter said.
Signals that the Bank of Japan may move toward higher interest rates highlight how the nation’s heavy debt and slow growth could push up global bond yields and expose similar fiscal risks in other advanced economies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 16, 2025
The Japanese canary in the global debt coal mine
The Japanese government’s total debt as a share of gross domestic product is on the order of 230%, twice that of the U.S.
The Bank of Japan's <i>tankan</i> survey showed that confidence among large manufacturers in Japan has risen to the highest level in four years, while the gauge for nonmanufacturers has remained near the strongest level since the early 1990s.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 15, 2025
Japan’s factory sentiment improves, firming up BOJ hike case
The business sentiment index advanced to 15 this month from 14 in September, the BOJ’s quarterly tankan business survey has shown.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Sunday, "There is no major disagreement between us and the BOJ" regarding an anticipated interest rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 14, 2025
Japan finance chief effectively accepts BOJ rate hike
According to a recent Bloomberg survey of 50 analysts, all forecast that the central bank will raise its policy rate at the meeting.
The decision to hike rates, expected at the two-day Bank of Japan policy meeting set to be held from Thursday, would take the rate to a level unseen in 30 years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2025
BOJ will raise policy interest rate at next meeting, according to sources
The policy decision, expected at the central bank’s two-day meeting set to be held from Thursday, will take the rate to a level unseen in 30 years.
The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Union plans to seek a slightly more ambitious wage hike in the upcoming negotiations than last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2025
Japan’s auto union seeks higher wage gains as BOJ watches trends
The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Union (JAW) will aim for a minimum ¥12,000 ($77) monthly base wage increase.
All 50 economists expect the Bank of Japan to raise its benchmark rate to 0.75% at a policy meeting set to conclude next Friday, a Bloomberg survey of BOJ watchers found.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2025
All economists in a recent poll predict BOJ will raise rates
The central bank is expected to restart its cycle of hikes after pausing for months to assess the impact from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign.
Hideo Hayakawa, a former executive director of the Bank of Japan, says he expects multiple rate hikes by the central bank by 2027, with the terminal rate probably around 1.5%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 11, 2025
BOJ likely to conduct multiple hikes ahead, former official says
Hideo Hayakawa, a former executive director of the central bank, says the terminal rate is probably around 1.5%.
Mizuho Financial Group has completed the integration of U.S. boutique investment bank Greenhill & Co., which it purchased two years ago, and is now reaping the benefits, CEO Masahiro Kihara said on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2025
Mizuho CEO upbeat on dealmaking prospects in Japan and U.S.
Mizuho Financial Group’s CEO expressed optimism that momentum in investment banking will continue both at home and in the United States.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a new conference in Tokyo on Sept. 19
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 9, 2025
BOJ’s Ueda says Japan is getting closer to sustainable inflation
“We are closer to 2% inflation on a sustained basis,” Ueda said in an interview. “I can say that I think.”
A worker at Tajima Light Metal in Saitama Prefecture. Monday’s revised GDP figures incorporate additional data, including weak capital spending by companies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 8, 2025
Japan confirms deeper GDP decline, backing Takaichi’s stimulus
Gross domestic product fell at an annualized pace of 2.3% in the third quarter.
Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan, arrives for a meeting at the Diet in Tokyo on Nov. 21.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2025
BOJ set to hike rates and stay open to more moves
The BOJ will also indicate it will continue to raise rates if its economic outlook is realized while remaining cautious on how far they will eventually push rates up.
An electronics store in the Akihabara area in Tokyo. Domestic consumption has expanded for three straight quarters, albeit at a subdued pace.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 5, 2025
Japan’s household outlays fall in sign of fragile domestic demand
Private spending is a key component in the central bank’s goal of achieving a virtuous economic cycle in which wage gains help fuel demand-led price increases.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a meeting in Nagoya on Monday.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2025
Key Japan officials would go along with a BOJ December rate hike
The comments come amid heightened speculation that the BOJ will increase the benchmark rate to 0.75% at the end of its next policy meeting on Dec. 19.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda meets with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Prime Minister's Office on Nov. 18. During the meeting, Takaichi reportedly acknowledged the central bank's plan to gradually raise rates.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Dec 4, 2025
BOJ’s Ueda won Takaichi over this time. What happens next?
Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s recent pitch for a December rate hike seems to have been accepted by markets and the administration, but how will the bank communicate its longer-term intentions?
Yields on Japanese government bonds have been rising to decade-plus highs on fiscal concerns and as the central bank gets closer to increasing rates.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 2, 2025
Bank of Japan rattles markets globally with hint of a rate increase
Even the possibility of a December move hits bonds, stocks and crypto.
Japan’s "oshikatsu" culture is booming despite inflation, with fans spending heavily on idols and characters in a way that now drives a multitrillion-yen market.
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2025
Japan’s inflation-proof ‘stan’ economy is booming
About 10% of the Japanese population engages in “oshikatsu” — but importantly, more than 50% are those crucial arbiters of cool: teenage girls.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a meeting with business leaders in Nagoya on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 1, 2025
BOJ’s Ueda sends clear hint at chance of December rate hike
The central bank “will consider the pros and cons of raising the policy interest rate and make decisions as appropriate,” he told local business leaders in Nagoya.
Japan’s two-year note yield, which is sensitive to monetary policy expectations, rose to its highest level since 2008.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 1, 2025
Japan’s two-year yield hits highest since 2008 on rate-hike bets
The swap market is now pricing in about a 76% chance of a rate hike when the central bank delivers its next policy decision on Dec. 19.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan&#039;s renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.

Podcast

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

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What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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