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July 01, 2026
 

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BOJ

The year-end balance of bank notes in circulation in Japan fell for a third consecutive year amid the rise of cashless payments, according to data released Tuesday by the Bank of Japan.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 31, 2025
Japan’s year-end balance of bank notes in circulation falls for 3rd straight year
The declining trend emerges as consumers embrace cashless payments.
Nintendo’s upcoming film, Super Mario Galaxy Movie, is positioned as a major 2026 soft-power moment for Japan, with expectations it could replicate the franchise’s 2023 $1.36 billion box office success.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 29, 2025
Takaichi, Mario, baseball and the Year of the Fire Horse
2026 marks the Year of the Horse in Japan. It’s one demographers have been awaiting for decades — the return of the Fire Horse.
The Bank of Japan’s headquarters in Tokyo. The central bank on Dec. 19 raised its policy rate to 0.75%, the highest since 1995.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 29, 2025
Summary of BOJ’s December meeting hints of further rate hikes
Some members of the central bank’s board signaled that Japan’s real interest rate remains very low.
Consumer prices in Tokyo, excluding fresh food, rose 2.3% in December from a year earlier, slowing from 2.8% in November, the internal affairs ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2025
Yen weakens as Tokyo inflation cools more than expected
Consumer prices excluding fresh food in the capital rose 2.3% in December from a year earlier, slowing sharply from 2.8% in the previous month.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a meeting with business lobby Keidanren in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 25, 2025
Ueda signals further hikes with more confidence over price goal
The remarks underscore investor expectations that the bank isn’t done with hikes even after it raised borrowing costs to the highest level since 1995 last Friday.
Asia’s economic growth in 2025 was sluggish, central banks acted cautiously amid low inflation and political pressures and the full impact of U.S. tariffs and policy choices will become clearer in 2026.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2025
Easy money defined Asia in 2025. It gets harder now.
If predictions are hazardous at the best of times, they are more fraught today.
The Bank of Japan should take a cautious approach to raising interest rates further, a former BOJ policy board member has said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 25, 2025
BOJ needs caution on rates during growth push, ex-official says
The former board member said the government should fully utilize fiscal, monetary and tax policy to stimulate demand and realize a “high pressure” economy.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest in 30 years and indicated more increases are in the pipeline if conditions allow.
COMMENTARY
Dec 24, 2025
Bank of Japan’s rate hike likely first of many
Today’s Japan is different. Friday’s decision is a milestone. To hear it from the bank, there is still some distance to go.
Bonds and the yen have been week since the Bank of Japan increased rates on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 22, 2025
Japan’s 10-year government bond yield hits 2.1% as rout continues
The yen is also weak after the BOJ’s rate increase and as the approval of a record-busting budget looms.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 20, 2025
BOJ rate hike could be both good and bad for households
While home owners may see loan interest rates rise, households are expected to benefit from higher bank deposit rates.
MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank are planning to raise annual interest rates on ordinary deposits to 0.3% from the current 0.2%.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2025
Four major Japanese banks to hike ordinary deposit interest rates
The four banks are MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, speaking on Friday after the policy board announcement, said that growth and price data appear to be on track to meet central bank forecasts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 19, 2025
BOJ takes rates to a 30-year high; 10-year Japanese government bond breaks 2% 
Weak yen might have convinced the central bank that now is the time to make a move.
Sales of Japanese government bonds for individual investors have topped ¥5 trillion this year, the highest level since 2007, as rising interest rates draw household funds out of bank deposits following the Bank of Japan's policy tightening.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 18, 2025
Retail JGB sales hit highest since 2007 as rates climb
Issuance from January to December totaled about ¥5.28 trillion, Ministry of Finance data has shown.
Akihiro Kaneko, president of the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions, has expressed concern over the Bank of Japan’s anticipated rate hike Friday possibly weighing on companies’ ability to raise wages in the coming fiscal year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2025
Japan’s auto union chair fears BOJ hike may impede wage momentum
A sharp drop in the yen after the expected hike on Friday could affect corporate sentiment.
Japanese households' financial assets hit a record ¥2.286 quadrillion at the end of September, up 4.9% from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 17, 2025
Japan households’ financial assets rise to record ¥2.286 quadrillion.
The balance reflects higher stock prices and a rise in the yen value of foreign currency-denominated assets due to a weaker Japanese currency.
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.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay&#039;s Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team&#039;s loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
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.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan&#039;s currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
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.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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