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July 01, 2026
 

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INFLATION

The tax-inclusive price of McDonald's Big Mac in Japan will be raised from ¥480 to ¥500.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 24, 2026
McDonald’s to raise menu prices in Japan starting Wednesday
The fast food chain said the price hikes reflect higher material, energy and labor costs.
Rising prices are making Japanese consumers more frugal, slowing the recovery of domestic tourism despite record per-trip spending and strong inbound travel.
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2026
Recovery stalling in Japan’s domestic tourism
The annual tourist figure was around 600 million before the COVID-19 pandemic but tumbled below 300 million in 2020, when an emergency was declared over the pandemic
"In Japan, they’re going through generational change and it’s generational change in corporate governance. It’s in interest rates, it’s in government policy,” Apollo Global Management’s Marc Rowan said in an interview in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 22, 2026
Apollo’s Rowan sees Japan ready to roar: ‘There’s a new swagger’
Japan’s comeback is notable because of the depth and duration of the country’s struggles.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 22, 2026
Trump, once unstoppable, hits snag after snag ahead of major U.S. address
On Friday, the Supreme Court delivered a sharp rebuke of his use of tariffs, which he slapped on countries often arbitrarily via a simple order on social media.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2% from a year earlier in January, the smallest gain since January 2024, after the gauge climbed 2.4% in the previous month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 20, 2026
Japan’s CPI cools to slowest pace in two years on distortions
Temporary factors and food prices drove the slowdown.
The International Monetary Fund has issued a warning that a reduction of Japan's consumption tax would erode its fiscal space and add to fiscal risks.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 18, 2026
IMF urges Japan to avoid cutting sales tax amid higher expected borrowing costs
The fund described such a move as “an untargeted measure that would erode fiscal space and add to fiscal risks.”
Bags of rice at a supermarket in Yokohama. Japan's staple food law stipulates that releases of government-stockpiled rice be used to cover "supply shortages due to falling production."
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2026
Rice prices remain high in Japan even after stockpile releases
The country’s staple food law stipulates that releases of government-stockpiled rice be used to cover “supply shortages due to falling production.”
Etsuro Honda, an economic adviser to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during an interview Thursday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 14, 2026
Takaichi expecting additional BOJ rate hike — but not in spring — adviser says
Etsuro Honda, an economic adviser to the Japanese leader, said he believes a hike of 0.25 percentage point will come “in the not-so-distant future.”
Naoki Tamura, a member of the Bank of Japan's policy board
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2026
BOJ hawk Tamura flags spring as possible timing for rate hike
Naoki Tamura’s remarks suggest that Gov. Kazuo Ueda will probably face increased opposition if he decides to stand pat at the next policy meetings through April.
The biennial comprehensive fee review is a major policy tool for the government, showing the direction of the nation’s health care as the population ages and medical needs surge and diversify.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 13, 2026
Japan health panel adopts medical fee changes to raise wages and cope with inflation
By tweaking fees here and there, the government seeks to keep health care costs relatively low while meeting new medical needs.
A heap of dried cocoa beans. High prices of cocoa beans are influencing consumers' purchases of chocolates for Valentine's Day gifts, a recent survey shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 12, 2026
Fewer women and girls to give Valentine’s Day gifts amid high chocolate prices
The high price of cocoa beans, the basic ingredient for chocolate, have made many choose lower-priced items and reduce the number of gifts they purchase, a recent survey shows.
Copper cathode sheets at a mining complex in Morenci, Arizona. Japan's producer prices of nonferrous metals surged 33% in January due to soaring copper prices.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 12, 2026
Japan producer prices rose 2.3% in January, BOJ reports
The pace of increase in the producer price index, which measures the costs of goods traded between companies, slowed from a 2.4% gain the previous month.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference at the Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 11, 2026
Ruling bloc’s election victory may affect BOJ monetary policy
Sanae Takaichi favors fiscal expansion and monetary easing, while the central bank is seeking to continue raising interest rates to normalize its monetary policy.
A promotional event for sake held by the National Tax Agency in 2024
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 10, 2026
Japan moves to help sake breweries hit by surge in rice prices
The price of sake rice harvested in 2025 is about 1.5 to 2.3 times higher than the previous year.
Japanese workers’ real wages fell 0.1% from a year earlier in December, the labor ministry said Monday, extending declines to every month of 2025 amid persistent inflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 9, 2026
Japan’s real wages drop extends to full year as prices advance
The decline bolsters the case for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to continue down a more expansionary fiscal path after she secured a sweeping election victory.
Japan's ratio of household spending on food in 2025 rose by 0.3 percentage point from the previous year to 28.6%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 8, 2026
Japan’s ratio of household spending on food hits 44-year high
Total household spending averaged ¥314,001 per month, up 4.6% in nominal terms.
A Bank of Japan board member signals further rate hikes may be needed to complete policy normalization, fueling speculation of an early increase.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 6, 2026
BOJ board member adds to signals pointing to interest rate hikes
“I am convinced that continuing with further policy interest rate hikes will be needed to complete the normalization of monetary policy in Japan,” Kazuyuki Masu said Friday.
Voter frustration over soaring living expenses led to major setbacks for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the last two national elections.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 6, 2026
Soaring food bills pose risk to Takaichi’s election prospects
Surveys show inflation is among the most important issues for voters ahead of Sunday’s polls, with about 54% citing it as their biggest concern, according to a Nikkei survey.
Volunteers prepare food for distribution for furloughed federal workers at No Limits Outreach Ministries in Hyattsville, Maryland.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 6, 2026
U.S. households become increasingly strained in diverging economy
Wealthier households are benefiting from rising asset values, but median- and lower-income families increasingly struggle.
A screen displays Japanese and U.S. 10-year government bonds outside a securities firm in Tokyo on Jan. 21.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 4, 2026
Japan’s bond market has a warning for America
Reality, however, has a way of catching up with theory eventually, and now it has for Japan, whose long-term bond yields are rising as the yen is depreciating.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team'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'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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