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July 04, 2026
 

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BOJ

Real wages increased 1.4% from a year earlier in January, the fastest increase since May 2021.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 9, 2026
Japan’s real wages advance for first time in 13 months
Real wages increased 1.4% from a year earlier in January, exceeding economists’ median forecast of a 0.9% gain, the labor ministry reported Monday.
Some 466 unions affiliated with UA Zensen are seeking a pay raise of 6.46% for regular workers on a weighted average, according to a tally released Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2026
Japanese labor union group sets more ambitious pay goal as BOJ watches
The push by UA Zensen, which represents unions across the retail, restaurants, materials and service sectors, follows other labor groups’ ambitious targets.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda has pledged to closely monitor developments as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran reverberates across the region.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 4, 2026
Middle East conflict could affect Japan’s economy significantly, says BOJ’s Ueda
Japan’s reliance on Middle Eastern oil has hovered around 90%, the economy ministry has said, with much of that oil traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.
Japan Post Insurance CEO and President Kunio Tanigaki
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2026
Japan Post Insurance to shift to high-yield bonds, CEO says
The life insurer expects the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates again as soon as April.
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino has said he is closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East as the outlook for the economy became murkier after the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 2, 2026
BOJ deputy chief refrains from signaling rate hike in March
“I want to closely monitor the situation” in the Middle East, Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino said in a speech to local business leaders in Wakayama Prefecture.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is said to be considering stepping down early to deny euroskeptic leaders the chance to influence who follows in her role.
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Feb 27, 2026
Under pressure from populist politicians, central bankers face tricky trade-off
How can central banks defend their independence and their credibility without appearing political themselves?
The government's interest payments on outstanding debt are projected at ¥21.6 trillion in the year starting April 2029, up from the current year’s budgeted ¥10.5 trillion.
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2026
Japan sees interest payments doubling by 2029 as BOJ hikes rate
Interest payments are projected at ¥21.6 trillion ($139 billion) in the year starting April 2029, up from the current year’s budgeted ¥10.5 trillion.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has nominated a pair of university professors associated with reflationary economic policies to replace outgoing members of the Bank of Japan policy board.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 25, 2026
Takaichi’s reflationist BOJ picks push up long-term bond yields
The nomination of pro-reflation academics is likely to further fuel speculation that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is cautious of the central bank raising interest rates quickly.
Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday. Kuroda has warned that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's spending plans could stoke an inflationary upswing.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 25, 2026
Former BOJ chief Kuroda calls for rate hikes and tighter fiscal policy
Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has warned that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s spending plans could stoke an inflationary upswing.
An electronic quotation board displays the foreign exchange rate of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar in Tokyo on Feb. 9.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2026
Takaichi’s next challenge: a stronger yen
Takaichi’s mandate and her vision promise stability and consistency in economic policymaking, with a focus on restoring growth. A stronger yen will help achieve those objectives.
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.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government is likely to propose replacements for two of the nine-member board at a parliamentary session as soon as next Wednesday, sources say.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 19, 2026
Takaichi’s first BOJ member picks could hint at her desired rate path
Following her landslide election victory, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has a chance to use her historic mandate to stack the board with reflationists.
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda after a BOJ policy meeting in January
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 16, 2026
Takaichi-Ueda meeting most notable for what might not have been said
The prime minister not putting pressure on the central bank’s governor could prove to be significant.
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.
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 at a news conference on Monday following a landslide victory of her Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday’s Lower House election.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 12, 2026
Japan investors remain wary Takaichi will spur another meltdown
Worries that she would add to Japan’s mountain of public debt prompted yields to spike last month to the highest levels in decades.
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.
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.
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.
‘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. 
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
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.
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.
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.

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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