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July 12, 2026
 

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INFLATION

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.
In the week ended last Sunday, the average price of rice sold at about 1,000 supermarkets across Japan rose by ¥23 from the previous week to ¥4,335 per 5 kilograms.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2025
Average price of rice in Japan hits new record high
The average retail price of the staple grain hit a new record high for the first time in three weeks, according to agriculture ministry data.
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.
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.
In December 1925, The Japan Times reported on a 13-year streak of high birth rates around the country, with more than 50,000 born in Tokyo annually, or an average of 3.37 per 100 people.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Dec 2, 2025
Japan Times 1925: Tokyo population booming in late Taisho Era
The Japanese capital averaged more than 50,000 births per year in the 13 years leading up to 1925, as steady incomes allowed ordinary people to live prosperous lives.
Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino (center) and others rally during the organization's central committee meeting on Friday in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2025
Labor group Rengo to seek wage hike of 5% or more for next year
The umbrella body for labor unions across the country will aim to achieve the levels of pay hikes attained this year to improve the living standards of workers.
The Upper House passed and enacted a bill to scrap the provisional tax surcharges for gasoline and diesel fuel at its plenary session on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 28, 2025
Japan enacts bill to abolish add-on gasoline tax
The bill’s supplementary clause urges the central government to work out concrete measures to make up for an estimated overall annual tax revenue shortfall of ¥1.5 trillion.
Prices for 217 food and beverage products, including chocolate snacks and miso, from 195 major Japanese makers are set to rise in December, Teikoku Databank said Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2025
Prices of 217 food products to rise in Japan in December
The total number of items whose prices have risen or are expected to rise this year is projected to reach 20,609.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food in the Tokyo area advanced 2.8% in November from a year earlier, matching the result for the previous month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2025
Tokyo inflation beats forecast, keeping BOJ on rate hike path
Consumer prices excluding fresh food in the capital advanced 2.8% this month from a year earlier, the internal affairs ministry said Friday.
The Prime Minister's Office, in Tokyo. The administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is developing the fiscal year 2026 budget as inflation remains high and markets are on edge about fiscal spending.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 27, 2025
2026 budget should take inflation into account: private-sector advisers
Their recommendation comes as prices rise rapidly and markets remain skittish.
Nagano Gov. Shuichi Abe (third from left), head of the National Governors' Association, speaks at a meeting hosted by the central government at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2025
Prefectural governors call for measures to cope with tax revenue falls
While the tax cut is seen reducing local government revenue by about ¥500 billion per year, the prime minister said the central government will “ensure necessary general revenues.”
Tomoko Yoshino, chair of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo, during an interview in Tokyo, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 25, 2025
Japan’s union chair urges government to step up inflation fight
“We really expect the government to bring prices under control,” said Tomoko Yoshino, chair of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo.
Labor unions in Japan have already made clear they will again demand bumper pay hikes, as real wage growth has remained negative despite hefty increases in recent years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 24, 2025
Early signs for 2026 wages bolster case for near-term BOJ rate hike
Sustained wage growth would underpin private consumption, giving Japan’s central bank confidence to raise rates without derailing Japan’s economic recovery.
The Cabinet is expected to submit an extra budget bill to finance the package to parliament, which is in session until Dec. 17.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 21, 2025
¥21.3 trillion stimulus package approved by Cabinet
Markets have been volatile amid concern about the plan, which includes ¥17.7 trillion of spending, ¥2.7 trillion in tax breaks and ¥900 billion in special account spending.
Bank of Japan’s headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 19, 2025
BOJ unlikely to hike before March, says panelist advising Prime Minister Takaichi
Goushi Kataoka, a member of Takaichi’s economic growth strategy panel, estimated that a supplementary budget of around ¥20 trillion would be necessary this fiscal year.
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is reportedly set to propose a stimulus package of about ¥17 trillion.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 18, 2025
Extra-big extra budget pushed by some Japanese lawmakers
Bonds and stocks sink as they ask for an additional $50 billion and say debt might be the answer.
U.S. tariffs are starting to take their toll in Japan, especially on companies manufacturing products for export.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 17, 2025
Japan’s GDP drops as tariffs bite and domestic demand flags
The decline in the three quarters ending in September was less than forecast.
Labor productivity per worker in fiscal 2024, which ended in March, rose 0.2% in real terms from the previous year, marking a fourth consecutive annual increase, according to Japan Productivity Center data.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 16, 2025
Japan labor productivity up 0.2% in FY 2024
Despite the good news, progress is still required to ensure that real wages keep rising by 1% as envisioned in a government target, according to the Japan Productivity Center.
U.S. President Donald Trump has rolled back tariffs on more than 200 food products as American consumers lament the high cost of groceries.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 15, 2025
Trump cuts tariffs on beef, coffee and other foods as inflation concerns mount
The move marks a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted that the sweeping import duties he imposed earlier this year are not fueling inflation.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Friday that Japanese businesses are focusing too much on shareholders, expressing frustration that companies are not using more capital to raise wages.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 14, 2025
Takaichi pushes back against companies’ focus on shareholders
The Prime Minister’s comments flicked at her frustration with firms for not using more capital to raise wages.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
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.

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