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July 03, 2026
 

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INFLATION

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.
Voters listen to a candidate in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on Sunday, a week ahead of the upcoming Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 2, 2026
Inflation and taxes take top billing as party bigwigs scramble for votes
Inflation is just one concern as campaigns try to reach constituents with less than a week left before the election.
The Bank of Japan's summary of opinions signals the possibility of Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s board raising the benchmark rate at a faster pace than the market consensus estimate.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2026
BOJ summary suggests emerging urgency around timely rate hikes
The summary signals the possibility of Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s board raising the benchmark rate at a faster pace than the market consensus estimate.
Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, delivers a speech at the Keidanren labor management forum in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2026
Full wage talks start in Japan with labor management forum
Pay hikes have yet to catch up with inflation in Japan, with real wages extending their losing streak to 11 months as of November.
The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, in Tokyo's 23 wards came to 110.9 in January against the 2020 base of 100, rising for the 53rd consecutive month, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2026
Tokyo inflation slows to 2 percent in January
The decrease was mainly due to a smaller rise in food prices excluding perishables.
A total of 298 alcoholic beverages and soft drinks will lead February's planned price hikes, followed by 283 processed foods, a private research firm's survey showed Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2026
Japan to see fewer food and beverage price hikes in February
The number of such price increases is set to drop by nearly 60% from a year earlier, according to a survey by research firm Teikoku Databank.
The U.S. Treasury Department's semiannual report cited "the prospects for more expansionary fiscal policies" under the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as a reason for the yen's weakening.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2026
U.S. removes call for BOJ to raise interest rates
The U.S. Treasury Department removed its call for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates in a semiannual report released Thursday.
Nine regional power utilities announced Thursday that average household electricity bills will rise in February, due to higher liquefied natural gas costs and reduced government subsidies.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2026
Nine of Japan’s 10 regional power utilities to raise bills in February
Kansai Electric Power is the only utility not to raise its bills.
Workers harvest calrose medium grain rice in California. Japan's rice imports from the United States accounted for about 78% of total rice imports in 2025.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2026
Japan’s private-sector rice imports jump by 95 times in 2025
Demand for foreign rice was strong despite high tariffs because of surging prices for domestically grown rice.
Voters listen to a speech by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo on Tuesday, the first day of campaigning for the Feb. 8 Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 29, 2026
Tax and inflation most common social media topics ahead of election
The policy area of consumption tax and rising prices was mentioned most, in some 330,000 posts, over a 17-day period.
The average prices of new condos in central Tokyo grew about 22% to ¥136 million in 2025.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 27, 2026
Tokyo condo prices hit record high on tight supply and surging building costs
The average price of a new condo in Tokyo and its surrounding areas rose 17% to ¥91.8 million.
Packs of fresh seafood at a supermarket in Yokohama on Jan. 15. Soaring food costs are a key concern of voters in the runup to the Feb. 8 Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2026
Japanese consumers worried about inflation ahead of general election
Some are also questioning Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s decision to call a snap election.
Tomoko Yoshino, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, commonly known as Rengo, speaks during a rally in April 2023.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2026
Rengo leader seeks average 5% wage hikes for third consecutive year
The union leader expressed a wish to “build momentum around the idea that wages rise,” reaffirming the largest Japanese labor group’s target of at least 5% in pay increases.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama speaks during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 23, 2026
Finance chief Katayama watching yen rate ‘with sense of urgency’
Katayama was speaking after the yen gyrated sharply at the conclusion of a press briefing by Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda.
Core inflation rose 3.1% for all of 2025, marking the fourth consecutive year in which consumer price index gains exceeded the Bank of Japan’s 2% inflation target.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2026
Japan’s inflation slows on subsidy effect ahead of BOJ decision
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.4% in December from a year earlier, with the pace decelerating from 3% in November.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s plan to cut the consumption tax on food to zero sent Japanese bonds into a meltdown, jarring global debt markets.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2026
Takaichi’s bad tax plan isn’t worth this freak-out
Temporary tax cuts have a habit of becoming sticky. What government will be strong enough in two years to let it expire, and hit consumers with an 8% increase at the checkout?
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, flanked by Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki (left) and LDP Vice President Taro Aso, attend a party meeting at LDP headquarters in Tokyo's Nagatacho district on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 21, 2026
LDP uses election manifesto to pledge stable rare earths supply amid China row
The ruling party says it will also accelerate talks on eliminating the current 8% consumption tax on food for two years as Japan grapples with inflation.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda in December. Rate increases are expected later this year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 21, 2026
Bank of Japan expected to keep rates steady ahead of February election
Policy rate is 0.75%, a 30-year high, after an increase in December.
Citigroup predicts the Bank of Japan will potentially raise interest rates three times this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 20, 2026
Citigroup sees risk of three BOJ rate hikes in 2026 on weak yen
The Bank of Japan will potentially raise interest rates three times this year to double the current level if the yen’s weakness persists.
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.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
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
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.
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. 
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.

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