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August 11, 2026
 

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Keiko Ujikane
Japan's nominal wages rose 3.2% in May from a year earlier, marking a fourth straight month of wage growth of at least 3%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ nominal wage rises top 3% again in longest streak since 1992
Employers are showing they are committed to raising pay despite difficulties related to the Middle East conflict that have disrupted supply chains and boosted inflation.
The government kept its view that the economy is "recovering moderately,¡± signaling its expansion still has room to run.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2026
Japan nears longest postwar growth even as households struggle
The government kept its view that the economy is ¡°recovering moderately,¡± signaling the expansion still has room to run.
The pharmaceutical industry is among the most strained sectors, with profits squeezed by drug price cuts and rising costs amid Middle East tensions, according to Shunji Horitani, president of the Japanese Federation of Energy and Chemistry Workers¡¯ Unions.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 10, 2026
Wage gains at Â鶹´«Ã½ smaller firms at risk as Iran war drags on
Many of such companies lack the pricing power to fully pass rising costs on to customers because of intense competition and entrenched business practices.
Inflation-adjusted wages increased 1% in March from a year earlier, slowing from a revised 2% gain in February, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ real wages rise for third month to keep BOJ on hike path
It remains unclear whether higher wages will lift consumption.
Base pay in Japan increased 2% in November from a year earlier, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 8, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ base pay growth holds steady, but nominal wage increases slow
The mixed signals come two weeks before the Bank of Japan next meet to decide policy.
Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino speaks at a news conference on Thursday. She said the union is looking to make wage hikes a normal occurrence.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 23, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ unions seek minimum 5% wage hike in upcoming pay talks
Sanae Takaichi¡¯s tenure and the central bank¡¯s policy path could be affected if Japan can¡¯t keep up its wage-hike momentum.
Minimum hourly wages in Japan's 47 prefectures are set to average ?1,121, up by a record ?66 from the previous year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2025
Japan to hike minimum wage by record amount, backing BOJ¡¯s rate hikes
A record 6.3% increase takes the minimum wage to an average of ?1,121 per hour across the country¡¯s 47 prefectures, the largest increase since 1978.
Akihiko Ogino, president and CEO of Daiwa Securities Group, says Japan should press ahead with diversity initiatives as he attends the Tokyo Pride parade in the capital's Shibuya area on Sunday.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2025
Top banker vows loyalty to DEI at Tokyo Pride Parade as Trump¡¯s pushback rages
Few Japanese executives have spoken out on U.S. backlash to DEI, though many firms seem to be quietly maintaining their initiatives.
Nominal cash earnings rose 2.1% from a year earlier, decelerating from a revised 2.7% pace in February and below a median economist forecast of 2.5%, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ nominal wage growth slows, backing case for BOJ caution
Nominal cash earnings rose 2.1% from a year earlier, decelerating from a revised 2.7% pace in February and below a median economist forecast of 2.5%.
A Japanese class at a job placement company in Hanoi in 2022. The number of foreign workers in Japan hit a record high in 2024.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2025
Â鶹´«Ã½ foreign workforce hits fresh record as labor crisis deepens
Japan had a record 2.3 million foreign workers as of October 2024, marking a 12.4% increase from the previous year.
Japanese firms' capital expenditure rose 1.9% in the three months through June from the previous quarter.
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2024
Â鶹´«Ã½ firms lift outlays in sign of modest domestic demand
Capital expenditure on goods excluding software rose 1.9% in the three months through June from the previous quarter.
Japanese workers' base pay increased 2.5% in May from a year ago, the fastest growth since 1993.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 8, 2024
Japan base pay jumps most since 1993 in positive signal for BOJ
Base pay increased 2.5% in May from a year ago, the fastest growth since 1993.
Japan's core inflation slowed for a second straight month in April due to milder food inflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 24, 2024
Â鶹´«Ã½ inflation cools as BOJ waits for wage gains to kick in
Consumer prices excluding those for fresh food rose 2.2% year on year in April, matching analysts¡¯ estimates and marking a 25th month of staying above the BOJ¡¯s 2% target.
Japan's core inflation slowed in March and an index gauging broader price trends fell below 3% for the first time in over a year, as analysts try to gauge when the Bank of Japan will move again.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 19, 2024
Â鶹´«Ã½ inflation cools ahead of BOJ policy board meeting
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.6% in March from a year ago, cooling from February¡¯s 2.8% gain.
Â鶹´«Ã½ latest growth figures are set to confirm it slipped to become the world's fourth-largest economy last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2024
Japan GDP set to confirm slip to world¡¯s fourth-largest economy
Figures for the calendar year are almost certain to show the value of output falling behind Germany¡¯s in dollar terms.
Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.5% in November from a year earlier, marking the slowest pace of increase in over a year in a sign of easing cost-push pressures in the world's third-largest economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 22, 2023
Â鶹´«Ã½ cooling inflation also offers encouraging signs for BOJ
Consumer prices excluding fresh food items rose 2.5% from a year earlier as falls in energy costs deepened and gains in processed food prices eased.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 6, 2023
Weak Japan wage results offer little for Kishida or BOJ
Real cash earnings for Â鶹´«Ã½ workers dropped 3.0% from a year earlier in April, slipping for the 13th month as overtime pay showed weakness.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 14, 2023
Japan deepens diversity lag with no women among BOJ nominees
The nominations came amid heightened expectations that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was looking to choose the first female deputy governor in the Bank of Â鶹´«Ã½ 140-year history.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2023
Japan to lag again on diversity if women shut out of BOJ race
Not a single woman¡¯s name is doing the rounds as a potential replacement for Haruhiko Kuroda as central bank governor in the world¡¯s third-largest economy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2022
Fueled by weak yen, Tokyo inflation hits fastest pace since 1982
The continued acceleration in core inflation challenges Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda¡¯s view that the current cost-push inflation is only temporary.
America¡¯s cyberforces grapple with cluster of deaths by suicide
The U.S. Cyber Command building (center) stands on the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade, Maryland.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
Speaking Japanese at the movies with ¡®Chiikawa¡¯
A "Chiikawa The Movie" poster is seen at Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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