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August 11, 2026
 

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JAPANESE ECONOMY

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference after the bank's policy meeting on July 31.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 10, 2026
BOJ summary flags upside price risks and possible faster hike pace
At its July meeting, the BOJ held its policy rate at 1% and signaled it could possibly raise it in September, saying it¡¯s watching the weak yen¡¯s impact on prices and growth.
Japanese carmakers' profit and sales outlooks for the current fiscal year suggest they view the latest intervention to lift the yen as more of a brake on extreme moves rather than a fundamental shift in direction.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 7, 2026
Japan carmakers expect yen to keep trading near post-intervention levels
Carmakers¡¯ forecasts suggest they view the recent intervention as more of a brake on extreme moves rather than a fundamental shift in direction.
Japan's household spending fell 3.3% in June from a year earlier, led by drops in spending on food and apparel, among others.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 7, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ households continue to cut spending amid persistent inflation
Outlays by households adjusted for inflation dropped 3.3% in June from a year earlier, compared with a 0.9% increase forecast by economists.
Large companies in Japan have seen five consecutive years of bonus growth.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2026
Summer bonuses average record ?1.04 million among major Japan firms
Large companies in Japan have seen five consecutive years of bonus growth.
A restaurant in Tokyo in August 2024. Restaurant operators are poised to expand take-home meals to cope with a wider tax gap between eat-in meals and takeout foods.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2026
Japanese businesses brace for tax cut
Restaurant operators are poised to expand take-home meals, such as bento boxed meals and other precooked dishes, to cope with a wider tax gap between eat-in meals and takeout.
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 6, 2026
Kishida sees growth strategy as game changer for yen
Â鶹´«Ã½ 14-year strategy aims to generate an annual average of more than ?26 trillion in domestic investment.
The Bank of Japan policy board voted seven to one to stop slowing the pace of JGB buying next April.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2026
BOJ board split over JGB buying at June meeting
According to the minutes, one board member argued that there was ¡°no reason at all to halt the reduction of the purchase amount¡± because the government bond market remained stable.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Tokyo on May 12.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2026
How safe is the yen under the U.S. umbrella?
Having Washington on board brings important potential benefits ¡ª and no small amount of danger.
Nominal wages in Japan climbed 3.4% in June from a year earlier, following a revised 3.3% increase in May, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 5, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ nominal wages rise again, backing BOJ rate hike case
June¡¯s 3.4% rise extended the run of gains exceeding 3% to five months, the longest such streak in 34 years.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds a news conference at the Prime Minister¡¯s Office in Tokyo last month.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2026
Takaichi urged BOJ chief to buy JGBs at May meeting
The reported request could spark a debate over the central bank¡¯s independence.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda addresses a news conference at the BOJ's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday. AFP-JIJI
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2026
The trans-Pacific yen team has a weak link in Ueda
The bank¡¯s statement on stabilizing underlying CPI inflation was seen as a hawkish shift, but its vague language did not provide the clear message that markets were looking for.
The clearest rationale for the United States to join Japan on Friday in purchasing yen comes from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent¡¯s consistent signals of concern about Japanese reverberations into the $31 trillion Treasuries market.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 4, 2026
Bessent¡¯s yen rescue to boost U.S. pressure on Japan trade and rates
Analysts described a range of U.S. interests at stake in helping Japan pull the yen back from near four-decade lows against the dollar.
A notepad in front of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent reads "To Do Buy Japanese Yen $5-10 bil" as he participates in a cabinet meeting at Camp David, Maryland, on Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2026
Bessent¡¯s ¡®to do¡¯ list: buy $5-10 billion worth of Japanese yen, photo shows
The notepad shows no other words, and Bessent¡¯s name card ?on the Camp David conference table is visible and positioned immediately above the notepad.
The U.S. Treasury intervened to support the yen through outright purchases, joining ?Japan in its efforts ?to boost ?the currency from near 40-year ?lows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2026
Bessent and the Fed help Japan reverse months of yen losses
The degree of coordination between the two sides appears to be the tightest in decades, raising the stakes for traders betting against the yen.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda (center) attends a monetary policy meeting with members of the policy board at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 31, 2026
Japan likely intervened to prop up yen, with possible help from U.S.
Analysts believe Japanese financial authorities moved to lift the yen on Thursday night after it suddenly spiked against the dollar.
The total number of food and beverage products subject to price hikes this year, including already announced planned hikes, reached 18,347.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2026
Prices of 2,311 food products to rise in Japan in August
The number soared 83.1% from a year earlier, reflecting rising materials and logistics costs amid tensions in the Middle East.
Tokyo's consumer price index excluding fresh food, considered a leading indicator for nationwide price trends, rose 1.9% in July from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 31, 2026
Tokyo inflation up on year for second month, keeping BOJ on rate hike path
The Tokyo consumer price index is considered a leading indicator for nationwide price trends.
Prime minister Sanae Takaichi addresses a budget committee session in the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2026
Â鶹´«Ã½ ¡®Iron Lady¡¯ may need to bend, not break
Most Japanese prime ministers go through this pattern of early inflated expectations, followed by a crash as fatigue sets in, along with the realities of passing legislation.
With the parliamentary session over, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi now finds herself under pressure to do something about the rising cost of living.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 30, 2026
Takaichi¡¯s popularity slide exposes deeper governing challenges
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi¡¯s drop raises the question of whether it is from the normal growing pains of a new administration or if it indicates deeper structural problems.
The government has lowered its fiscal 2026 real growth forecast to 0.9% from the previous estimate of 1.3% made in January, the Cabinet Office said Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 30, 2026
Japan trims economic outlook as elevated oil prices weigh on growth
The government has cut its projection for real growth in fiscal 2026 to 0.9% from the January forecast of 1.3%.
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.
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.
How Â鶹´«Ã½ racehorses find second careers away from the track
TCC Therapy Park is supported financially by racing organizations as well as donations from members of the public.

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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