The surprising selection of Sanae Takaichi as president of Japan's ruling party may further push up the Nikkei stock index to the 50,000 threshold, aided by a weaker yen as prospects of an imminent interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan recede.

The upward momentum of the key index, however, may be short-lived due to political uncertainty as fiscal dove Takaichi may find it hard to implement economy-supporting policies with her Liberal Democratic Party leading a minority government.

Boosted by optimism about expansionary fiscal measures, the Nikkei surged 4.75 percent Monday to end at a fresh record high at 47,944.76, while the Japanese currency plunged by around 3 yen against the U.S. dollar to hit a two-month low in the 150 level.

Recent advances of the Nikkei came after it sank to the 31,000 level in April due to concerns about higher U.S. levies before recovering as a Japan-U.S. trade deal in July to reduce auto and other tariff rates helped improve investor sentiment.

"The yen fell to 150 against the dollar and a further drop would increase the likelihood of the Nikkei reaching 50,000, considering the impact of a weaker currency on corporate earnings," said Makoto Sengoku, senior equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory Co.

The yen could slide even more if concern about the U.S. economic outlook recedes due to additional monetary easing by the Federal Reserve and a U.S. government shutdown ends relatively soon, he said.

Solid corporate earnings are also likely to bolster the market, with the BOJ's latest Tankan survey showing confidence among major manufacturers improved for the second straight quarter.

"It's highly unlikely that corporate earnings will deteriorate and cause stocks to fall," said Koichi Fujishiro, senior economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

The Japanese central bank is now seen as facing headwinds to pursue additional interest rate hikes at its policy meeting late October, as Takaichi has aired concern about the adverse impact of U.S. tariffs on the Japanese economy in the future.

Speculation about additional rate hikes had grown recently amid surging food and other prices, after two of the nine board members voted against leaving the policy rate unchanged at the last meeting in September.

"It is too early to assume deflation is over and feel relieved," she told a press conference Saturday after being elected as LDP chief, apparently signaling to the BOJ to be cautious about further rate increases.

"I will have to closely communicate with the BOJ" until inflation led by higher wages accompanied with expanding demand is achieved, she said.

Takaichi also said in a recent Kyodo News survey of LDP leadership candidates that the BOJ should keep intact its policy rate at around 0.5 percent, contrasting with the other four candidates, who refrained from commenting on whether it should raise or reduce rates.

Some analysts, meanwhile, warned the equities market may be dampened by the unclear political outlook given the ruling coalition of the LDP and Komeito lack a majority in either house of parliament.

"The sustainability of stock rises may not last so long" as it remains unclear how the ruling coalition will cooperate with other parties to implement policies, said Masahiro Yamaguchi, head of investment research at SMBC Trust Bank.

"The feasibility and scale of policies will become apparent if such issues are likely to be cleared, but it will take some time to reach that stage," he added.

Concerns over rising borrowing costs also linger, as expansionary fiscal policies such as more government spending and tax cuts would lead to further deterioration in Japan's fiscal health, which is already the worst among developed economies, brokers said.
 


 

Asahi has partially restarted production at all six of its breweries in Japan after it was forced to close them due to a cyber-attack.

Several major shops in Japan including 7-Eleven and FamilyMart had warned last week that they were running low on stocks of the beer after the hack affected Asahi Group's ordering and delivery systems in the country.

Asahi is the biggest brewer in Japan, but it also makes soft drinks and food products, as well as supplying own-brand goods to other retailers.

The partially restarted breweries produce best-seller Asahi Super Dry, but the firm is also restarting plants that produce food and soft drinks.

The cyber-attack is the latest to have affected operations at major firms, with carmaker Jaguar Land Rover still struggling to recover from an attack that shut down production.

Asahi Group also owns Fullers in the UK and global brands including Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch. However, only Asahi's operations in Japan - which account for about half its sales - have been affected by the attack.

Asahi said the re-opened beer plants in Japan were "not yet fully operational", and that two of its soft drinks factories that have partially re-opened were also not running at full capacity.

It added there were a further five soft drinks factories that "will resume gradually in accordance with shipments"

All seven of its food plants have resumed operations, though they are also not yet fully operational.

Asahi said the production systems at the factories themselves had not been affected by the cyber-attack, but it had been forced to halt production because it could not process orders and shipments.

The company added that its breweries were producing only Super Dry, and that from 15 October it would resume shipments of 16 products, including its non-alcoholic beers Asahi Dry Zero and Asahi Zero, as well as Clear Asahi and whiskey Black Nikka Clear.

It said some product launches would also be postponed.
 
 

Matsudo High School, a public school in the town of Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, used to have a little campus store where students could buy bread, which in Japan encompasses snack-sized buns with sweet or savory fillings.

That’s still not a ton of variety, though, and in 2022 the store, having trouble making ends meet, closed. Following that, the only snack options in the school were a pair of vending machines, once again stocked with just breads.

In late September, though, a new shop opened inside Matsudo High, and it’s got a much, much, wider selection, because it’s a full-on Japanese convenience store.

https://youtu.be/D3Leq5UJKOQ

The store opened on September 25, and while it’s not huge, its floor space of 32 square meters (344 square feet) makes it as big as some convenience stores you’ll find out in Japanese towns or attached to train stations.

What’s more, this is a full-fledged branch of Yamazaki Shop, the chain of convenience stores operated by Yamazaki Baking Company, and is stocked with roughly 1,000 different items.

Since it’s located within the school building and isn’t accessible by the general public, obviously it doesn’t sell alcohol of tobacco products, but students can come in and get Japanese convenience store staples like onigiri/rice balls, bento boxed lunches, cup ramen, soft drinks such as tea and juice, and even sundry items like pens, stationery, and hand towels. It’s the first instance of a convenience store chain opening a branch inside a public high school in the prefecture.

The school does have a couple of stipulations for this unique branch. First, while self-checkout registers are becoming more common in Japanese convenience stores, all of the Matsudo High Yamazaki Shop’s sales have to be rung up by an employee, and the bread and rice balls they sell also must have been made that same day.

It also doesn’t operate under the 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week schedule that’s the norm for Japanese convenience stores, and is instead open only on weekdays from 10: 30 a.m. to 6 p.m., making it accessible to kids after class and extracurricular activities.

As for whether the Yamazaki Shop will prove more profitable than the school’s previous bread-only shop, the owner, who has a half-dozen other convenience store franchises, isn’t too terribly concerned, as he’s a Matsudo native who wants to do something nice for his hometown.

The school’s principal also says they also hope for the store to serve as an educational opportunity for programs in which students can learn about subjects such as marketing and distribution.
 

All Nippon Airways Co. plans to raise the mandatory retirement age for its employees from 60 to 65 starting in fiscal 2027 and proposed the measure to its labor union on Tuesday.

Amid increasingly serious labor shortages, ANA aims to better utilize the expert knowledge of veteran workers and pass on their skills to younger employees.

Currently, ANA signs reemployment contracts with employees every year after they reach 60. Those employees can continue to work for the company until they turn 65 as non-regular staff.

Under the planned system, the employees will continue to be regular-contract workers. However, limitations on job roles and other matters for employees aged 60 or over will remain.

In fiscal 2024, ANA hiked non-regular employees’ salaries from 40% to about 60% the level they had as 59-year-old regular-contract workers.

By making senior employees regular-contract workers, their salary levels will be further hiked to about 70%. For pilots and mechanics, whose roles are highly skilled and require national licenses, it will be possible for the level to be about 90%.

The number of ANA employees aged from 60 to 65 is predicted to be about 1,500 in fiscal 2027. The company therefore forecasts that its labor costs will be increased by several billions of yen as a result of its plan.

Going forward, the company will hold discussions with the labor union to make the plan an official decision.
 
 

Politics dominated currency markets on Monday as the Japanese yen weakened by the most in five months against the dollar with Sanae Takaichi looking set to become Japan's next prime minister, and the euro slid after France's new government quit.

Takaichi is a former economic security and internal affairs minister with an expansionary fiscal agenda for the world's fourth-largest economy. She won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election at the weekend, putting her on track to become Japan's next prime minister.

Her victory caused traders to reduce bets that the Bank of Japan will hike interest rates this month and sent the yen tumbling across the board.


UNCERTAINTY OVER POLICY PRIORITIES IN JAPAN

The dollar at one point rose more than 2% to 150.47 yen, its highest level since early August. It was last up 1.7% at 149.91, and if sustained, that would be its biggest daily gain since May 12.

The euro hit 176.22 yen in Asian trade, its highest ever against the Japanese currency. It later pared those gains to be up 1.2% at 175.3 yen following the collapse of the French government.

Deutsche Bank had advised clients to position for yen appreciation, but they "are now getting out following the LDP election outcome this weekend", the bank's global head of FX research, George Saravelos, said in a note to clients.

"Sanae Takaichi's surprise victory reintroduces too much uncertainty around Japan's policy priorities, and the timing of the BoJ hiking cycle," he wrote.
Long-dated Japanese government bonds sold off. And the yen swaps market indicated just less than a 50% likelihood of a rate hike by December, down from 68% on Friday.

However, some investors said U.S. factors that could weigh on the dollar in the coming weeks, such as the Federal Reserve continuing to cut rates, might stop traders selling the yen for dollars too dramatically.

"Most see short dollar-yen as the cleanest expression of a weaker dollar. Takaichi is the idiosyncratic risk. But the Fed is the bigger, more obvious, more immediate macro risk," said Rong Ren Goh, a portfolio manager in the fixed income team at Eastspring Investments.


PRESSURE ON MACRON AFTER LATEST SETBACK

Meanwhile, the euro slid after France's new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his government resigned on Monday, just hours after the announcement of the cabinet line-up, deepening France's political crisis.

The euro dropped 0.6% to $1.1681 and also slid 0.3% against thepound to its lowest in nearly a month.

"The pressure now goes back to President Macron to see how he deals with this deadlock," said Lee Hardman, senior currency strategist at MUFG.

"For the market, the worst case would be if he tries to break that deadlock by calling snap parliamentary elections. That would extend the uncertainty in the near term and likely trigger another leg lower for the euro."

Sterling was down 0.3% against the dollar at $1.3431 , while the Swiss franc softened a similar amount to 0.7993 per dollar.

Elsewhere, this week traders will have to grapple with the absence of important U.S. economic data as the government shutdown continues.

That could make it hard to shake current market pricing signalling that easing at the Fed's October meeting is a near-certainty. Fed funds futures implied a 96.7% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
 
 

Nissan Motor Co will put on hold a plan to make electric vehicles in the United States as EV sales are slowing and a tax break on EV purchases was eliminated in the country, a source familiar with the move said.

The Japanese automaker is instead considering reviving the once-discontinued Xterra sport utility vehicle in a hybrid format in 2028.

According to the source, Nissan has already asked parts suppliers to suspend work related to its initial goal of starting production of SUV-type EVs at its plant in Canton, Mississippi, in the same target year.

The automaker now envisions producing Xterra SUVs at the Canton facility.
As it moves to streamline operations in a bid to restore profitability, Nissan signaled to partner companies in July that it was delaying the start of EV production at the plant by up to a year.

It came to light in September that Nissan had temporarily suspended production at an eastern Japan plant of its Ariya electric vehicle for the U.S. market. But the automaker still plans to launch a new model of the Leaf EV in the United States in the fall.

Slowing global EV sales have forced automakers to reconsider their EV strategies.

In May, Honda Motor Co. said it was reducing its investment plan for EV technology through fiscal 2030 to around 7 trillion yen ($47.6 billion) from the previously scheduled 10 trillion yen, citing lower-than-expected growth in the EV market.
 
 

The dollar headed for its worst week since late July on Friday as the U.S. government shutdown increased uncertainty, while the yen pulled back from this week's highs as traders mulled the Bank of Japan's next move ahead of a ruling party leadership election this weekend.

The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of key currencies, was flat at 97.77. The euro was up 0.2% at $1.1736. Sterling firmed 0.1% to $1.345.

"We've got the government shutdown in the U.S. ... for market participants it means we're not getting any of the data releases we would usually get like the non-farm payrolls data today," said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.

"I think that's why we're seeing things trade in such listless fashion."



BOJ GOVERNOR STRIKES CAUTIOUS TONE

Though ISM data is due out of the U.S. later, Brown said he did not expect it to move the needle.

The yen eased 0.1% to 147.375 per dollar, having earlier fallen as much as 0.4%. But it remained on track for a 1.4% advance this week that would be the biggest since mid-May.

BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda struck a cautious tone in comments about the global economy, lowering expectations of an imminent rate hike. Markets were also focused on a Liberal Democratic Party election on Saturday that will determine Japan's next prime minister.

"Market participants are a little bit disappointed potentially ... he (Ueda) didn't really lean into the idea of an October rate hike as much as some of his colleagues have done in recent sessions, that's why we've seen a little bit of pressure on the yen," said Brown.

Markets were keeping a close eye on speeches by BOJ officials this week after the central bank's tankan survey on Wednesday showed confidence among big manufacturers improved for the second straight quarter.

Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida said on Thursday that the business mood was improving and corporate profits remained high even as U.S. tariffs weighed on exports.

But in a speech on Friday, Governor Ueda put the focus back on how global factors, particularly the health of the U.S. economy, could affect the trajectory of wages and prices in Japan.

Goldman Sachs economists said in a note that Ueda's speech "supports our view that the possibility of an October rate hike is very low."

The LDP election also has consequences for Japan's budget and central bank policies.

Among the frontrunners, dovish party veteran Sanae Takaichi could trigger more bond market uncertainty, while farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi and top government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi are less likely to rock the boat.



TWO MORE FED RATE CUTS EXPECTED THIS YEAR


In the U.S. overnight, a Chicago Fed report that combined private and available public data estimated the September jobless rate was 4.3%, the same as in August and evidence that a feared rapid rise in unemployment had not yet begun.

But details of the report, along with other data, pointed to sluggishness in the labour market. The ADP National Employment report on Wednesday showed private payrolls decreased by 32,000 in September, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates twice more this year.

Traders see a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed's October meeting as almost certain and are pricing in an 89% probability of an additional cut in December, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan on Thursday said the central bank appropriately cut rates last month to guard against the risk of a sharp deterioration in the job market, but said that so far the cooling has been gradual and signalled she was not eager to cut rates further.

Elsewhere, a few Fed, ECB, Bank of England central bankers were due to speak at the farewell symposium of the Dutch central bank governor Klaas Knot, including ECB President Christine Lagarde and the Bank of England's Andrew Bailey.
 
 

Japanese and U.S. business leaders issued a joint statement Friday demanding that their governments "secure transparency and predictability of international trade and investment."

The statement, adopted by the members of the Japan-U.S. and U.S.-Japan Business Councils at their two-day joint meeting in Tokyo, which began Thursday, comes as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy is adding to global economic uncertainties.

Both governments should "reaffirm" their support for foreign direct investment between Japan and the United States while "ensuring investment screening measures are narrowly tailored to national security concerns," the statement added.

The leaders from more than 120 major companies also underscored the importance of the public and private sectors collaborating in "transparent, accountable, and risk-aware" artificial intelligence development and requested visa facilitation for business trips by experts.

"We have a sense of danger over the unpredictable situation," Japan-U.S. Business Council Chair Jun Sawada, also chairman of NTT, told a press conference after the meeting. "I want both governments to make efforts to eliminate uncertainty as much as possible."

David Goeckeler, head of the U.S. council and chairman and CEO of U.S. flash memory-maker Sandisk, said, "It's very important that we have a point of view" on political measures. He then voiced intention to ask the U.S. government for improvements in the investment environment.
 
 

 
A new luxury hotel opened in Nagoya on Wednesday, with standard room prices as high as 3.75 million yen per night, as it seeks to attract affluent tourists with its panoramic view of nearby Nagoya Castle.

The 11-story Espacio Nagoya Castle, designed in the style of a Japanese castle, has 100 guest rooms themed after Japanese samurai culture and traditional crafts, according to its operator Espacio Enterprise Co.
Room prices start at 250,000 yen per night, and the building features a spa and pool located on one of its two basement levels.

The site was formerly occupied by the prestigious Hotel Nagoya Castle, which welcomed members of the Japanese imperial family and foreign dignitaries. It closed in 2020 due to aging facilities.

Nagoya-based trading and pharmaceutical company Kowa Co., the parent company of Espacio Enterprise, bought the land and constructed the new hotel.

More luxury hotels are scheduled to open in Nagoya in response to the influx of tourists to Japan, and in expectation of the opening of a maglev train line that will run from Tokyo to the city and eventually extend to Osaka.
 
 

Isuzu Motors on Wednesday held a groundbreaking ceremony for a vehicle plant in South Carolina, which will become the Japanese commercial vehicle maker's first independent factory in the United States.

The new plant is expected to start truck production in 2027. Isuzu aims to ease the impact of the high tariff policy of the administration of U.S.

President Donald Trump, which has increased export costs, by expanding local production while reducing shipments from Japan.

The automaker began vehicle sales in North America in 1984 and logged a record high of some 44,000 units in fiscal 2023. Currently, Isuzu exports about 40% of the automobiles it sells in the region from Japan and consigns final assembly to U.S. companies for the rest.

Isuzu plans to produce 50,000 vehicles, including electric trucks, at the South Carolina plant in 2030, intending to supply most of its vehicles for the North American market from the new factory.

The construction has been planned before the launch of Trump's tariff policy. Having an independent factory in the United States "has been our dream," Isuzu Chairman Masanori Katayama told reporters.

Having a U.S. plant will "increase measures we can take in response to the U.S. tariffs," such as local procurement of parts, he also said.

Isuzu has yet to decide whether to produce all vehicles it sells in North America at the South Carolina plant in the future, Katayama said. But he added that it could be possible.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by about 150 people, including South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Japanese Ambassador to the United States Shigeo Yamada.
 


 

Toyota Motor Corp. on Thursday opened Woven City, a demonstration site for advanced technology built on the former grounds of a factory in Susono, Shizuoka Prefecture.

The site will serve as a location for the development of new products and services, with 20 companies and individuals participating, including Toyota and nonautomotive firms.

Experiments in various fields, including autonomous driving technology, will be conducted, while employees and other people with connections to Toyota reside in the area.

On Thursday, Toyota disclosed to the press an autonomous robotic vehicle that leads cars to destinations, which is thought to be used for car sharing services in the future. The automaker also revealed single-person three-wheeled electric vehicles, which will be used as a means of transportation at Woven City.

“(Woven City) will serve as a test course for the future,” said Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda at an opening ceremony.

The demonstration site currently covers 47,000 square meters, with the automaker planning to eventually expand it to 294,000 square meters.

Toyota has not specified construction costs or when construction will be completed, as the automaker plans to change the layout of Woven City based on future development of products and services.

Only a few households currently reside in the area, but about 300 people will move to there during the first phase. The number is expected to reach about 2,000 in the final phase.

Toyoda first announced the concept of Woven City in 2020 when he was the president. “We will build a ‘city’ from scratch,” he said at the time.

In October last year, construction work for the site’s initial phase was completed. The automaker has been preparing to start experiments since then.
 
 
 

Former Suntory Holdings Ltd Chairman Takeshi Niinami has resigned as chief of a major business body, the group said Tuesday, after he came under police investigation over supplement purchases.

The board of directors at the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, known as Keizai Doyukai, accepted his resignation request made at their meeting earlier in the day, it said.

Senior Vice Chairman Mutsuo Iwai, who is chairman of Japan Tobacco Inc., will serve as acting chair until a new chief is selected, it said.

Niinami told a press conference that he offered to resign "to avoid splitting" the association since he said the board had been divided over whether he should stay on.

"I do have regrets because there were still things that I wanted to do (as chief)," he added.

Niinami declined to provide details regarding the controversial supplement purchases, saying only that he will cooperate with the investigative authorities.

Prominent business figure Niinami, who has denied any wrongdoing, quit as chairman of the beverage maker on Sept. 1 but remained the business group's chief.

However, Niinami had stayed away from activities as head of the body, saying he would leave the decision over whether to dismiss him as chief to the association.

The graduate of the Harvard Business School led the Japan Association of Corporate Executives from April 2023 and has long served as a private-sector member of the government's key council on economic and fiscal policy.

Niinami said Tuesday he will continue to sit on the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, where important issues, including government spending and economic growth strategies, are discussed.

The membership of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives comprises around 1,700 top executives of some 1,200 corporations and formulate proposals on political, economic and social issues.

The members join the body's activities as an individual, not as representatives of their company or a specific industry, unlike the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, the country's most powerful business lobby where major companies are members.
 
 

Ambassador of Japan to Indonesia Masaki Yasushi highlighted the strong balance of trade between Indonesia and Japan during his tenure.

"Concerning trade, I think we keep a very good balance of trade," Masaki said at a media briefing marking the end of his assignment in Indonesia on Tuesday.

He underlined that trade is central to bilateral relations between the two countries, but also noted that cooperation goes beyond trade alone.

According to him, Japan and Indonesia have succeeded in maintaining a healthy balance of trade, and both sides are expected to continue this trend.

To support this balance, the two countries have bilateral agreements such as the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Masaki said the agreements had recently been reviewed and were seen as increasingly favorable for Indonesian exports to Japan, while also benefiting Japan.

In addition to trade, Masaki underscored Japan’s efforts to increase investment in Indonesia.

He said Japanese companies have expanded investments in sectors including infrastructure, automotive, agriculture, and fisheries.

He expressed confidence that such investments would further encourage Japanese corporate interest in Indonesia.

The ambassador also stressed the importance of exchanges between people from both nations, calling them vital for long-term bilateral relations.

"Exchange of people does not appear in trade figures. But for the future of our bilateral relations, it is very important," he noted.

Masaki officially began his tenure as Japan’s ambassador to Indonesia on October 24, 2023.

Born in Tokyo in 1962, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Since 2017, he served as Director of the European Bureau at the ministry and held various strategic positions in Europe before being assigned to Indonesia.
 

Asahi Group Holdings has suspended the order and shipment capabilities of its group companies in Japan after being struck by a cyberattack.

“We are actively investigating the cause and working to restore operations. However, there is currently no estimated timeline for recovery,” the beverage holding company said in a statement Monday.

The impact of the cyberattack is limited to Asahi’s Japan operations. There has not been any personal information or customer data leaks, according to the company.

Asahi has been contacted for further comment.
Cyberattacks have been on the rise in Japan, with a number of high-profile cases in recent years drawing attention to the issue.

Approximately a third of Japanese companies have experienced a cyberattack, according to a May 2025 survey by Teikoku Databank.

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks — which overload networks in order to overpower them — increased 60% last December compared with a year earlier, reaching an all-time high, according to Akamai Technologies, a cybersecurity firm.

Stories about outdated data-handling processes in Japan occasionally make headlines. In 2022, a contractor handling official data lost a USB flash drive containing the personal details of all 460,000 residents of the city of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, during a drunken night out. The device was later retrieved without incident.

But when it comes to more sophisticated data protection, Japan does rank fairly highly. The Global Cybersecurity Index 2024 ranked the country as a “role-model” in Asia Pacific, citing its legal mechanisms and organizational measures.
 


 

The Japanese government on Monday maintained its view that the economy is recovering moderately but said higher U.S. tariffs are adversely affecting the auto industry.

In its September monthly economic report, the Cabinet Office upgraded its assessment of private consumption for the first time in 13 months, citing improvement in consumer sentiment on the back of income growth and a pause in fresh vegetable price increases.

It also lifted the view on capital investment for the first time in 18 months, saying it is "picking up moderately," reflecting corporate moves to boost investment in software development in addition to machinery equipment.

While keeping intact its overall evaluation, the report said, "the effects caused from the U.S. trade policies are seen mainly in the automotive industry" after hefty tariffs were imposed in April under President Donald Trump.

The reference to the specific industry came after government data showed profits among manufacturing firms plunged 11.5 percent in the April-June quarter from a year earlier, dragged down by a 29.7 percent drop in the transport equipment sector, including automobiles.

The auto tariff of 27.5 percent was reduced to 15 percent in September following a Japan-U.S. trade agreement in July, a move that helped improve corporate and consumer sentiment, the office said.

The latest report said private consumption "shows movements of picking up," after assessing in August that "the improvement in consumer sentiment is slow." Consumer spending is a key component of gross domestic product, accounting for more than half of Japan's economy.
 
 

Partnership will expand Seven Bank’s ATM network to 44,000 units nationwide, overtaking Japan Post Bank as domestic leader.

Seven Bank announced that it will begin installing its ATMs across FamilyMart stores, one of Japan’s largest convenience store chains and a subsidiary of Itochu Corporation. 

FamilyMart plans to gradually replace the roughly 16,000 ATMs currently in its stores with Seven Bank’s high-performance machines, aiming to improve customer service and payment options.

By combining the new installations with its existing network of over 28,000 ATMs, the company’s total will reach around 44,000 units, surpassing Japan Post Bank’s 31,200 ATMs to become the largest ATM network in Japan.

FamilyMart operates about 16,300 stores nationwide. While the chain currently uses ATMs provided by companies like Tokyo-based E-net, most of these will be replaced with Seven Bank machines featuring a custom branded design.

The upgraded ATMs will allow services such as cash charging for various cashless payment platforms, improving overall convenience for users.

FamilyMart is also exploring new financial services that could be offered through the ATMs, including acting as an intermediary for mortgage sales from other financial institutions.
 


 

Toyota’s record sales run, including steady growth in China and North America, has lost steam after a sharp drop back home in Japan.

Global sales in August — including that of subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino — rose just over 1% from a year earlier to 900,598 units, the company said Monday. Sales that month rose almost 4% abroad to a record monthly high, but fell more than 10% in Japan.

Global production grew almost 4% to 837,869 units.

The world’s biggest carmaker has seen steady growth throughout the year in most major markets despite the recent downturn in Japan and trade turmoil triggered by President Donald Trump’s tariffs on cars and car parts imported to the U.S.

It even manufactured and sold a record number of vehicles for seven consecutive months, thanks to a resurgence in demand for gas-electric hybrids.

Toyota and Lexus brand sales in August were up nearly 14% in the U.S., but down 12% in Japan.

Battery electric vehicle sales rose 35% to 17,056 units globally — though only 18 were sold in Japan.

In August, Toyota lowered its annual profit guidance as it warned of a ¥1.4 trillion ($9.5 billion) hit to its bottom line from Trump’s 15% tariffs. It now sees ¥3.2 trillion in operating income for the fiscal year ending in March 2026, down from its initial forecast of ¥3.8 trillion.

In August, Nissan saw sales climb 3% to 251,081 units, thanks in large part to a 13% bump in the U.S. and a 19% jump in China.

Honda’s sales, on the other hand, suffered a 7% drop last month to 289,688 units.
 

 

Consumers in Japan are expected to face prices hikes on more than 3,000 food and beverage items for the first time in six months in October mainly due to an increase in raw material and labor costs.

The burden on Japanese households will be felt even more also because three-month subsidies on electricity and gas bills will end at the end of this month, keeping pressure on real wages that fell for the seventh consecutive month in July, as salary growth has been outpaced by price increases.

According to a survey by Teikoku Databank Ltd, the number of food and drink items planned for price hikes next month rose from the initially estimated 2,989 on Aug. 29.

For example, the suggested retail price of a 500-milliliter bottle of Coca Cola will be raised from 194 yen to 216 yen.

Items made from rice, such as "mochi" rice cakes and Japanese sake, will also be subject to hikes due to high rice prices.
 

 

The Japanese yen weakened against other major currencies in the European session on Friday, following the release of lesser-than-expected Tokyo overall inflation data in September.

Data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed that overall inflation in the Tokyo region of Japan was up 2.5 percent on year in September. That was shy of expectations for an annual increase of 2.6 percent, which would have been unchanged from the August reading.

Core CPI, which excludes the volatile cost of food, also was up 2.5 percent on year. That missed forecasts for an increase of 2.6 percent but was unchanged from the previous month's reading.

The Bank of Japan's (BoJ) argument for additional interest rate hikes has made more difficult by the reduction in inflation, even if price growth is still above its 2% target.

Furthermore, the BoJ may be able to postpone hiking interest rates due to political unpredictability in Japan ahead of the October 4 Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election, which could put some selling pressure on the JPY.

In the European trading today, the yen declined to a 14-month low of 175.02 against the euro and a record low of 187.53 against the Swiss franc, from early highs of 174.64 and 187.09, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 176.00 against the euro and 188.00 against the franc.

Against the pound and the U.S. dollar, the yen dropped to 200.21 and 149.89 from early highs of 199.70 and 149.62, respectively. The yen may test support near 201.00 against the pound and 150.00 against the greenback.

Looking ahead, Canada GDP data and wholesale sales data for August, U.S. Core PCE price index for August, personal income and spending for August, U.S. University of Michigan's consumer sentiment for September and U.S. Baker Hughes oil rig count data are slated for release in the New York session.
 


 

Nippon Steel Corp said Thursday it will invest $300 million in two plants run by the recently acquired United States Steel Corp, setting up a new recycling facility and expanding production via the introduction of new product lines in the key U.S. market.

It will be the first investment from the $11 billion Nippon Steel pledged to pump into U.S. Steel as agreed with President Donald Trump's government under the $14.1 billion acquisition deal finalized in June.

The Japanese steelmaker said it will spend $100 million to enable slag recycling at U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson plant, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and $200 million to improve the Gary Works hot strip mill in Gary, Indiana.

"We will enhance the competitiveness of U.S. Steel through implementation of specific investment projects and this will eventually lead to jobs being protected," Nippon Steel President Tadashi Imai told reporters.

Meanwhile, local media reported last week that the U.S. government blocked a plan to halt a plant in Illinois, with the Trump administration holding a "golden share" giving it veto power over key management decisions.

Imai said there "can be different views" regarding the authority of the golden share, adding that the company sees the U.S. action as part of a policy to protect its domestic production base and jobs.

Nippon Steel, which aims to increase exports to Southeast Asia, India and other overseas markets to replace shrinking domestic demand, is looking to complete its $11 billion investment in U.S. Steel by 2028.
 
 

Honda said Wednesday that it has ended production of the Acura ZDX luxury electric vehicle, developed jointly with U.S. auto giant General Motors.

The ZDX had been manufactured at a GM plant in the United States and sold in the North American market. Honda ceased development and production of the ZDX for the 2026 model and beyond.

The Japanese automaker said the decision reflected a slowdown in EV demand and other market changes.

EV sales have been growing at a slower pace in the U.S. recently, accounting for less than 10% of the new car market. A measure to help consumers buy EVs, introduced under former U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, is set to expire at the end of this month, likely dealing a further blow to the EV market.

The Prologue electric SUV is set to be the only EV under joint development by Honda and GM following the latest move.

The two automakers had previously been developing a lower-priced mass-market EV, but suspended the project in 2023 before the vehicle hit the market.
 
 

Shinsegae Department Store announced on Sept. 24 that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Tokyu Retail Management, a subsidiary of Japan’s Tokyu Group, for Korea-Japan content exchange and business model enhancement at Shinsegae Department Store headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul on Sept. 23.

Tokyu Group, established in 1922 based on the railway business, operates major railway lines and stations in Tokyo. It is a conglomerate with a business network across Japan, including important landmarks in Shibuya (Shibuya109, Shibuya Hikarie, etc.), department stores, real estate, and hotel resorts. Tokyu Retail Management is a subsidiary that oversees the operation of Tokyu Group’s commercial facilities.

Through this MOU, the two companies plan to strengthen brand exchanges and promotions based on their respective commercial facilities and cooperate to create new value in both countries’ markets continuously.

In particular, Shinsegae Department Store will enhance customer accessibility by entering Tokyu Group’s commercial facilities located in central Shibuya through this MOU. In line with the MOU, a Shinsegae Hyper Ground pop-up store will be held at “Shibuya109” next month.

Shibuya 109 has established itself as a landmark in Shibuya since its first opening in 1979. It is a shopping mall that has recently gained popularity among MZ female customers who love K-pop, hosting K-pop pop-ups.

Through the Shinsegae Hyper Ground pop-up, they plan to showcase “rising star” K-brands that have been proven in Korea to Japanese customers, continuing the K-brand sensation.

Previously, Shinsegae Hyper Ground successfully held K-fashion and K-beauty pop-up stores in Thailand, Japan, Singapore, and Paris. Since 2023, it has been going abroad with Korean brands to increase brand expandability and attract new customers.

Jang Su-jin, head of the Shinsegae Department Store Merchandise Division, said, “Through this MOU with the Tokyu Group, we have created a platform to showcase a new expanded form of Shinsegae Hyper Ground,” adding, “We will strive to get closer to customers in both Korea and Japan through collaboration between the two companies.”



 
 
 

Staff at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo who honed their customer service skills and language abilities are highly sought after as ready-to-work talent.

A joint corporate job fair targeting staff working at the Expo venue was held in Osaka on Sept. 14 and 15, introducing employment opportunities after the Expo’s closure.

A total of 107 companies participated, with industries ranging from hotels to manufacturers. Amid ongoing labor shortages, “Expo talent” has become the subject of fierce competition.

Organized by major temp staff agency Pasona Inc., companies set up booths to explain their business and employment conditions and held individual interviews. There was also a consultation booth for foreign workers. The two-day event saw approximately 2,500 attendees.

Nao Kato, 23, who oversees guide services at the Commons, a joint exhibition pavilion for multiple countries, said, “I want to use my experience interacting with people from various countries in English to work in a job that connects me to the world.”

There are about 20,000 workers at the Expo, handling various duties including customer service, guiding, pavilion operations and cleaning.

The companies attending the joint job fair came from a diverse range of industries, including hotel operators Hoshino Resorts Inc. and Royal Hotel, Ltd., and Sanrio Co., known for its Hello Kitty character goods.

The operator of Junglia Okinawa, a theme park that opened in July in Nakijin Village, Okinawa Prefecture, attended with the aim of recruiting customer service staff.

“The work done at the Expo is well-suited to working at a theme park,” said director Reina Mori. “We want to sow the seeds for recruitment for next year’s spring break and long holidays.”

According to Pasona, many companies inquired about the job fair, but to allow attendees and companies to talk in detail, the number of participating companies was ultimately limited to about 100.

“The flexible response and communication skills cultivated at the Expo are valuable, and many companies are eager to hire these workers,” said managing director Kyoko Sanematsu.

Many Expo workers quit their former jobs to work at the Expo. Most of them are expected to look for new jobs after the event ends, and companies are showing strong interest.

The Osaka Labor Bureau will also hold job fairs after the Expo closes, gathering businesses in the restaurant and airport-related sectors.
 
 
 

A large overhang that threatened the Japanese equity market is being removed with the Bank of Japan laying out a century-long plan to offload its massive holdings of exchange-traded funds.

While benchmark stock gauges fell Friday in a knee-jerk reaction when the central bank said it would be selling its ¥75 trillion ($507 billion) stockpile, traders quickly pared much of the decline as focus turned to the very gradual nature of the program. The BOJ intends to reduce its holdings by about ¥620 billion by market value per year.

The announcement also came at the end of a week that saw the blue-chip Nikkei 225 and broader Topix index set fresh record highs. The market’s resilience to shocks over the past two years underscores the confidence, with shares recovering first from the BOJ ending negative interest rates in 2024 and more recently rallying in the face of tariffs from the U.S.

Japanese shares led gains among major markets in Asia on Monday, with the Nikkei rising 1.5% during the morning session and the Topix gaining 0.9%.

"Investors had been nervous about when the BOJ would start selling ETFs — a lot of them have been asking me about it,” said Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.

The time frame for the sell-down of ETFs is positive and suggests limited market impact, he said.

Global investors have contributed to the advance in Japanese stocks as they seek to diversify their portfolios, with equities in Tokyo trading at lower price-to-earnings and price-to-book valuations than those in the U.S.

Corporate governance reforms have also helped by encouraging buybacks, mergers and acquisitions activity and the emergence of activist investors as a powerful force for championing focus on shareholder returns.

The BOJ’s ETF sales could begin early next year, a person familiar with the matter has said.

Before then, the market still faces potential turbulence from uncertainty over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party selecting a new leader, and the continued risk of economic fallout from tariffs.

Given that the BOJ indirectly owns about 7% of Japanese stocks via ETFs, any miscalculation in its sales that exceeded market demand could still be damaging.

Yet the current amount indicated by the central bank should be easily absorbed, said Kohei Onishi, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. He noted that Japanese companies, under pressure from regulators and shareholders to stop cash hoarding, are buying back a large amount of their own shares annually.

Investors will be closely watching the impact of ETF sales on stocks with heavy weighting on the Nikkei average, such as casual clothing chain operator Fast Retailing and billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group. Fast Retailing shares slid 4.5% on Friday while SoftBank’s stock rose 0.7%. Both stocks rose on Monday morning.

Initially, the central bank had focused its buying on ETFs tracking the Nikkei, and it was criticized for warping markets with these purchases. It changed to buying funds tracking the Topix in 2021.

The BOJ’s hold over ETFs breaks down to around ¥17 trillion for the Nikkei and about ¥51.2 trillion for the Topix in market value, according to data compiled by Bank of America.

Japanese equities may see some short-term stress but the BOJ’s plan won’t scupper the market’s bull trend, according to Anna Wu, cross-asset strategist at VanEck Associates in Sydney.

"If we ask ourselves, will the new prime minister be pro-growth? Will fiscal expansion continue? And are foreign investors going to continue investing in Japan equities as part of U.S. diversification trade?
The answers are likely to be yes for all three,” she said.
 
 

Monday marks the 40th anniversary of the Plaza Accord, under which the Group of Five countries — Japan, the United States, Britan, France and then West Germany — decided to correct the excessive appreciation of the dollar through currency adjustments.

The accord was led by the United States to reduce its trade deficits. At the time, the country was suffering from both fiscal and trade deficits.

As the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump aims to cut the country’s trade deficits, Japan’s market players are wary that the United States may ask Japan to take measures to help correct the strong dollar.



Accord named after NY hotel

The agreement is named after the meeting’s venue, the Plaza Hotel in New York. Finance ministers and central bank governors gathered there on Sept. 22, 1985, and decided to jointly intervene in the currency markets to guide the dollar’s depreciation.

At the time, the dollar was surging due to monetary tightening designed to curb inflation in the United States, and the country was also suffering massive trade deficits due to expanding imports.

Following the accord, the dollar depreciated, and U.S. trade deficits recovered in the early 1990s. However, due to a massive influx of low-priced foreign goods into the country following economic globalization, U.S. trade deficits have begun ballooning again. The United States’ trade deficits reached a record $1.22 trillion in 2024.

However, the yen sharply appreciated against the dollar following the accord, from the ¥240 level to the dollar to the ¥150 level in one year, dealing a blow to Japan’s export industries. This prompted Japan to take monetary easing policies to address a recession caused by the strong yen, which is believed to be one of the factors that caused the economic bubble.



Possible Mar-a-Lago Accord

The yen appreciated to ¥75.32 against the dollar on Oct. 31, 2011. Currently, the yen is trading around ¥147, continuing the trend of a weak yen and a strong dollar. Some market players speculate that the U.S. administration may attempt to correct the strong dollar to boost U.S. firms’ competitiveness in exports.

In a 2024 paper, Stephen Miran, who chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisers and recently assumed the post of Federal Reserve Governor, proposed a “Mar-a-Lago Accord,” an initiative under which countries work together to help weaken the dollar. It is also called the “Second Plaza Accord.”

After the launch of his second administration, Trump repeatedly cautioned against the strong dollar at first, but recently he has refrained from touching on the subject.

Japan and the United States said in a joint statement issued on Sept. 12 that “exchange rates should be market determined,” in line with previous agreements among the Group of Seven leading countries.

However, Trump tends to change his policies back and forth. Given this, Tomohisa Ishikawa, a researcher at the Japan Research Institute cautioned about potential risks.

“[Trump’s] interest may shift to exchange rates in case tariff measures do not help reduce the U.S. trade deficits,” Ishikawa said. “The Japanese government needs to continue careful dialogues with the United States.”
 
 

Japan's antitrust watchdog on Thursday ordered the domestic unit of motorcycle company Harley-Davidson Inc to pay about 211 million yen in fines for imposing excessive sales quotas on dealers in violation of the antimonopoly law.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission also issued a cease-and-desist order to Harley-Davidson Japan KK, based in Tokyo, after some dealers were forced to register themselves as vehicle holders just to meet the quotas.

The dealers made little profit from doing so since the vehicles were sold at lower prices. However, they had no choice but to maintain their relationship with Harley-Davidson Japan, it said.

According to the commission, between January 2023 and August 2024, Harley-Davidson Japan unilaterally imposed quotas on 38 dealers and required them to submit an improvement plan if they failed to meet a certain threshold.

Every January, the company presents the dealers with an agreement containing proposed quotas and forces them to sign it.

Harley-Davidson Japan raised the sales targets by 30 percent for 2023 and 38 percent for 2024, without providing the basis for calculating the quotas. The company also refused to lower the targets when dealers requested it.

When actually selling to customers, these vehicles are treated as "nearly new used cars," forcing dealers to sell them at lower prices. The proportion registered under related parties' names by dealers during the quota period averaged about 29 percent in 2023 and about 34 percent from January to August 2024, the commission said.

Harley-Davidson Japan told Kyodo News that it fully cooperated with the commission's probe and took corrective measures by conducting a voluntary internal investigation.

According to the Japan Automobile Importers Association, Harley-Davidson accounted for 33.3 percent of the number of newly registered imported small motorcycles in 2024, ranking first for the fifth consecutive year since 2020.
 


 

Calls for abolishing an environmental performance-based tax paid when a vehicle is purchased have pitted a major automobile industry group against the government, but also caused divisions between government ministries.

As Japan’s auto industry grapples with the ramifications of tariffs imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) and the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry are demanding the tax be immediately axed.

However, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry and the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry are reluctant to take this step, which would lead to a drop in tax revenue.

The association announced Thursday its key requests for tax system reforms for fiscal 2026, which starts in April. These requests included a call for the environmental performance-based tax to be abolished.

“Taxes imposed on automobiles are becoming a heavy burden,” JAMA Chairman Masanori Katayama, who is also chairman of Isuzu Motors Ltd., said at a press conference, as he explained the significance of the proposed change. “We want to have this burden reduced and to shore up the domestic industrial base.”

The environmental performance-based tax was introduced in 2019 in place of the vehicle acquisition tax. This tax of 0% to 3% of the purchase price is calculated based on the vehicle’s attainment of fuel efficiency and emission standards. The tax is applied to new and used vehicles, but electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are exempt.

Automobile taxes are paid at three stages – when a vehicle is purchased, while it is owned, and when it is being used, such as through fuel taxes. These taxes generate about ¥9 trillion in combined annual revenue.

The determined push by JAMA and the industry ministry to abolish the environmental performance-based tax comes at a time when new vehicle sales are slumping.

In 2024, about 4.42 million new vehicles were sold in Japan, a huge drop from the 7.77 million units sold in 1990. The average length of vehicle ownership was about nine years in the 1990s, but this has grown to about 13 years in the 2020s. Rising car prices and tax increases are believed to be factors behind people owning vehicles for longer.

Although the United States has reduced the tariff imposed on vehicles imported from Japan to 15%, the financial burden on domestic automakers is still considerable. Axing the environmental performance-based tax is intended to encourage people in Japan to get a new car and to prop up the auto industry.

“How we can maintain and strengthen domestic production are urgent issues to be addressed so that the auto industry’s competitiveness and jobs aren’t lost,” Katayama said.


Current system ‘unfair’

However, the environmental performance-based tax is a local tax and a crucial revenue source for municipalities. Revenue from this tax is estimated to reach about ¥190 billion in fiscal 2025.

“If this tax gets abolished, a replacement source of funds will be needed,” an internal affairs ministry official told The Yomiuri Shimbun.

The land ministry, which is responsible for road management, is also reluctant to scrap the tax due to concerns that doing so could lead to a shortage of funds needed to repair and upgrade aging infrastructure.

The tax is not imposed on electric vehicles, so there is the view it should be kept to help the nation’s decarbonization efforts.

However, electric vehicles are typically heavier than gasoline-powered cars, so they are more likely to damage roads as they drive along. Electric vehicle owners do not pay any gasoline tax, and they also pay less of the tax calculated based on a vehicle’s exhaust emission volumes. Some observers have pointed out that this has created a sense of unfairness.

Consequently, the industry ministry and the association have called for the introduction of a new tax system during the vehicle ownership stage that would account for vehicle weight and environmental performance. The Finance Ministry is poised to consider this issue as well.

Attention will be focused on whether the ruling parties can present concrete details, such as when such a tax would be introduced, in the tax system reform outline to be wrapped up by the end of the year.
 

 

The brewer of popular Japanese sake Dassai recently changed its company name to match its signature label, in a move aimed at boosting global brand recognition to expand sales abroad.

"The entire globe is our market," Dassai Inc CEO Kazuhiro Sakurai said, with the company aiming for overseas markets to eventually account for 70 percent of total sales, up from 40 percent currently, amid a decline at home.

Before the rebranding in June, the brewer's previous name, Asahi Shuzo Co, proved to be an obstacle in its expansion efforts abroad, often being confused with other companies.

"Asahi," meaning "sunrise" or "morning sun" is used widely in Japanese company names, including by one of the country's beverage giants.

While expressing regret over parting with the familiar name used by the brewer since 1948, Sakurai said he believes the change will "contribute to (the company's) hometown."

Dassai refers to the otters seen in the region in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, where the brewer is located, according to the company's website.

Popular for its mellow taste, Dassai sake was given as a gift to U.S. President Barack Obama by the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose constituency was in the prefecture.

Domestic shipments of sake have been declining amid reduced alcohol consumption, with the 390,000 kiloliters shipped in fiscal 2023 around a fifth of the peak level five decades earlier. In contrast, shipments overseas are continuing to expand amid a global boom in Japanese cuisine.

Moving forward, Dassai is determined to increase its presence in the United States and Europe, in addition to the Asian market that has long been its main overseas sales destination.

In 2023, the company established a brewery in the state of New York to produce and sell sake locally that uses U.S.-grown sake rice, which helps to minimize the impact of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

More recently, at the World Exposition in Osaka, Dassai released a special sake brewed in collaboration with Austria that was produced with Johann Strauss II's "Lagoon Waltz" playing during the fermentation process.
 


 

Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Saturday he will run in the presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party next month, pledging to boost Japan's economy and revitalize the ruling party after its poor performance in recent national elections.

The 44-year-old son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he is willing to expand the current ruling bloc, while promising to deal with perceived issues related to foreign tourists and residents.

Koizumi became the fifth, and likely final, LDP lawmaker to officially announce their candidacy for the party's leadership election on Oct. 4, in which the successor to outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will be chosen. Campaigning will start on Monday.

He and former internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi are considered the most likely winners, ahead of Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, according to recent media polls.

"The LDP is in a crisis," Koizumi told a press conference, pledging to promote economic measures as his "top priority" and bring about wage growth that outpaces rising living costs. He said he is targeting an average annual pay increase of 1 million yen ($6,800) by fiscal 2030.

Koizumi said he will draw up an "action plan" by the end of the year to take measures to respond to issues of overtourism, illegal foreign workers, land acquisition by foreign nonresidents and foreign residents not correctly engaging with the public health insurance system.

Issues regarding tourists and foreign residents were at the center of debate during the July 20 House of Councillors election, giving the small populist Sanseito opposition party, with its "Japanese First" slogan, a solid footing.

The LDP leadership contest will come as Ishiba, the party's head, said earlier this month that he would step down to take responsibility for major setbacks in recent national elections.

Koizumi reportedly persuaded Ishiba, who had sought to remain prime minister, to resign. After taking up the current post of agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister in May, Koizumi's efforts to address surging rice prices put him in the spotlight.

Koizumi has already secured backing from veteran lawmakers such as former Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato, who ran in last year's LDP leadership election. Kato will head the campaign headquarters at Koizumi's request.

The next LDP leader is not guaranteed to become prime minister, as the LDP-led ruling coalition with its junior partner, the Komeito party, does not hold a lower house majority.

The successful candidate needs to win a House of Representatives vote, with an opposition candidate set to stand against them.

The minority governing bloc needs support from opposition parties to pass budgets and bills, forcing the LDP, which has held power almost continuously since 1955, to consider how it can gain their support to retain control.

Koizumi said he will call for policy talks with opposition parties "widely," and deepen discussions about the framework of the ruling coalition.

As for measures to tackle price surges, Koizumi said he will consider all possible options in cooperation with opposition parties, while planning an economic package in a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year through March.

With campaign promises during recent elections by major opposition parties apparently in mind, Koizumi vowed to abolish the provisional gasoline tax rate as part of measures to address rising living costs and raise the tax-free annual income threshold.

On the diplomatic front, Koizumi said he will elevate Japan's alliance with the United States to "new heights" by building trust with President Donald Trump and described trilateral cooperation involving South Korea as "especially vital."

Koizumi, as well as his father, is known for his regular visits to the war-linked Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, which honors convicted war criminals along with millions of war dead, a source of friction with China and South Korea that suffered under Japan's wartime aggression.

Asked if he would visit Yasukuni as prime minister, Koizumi said that he would make a decision "appropriately," adding that it is "natural" to pay respect and express gratitude to those who served the nation.
 
 

Financial assets held by households in Japan as of the end of June stood at a record high of 2,239 trillion yen as the balance of stocks and investment trust funds grew because of higher stock prices, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.

Of the total, shareholdings climbed 4.9 pct from a year before to 294 trillion yen, and investment trusts grew 9 pct to 140 trillion yen, both record highs, partly pushed up by inflows of funds into the new Nippon Individual Savings Account tax exemption program for small-lot investors.

The balance of cash and deposits shrank 0.1 pct to 1,126 trillion yen, the first decline since the end of December 2006, influenced by the spread of cashless payments, increased consumption due to high prices and a shift of funds to investment trusts.

Japanese government bonds held by the BOJ as of the end of June, excluding treasury discount bills, totaled 538 trillion yen, accounting for 50.94 pct of outstanding JGBs. The proportion fell for the seventh consecutive quarter.

The BOJ has been reducing the amount of JGB purchases in stages as part of efforts to normalize monetary policy following years of massive easing.
 
 

 

The world’s fondness for matcha is about to be tested by steep price increases.

Global demand for the powdered tea has skyrocketed around the world, fueled by consumer interest in its health benefits and by the bright green matcha lattes bubbling up on social media. In the U.S., retail sales of matcha are up 86% from three years ago, according to NIQ, a market research firm.

But the matcha market is troubled. In Japan, one of the biggest matcha producers, poor weather reduced this year’s harvest. Matcha is still plentiful in China, another major producer, but labor shortages and high demand have also raised prices there.

For Americans, there’s the added impact of tariffs. Imports from China are currently subject to a 37.5% tariff, while the U.S. has a 15% tariff on imports from Japan.

 

It’s not clear if tea will be exempted from tariffs because it’s a natural product that’s not grown in significant quantities in the U.S. — an accommodation that the Trump administration has made for cork from the European Union.

The Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative didn’t respond to messages left by The Associated Press.

Aaron Vick, a senior tea buyer with California-based tea importer G.S. Haly, says he paid 75% more for the highest-grade 2025 crop of Japanese matcha, which will arrive in the U.S. later this fall.

 

He expects lower grades of matcha to cost 30% to 50% more. Chinese matcha — while generally cheaper than Japanese matcha — is also getting more expensive because of high demand, he said.

“People should expect an enormous increase in the price of matcha this year,” Vick said. “It’s going to be a bit of a tough ride for matcha devotees. They will have to show the depth of their commitment at the cash register.”

Even before this year’s harvest, growing demand was straining matcha supplies. Making matcha is precise and labor intensive.

Farmers grow tencha — a green tea leaf — in the shade. In the spring, the leaves are harvested, steamed, de-stemmed and de-veined and then stone ground into a fine powder. Tencha can be harvested again in the summer and fall, but the later harvests are generally of lower quality.

 

There are ways to cut corners, like using a jet mill, which grinds the leaves with high pressure air. But Japan has other issues, including a rapidly aging workforce and limited tencha production.

And despite Japanese agricultural ministry trying to coax tea growers to switch to tencha from regular green tea, many are reluctant to do so, concerned that the matcha boom will fade.

That’s giving an opening to China, where matcha originated but fell out of favor in the 14th century. Chinese matcha production has been growing in recent years to meet both domestic and international demand.

 

Chinese matcha has historically been considered inferior to Japanese matcha and used as a flavoring for things like matcha-flavored KitKat bars instead of as a drinking tea. But the quality is improving, according to Jason Walker, the marketing director at Firsd Tea, the New Jersey-based U.S. subsidiary of Zhejiang Tea Group, China’s largest tea exporter.

“We are seeing more and more interest in Chinese matcha because of capacity issues and changing perception,” Walker said. “It used to be the idea that it has to be Japanese matcha or nothing. But we have a good product too.”

Starbucks is among the companies using matcha from China for its lattes. The company said it also sources matcha from Japan and South Korea. Dunkin' and Dutch Bros. didn't respond when asked where they source the matcha.

Josh Mordecai, the supply chain director for London-based tea supplier Good & Proper Tea, said he is approached almost daily by Chinese matcha suppliers. For now, he only buys matcha from Japan, but the cost to acquire it has risen 40% so he’ll have to raise prices, he said.

 

Mordecai said he saw more demand for matcha in the last year than in the previous nine years combined. If matcha prices continue to rise, he wonders if consumers will switch to other tea varieties like hojicha, a roasted Japanese green tea.

“We’ll see if this is a bubble or not. Nothing stays on social media that long,” Mordecai said.

Julia Mills, a food and drink analyst for the market research company Mintel, expects the social media interest in matcha to die down. But she thinks matcha will remain on menus for a while.

Mills said matcha appeals to customers interested in wellness, since it contains antioxidants and l-theanine, an amino acid known for its calming effects, and it’s less caffeinated than coffee. Millennials and Generation Z customers are more likely to have tried matcha than others, Mills said.

The traditional way of preparing it, whisking the powder together with hot water in a small bowl, also appeals to drinkers who want to slow down and be more intentional, Mills said.

 

That’s true for Melissa Lindsay of San Francisco, who whisks up some matcha for herself every morning. Lindsay has noticed prices rising for her high-end matcha, but it’s a habit she’d find hard to quit.

“It’s not just a tea bag in water,” Lindsay said. “It’s a whole experience of making it to your liking.”

David Lau, the owner of Asha Tea House in San Francisco, hopes to keep customers drinking matcha by limiting price increases. Lau raised the price of his matcha latte by 50 cents after the cost the matcha he buys from Japan more than doubled. He’s also looking into alternate suppliers from China and elsewhere.

“We’re in the affordable luxury business, you know, just like any other specialty cafe. We want people to be able to come every day, and once you reach a certain price level, you start to price people out,” he said. “We want to be really cognizant and aware of not doing that.
 
 

U.S. President Donald Trump's lowered tariff of 15 percent on automobiles from Japan will take effect Tuesday, the Commerce Department said, about five months after his aggressive trade agenda began to heavily impact the industrial backbone of one of Washington's key allies.

The department announced the timing of the adjustment on Monday. After Trump imposed an additional auto tariff on national security grounds in April, the U.S. tariff rate for foreign-origin cars rose from 2.5 percent to 27.5 percent, squeezing the margins of Japanese automakers and other manufacturers.

The reduced tariff is part of a trade deal the Trump administration struck on July 22 with Japan, which in return has committed to investing massively in the United States and increasing imports of American agricultural products during the president's nonconsecutive second term.

Although the implementation of the lowered auto tariff will ease the impact on Japan's automotive sector, the 15 percent rate remains far higher than before and continues to weigh heavily on carmakers and related industries.

Trump signed an executive order on Sept. 4 formally implementing the trade agreement, which also granted Japan special treatment on what he calls "reciprocal" tariffs.

The department's notice to be published Tuesday said that as agreed by the two countries, Trump's additional 25 percent tariff imposed in May on major auto parts, including engines and transmissions, will also be cut to 15 percent for those coming from Japan.

The guidance further specified that civil aircraft and aircraft parts of Japan will no longer be subject to additional U.S. tariffs.

In 2024, Japan exported around 6 trillion yen worth of vehicles to the United States. Together with auto-parts exports, they accounted for one-third of Japan's total shipments to the world's largest economy, according to Japanese trade data.

The United States has agreed to grant the same tariff rate for automobiles from the European Union and South Korea as it does for Japan. The United States has reduced its tariff on British cars to 10 percent for up to 100,000 units annually.

On Aug. 7, Trump's modified country-specific tariff rates for goods from dozens of U.S. trading partners came into effect.

The United States currently imposes a 15 percent tariff on most imports from Japan, down from the 24 percent or 25 percent that Trump had threatened prior to the agreement.

Additionally, his trade team has agreed that imports from Japan with preexisting tariffs of 15 percent or higher will not face any additional duty, and levies on other goods will be capped at 15 percent.

However, the United States had yet to implement either the lowered auto tariff rate or the "no stacking" treatment for Japan.

The executive order, followed by necessary administrative procedures, finally enabled the United States to put the two commitments into practice.

With respect to any excess stacking tariffs collected from importers of Japanese goods under its new country-by-country tariff system, the Trump administration has said it will refund them dating back to Aug. 7.
 
 

 

Japan and the European Union agreed Tuesday to strengthen cooperation on economic security and free trade in response to challenges such as the high tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and their dependence on critical minerals from China.

The policy was affirmed at a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and European Commission Executive Vice President Stephane Sejourne, who is in charge of industrial strategy.

In July, Japan and the EU launched a comprehensive alliance to enhance cooperation on trade, economic security and innovation.

 

"It is important to promote cooperation in the formation of economic policies and international rules, as well as concrete cooperation between Japanese and European companies in strategic fields as two pillars," Ishiba said.

The time has come to further deepen the cooperative relationship between Japan and the EU, Sejourne replied.
 
 

The average overall price of land in Japan as of July 1 rose 1.5 percent from a year earlier, marking the sharpest growth since 1992, boosted by solid housing demand and inbound tourism, government data showed Tuesday.

The price climbed for the fourth straight year, also lifted by robust investment demand from overseas on the back of the weak yen. Commercial land prices gained 2.8 percent with launches of new hotels and stores in urban areas amid a surge in foreign tourists.

"Investment demand from foreigners is growing for condominiums in central Tokyo and resort areas in Hokkaido" in northern Japan, said an official of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Prices for residential land increased 1.0 percent due to strong demand for residences in urban areas, as well as for employee dormitories in resort areas. However, some places experienced sluggish growth due to soaring construction costs.

Among residential areas, Furano, near Hokkaido's ski areas and a popular destination for overseas investors developing resorts, saw the sharpest growth of 27.1 percent.

The ministry said that Chitose, in Hokkaido, which houses a Rapidus Corp. semiconductor plant, saw the fastest growth in commercial areas, at 31.4 percent.

The average land price increased by 4.3 percent in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, seeing larger growth in both residential and commercial areas.
For the third consecutive year, regional land prices increased, with residential areas rising 0.1 percent and commercial areas climbing 1.0 percent.
 
https://youtu.be/irje_0m6rYQ
 
Prices for residential land increased in 20 of Japan's 47 prefectures, up by three from the previous year, while 26 saw declines.

The Meidi-ya Ginza commercial building site in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district fetched the highest price per square meter of 46.9 million yen ($320,000), topping the list for the 20th consecutive year.

After 1992, land prices had been on a downward trend due to the bursting of the country's asset price bubble. However, they have been on an upward trend in recent years after recovering from the financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the coronavirus pandemic.
 
 

GoPay users can now make payments at QRIS-enabled merchants in Japan, following Bank Indonesia’s move to expand its cross-border QR code payment system to the country in August 2025.

This allows Indonesian travelers to pay at Japanese merchants by scanning JPQR codes using the GoPay app.

GoPay, operated by GoTo Financial, already supports QRIS cross-border payments in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Bank Indonesia has also started a pilot to connect QRIS with China’s digital payment systems, aiming for full launch by the end of 2025.

The central bank reported cross-border QRIS transactions reached 1.7 trillion rupiah (US$103.6 billion) as of June 2025.

GoTo Financial said the initiative supports Bank Indonesia’s efforts to expand QRIS cross-border access.
 

 

Major Japanese companies took a positive view of business conditions in the three months through September for the first time in two quarters, a government survey showed Thursday, reflecting recovering chip demand and easing concerns about U.S. tariffs.

The key index measuring sentiment among major Japanese companies regarding business conditions stood at 4.7 in the survey conducted by the Finance Ministry, a turnaround from minus 1.9 for the April-June quarter.

The business survey index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of companies reporting a deterioration from the percentage of those citing an improvement.

The quarterly survey also showed a reading of 3.8 for the manufacturing sector and 5.2 for the nonmanufacturing sector.

Asked about the outlook for the October-December quarter, major companies remained positive with the index at 4.3.

Around 11,000 companies responded to the Aug 15 survey, conducted after Japan and the United States reached a trade deal that reduced tariff rates to 15 percent for Japanese cars and other products.

While the agreement was not put into writing until early September, the deal helped to dispel uncertainty among Japanese companies about the impact on their businesses and the export-reliant economy, as U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened to impose a 25 percent "reciprocal" duty while the combined auto tariff rate had jumped to 27.5 percent.

Despite the improved sentiment among large companies, smaller firms remained pessimistic, with the index at minus 9.6, according to the survey.
 
 

Recently, McDonald’s Japan’s Happy Meals haven’t exactly been producing the sort of emotion promised in their name. Instead, for many people they’ve become a source of frustration, anger, and sadness as scalpers have been snapping up increasingly large portions of high-demand Happy Meals for the purpose of reselling the included toys.

The situation has gone beyond just disappointment from actual fans who wanted the toys for themselves or their kids. Verbal altercations between scalpers and staff, along with food, drinks, and their containers being left behind or littered in and around McDonald’s branches, are causing tension for non-Happy Meal customers as well as residents and other businesses in the communities surrounding McDonald’s branches.

The most recent debacle came roughly a month ago with the release of Pokémon card Happy Meals, with the situation being bad enough that McDonald’s Japan offered an official apology for how things went down and postponing indefinitely a planned One Piece trading card Happy Meal, which might end up just being cancelled entirely.

So with a Sanrio Happy Meal slated to go on sale this Friday, McDonald’s has announced a new set of purchase policies.

▼ The Happy Meal toys celebrate the 50th and 20th anniversaries, respectively, of Sanrio’s My Melody and Kuromi.

 

Sales of the Happy Meals (or Happy Sets, as they’re called in Japanese), will be limited to in-person orders, made either with a McDonald’s cashier or in-store ordering kiosk, or through the drive-through lane.

Happy Meals will not be available for purchase through the McDonald’s mobile order app (not even if the mobile order is placed for in-store pickup) or through McDonald’s delivery service. 

McDonald’s will also be restricting the sale of Happy Meals through third-party delivery services such as Uber Eats. In addition, each group of customers ordering together will be limited to a maximum of three Happy Meals.

These rules will apply not only to the My Melody and Kuromi Happy Meals, but also the Plarail Happy Meals, featuring a popular line of model trains from toymaker Takara Tomy, and the Happy Meal books for Sanrio’s Cinnamoroll and feline astronaut anime/manga character Kotetsu-kun, all of which are releasing on the same day, September 12.
 

While it’s nice to see McDonald’s trying something to counteract scalpers, there are a couple of gaps in this defensive plan.

For starters, while customers are limited to no more than three Happy Meals for their group per order, there doesn’t appear to be anything stopping scalpers from getting their three Happy Meals, then dashing off to other branches and getting three more at each of them.

In theory, they could even get back in line at the same branch, since as the staff mightn’t remember a scalper’s face, they can simply act like they’re placing their very first order for the Happy Meal.
 
But perhaps the weirder part of the plan is that these restrictions, as of right now, are only for the first day that the Happy Meals are on sale, with McDonald’s Japan saying they will be “judging what policy will be appropriate based on conditions [observed] on September 12.”

The intent behind this would seem to be to make sure that actual fans have a chance to secure their own Happy Meals at the start of the promotion, then loosen restrictions to allow for non-scalpers who might have been adversely affected by them (like, for example, a grandparent wanting to buy a Happy Meal for each of their four grandchildren).

 

In practice, unfortunately, it’s unlikely to work out that way. Because they have an economic incentive, scalpers are more likely than other customers to line up before opening time on release day for in-demand items, since genuine fans may have other responsibilities that prevent them from standing outside a McDonald’s at 5:30 in the morning.

That’s probably going to be especially true for this round of Happy Meal releases, since it’s happening on a Friday, when kids and adults who don’t make their money hoarding toys will be at school or work until at least the afternoon.
 
What’s more, the Happy Meals will only be on sale until September 15, with their second round available between September 26 and 28. With just four days of availability for the first sets of toys, odds are they’re going to be intensely targeted by scalpers during that period, so hopefully McDonald’s will make the decision to put some additional protections in place beyond just the first day.

 

Japanese companies are tackling the difficult task of hiring more disabled people as the statutory minimum employment rate for the disabled will be lifted to 2.7 pct next July from 2.5 pct at present.

While the labor market is favorable for job seekers, companies are required to follow a thorough selection process that takes into account traits of each candidate.

As they want newcomers to stay, companies are trying to improve the working environment by making their workplaces more accommodating and using assistive tools backed by information technology.

 

For new graduates joining the group in spring, food and beverage maker Kirin Holdings Co. allows disabled newcomers to choose between a career-track position and an area-restricted post involving no transfer.

"With the number of new graduates limited, the hike of the statutory minimum employment rate is gradually making it difficult to recruit students," an official said.
 


 

Tokyo stocks ended trading Wednesday at a record-high close for the first time in three weeks, days after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation.

The Nikkei 225 stock index finished the day up 0.87%, at 43,837.67, with a strong performance in the afternoon.

It broke the previous record close of 43,714.31, reached on Aug. 18.
The benchmark broke 44,000 for the first time in history on Tuesday morning, reaching 44,185.73 and breaking the previous intraday record — of 43,876.42 — hit on Aug. 19.

The yen traded steady at around ¥147.5 to the dollar on Wednesday after strengthening Tuesday.

SoftBank Group rose 7.28% on Wednesday, Hitachi was up 3.6% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group gained 2.26%.

Tokyo stocks have rallied since the prime minister announced on Sunday that he will resign from the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, while U.S. stocks hit fresh records overnight.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by nearly 0.5% and hit a record at Tuesday’s closing, at 45,711.34. The S&P 500 was up 0.27%, also hitting a record high.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates soon. Its next policy meeting will be held on Sept. 16 and 17.
 
 

Japan's biggest convenience store chain has introduced robots on a trial basis in a bid to tackle labor shortages and streamline in-store work.

The trial began at a 7-Eleven outlet in Tokyo. A robot is being used to restock the store's drink and alcohol shelves. Artificial intelligence allows the machine to determine which products need to be restocked based on sales data.

Seven-Eleven Japan says automating the work will streamline the restocking process that currently takes staff about 10 hours a week.

Other robot models are being used to clean the floors and windows.
A monitor near the self-checkout area displays a virtual store clerk. By speaking to it, customers can receive remote assistance from staff at other locations.

The company believes by using robots it will be able to cut 20 to 30 percent of daily in-store tasks.

It is aiming for full-scale introduction of the robots in the future.
 



 

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. announced Monday it will accept voluntary retirement applications from employees who meet certain criteria.

Regular employees aged 53 or older with at least three years of service and employees rehired after reaching retirement age are eligible.

While the company has not set a specific target for the number of people to voluntarily retire, about 8,000 regular employees and about 2,000 rehired employees out of its roughly 42,000 employees meet the eligibility criteria.

Mitsubishi Electric is performing well, projecting record net profits for the third consecutive fiscal year, which ends in March 2026. However, its workforce composition is skewed toward older employees. The voluntary retirement program therefore aims to optimize the composition of its personnel.

The application period runs from Dec. 15 to Jan. 9, 2026. Applicants will receive a special lump-sum payment in addition to their standard retirement benefits. The company also said it will provide job-placement assistance to eligible regular employees if they so desire.
 


 

Asian shares mostly rose with Japan's benchmark jumping higher in Monday morning trading, despite the looming political uncertainty after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba last night that he plans to resign.

Analysts said his announcement was expected for some time and welcomed it as moving things forward, although uncertainty remains as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will need to hold an election to choose a new leader. Ishiba will remain prime minister until his successor is chosen and approved by parliament.

“Markets may react short-term to the temporary uncertainty of lame-duck leadership, but this may resolve once a new leader is chosen. Meanwhile, the LDP’s position as a minority leading party is unlikely to change anytime soon, and as such compromise will be the name of the policy-making game,” said Naomi Fink, chief global strategist at Amova Asset Management.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.5% to finish at 43,643.81. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.5% to 3,219.74. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2% to 8,849.60.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.8% to 25,632.00, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,825.88.

Also Monday, Japan's Cabinet Office said the economy expanded at a stronger rate in the fiscal first quarter than previously estimated, at a seasonally adjusted 2.2% annualized rate, better than the earlier 1.0% rate as solid consumer spending and inventories lifted growth more than previously thought.

On Wall Street, stocks finished last week lower in Friday trading on uncertainty whether the U.S. job market has slowed by just enough to get the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to help the economy, or by so much that a downturn may be on the way.

After rising to an early gain, the S&P 500 erased it and fell 0.3% below the all-time high it set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 220 points, or 0.5%, after swinging between an early gain of nearly 150 points and a loss of 400. The Nasdaq composite edged down by less than 0.1%.

A report from the U.S. Labor Department said American employers hired fewer workers in August than economists expected. The government also said that earlier estimates for June and July overstated hiring by 21,000 jobs.

The disappointing numbers follow last month’s discouraging jobs update, along with other lackluster reports in intervening weeks, and traders are now betting on a 100% probability that the Fed will cut its main interest rate at its next meeting on Sept. 17.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 91 cents to $62.78 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 98 cents to $66.48 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 148.03 Japanese yen from 147.39 yen. The euro cost $1.1722, inching down from $1.1723.
 
 

Back in 2016, we were very hard-pressed to put together an outfit using only items bought from convenience store chain FamilyMart. However, since then the company has greatly expanded on its fashionable offerings and even created their own brand called “Convenience Wear.”

The constantly growing line of shirts, pants, socks, underwear and more has gotten to the point where FamilyMart decided to phase out many of their stores’ eat-in areas to help make more room for it all. Now, they’re taking the biggest leap yet and opening a new store dedicated to their clothing.

This new retail outlet has been given the convenience store’s nickname of Famima and had its grand opening in Blue Front Shibaura in Minato Ward, Tokyo, on Sept 1. 

 

It carries nearly all of FamilyMart’s roughly 150 articles of clothing, including their most popular item: socks with stripes in the Family Mart color scheme, of which over 28 million pairs have been sold.

Also, in honor of Famima’s opening, items from the upcoming fall/winter line of Convenience Wear will be available for presale. Another unique feature of this shop is that, unlike in the convenience stores, where the clothing is all wrapped up, samples of the various items are hung and a mirror is set up so customers can feel the materials and check the sizes for themselves before buying.

▼ News report on the grand opening. It’s a small-scale store, but it’s a start.

https://youtu.be/EaPKWcTPBGs

It’s also a good opportunity to salute the person behind Convenience Wear. Hiromichi Ochiai is an award-winning fashion designer who also created the costumes for Japan in the handover portion of the Rio Olympic Games closing ceremony.

He’s worked with several international corporations, but currently challenges himself by taking Family Mart to a place beyond a mere convenience store.


▼ Hiromichi Ochiai

The convenience store industry in Japan as a whole is facing several headwinds at the moment. The constant need for expansion and 24-hour operation against competing chains is only exasperating an already shrinking labor market.

Also, rising costs that have seen quintessential items like rice balls nearly double in price are making customers rethink how much convenience is really worth.

Perhaps Famima will be FamilyMart’s contingency plan in the event the Japanese convenience store market takes a serious turn for the worse. In that case, we may someday be able to bore our grandkids by telling them that the hugely popular chain of clothing stores Famima used to be a convenience store.

 

Store information

Famima Blue Front Shibaura S Building Store / ファミマブルーフロント芝浦S棟店
Address: Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Shibaura 1-1-1, Blue Front Shibaura S Building 3F
東京都 港区芝浦一丁目1番1 ブルーフロント芝浦S棟3階
Open 7 a.m.-10 p.m.
Closed Sundays and public holidays
 
 

Nippon Steel Corp said Thursday it has withdrawn its lawsuit filed against rival U.S. steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and others, putting an end to all U.S. litigation launched to prevent its plan to purchase United States Steel Corp. from being blocked.

Japan's largest steelmaker, which finalized the buyout of the iconic American steelmaker in June, said the lawsuit against Cleveland-Cliffs, its CEO Lourenco Goncalves and United Steelworkers union leader David McCall, who all had been opposed to the $14.1 billion purchase plan, has been dropped.

The union has also taken back its charge filed with the United States' National Labor Relations Board against U.S. Steel, claiming that the company imposed unfair labor practices on its members, Nippon Steel said.

In July, Nippon Steel said it had decided to pull another lawsuit filed to invalidate former U.S. President Joe Biden's order in January to block the acquisition deal.

Biden's order had been made on grounds that the buyout would create a national security risk but his successor Donald Trump modified it in June, saying such a risk could be mitigated under conditions set by the U.S. government.

In finalizing the deal, Nippon Steel signed a national security agreement with the Trump administration, with U.S. Steel issuing a "golden share" to the U.S. government that grants veto power over key management decisions.
 
 

A Bank of Japan deputy chief said Tuesday it would be "appropriate" to keep raising interest rates in step with improvements in economic conditions but warned of the possible negative impact of higher U.S. tariffs.

Despite three policy interest rate hikes since last March, "real interest rates have remained at significantly low levels as inflation has remained strong," said BOJ Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino in a speech in Kushiro, Hokkaido.

He said that the current inflation rate considerably exceeds the central bank's 2 percent target due to rising prices of rice and other items, but it is likely to decline as temporary factors recede and eventually stabilize at levels consistent with the goal.

"Risk and uncertainty will never disappear from the landscape for policymakers. We must continually assess the balance of risks, both upside and downside, and respond in a timely and appropriate manner," Himino said.

Regarding the potential impact of U.S. tariffs on the economy, Himino described the July agreement to reduce tariff rates as "a major step forward," yet he cautioned that "the global economy still faces a heightened level of uncertainty."

"Our baseline scenario assumes that the effects of trade policies will eventually materialize, leading to a slowdown in overseas economies and a decline in domestic corporate profits," Himino said.

Market players have been paying attention to when the BOJ will resume raising rates after holding its key rate at around 0.5 percent for the fourth consecutive meeting in July, citing the need to assess the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies.

The BOJ is scheduled to hold its next two-day policy meeting starting Sept 18.
 
 

 

Suntory Holdings Ltd.’s announcement of the resignation of its chairman, Takeshi Niinami, has sent shockwaves through political, governmental and business circles.

Amid these ripples, the move is seen as an inevitable blow to the management of the company, whose primary business is food and beverages, including supplements.

“We expect to receive all sorts of criticisms from our consumers. I believe this will also impact our business performance,” Suntory President Nobuhiro Torii said, before bowing deeply, at an emergency press conference held in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Suntory’s sales in the health food and supplement sector reached ¥336.3 billion in the fiscal year ending in December 2024.

The company seems to be concerned that the top executive’s forced resignation over his alleged connection to illegal supplements could undermine consumer trust going forward.

Over the decade during which he served as president and chairman, Niinami led the company to significant growth. Its sales expanded by about ¥1 trillion, from ¥2.46 trillion in fiscal 2014 to ¥3.42 trillion in fiscal 2024 (based on International Financial Reporting Standards).

He was particularly focused on strengthening overseas operations, and he accelerated the integration of the U.S. company Beam Inc., which produces the Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark whiskey brands.

On Tuesday, Torii stressed that “there will be no changes to our management strategy.” Yet there is still the possibility of a certain amount of confusion.
For four consecutive generations since its foundation, Suntory’s top executives have come from its founding family. Niinami — who was chairman of Lawson Inc. when he became president in 2014 — was an exception to this rule.

Even after Torii, a member of the founding family, took over as president this March, Niinami continued to lead the company’s overseas operations as a chairman with representative authority. He also supported Torii, and the two of them worked in tandem to lead the company.

Nobutada Saji, the chairman who appointed Niinami as president, released a statement saying: “It is truly regrettable. That’s all there is to it.” The company plans to move from a two-person to a one-person chairmanship structure, under which Saji will retain his post but Niinami will not be replaced.

The ripple effects of the resignation have also spread to political, governmental and business circles, including the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai).

Niinami has served as the representative director of the association since April 2023, with his term set to run until April 2027.

Japan Productivity Center Chairman Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, who served as the representative director of the association two terms before Niinami, told The Yomiuri Shimbun on Tuesday: “He carried a heavy responsibility. It’s hard to believe this all of a sudden.”

Niinami also serves as a private sector member of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy and the Council of New Form of Capitalism Realization, two government advisory councils both chaired by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

He has advocated for the importance of wage increases and capital investment as means to achieve economic growth and has also been an active voice for social security reform.

A Cabinet Office official, who serves as the secretariat for the economic and fiscal council, said, “[Niinami] had a strong presence and delivered powerful messages.”
 

 

Suntory Holdings Ltd Chairman Takeshi Niinami has stepped down due to an ongoing investigation over the alleged purchase of a dietary supplement suspected to be illegal, the major Japanese brewer company said Tuesday.

Niinami, a prominent 66-year-old Japanese business figure and former president of Lawson Inc, has led the Japan Association of Corporate Executives since April 2023 and has long served as a private-sector member of the government's key council on economic and fiscal policy.

Suntory Holdings President Nobuhiro Torii apologized for Niinami's resignation, which took effect Monday, during a press conference. The company stated that it concluded that Niinami's actions "demonstrated a lack of awareness regarding supplements" and "rendered him unable to continue in the key position" of chairman.

While noting that Niinami has insisted that he purchased the supplement believing it to be legal, the company said, "For the top executive management of Suntory Group, strict compliance with laws and regulations is fundamental, and exercising appropriate caution in purchasing supplements is an indispensable quality."

Suntory's board members unanimously agreed to demand Niinami's resignation. Niinami offered to quit for personal reasons and the company accepted his resignation as of Monday.

The company also noted that the supplement in question is not a Suntory Group product.

According to investigative sources, Niinami's house in Tokyo and other locations were searched by police on Aug 22, based on information provided by customs authorities in southwestern Japan regarding the import of a substance likely illegal in Japan.

The Fukuoka prefectural police did not find any illegal drugs during the search, but have questioned Niinami on a voluntary basis to see if he had any knowledge of the substance's illegality and to determine whether they should build a criminal case against him, the sources said.

Citing unnamed investigators, broadcaster Nippon TV said Niinami was suspected of importing products containing THC, an active ingredient in cannabis, from the United States.

During the search Niinami reportedly told police that he thought it was a legal product and that "a female acquaintance sent it to him unsolicited".
The product in question is seen as effective in treating backache and insomnia, they added.
 
 

Japan’s factory activity shrank in August on decreasing orders from overseas, a private sector survey showed on Monday, as the impact of U.S. tariffs began to squeeze the country’s export-reliant manufacturing sector.

The S&P Global Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was at 49.7 in August, which slightly undershot the flash reading of 49.9 but improved from 48.9 in July.

The figure has stayed below the 50.0 threshold, which indicates contraction, for two consecutive months.

While the pace of factory output contraction slowed and contributed to the headline index’s improvement, new orders continued to fall at the same pace as in July, given subdued market conditions, the survey showed.

“Of particular concern was a steeper drop in new export business, which fell at the sharpest pace in nearly a year-and-a-half,” said Annabel Fiddes, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The decrease in new orders from overseas was the fastest since March 2024, and firms referred to weaker demand from key markets such as China, Europe and the United States, according to the survey.

In July, Japanese exports logged the biggest drop in more than four years led by declining car exports to the United States, and industrial production fell more than expected, government data have shown.

Tokyo and Washington struck a trade deal in July to lower U.S. tariffs on Japanese goods in exchange for a U.S.-bound $550 billion Japanese investment package, but uncertainties remain around the implementation of the agreed terms.

Elsewhere in the PMI survey, employment was a bright spot, with firms adding staff for the ninth straight month to prepare for potential future demand increases.

However, companies’ business confidence slipped to a three-month low, with respondents citing concerns about customer demand, an aging population and U.S. tariffs, according to the survey.

Input cost inflation inched up from July’s four-and-a-half-year low, but selling prices rose at the slowest pace in more than four years. Some firms said intense market competition and customer requests for discounts affected their pricing power, according to the survey.
 
 

Major Japanese automakers are trying to regain lost ground in Thailand, where they have been squeezed by the aggressive sales tactics of Chinese car companies. In Thailand, Japanese automakers’ share of new vehicle sales used to be more than 90% but may fall below 70% this year.

Japanese carmakers are trying to defend their stronghold by introducing low-priced hybrid vehicles (HVs), among other measures.


Eco performance, convenience

On Aug.21, Toyota Motor Corp. launched the small hybrid sedan Yaris Ativ HEV in Thailand. The model will be sold for 719,000 baht (¥3.24 million) until the end of the year, about 10% cheaper than the company’s Yaris Cross compact sport utility vehicle (SUV), which had previously been the cheapest HV.

“When considering practicality, HVs will continue to play an important role,” Toyota Motor Thailand Co. President Noriaki Yamashita said at a press conference in Bangkok, emphasizing the advantages of HVs, which combine environmental performance and the convenience of not requiring charging.

According to the Federation of Thai Industries, HVs — a field that Japanese automakers excel in — accounted for 20%, or 62,083 units, of the 302,694 new vehicles sold in Thailand from January to June, marking a 7.5% decrease from the same period last year.

On the other hand, the sales of new EVs, into which Chinese manufacturers are pouring considerable resources, increased by 1.6 times to 54,084 units. Toyota is set to boost HV sales with the introduction of a low-priced model to counter Chinese manufacturers.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. also launched an HV version of its compact SUV, the Xforce, in May. The model is equipped with an audio system developed in collaboration with major audio-equipment maker Yamaha Corp. to attract younger consumers.

Mazda Motor Corp. plans to introduce five HV, EV and other models by 2027, and strengthen its production capacity at its plant in Thailand.



Discount sales

The market share of Japanese cars in Thailand stood at 92.3% in 2010, and continued to be high with a market share in the upper 80% range after 2011.

However, it plummeted to 77.8% in 2023 when the Thai government introduced comprehensive measures to promote the EV industry. It fell to 70.6% in the January-June period this year, down 6.6 percentage points from the same period last year.

“If the annual share falls below 70%, it will be difficult to stem the decline in the presence of Japanese vehicles,” a senior official of a Japanese automaker said.

The market share of both Toyota and Honda Motor Co. in the January-June period increased from the same period in 2022, but most other Japanese automakers, including Isuzu Motors Ltd., Mitsubishi and Mazda, saw theirs decrease.

The share of Chinese manufacturers, which were largely absent in the market in 2022, accounted for more than 16% in the January-June period, effectively “taking up” the share Japanese manufacturers lost.

BYD Co., China’s top-selling automaker, held a 7.8% share in the half-year period, ranking fourth behind Toyota, Isuzu and Honda.

BYD has aggressively expanded sales through large discounts. In a promotional campaign in August, BYD reduced the price of its compact car Dolphin to 499,900 baht, about 30% lower than the price at its launch in July 2023.

There are moves among Japanese automakers to strengthen EV sales in Thailand. Toyota, for instance, decided to expand imports of the bZ4X, an electric SUV, to Thailand from Japan.

However, since the carmakers are prioritizing HVs, which are popular in European nations and the United States, it is difficult to adopt a sales strategy heavily focused on EVs in Thailand alone.

As the EV market continues to expand in Thailand, it remains uncertain whether the Japanese firms can recover their market share with a strategy focused on HVs.
 
 

A survey of 195 major food companies by Teikoku Databank found that prices of 1,422 food and beverage items are scheduled to rise in September. This marks the ninth consecutive month of price increases this year.

By food category, the most common price increases are for condiments, primarily mayonnaise and sauces, with 427 items, followed by processed foods, including frozen foods and fish paste products, with 338, and confectionery, with 291 items, Teikoku Databank said.

All of these increases are attributed to rising raw material costs, as well as the shifting of logistics, labor and packaging costs.

Specifically, Kewpie has announced price increases for a total of 66 items, including household mayonnaise and dressings; J.

Oil Mills has announced price increases for all household oils and fats products, including canola oil; and Morinaga & Co has announced price increases for 54 items, primarily confectionery, including its DAR chocolate brand.

At present, the total number of items known to be subject to price increases for the whole of 2025 stands at 20,034. This is the first time in two years that the 20,000-item mark has been exceeded.

Teikoku said in its statement: "Logistics costs and labor costs due to wage increases are the main factors, rather than the weak yen."

It predicts that price hikes for food and beverages are likely to become long-term and permanent.