Yoshiaki Nohara

Minamitorishima’s rare-earth deposits are lifting the tiny island out of obscurity.

Japan’s Industry Ministry is seeking an unprecedented ¥7.8 trillion ($49 billion) to accelerate investment in semiconductors, AI and other strategic industries at the heart of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s growth agenda.

Japanese companies raised capital spending in the second quarter as profits surged, in the latest sign that the corporate sector is coping fairly well with the fallout from the Middle East conflict.

Bank of Japan Board Member Hajime Takata, one of the bank’s most hawkish members, reiterated his call for nimble interest rate hikes to prevent upward price deviations.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda faces unusually acute risks of financial-market turbulence as he approaches this month’s policy decision in the wake of a public pressure campaign by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Any failure to follow Bessent's barely camouflaged calls to raise interest rates would now not only surprise traders who fully expect a move, but also send the yen tumbling. That in turn would boost the outlook for inflation, which is already seen heading toward 3% later this year.

Seafood companies rebuilt supply chains after Beijing shut them out, offering a lesson in both the promise and the pitfalls of breaking a dependence on China.

Surging home prices fuel a rise in ultra-long loans among young Japanese buyers.

Scott Bessent’s public pressure campaign to boost the yen is raising expectations for the Bank of Japan to mount a monetary tightening campaign unseen in more than a generation, risking a disruption in markets should policymakers fail to deliver.

Prices for Japan’s corporate goods rose at a faster pace than expected in August, supporting the case for the Bank of Japan to keep raising interest rates to stem upside inflation risks.