#japanese-economy

#japanese-economy

The Bank of Japan's loose monetary policy has turned the yen into the world's cheapest and most reliable funding currency, creating a publicly subsidised funding pipeline for bankers.

Osaka, Japan's third largest city after Tokyo and Yokohama, has a youthful energy to it. Locals love it for tabearuki, which literally means walking and eating at the many shotengai-covered arcades, lined with stalls and tempting street food.

Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) spent years designing a framework that would make a collapse like Terra/Luna structurally impossible on its soil.

Nintendo of America is suing the US government, including the Department of Treasury, Department of Homeland Security and US Customs & Border Protection, over its tariff policy. The video game giant already raised prices on the Nintendo Switch in August 2025 in response to "market conditions" but has so far left the price of the newer Switch 2 console unchanged.

Living in Japan in the early 2000s, Fralick fell in love with an Italian restaurant in the city of Shizuoka, where he ate Italian food, but with Japanese influences, like pastas made with uni and the fermented soybeans known as natto. "It really reminded me of home," says Fralick, who grew up in upstate New York and started his cooking career in Italian fine dining.

Virtual Cram School Wish High is a new online school by Tokyo-based company Luminaris. According to the publication, all teachers are "active VTubers," meaning streamers who use digital avatars to represent themselves instead of showing their real faces. Tuition at the online academy is the equivalent of around $63 per course per month, on subjects including mathematics, English, physics, chemistry, world history, Japanese history, and geography.

Punch has been scolded by other monkeys many times in the past and has learned how to socialize with them," the statement said. The zoo staff also noted that after moments of conflict with other monkeys, Punch runs back to his comfort object - his stuffed toy orangutan. When he feels safe again, he will leave his toy and return to his peers.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday expressed hopes of deepening her relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in rare earths development and other areas of economic security when she visits Washington next month. Takaichi, at a news conference late Wednesday, expressed hopes to strengthen cooperation with the U.S., especially in economic security, as tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have risen over the last few months.

Japanese design has spent centuries perfecting the balance between restraint and richness. These seven gifts embody that philosophy, where every material choice and geometric decision carries intention. From transparent polycarbonate that frames music like sculpture to hand-planted bristles that honor century-old brush-making techniques, each piece reflects the considered craftsmanship that typically commands luxury prices. The precision is palpable, the materials exceptional, yet the cost remains accessible.

Honda reported Tuesday a 42% drop in profit for the nine months through December, compared to a year earlier, as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs hurt the Japanese automaker's earnings.Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co.'s profit over the three quarters totaled 465.4 billion yen ($3 billion), down from 805.2 billion yen.That marked the second straight year that profit declined during the period at Honda, the maker of the Accord sedan, Civic compact and Odyssey minivan.

The USD/JPY pair surged to a nine-day peak of 158.86 following the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) first policy decision of 2026, with the momentum accelerating sharply during Governor Kazuo Ueda's post-meeting press conference. The pair later saw a missive flush toward 157.308. While the central bank technically stood pat, the market's read of the event was one of a hawkish hold, as the divergence between official rhetoric and the surging Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yields forced a frantic repricing of the yen's path.

Japan's new tax reform could be the catalyst that pushes XRP ( ) toward its next rally. By slashing crypto taxes from 55% to 20% and reclassifying digital assets under the same framework as stocks, Tokyo has made holding and trading XRP dramatically more attractive to institutions, exchanges, and corporate treasuries. But the gap between catalyst and breakout is real. XRP trades near $1.40, down 60% from its July 2025 high of $3.65-reaching $4 requires a 185% rally.

Behind [Mount Fuji's] beautiful landscape is the reality that the quiet lives of citizens are threatened. We have a strong sense of crisis. To protect the dignity and living environment of our citizens, we have decided to bring the curtain down on the 10-year-old festival, he added in his statement. Authorities cited repeated incidents of disruptive behaviour from tourists in the city, which lies to the west of Tokyo.

"Both sides agreed on "shuttle diplomacy" three years ago, with regular meetings at the highest level. Lee's national security adviser, Wi Sung Lac, said the summit's goal was to build trust between the South Korean and Japanese leaders. Lee and Takaichi discussed ways to boost cooperation in a raft of areas including cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, combating cross-border crime, and promoting people-to-people exchanges."