Japan's three largest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group will jointly issue "stablecoins", digital currencies pegged to the value of real-world currencies, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.

The number of corporate bankruptcies involving liabilities of ¥10 million or more in Japan in the April-September period has hit the highest level in 12 years, partly due to labor shortages, Tokyo Shoko Research said on Wednesday, the Japan Times reported. In the first half of fiscal 2025, which began in April, business failures rose 1.5% from a year earlier to 5,172, up for the fourth consecutive year. The figure was close to the 5,505 recorded in the same period of fiscal 2013.

The Bank of Japan should be cautious about raising interest rates again as the economy is still fragile, said Etsuro Honda, a close economic adviser to Sanae Takaichi, who is likely to become the country's next prime minister, Reuters reported. "Japan is at a delicate stage right now, where the long-standing deflationary mindset is gradually giving way to a more positive inflationary outlook," Etsuro Honda, who advises Takaichi on economic policy, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

Household spending rose for a fourth month in Japan, showing resilience amid persistent inflation as the central bank continues to mull the timing of its next interest rate hike, Bloomberg News reported. Outlays by households adjusted for inflation gained 2.3% from a year ago in August, led by spending on transport and entertainment, the internal affairs ministry reported Tuesday. The result beat the median economist estimate of a 1.2% increase.

By 2010 almost 1 in 5 companies limped along because of bailouts and other financing relief, rather than tackling their fundamental problems, Bloomberg News reported. In 2008 three economics professors, one from Japan and two from the US, coined a term for these enterprises: “zombie companies.” Now the country’s financial landscape is changing. In March 2024 the Bank of Japan increased interest rates for the first time in 17 years, reflecting an improving economic climate and rising prices.

Japan's jobless rate rose to its highest in over a year, signaling a slight loosening of the labor market as speculation swirls over a Bank of Japan rate hike in the near term, Bloomberg News reported. The unemployment rate rose to 2.6 per cent in August from 2.3 per cent in the previous month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported Friday, against a median economist expectation of 2.4 per cent . Separate data from the labor ministry showed that the job-to-applicant ratio ticked down to 1.20 from 1.22.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said inflation was on track to durably hit the bank's target but warned of global uncertainties that could discourage firms from raising wages, leaving himself a free hand on whether to raise interest rates in October, Reuters reported. Ueda reiterated the central bank's resolve to continue raising still low interest rates if the economy and prices move in line with its forecasts.

Factory output fell for a second month in August as businesses remained cautious amid a global outlook clouded by U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing tariff campaign. Industrial production dropped 1.2% from the previous month, following the same pace of decline from July, the economy ministry reported Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported. The fall was led by metal products and electronic machinery, and was deeper than the median forecast of a 0.9% decline. Compared to a year earlier, output also fell more than expected. The data reflect ongoing caution among manufacturers, as the U.S.

Donald Trump faces fresh hurdles in his push to secure major investment pledges from Asian allies, after South Korea said Washington’s terms were unrealistic and a contender to lead Japan’s ruling party hinted at the possibility of reviewing the agreement, Bloomberg News reported. “We are not able to pay $350 billion in cash,” South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said in a Channel A News television interview on Saturday evening, referring to Seoul’s investment pledge with Washington.

The pace of price growth in the Tokyo metropolitan area unexpectedly held steady in September, but upward pressure remains, keeping an interest-rate hike in play, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer inflation in Tokyo, excluding volatile fresh food prices, climbed 2.5% from a year earlier, government data showed Friday. That matched the pace recorded in August and was below a 2.8% rise expected in a poll of economists by data provider Quick. The yen weakened to 149.94 against the dollar after the data. Tokyo figures are considered an early indicator of nationwide trends.