A Japanese labour union group representing major manufacturers said on Thursday its members are demanding a record increase in their base pay for this year, building on last year's momentum amid rising living costs, Reuters reported. The Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions (JCM) is considered a pace-setter for annual wage negotiations and represents about 2 million workers for blue chip companies including Toyota Motor, Panasonic and Nippon Steel.

Japan's automobile industry association urged the government on Tuesday to try to shield Japanese automakers from tariffs that the United States may impose on imports of autos and parts, the Japan Times reported. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association is worried about damage to the economies of both countries if U.S. President Donald Trump's administration proceeds with hefty tariffs on auto imports from Japan, Mexico and Canada, JAMA Chairman Masanori Katayama said. Trump said last week that he wants to impose 25% tariffs on imports of autos as soon as April 2.

Japan's core consumer inflation hit 3.2% in January for its fastest pace in 19 months, data showed on Friday, reinforcing expectations that the central bank will keep raising interest rates from levels still seen as low, Reuters reported. Bond yields rose on the data, as markets factor in the chance that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) could hike interest rates more aggressively than initially thought as inflationary pressure mounts.

Japan's exports rose for a fourth consecutive month in January led by auto shipments to the United States, but if U.S. President Donald Trump goes through with a plan to impose hefty car tariffs, a sharp drop-off is likely, Reuters reported. The solid trade report came after Japan's GDP data released on Monday showed the economy grew faster than expected in the October-December quarter, strengthening the case for the central bank to continue raising interest rates.

Hawkish comments from the Bank of Japan and sticky inflation are lifting bond yields to multi-year highs and pushing forward rate hike expectations, shaking long-held views that rates would not rise much in the historically deflation-prone economy, Reuters reported. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities said on Monday that it now expects the BOJ to raise interest rates to 0.75% in July from 0.5% currently, instead of in October-December.

The pace of gains in Japan’s corporate goods prices accelerated last month to the fastest clip in 19 months, keeping the Bank of Japan on track for further interest rate hikes, Bloomberg News reported. The measure of input prices for Japanese firms rose 4.2% in January from a year earlier, the BOJ reported Thursday. The gain, led by agricultural products such as rice, was bigger than the consensus estimate of 4% and compared with a revised 3.9% advance a month earlier.

Japan’s financial regulator urged the country’s regional banks to pay closer attention to the risks of investing in so-called repackaged government bonds, Bloomberg News reported. At a regular meeting with regional bank heads on Wednesday, a senior official at the Financial Services Agency told lenders that they should make sure they have proper risk management in place for the financial instruments.

Tokyo has asked the U.S. government to exempt Japanese firms from U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, the Japan Times reported. “We have requested the U.S. government to exclude Japan from the scope of these measures,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said during a news conference Wednesday, adding that the request was made by the Japanese Embassy in Washington via diplomatic channels.

A hawkish member of the Bank of Japan’s policy board on Thursday called for potentially faster interest-rate increases, sending the yen to its strongest level against the dollar in eight weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a speech to business leaders in Nagano prefecture in central Japan, Naoki Tamura said that the central bank should raise rates to 1% or higher in the fiscal half starting in October. That level is likely consistent with a neutral rate setting that is neither restrictive nor stimulating for the economy, he added.