A record number of curry shops in Japan went out of business in the past year, as purveyors of one of the country’s most beloved dishes took a hit from soaring rice prices, Bloomberg News reported. Thirteen curry shops with more than ¥10 million ($70,000) in debt filed for bankruptcy in the year ended March — a record high for a second consecutive year, according to a report from Tokyo-based research firm Teikoku Databank. The total number of bankruptcies is likely to be much higher when considering smaller mom-and-pop shops, the firm said.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the country's economy can withstand the hit from U.S. tariffs and sustain a cycle of rising inflation accompanied by wage growth, signalling the bank's readiness to raise interest rates further, Reuters reported. Uncertainty over U.S. trade policy and the range of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump's administration could hurt Japan's exports, prod firms to delay capital expenditure plans, and discourage them from raising wages, Ueda said on Tuesday. While an agreement between the U.S.

Japan, which has the highest government debt among leading economies, is finding it difficult to spend like it used to, the New York Times reported. Debt-fueled public spending, enabled by low interest rates, has long been a way to address the country’s problems. Struggling farmers and emptying countrysides received generous payments from the central government. Relief aid during the Covid-19 pandemic morphed into new outlays for defense and subsidies to help consumers weather inflation.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed determination Thursday to defend rules-based, free and multilateral trade systems and work on expanding the main Asia-Pacific trade group at a time of tension over U.S. tariffs, the Associated Press reported. “High tariffs will not bring economic prosperity," Ishiba told a global forum in Tokyo. “A prosperity built on sacrifices by someone or another country will not make a strong economy.” Japan seeks to work with the U.S.

Japan has joined a growing list of nations, including Spain and Canada, that are assembling aid plans to help blunt the domestic impact of President Trump’s tariffs, the New York Times reported. On Tuesday, Japan approved a $6.3 billion spending package to “fully support” businesses and households adversely affected by the tariffs, Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a briefing. The funds will bolster the finances of small and medium-sized businesses and subsidize household energy costs, he said.

The Bank of Japan must be vigilant to the risk rising food prices could push up underlying inflation that is already near its 2% target, Governor Kazuo Ueda said, signaling the central bank's readiness to continue its rate hikes, Reuters reported. The BOJ keeps interest rates low as inflation expectations, or the public's perception on future price moves, stand between 1.5% and 2% - the highest in 30 years though still below its 2% target, Ueda said in a speech at a BOJ-hosted conference.

Bank of Japan policy board member Asahi Noguchi struck a more cautious tone about the pace of the bank’s future interest-rate hikes, saying it should take “a measured, step-by-step approach,” the Wall Street Journal reported. In a speech to business leaders in Japan’s southern prefecture of Miyazaki, Noguchi said the central bank should take the time to examine the economic impact of each rate increase and assess both upside and downside risks before considering the next one.

Japan on Tuesday clarified its stance on U.S. tariffs, saying it wants all new levies put into place by the administration of President Donald Trump completely removed, confirming a hard-line position ahead of high-level negotiations that might be held later this week in Washington, the Japan Times reported. “As we have repeatedly stated, we find the series of U.S. tariff measures — including those on automobiles, auto parts, steel, aluminum, and reciprocal tariffs — extremely regrettable,” said Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, at a news conference.

Japan's economy shrank for the first time in a year and at a faster pace than expected, data for the March quarter showed on Friday, underscoring the fragile nature of its recovery now under threat from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies, Reuters reported. The data highlights the challenge policymakers face as steep U.S. tariffs cloud the outlook for the export-heavy economy, particularly for the mainstay automobiles sector.

Japan's economy shrank for the first time in a year and at a faster pace than expected, data for the March quarter showed on Friday, underscoring the fragile nature of its recovery now under threat from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies, Reuters reported. Real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted an annualised 0.7% in January-March, preliminary government data showed, much bigger than a median market forecast for a 0.2% drop.