A Bank of Japan board member highlighted the need for further increases to the benchmark interest rate in order to complete the process of normalizing policy settings, in a signal that’s likely to sustain emerging speculation over an early rate hike, Bloomberg News reported. "I am convinced that continuing with further policy interest rate hikes will be needed to complete the normalization of monetary policy in Japan,” Kazuyuki Masu said Friday in a speech to local business leaders in Ehime Prefecture.
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Prudential Life Insurance announced Wednesday that it would suspend sales of new insurance policies for 90 days, following the discovery of widespread financial misconduct involving current and former employees, the Japan Times reported. According to the company’s news release, the suspension period, which is scheduled to begin on Monday, was determined based on the time required to swiftly implement priority reforms, including strengthening governance, conducting internal reviews and enhancing compliance training.
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Japan's manufacturing activity grew at the fastest pace in about three and a half years in January, a private-sector survey showed, as strong customer demand drove an increase in output and new orders, Reuters reported. The S&P Global Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 51.5 in January from 50.0 in December, the strongest level since August 2022. The 50.0 threshold separates expansion from contraction.
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Inflation in Tokyo slowed to 2% year-on-year in January from 2.3% in the previous month, hitting the lowest level since October 2024, mainly due to a smaller rise in food prices excluding perishables, Japanese government data showed on Friday, the Japan Times reported. The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, in the capital's 23 wards came to 110.9 in January against the 2020 base of 100, rising for the 53rd consecutive month, the internal affairs ministry said.
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The crypto-focused subsidiary of Japan’s largest investment bank has joined the growing list of digital asset firms seeking a coveted banking charter from the U.S. Treasury Department, Decrypt.com reported. The subsidiary, Laser Digital, is based in Switzerland and owned by the Nomura Group, the Tokyo investment banking and brokerage giant. On Tuesday evening, Laser announced it had filed an application with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form a national trust bank.
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A Tokyo Shōkō Research report found that the number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan involving a total liability of ¥10 million or more rose by 2.9% year on year in 2025 to 10,300, Nippon.com reported. This was the second successive year for the total to exceed 10,000. The bankrupt firms included the listed company Alt, an artificial intelligence developer, after accounting irregularities came to light. However, overall liabilities fell by 32% to ¥1.6 trillion, as many of the bankruptcies involved microenterprises with liabilities of less than ¥100 million.
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Nidec Corp will release a plan this week to get its business back on track, people familiar with the matter say, after an accounting scandal that has put the company at risk of delisting and caused its debt to be downgraded to junk status, Bloomberg News reported. The plan will be announced as soon as Wednesday and will include revisions to past financial results, more details on how the issues came to light and the steps that will be taken to prevent a repeat, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
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Global markets shifted abruptly into a defensive posture this week, with U.S. equities dropping over 2% amid a dual shock of fiscal instability in Japan and renewed trade war tensions between the U.S. and Europe, according to a market commentary published by QCP on Wednesday, Blockspace reported. Bitcoin has fallen below $90,000, failing to hold its recent reclamation of the $97,000 level as the cryptocurrency struggles to find footing.
Japan’s government bond market jolted global finance this week after yields jumped fast, forcing officials to step in, 99Bitcoins reported. U.S. Treasuries wobbled in response, while Bitcoin hovered near recent ranges as traders paused. This fits a bigger macro story where bond stress, central banks and risk assets keep colliding. For crypto beginners, this sounds distant. It isn’t. Bond markets sit under everything, including Bitcoin. Japanese government bonds are IOUs backed by the world’s third-largest economy. When investors sell them hard, yields rise.