Rei Ihara, food sector analyst at UBS Securities, said the scope for further price hikes is narrowing, as Japan's Engel coefficient, the share of household spending on food, hit 28.3% in 2024, the highest in 43 years.

Japan's bond market faces stern tests this week, from domestic political ructions and a possible hawkish shift at the central bank to global risks stemming from the Federal Reserve. Japan's long-dated government bond (JGB) yields remain near record peaks after the ruling coalition lost its majority in upper house elections.

Japan strictly prohibits drone flights near nuclear power plants under its 2016 Drone Act, with violations punishable by up to a year in prison or a maximum fine of 500,000 yen or approximately $3,370.

Japanese authorities say beaches, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water are becoming increasingly perilous for swimmers, surfers, snorkelers and the like. The number of accidents last year climbed to a 10-year high of over 1,500. More than 800 people were left dead or missing.

India's finished steel imports dropped nearly 30% in the first three months of the financial year that started in April, due to a persistent fall in shipments from China and Japan, according to provisional government data reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump is bragging that Japan has given him, as part of a new trade framework, $550 billion to invest in the United States

Asia has designs on the blossoming Dallas-Fort Worth economy, with Japan positioning itself to be the tip of the spear.

European investment fund EQT has decided to acquire Japanese elevator maker Fujitec through a tender offer worth more than 400 billion yen ($2.6 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

The U.S. found out this year that China could use its chokehold on rare-earth minerals as a coercive tool. For Japan, it was déjà vu: It had been the victim 15 years earlier.

The current political crisis is the result of a July 20 election in Japan’s upper house, the less-powerful chamber in parliament. It has no direct role in determining the prime minister but is an indicator of political fortunes in a country where the foundation of individual leaders is generally unstable, even as the ruling party remains solid.

With their "Japanese First" slogan, riffing off US President Donald Trump's "America First", they have truly ruffled the feathers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its embattled prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba.