Commercial and industrial damage from the Kumamoto earthquake has already reached 117.6 billion yen, while continuing water outages are preventing many businesses from reopening. (News On Japan)

An Okinawa dairy farming family is working to protect local milk production as soaring feed and utility costs, extreme summer heat and reduced demand during the school vacation place growing pressure on an industry that has seen the number of farms fall sharply over the past four decades. (News On Japan)

Tokyo stocks rose on August 14, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 68,714, up 0.59%, as investors continued buying semiconductor, artificial intelligence and earnings-backed shares, while the broader TOPIX gained 0.51% to 4,197 and reached another record high. (News On Japan)

Rakuten Securities held an event for parents and children at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on August 13 to teach families about building assets ahead of the launch of the new Junior NISA program in January 2027. (News On Japan)

Tokyo stocks rose on August 13, with the Nikkei 225 advancing to 68,601.21, up 1.6%, as semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related shares followed Wall Street higher, while the broader TOPIX climbed to a record high despite continued concern over wholesale inflation, the yen and Bank of Japan rate-hike expectations. (News On Japan)

Google opened its first flagship store in Japan in Tokyo's Omotesando district at 2 p.m. on August 13, marking the company's first flagship retail location outside the United States. (News On Japan)

Hiroshi Okuda, a former president of Toyota Motor who helped lay the foundation for the automaker's emergence as one of the world's leading manufacturers, died of old age on August 8 at the age of 93. (News On Japan)

Tokyo stocks ended nearly unchanged on August 12, with the Nikkei 225 at 66,988.82, as gains in energy and financial shares offset weakness in electronics and pharmaceuticals while investors weighed higher crude oil prices, a weaker yen and growing expectations for another Bank of Japan rate increase. (News On Japan)

Sony Group and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. announced on August 11 that they have formally agreed to jointly produce next-generation image sensors, with total investment expected to reach about 1 trillion yen and mass production scheduled to begin in Kumamoto Prefecture in 2029. (News On Japan)

Japan's street-level economic sentiment improved for a third consecutive month in July, supported by sharply hotter weather after the end of the rainy season and the start of the summer vacation period, with stronger sales of products including men's parasols and air conditioners. (News On Japan)

Tokyo stocks rose on August 10, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 66,376.25, up 1.2%, as investors bought electronics, metals and artificial intelligence-related shares, while fresh signs of a more hawkish Bank of Japan debate kept attention on the yen, bond yields and the timing of the next rate increase. (News On Japan)

Japan recorded a current account deficit of 92.3 billion yen in June, its first shortfall in 17 months, as a sharp increase in import costs outpaced growth in exports. (News On Japan)

Several Bank of Japan policymakers have signaled support for accelerating interest rate increases, with one member warning that the pace of hikes could become faster than financial markets currently expect as the central bank pays greater attention to upside inflation risks. (News On Japan)

A repeat of the sharp yen appreciation seen in the summer of 2024 is unlikely under current conditions, with persistently high U.S. interest rates and continued structural pressure on Japan's currency making another rapid surge difficult, according to UBS wealth management chief investment officer Daiju Aoki. (News On Japan)

Japan's government and the Bank of Japan conducted a record 6.2787 trillion yen yen-buying, dollar-selling intervention on April 30, the Finance Ministry said on August 7. (News On Japan)

Japanese companies delivered a wave of strong earnings on August 7, with Fujikura, Recruit Holdings, INPEX and several other major groups raising forecasts as artificial intelligence investment, higher resource prices and resilient consumer demand lifted profits. (News On Japan)

Tokyo stocks ended slightly lower on August 7, with the Nikkei 225 closing at 65,606.71, down 76.55 points, or 0.12%, as selling in chip-related and artificial intelligence-linked shares outweighed solid buying in the broader market and a late recovery led by Fujikura. (News On Japan)

Nippon Steel has completed a new production line at its Nagoya Works after investing about 300 billion yen, as Japan's largest steelmaker seeks to expand production of high-performance steel products primarily for automakers. (News On Japan)

Hokkaido's minimum wage is expected to rise by 56 yen to a record 1,131 yen per hour in October, entering the 1,100-yen range for the first time, but workers and business owners are concerned that tax and social insurance thresholds could lead employees to limit their hours. (News On Japan)

The average summer bonus paid by major Japanese companies rose above 1 million yen for the first time, reaching a record 1,042,537 yen as strong corporate earnings and substantial wage increases lifted employee compensation. (News On Japan)