A major pet-related product fair opened in Osaka on June 20, bringing together more than 400 companies and showcasing new technologies and products ranging from a bone-conduction hearing device for dogs to furniture designed for cats and their owners to relax together. (News On Japan)

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda has been discharged from hospital after receiving treatment for an infected liver cyst and is expected to return to work on June 23 while continuing outpatient care for about two weeks. (News On Japan)

Japan's nationwide consumer price index rose 1.4% in May from a year earlier, staying below 2% for the fourth straight month as lower rice, gasoline, utility and school tuition costs helped curb the overall increase. (News On Japan)

The Nikkei Stock Average surged past 71000 on Thursday, closing at a record high for the fourth straight session, as easing tensions in the Middle East lifted investor sentiment while the yen weakened to a nearly two-year low against the dollar. (News On Japan)

Nissan Motor announced that it will launch the fully redesigned Kicks compact SUV on June 18, marking the model's first full overhaul in six years as the automaker seeks to strengthen its position in Japan's highly competitive small SUV market. (News On Japan)

Japan's return to a world of higher interest rates is reshaping household finances, with a growing number of young homebuyers turning to 40- and 50-year mortgages to afford rapidly rising apartment prices, according to a discussion aired on BS-TBS's Report 1930 on June 17. (News On Japan)

Japan's Fair Trade Commission has conducted on-site inspections of six major food manufacturers over suspicions they formed a cartel to coordinate ice cream prices, with authorities investigating whether the companies exchanged information and unfairly adjusted planned retail price increases in response to rising costs. (News On Japan)

The Nikkei Stock Average briefly topped the 70,000 mark for the first time on June 16, rising as much as 700 points to an intraday high of 70,020 after the Bank of Japan's decision to raise interest rates matched market expectations, before retreating as investors locked in profits, though the benchmark still ended the day at a record high. (News On Japan)

The Bank of Japan is set to begin a two-day monetary policy meeting on June 16th, with financial markets widely expecting the central bank to raise its policy interest rate to 1%, the highest level in 31 years, despite the unusual circumstance of Governor Kazuo Ueda being absent from the meeting. (News On Japan)

Okinawa Coca-Cola Bottling has begun operating a large-scale solar power generation system at its Urasoe plant, aiming to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 330 tons annually while expanding the use of renewable energy in the prefecture. (News On Japan)

The Nikkei Stock Average surged more than 3,000 points in morning trading on June 15, climbing above the 69,000 mark for the first time and setting a new intraday record as investors reacted positively to a peace agreement between the United States and Iran. (News On Japan)

Japanese stocks rebounded sharply on June 12th, with the Nikkei Stock Average closing back above the 66,000 level for the first time in a week as easing concerns over tensions in the Middle East and a strong rally in U.S. technology shares fueled broad buying of AI-related stocks. (News On Japan)

Restructuring is often associated with companies in financial trouble, but a growing number of profitable Japanese corporations are now encouraging employees to take early retirement as part of efforts to reshape their workforces for the future, creating both opportunities and significant risks for workers considering a second career. (News On Japan)

Seven-Eleven Japan announced that it will establish a new company with CyberAgent and Dentsu to develop advertising services, using digital signage installed in its stores to deliver targeted advertisements based on real-time conditions. (News On Japan)

Domestic gold prices in Japan fell sharply on June 11, with the benchmark retail gold price announced by Tanaka Precious Metal Technologies dropping 906 yen from the previous day to 23,262 yen per gram as of 9:30 a.m., marking the lowest level of the year. (News On Japan)

U.S. coffee giant Starbucks is considering selling its Japan business, with Bloomberg reporting that the company has begun preliminary talks with investment banks and that any deal could be worth between 400 billion yen and 500 billion yen. (News On Japan)

The contemporary corporate field across Japan is undergoing a profound digital transformation as forward-thinking organizations strive to maintain their market competitiveness in a globalized economy. (News On Japan)

Japan's corporate goods prices rose 6.3% in May from a year earlier, marking the fastest pace of increase in more than three years as higher oil and petrochemical costs linked to tensions in the Middle East pushed up wholesale prices. (News On Japan)

The Bank of Japan is set to raise its policy interest rate from 0.75% to 1.0% at its monetary policy meeting on June 15th and 16th, a move that could mark another step in the central bank's gradual shift away from ultra-loose monetary policy as inflation remains elevated and the yen continues to weaken. (News On Japan)

The Bank of Japan is increasingly expected to raise its policy interest rate to 1.0% at next week's monetary policy meeting, responding to growing concerns that inflation could rise faster than previously anticipated due to soaring oil prices and other cost pressures. (News On Japan)