Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has announced that the country’s main crop rice harvest for the 2025 season is expected to reach 7.468 million tons, marking an increase of 676,000 tons from the previous year and representing growth of roughly 10 percent. (News On Japan)

The Real Estate Companies Association of Japan has drafted a policy that would prohibit the resale of condominium units before they are handed over to buyers, an effort aimed at curbing speculative short-term flipping that has been cited as one factor behind the sharp rise in condominium prices. (News On Japan)

Core machinery orders — a leading indicator of private-sector capital investment — rose in September, with the Cabinet Office reporting that orders excluding ships and electric utilities climbed 4.2 percent from the previous month to roughly 920 billion yen. It marked the first increase in three months. (News On Japan)

Takaichi’s administration is moving closer to finalizing its economic package aimed at easing the strain of rising prices, with the government preparing a set of measures that include a gasoline tax cut, fresh investments across 17 priority fields and expanded subsidies for electricity and gas bills. (News On Japan)

Japan’s traditional employment practices are once again under scrutiny as debate intensifies over so-called “do-nothing middle-aged workers,” with critics arguing that long-standing structural issues in hiring, promotion, and job assignment have allowed a segment of workers to lose motivation while remaining in secure positions. (News On Japan)

Nara, previously lacking in accommodation options, now hosts a unique category of high-end hotel. The person responsible for creating these unconventional luxury properties across Japan is the daughter of one of the country’s wealthiest families and leader of a major real estate company with total assets exceeding 1 trillion yen. (News On Japan)

Nissan Motor announced on November 14th that it plans to double the number of its showrooms inside shopping malls to more than 30 locations from fiscal 2027 onward. The move will expand its presence in the growing category of “experience-based stores,” a format increasingly adopted in the apparel industry and other sectors. (News On Japan)

Japanese automakers are under increasing pressure as China’s aggressive push in electric vehicles continues and the impact of U.S. tariffs under former President Donald Trump looms large. With total tariff-related losses for seven major manufacturers projected to reach 1.5 trillion yen, analysts are examining how Japanese companies plan to stay competitive. (News On Japan)

SoftBank Group has reported a record-breaking net profit for the April–September period, marking the highest half-year earnings ever achieved by a Japanese company. (News On Japan)

Osaka Metro announced that its interim financial results reached a record high, driven by an increase in ridership linked to the Osaka-Kansai Expo. (News On Japan)

JR East announced on November 11th that it will retire the beloved Suica penguin mascot at the end of fiscal 2026, marking the 25th anniversary of the Suica transportation IC card service, and will introduce a new character from fiscal 2027. (News On Japan)

The Mekari Shrine near the Kanmon Strait, connecting Honshu and Kyushu, has overcome a financial crisis through an unconventional initiative: a marine ash scattering business. Drawing on local customs, the shrine began offering plans starting from 70,000 yen, allowing families to have ashes scattered at sea in a ceremony managed by the shrine itself. (News On Japan)

The Nikkei Average has surged past 50,000, yet many individual investors say their portfolios have barely moved, underscoring how narrowly led the rally has become as the NT ratio—Nikkei divided by TOPIX—climbs to a record, reflecting outsized strength in a handful of high-priced technology names while a broad swath of stocks lags behind, and even within the Nikkei 225 the gap between the strongest and weakest deciles over the past six months has widened to extreme levels, pushing the headline index higher while leaving many constituents flat. (News On Japan)

The outlook for rice prices over the next three months has declined sharply amid expectations that an increase in new rice harvests will ease supply and demand pressures. (News On Japan)

The Niseko area at the foot of Mount Yotei, about a two-hour drive from Sapporo, is now in the spotlight once again as one of Japan’s top resort destinations prepares for the peak ski season. Fueled by surging inbound demand, construction of hotels and leisure facilities is rapidly expanding across the region—but local residents are increasingly alarmed by the rise in illegal land development and unauthorized building extensions. (News On Japan)

Around 1,200 investors have filed a class-action lawsuit with the Osaka District Court seeking the return of more than 11.4 billion yen from the real estate fund “Minna de Ooya-san,” which has been delaying distribution payments to its investors. (News On Japan)

Gasoline prices rose for the first time in four weeks to 173.60 yen per liter as of 2 p.m. on November 6th, up just 0.10 yen from the previous week. However, with the government’s decision on November 5th to abolish the provisional gasoline tax by the end of the year, prices are expected to fall in stages before the abolition takes full effect. (News On Japan)

Real wages in Japan fell 1.4% in September from a year earlier, marking the ninth consecutive month of decline, as rising prices continued to outpace wage increases, according to data released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (News On Japan)

Nissan Motor announced on November 6th that it will sell its Yokohama headquarters building for 97 billion yen as part of a broader restructuring plan, while continuing to occupy the property under a lease agreement. (News On Japan)

The economic policy bannered by Prime Minister Takaichi as “Sanaenomics” is beginning to take shape, with expectations centering on lower gasoline prices and the restart of electricity and gas subsidies even as critics say the program’s substance remains unclear and insufficiently developed. (News On Japan)