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The launch came after South Korea, Japan and China held talks in Seoul

Spy satellite launch ends in failure, North Korea says

North Korea's latest attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit ended in a mid-air explosion, Pyongyang has said, hours after its announcement of a planned launch was criticised by South Korea and Japan.

World • 27 May 24

Japan's inflation rate, excluding volatile fresh food prices, came in at 2.2%, compared with the 2.6% rate logged in March

Japan inflation slows in April, sparks questions on rates

The pace of Japanese inflation slowed in April as gas bills fell, government data showed today, raising questions about when the Bank of Japan will hike interest rates again.

Business • 24 May 24

Japan's economy shrank by an annualised 2% in January-March from the previous quarter, new figures show today

Japan's economy skids, clouding Bank of Japan's rate plan

Japan's economy fell faster than expected in the first quarter as the weak yen continued to batter consumers, throwing a fresh challenge to the central bank's push to get interest rates further away from near zero.

Business • 16 May 24

Nissan has forecast global retail sales this financial year at 3.7 million vehicles, up 7.5% from the 3.4 million sold last fiscal year

Nissan upbeat on annual profit despite challenges

Japan's Nissan Motor said it expects to beat analyst estimates with a 5.5% rise in operating profit this fiscal year on higher global sales, while warning that intense competition and challenges from inflation would continue.

Business • 09 May 24

The Japanese government said that 'whales are important food resources'

Japan to add fin whales to commercial whaling list

Japan will add large fin whales to its list of commercial whaling species, the government has said, five years after leaving an international body that regulates the commercial hunt of marine mammals.

World • 09 May 24

Traders had been on edge for weeks for any signs of action from Tokyo to prop up a currency that has fallen 11% against the dollar so far this year

Japan's yen jumps against the dollar

The yen jumped suddenly against the dollar today, with traders citing yen-buying intervention by Japanese authorities to try to stem a relentless fall in the currency to levels last seen over three decades ago.

Business • 29 Apr 24

The Mitsubishi SH-60K helicopters crashed off the Izu Islands in the Pacific Ocean (File image)

One dead, seven missing in Japan after helicopters crash

One person has died and seven others were missing after an incident involving two Japanese military helicopters, officials said.

World • 21 Apr 24

Nissan said its vehicle sales would total 3.44 million vehicles for the year, lowering its estimates again

Nissan cuts operating profit estimate on lower sales

Nissan Motor slashed its annual operating profit estimate by 14.5% today, citing lower-than-expected vehicle sales and other factors.

Business • 19 Apr 24

The Bank of Japan last month raised interest rates for the first time since 2007 and scrapped the world's last negative interest rate as it reached its 2% inflation target

Japan inflation rate slips to 2.6% in March

Japanese inflation slowed to 2.6% in March, largely in line with market expectations, data showed today.

Business • 19 Apr 24

The H-IIA rocket carrying the SLIM probe pictured blasting off from the Tanegashima Space Centre in September

Japan Moon probe put to sleep again

Japan's Moon lander was put to sleep again after unexpectedly surviving its second ultra-chilly long lunar night, the space agency has said.

World • 01 Apr 24

Renault sold a 5% stake in Nissan back to the Japanese company in December

Renault to sell Nissan stake of about 2.5%

Renault plans to sell a stake of about 2.5% in Nissan shares to the Japanese car maker in a deal that could result generate up to €362m, the French firm said today.

Business • 27 Mar 24

The number of births in Japan dropped to a new low in 2023, with more than twice as many deaths as new babies born (Stock image)

Population decline: Japan nappy maker switches to adults

Japan's plummeting birth rate has led a nappy manufacturer to stop making nappies for babies at home and instead ramp up production for adults, the company has said.

World • 27 Mar 24

Japan's yen hit the weakest level since the middle of 1990, around the time the country's asset bubble burst

Japan makes strongest intervention warning as yen slumps

Japan's finance minister issued his strongest warning to date today about yen weakness as it fell to a 34-year low against the dollar, saying authorities could take "decisive steps", language previously used before intervention.

Business • 27 Mar 24

Nissan is Japan's third-largest automaker by sale

Nissan targets one million vehicle sales growth

Nissan Motor said today it would launch 30 new models by the financial year ending in March 2027 and aim to raise its global sales by 1 million vehicles while cutting costs to improve profitability.

Business • 25 Mar 24

The US and Japan urged countries bound by the treaty not to place such weapons in space (File image)

Japan, US push for ban on nuclear weapons in space

The United States and Japan have proposed a UN Security Council resolution stressing that nations should comply with a treaty that bars putting nuclear weapons in space, a message that appeared aimed at Russia.

World • 19 Mar 24

The Bank of Japan has today raised rates for the first time in 17 years

Bank of Japan ends negative rates policy

The Bank of Japan has today ended eight years of negative interest rates and other remnants of its unorthodox policy, making a historic shift away from a focus of reflating growth with decades of massive monetary stimulus.

Business • 19 Mar 24

A growing number of market-watchers expect Japanese rates to increase next week - though many still think a move won't come until April

Japan moves closer to ending era of negative rates

Bigger-than-expected pay hikes by major Japanese firms have significantly heightened the chance the central bank will end eight years of negative interest rate policy next week, marking a landmark shift away from its huge stimulus programme.

Business • 15 Mar 24

Bank of Japan Governor says economy recovering but weak

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda has said the economy was recovering but also showing some signs of weakness, offering a slightly bleaker assessment than in January in a nod to a recent batch of soft data on consumption.

Business • 12 Mar 24

Japan's revised GDP expanded at an annualised pace of 0.4% in the October-December period from the previous quarter, better than the initial estimate for a 0.4% contraction

Japanese economy avoids recession in fourth quarter

Japan's economy avoided a technical recession, revised government data showed today, even though the upward change in the fourth quarter was weaker than expected and highlighted concerns about the sluggish economic recovery.

Business • 11 Mar 24

Japan's Nikkei index breached 40,000 points for the first time today

Japan's Nikkei index breaches 40,000 level

Japan's main stock benchmark breached 40,000 points for the first time to end today at a record closing high, as corporate governance reform and solid valuations continue to pave the way for long-term global investor interest.

Business • 04 Mar 24

A poster of Satoshi Kirishima at a train station of Chuo district in Tokyo

DNA tests confirm death of Japanese fugitive

DNA analysis has confirmed that a 70-year-old man who confessed on his hospital deathbed last month to being one of Japan's most-wanted fugitives was indeed the suspect, police said.

Asia • 27 Feb 24

Japan's core consumer inflation slowed for a third month in a row in January, new figures show today

Japan's inflation rate falls to 2% in January

Japan's core consumer inflation slowed for a third month in a row in January but beat forecasts and held at the central bank's 2% target, keeping alive expectations it will end negative interest rates by April.

Business • 27 Feb 24

Tokyo's Nikkei finished 2.19% higher at 39,098.68 today - a new high

Japan's Nikkei index scales new record high

Japanese stocks raced to a record peak today, breaking levels last seen in 1989 during the halcyon days of the bubble economy, as cheap valuations and corporate reforms lure foreign money looking for alternatives to battered Chinese markets.

Business • 22 Feb 24

The H3 had a 'successful lift off' just after midnight Irish time

Japan successfully launches rocket after previous issues

Japan has successfully launched its new H3 flagship rocket, putting its satellite programme back on track after multiple setbacks including the failure of the rocket's inaugural flight last year.

Science and Technology • 17 Feb 24

Germany overtakes Japan as world's third-biggest economy

Once forecast to become the world's biggest economy, Japan slipped below Germany last year to fourth place, official data showed today, although India is projected to leapfrog both later this decade.

Business • 15 Feb 24