Japan's Real Wages Fall 1.4% in September, Marking Ninth Straight Month of Decline

Investors in the real-estate fund Minna de Ooya-san, which raised more than 200 billion yen while promising annual returns of around 7%, are facing deepening uncertainty as Narita International Airport Company moves to end its lease of development land near the airport at the end of this month, adding further strain to a project already mired in delays and halted distributions.

Honda announced on November 25th that production has resumed at its automobile plant in Mexico after operations were halted from late October due to a semiconductor shortage.

The Nikkei Stock Average climbed into the 52,000-yen range in October before swinging sharply and falling back below 50,000 yen, raising questions over whether the benchmark has already entered a correction phase or whether the market can stabilize above the 50,000-yen level and aim higher.

The steady rise in food prices in Japan has become unmistakable, with some items increasing by as much as 10% in September 2025, yet the overall consumer price index shows growth of only around 3%, leaving many wondering why the gap is so large and whether official data truly reflects the burden households feel.

A deepening labor shortage is increasingly weighing on the Japanese economy, forcing businesses to shorten operating hours or scale back services and generating massive lost opportunities that are estimated to reach 16 trillion yen in fiscal 2024.

The share of people with overseas addresses purchasing newly built condominiums in Tokyo reached 3% in the first half of this year, according to a government survey that sheds light on growing concern that short-term transactions by foreign buyers may be contributing to rising property prices.

Condominium prices continue to surge across Japan, prompting renewed debate over whether the market will cool and how households should navigate the choice between buying and renting. A detailed analysis from housing loan comparison service MogeCheck highlights the factors driving prices upward, the limits of proposed regulations, and the shifting landscape of mortgage options.

Japan’s nationwide consumer price index excluding fresh food rose 3.0 percent in October compared with the same month a year earlier, according to data released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, with the pace of inflation expanding for the second consecutive month as the index reached 112.1 and broad-based price revisions pushed up the cost of food items across the country, including a 53.4 percent jump in coffee beans and a 40.2 percent rise in rice that continued the upward momentum seen since the autumn.