Japan's core inflation cooled to 3.3% in June, coming down from a 29-month high of 3.7% as rice inflation showed signs of easing. The figure — which strips out costs for fresh food — was in line with the 3.3% expected by economists polled by Reuters. Headline inflation in the country dropped to 3.3%, coming down from 3.5% in May.

Japan's trade deal with the U.S. has reduced uncertainty surrounding the economy, the central bank's deputy governor Shinichi Uchida said, signaling optimism that conditions for resuming interest rate hikes may start to fall in place.

Liberal Democratic Party loses control of the Upper House in Japan as right-wing parties gain ground with younger voters amid rising prices and political fatigue.

The bruising electoral defeat suffered by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition has plunged the country into a state of political uncertainty, creating a significant new dilemma for the Bank of Japan (BOJ).

Japan's core inflation slowed in June but stayed above the central bank's 2% target for well over three years, highlighting lingering price pressures that back market expectations for further interest rate rises.

The price of rice in Japan has doubled in the last year. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with University of Pittsburgh scholar Kay Shimizu about what's behind the shortage in the homeland of sushi.

TOKYO: Having done a trade deal with US President Donald Trump, Japan's prime minister will soon announce his resignation, reports said Wednesday (July 23), after his latest election debacle left his coalition without a majority now in both houses of parliament.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida said Wednesday that a tariff deal between Japan and the United States is a

Japan’s inability to lift inflation is “one of the biggest unsolved challenges in the profession,” said Mark Gertler, a professor of economics at New York University who has studied the issue.

Japan's election outcome may put the central bank in a double bind as prospects of big spending could keep inflation elevated while potentially prolonged political paralysis and a global trade war provide compelling reasons to go slow on rate hikes.