Japan Rapid Response Japan Tankan (Q1 26) The Tankan survey showed that firms are shrugging off the energy shock caused by the Iran war, which should encourage the BoJ to hike rates at this month’s meeting. 1st April 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Activity & Labour Market (Feb. 26), Tokyo CPI (Mar. 26) The February activity data show that Japan’s economy approached the Iran war with solid momentum and with inflation unlikely to surge, we expect any hit to activity from higher energy costs to be... 31st March 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Consumer Prices (Feb. 2026) Inflationary pressures are more entrenched than the weak headline result would for February would suggest. Indeed, we believe that the Bank of Japan’s preferred measure of core inflation will remain... 23rd March 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Labour Cash Earnings (Jan. 26) The strength in wage growth at the start of the year, combined with promising signs for upcoming spring wage negotiations, should put the Bank of Japan in a good position to resume its tightening... 8th March 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response RENGO 2026 Shunto Pay Request The wage requests unveiled by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (RENGO) today suggest that this year’s spring wage negotiations will result in a pay hike of similar magnitude as last year. 5th March 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Retail Sales & Industrial Production (Jan. 26) On balance, the January activity and inflation figures suggest that the BoJ won’t wait much longer before hiking rates again. 27th February 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Flash PMIs (Feb. 26) With the composite PMI rising to a three-year high in February, the recent sluggishness in economic activity should be followed by a marked recovery in the first half of this year. 20th February 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Consumer Prices (Jan. 2026) With price pressures showing signs of softening, the Bank of Japan won’t be in a rush to resume its hiking cycle. However, we still believe conditions will be in place for the Bank to raise rates by... 20th February 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Labour Cash Earnings (Dec. 2025) Wage growth edged up a notch towards the end of last year, and we think it will gain further momentum in the months ahead. Accordingly, the Bank of Japan is likely to press ahead with additional... 9th February 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Retail Sales & Industrial Production (Dec.) Although activity indicators for December were relatively soft, they won’t have prevented the economy from bouncing back across Q4 as a whole. Moreover, there are still reasons to be cautiously... 30th January 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Bank of Japan Meeting (Jan. 26) The Bank of Japan sounded more optimistic when it left policy settings unchanged today and there’s a chance that it could raise rates earlier than our current forecast of July. The Bank’s decision to... 23rd January 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Consumer Prices (December 2025) With underlying inflation price pressures remaining firm, we expect the Bank of Japan to resume its tightening cycle in the coming months. 23rd January 2026 · 2 mins read
