Rocket fireworks were fired at a Pakistani-run used car business in Ebetsu, Hokkaido. It began with misinformation about 76 illegal structures in an urbanization control area, amplified by YouTuber videos. Most of those 76 were built by Japanese citizens.
Japan's foreign workforce topped 2.3 million at the end of October 2024, a record, as shortages bit in logistics, nursing care, and construction. The government doubled the Specified Skilled Worker cap to 820,000, against a projected shortfall of 3.84 million workers by 2035.
In December 2024, Finance Minister Kato warned over the yen at 157 per dollar, pledging an "appropriate response to excessive movements" and hinting at intervention. Japan's ¥15 trillion of 2024 operations, the US-Japan rate gap, and what followed: the 2026 interventions and the first coordinated yen-buying with the U.S. in 28 years.
The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 0.75%, the highest since 1995. What drove the decision, how it reached mortgages and deposits, and what followed through the June 2026 hike to 1.0%.