Japan in January 2026: the most important developments in economy
Japan's economy in January 2026 was marked by the restart of the world's largest nuclear plant. On January 21 the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, operated by TEPCO, restarted its first reactor after a 15-year shutdown that followed the 2011 Fukushima disaster. On January 22 operations were suspended again, only hours later, because of a fuel-control issue that raised an alert. Separately, Japan's nuclear regulator said it will redo the safety review of the Hamaoka plant after its operator apologized for improper use of earthquake data, and TEPCO forecast a net loss of 641 billion yen for the 2025 fiscal year.
Financial markets moved sharply. The Nikkei 225 reached a record above 54,000 yen on January 14, with gains partly tied to speculation about a snap election. The yen weakened past 159 per dollar, an 18-month low, and Finance Minister Katayama said no options were ruled out against excessive moves. Long-term government bond yields rose to multi-decade highs, with long-term rates at a 27-year high as stocks fell. The Bank of Japan left its key rate unchanged on January 23, ahead of a national election scheduled for February. The yen then surged to 152 per dollar by January 27, amid reports of "rate checks" by the New York Federal Reserve; the finance minister denied any intervention and cited coordination with the United States.
Trade tensions with China deepened. China tightened export controls on dual-use items to Japan on January 6, opened an anti-dumping investigation into the chipmaking chemical dichlorosilane, and moved to restrict rare earths; Japan asked for the controls to be lifted and China declined. Chinese tourist arrivals in Japan fell 45% in December, and up to 45% of scheduled February flights from mainland China to Japan were canceled.
In business news, Toyota remained the world's top-selling automaker for a sixth year, Sony agreed to cede control of its Bravia television business to China's TCL, and SoftBank was reported to be in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI. Shell and Mitsubishi were reported to be considering selling their stakes in the LNG Canada project.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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