Seven & i Holdings said it will receive a combined 300 billion yen in capital from SoftBank, PayPay and Sumitomo Mitsui Card to strengthen its artificial intelligence capabilities. Each investor will contribute 100 billion yen, with Seven & i allotting treasury shares to them. The company also signed a business alliance with the three firms and LY Corp. to integrate its 7iD customer ID system into the PayPay ID system.

Japan’s foreign exchange special account posted a surplus of 5,056.5 billion yen at the end of fiscal 2025, the second-highest level on record. The surplus fell by 303.8 billion yen from the previous year’s record. It was supported by higher investment income amid elevated overseas interest rates and a weak yen, according to a Finance Ministry report.

Japan will raise prices in August for 2,311 food and beverage products from 195 major manufacturers, up 83.1% from a year earlier. The increases are being driven by higher raw material and logistics costs amid tensions in the Middle East. Price hikes are expected to expand to 4,531 items in September, the highest level in about three years, and 2026 price-hike items already total 18,347 with the annual figure likely to exceed 20,000 for a second straight year. A historic weakening of the yen is also adding pressure to import costs and domestic inflation.

From January to June 2024, the eight major Japanese automakers reported a 2.3% year-on-year decline in global vehicle sales to 11.92 million units. The drop was driven largely by weaker sales overseas, particularly in China, where Honda’s sales fell 34.6%, Toyota’s declined 17.1%, and Nissan’s dropped 15%. The companies have struggled in China as the new-vehicle market remains sluggish and demand for gasoline-powered vehicles has weakened amid rising fuel prices.