Japan said on Tuesday the trade agreement it struck with the U.S. cleared uncertainties on U.S. trade policies but continued attention needs to be given to risks of those policies putting downward pressure on the Japanese economy.

Japan’s central bank should raise rates when its policy board meets this week, and failure to do so will weaken the yen and exacerbate inflation, said Takeshi Niinami, chief executive officer of Suntory Holdings Ltd.

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's leading trade negotiator said on Tuesday that the trade deal Tokyo agreed with the United States last week guarantees Japan will always receive the lowest tariff rate on chips and pharmaceuticals of all the pacts negotiated by Washington.

When Japanese ice pop maker Akagi Nyugyo raised its prices a meagre 10 yen in 2016, its sombre-faced management appeared in a one-minute commercial, bowing silently in apology as a melancholy folk song lamented the inevitability of price hikes.

President Donald Trump is bragging that Japan has given him, as part of a new trade framework, $550 billion to invest in the United States.

The current political crisis is the result of a July 20 election in Japan’s upper house, the less-powerful chamber in parliament. It has no direct role in determining the prime minister but is an indicator of political fortunes in a country where the foundation of individual leaders is generally unstable, even as the ruling party remains solid.

Japan's bond market faces stern tests this week, from domestic political ructions and a possible hawkish shift at the central bank to global risks stemming from the Federal Reserve.Japan's long-dated

Japan strictly prohibits drone flights near nuclear power plants under its 2016 Drone Act, with violations punishable by up to a year in prison or a maximum fine of 500,000 yen or approximately $3,370.

With their "Japanese First" slogan, riffing off US President Donald Trump's "America First", they have truly ruffled the feathers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its embattled prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba.

European investment fund EQT has decided to acquire Japanese elevator maker Fujitec through a tender offer worth more than 400 billion yen ($2.6 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.