Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has won fresh backing at the ballot box for his “shock and awe” strategy to revive the economy, sending Asian shares higher.

With a shrinking retail market, it’s a hard life making a living in rock’n’roll. 

Warnings of slower but more stable growth over the coming months

Japan’s “Abenomics” strategy of pumping trillions into its stagnant economy and ramping up public spending is paying off as the growth picture improves.

Struggling electronics giant Sony yesterday announced it had made a profit for the first time in five years.

The yen fell to a four-year low against the dollar today as the Japanese central bank put its ambitious plan to double the ailing Far Eastern economy’s money supply into action.

The Bank of Japan launched “shock and awe” tactics today to pull the world’s third-biggest economy of its deflationary spiral with a hugh expansion of its money printing programme.

Japan registered its worst ever monthly trade deficit in January courtesy of a jump in energy import prices which were driven up by a tumbling yen.

Political splits over Japan’s hyper-aggressive plans to jump-start its struggling economy have delayed the appointment of its top central banker, it emerged today.

Global finance ministers braced for more skirmishes today in a week of simmering tension over “currency wars” as the G20 gathered in Moscow.

The world's biggest-selling car maker Toyota has kicked its profit forecast up a gear on the back of strong sales in the United States and the weak yen.

A bluefin tuna sold for a record £1m million at a Tokyo auction today, nearly three times the previous high set last year — even as environmentalists warn that stocks of the majestic, speedy fish are being depleted worldwide amid strong demand for sushi.