On March 19, 2025, at its Monetary Policy Meeting, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided—just as markets had expected—to maintain its current policy stance. Specifically, the Policy Board unanimously approved keeping its money market operations framework aimed at guiding the uncollateralized overnight call rate to around 0.50%. Because this outcome had been widely priced in, there was little immediate volatility in equities or government bonds after the announcement.
On January 21, 2025 (Japan time: January 22), baseball history was made. Ichiro Suzuki (51), who starred for the Seattle Mariners and other teams, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He is the first Japanese player ever to receive this honor, and the first player from Asia to enter Cooperstown.