iShares MSCI Japan ETF

EWJ

Market cap $15.8B

Nikkei 225 hits new record high, rising 6.5% since 23 September 2025 amid optimism over Japan's incoming Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi. Expansionary fiscal policy expected, with higher government spending and increased JGB issuance to boost wages and corporate profits.

ETFs that buy Japanese stocks were rallying Monday, adding to their surge this year, after the weekend election of Sanae Takaichi to lead Japan's Liberal Democratic Party put her on track to become the country's next prime minister.

A big factor for investors is that Japan's stocks are still cheap—and there are positive catalysts ahead.

The Bank of Japan remains committed to further interest-rate hikes, Gov. Kazuo Ueda said, amid growing speculation over the timing of the central bank's next move.

Japan's chief trade negotiator has defended a tariffs deal with the U.S., expressing respect for President Donald Trump and calling him a “tough negotiator.”Trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa noted that the pact setting on most Japanese exports to the U.S. at 15% was comparable to a deal between Washington and the European Union.

Solid growth and ongoing shareholder-friendly reforms are driving Japanese equity gains, keeping us overweight. We see the AI theme playing out globally.

CNBC's Eamon Javers reports on the latest news regarding tariffs.

The European Union and Japan expressed confidence on Friday that they had secured limits on U.S. tariffs on pharmaceuticals, which President Donald Trump said he would impose next week at a rate of 100%.

Japan's exports to the United States plummeted 13.8% in August compared to the same month the previous year, marking the fifth straight month of declines, as auto exports were hit by President Donald Trump's tariffs.The Finance Ministry data released Wednesday showed the rate of the drop in exports to the U.S. compared to the previous year worsened from a 10.1% slip in July.U.S. tariffs on Japanese automobiles and auto parts decreased from 27.5%, the amount Trump initially levied, to 15% this week, but that's still higher than the original 2.5%.Wednesday's data reflect the month of August, when the tariffs were higher. Japan's overall exports were little changed, slipping 0.1%, as exports grew to Europe and the Middle East.The provisional data for August showed Japan's imports from the world fell 5.2% from a year ago.

Japan's exports fell 0.1% in August, declining for a fourth consecutive month as higher U.S. tariffs crimped outbound trade.