BOJ lifts Tohoku, Shikoku economic views on AI demand

The report, compiled at a meeting of the central bank's regional branch managers in Tokyo, also raised the BOJ's production assessment for seven of the nine regions, excluding Hokkaido and the Tokai region. The bank described the economy in all nine regions as "picking up moderately," "recovering moderately," or "on a moderate recovery trend," while noting that "some weakness has been seen in part."

Branch chiefs reported that private consumption has generally remained resilient, supported by improvements in real income. A department store operator in Shizuoka Prefecture said sales of high-priced goods such as luxury watches and jewelry remained strong, and rising stock prices were cited in reports that sales to wealthy consumers showed no signs of weakening. A retailer in Nagoya, by contrast, said bad weather including typhoons and heavy rain weighed on consumption.

Kenji Fujita, manager of the central bank's branch in Osaka, said at a news conference that small and midsize companies have made relatively smooth progress in passing on higher costs in business-to-business transactions, but that the process is still only halfway along and uneven among businesses closer to consumers.