Rakuten Group — Q1 FY2026 (reported May 14). Consolidated revenue hit a record ¥643.6 billion for a first quarter (+14.4% YoY), and the group swung to a ¥30.4 billion operating profit from a ¥15.4 billion loss a year earlier. Rakuten Mobile reached EBITDA breakeven for the first time, with subscriber lines past 10.36 million (Rakuten Group investor release, May 14, 2026). Takeaway: mobile turning the corner reduces the odds of near-term Ichiba fee hikes used to subsidize telecom losses — worth confirming next quarter.

Mercari — Q3 FY2026, nine months through March (reported May 11). Net profit rose 65.6% YoY to ¥19.4 billion on revenue up 16.1% to ¥167.2 billion. The Jan–Mar quarter alone saw operating margin expand from 17.9% to 24.1%, driven by the "Mercard" fintech product and, notably, sustained profitability in Mercari's long-loss-making US segment (Nikkei; Diamond, May 2026). A healthier US arm typically means steadier — not more aggressive — fee and promotion policy on the Japan marketplace.

Amazon Japan — fee restructuring effective April 2026. Referral, FBA fulfillment, and aged-inventory fees were all adjusted. A sample electronics-accessory referral fee rose from 10% to 10.4%; fulfillment fees dropped for several standard-size tiers; a minimum aged-inventory surcharge of ¥20/unit per month was newly established for FBA inventory stored 365+ days (12+ months), with media long-term storage billed under a separate fee table; and a new inbound-placement service fee began April 1 (Forest Shipping; Heycross, 2026). Net effect for FBA-JP sourcing: modestly cheaper fulfillment on standard sizes, offset by real cost pressure on stock sitting past a year — inventory velocity now matters more.

Yahoo!Flea Market / Yahoo!Auction — active seller incentives. A June 30–July 7 promotion refunds 50% of the selling fee (as capped PayPay Points) on items listed and sold in that window. A standing incentive since May 19 gives first-time sellers 90 days of 0% selling fees (up to 50 items) after three sales in their first 30 days (Yahoo!Flea Market official notices, 2026). Both signal LY Corp fighting for supply-side liquidity against Mercari — new/casual sellers may be an easier source here through Q3.

Product Safety Law amendment (in force since December 25, 2025). Overseas businesses selling electrical products directly to Japanese consumers via digital platforms — Amazon, Rakuten, Temu, and Shein are named explicitly in trade guidance — must now register as a "specified import business operator" (特定輸入事業者) and appoint a Japan-resident compliance representative (国内管理人) able to communicate in Japanese (METI product safety bulletin; Journal Base, February 2026). This targets selling into Japan rather than exports out, but signals broader cross-border electrical-safety enforcement — budget for it if you also list on Amazon.co.jp.

New consumption-tax refund scheme for visitors (effective November 1, 2026). Japan is replacing point-of-sale duty-free with a "refund method": travelers pay tax-inclusive at checkout, register by passport, and get the tax refunded once customs confirms export at departure, within 90 days (National Tax Agency / Japan Tourism Agency guidance; Zenmenkyo industry portal, 2026). The old ¥500,000 cap and consumables-packaging rule are scrapped. Expect transition friction at popular retail stores through Q4.

Kobutsu (secondhand dealer) law — expanded ID-check categories (effective October 1, 2025). Mandatory ID verification and ledger entry now covers several previously exempt categories — copper wire, AC outdoor units, water-heater heat pumps — regardless of transaction value, in response to metal theft (National Police Agency notice, 2025; Toukoren industry association, 2026). Narrow scope, but relevant for used-appliance or scrap-adjacent sourcing.

Rice: sharp correction after the "Reiwa rice shortage." The average retail price for a 5kg bag fell to ¥3,458 as of July 5 in MAFF's Food Price Trends Survey (食品価格動向調査), a weekly retail-price survey of roughly 1,000 supermarkets nationwide — that series' first reading below ¥3,500 in roughly 18 months; some retail POS series had already printed lower in June (MAFF Food Price Trends Survey via ANN, July 5, 2026). Wholesale relative-transaction prices for last season's crop fell from a ¥37,058/60kg peak in October 2025 to ¥33,164 by May 2026 as inventories built up, and commentary now flags a real chance new-crop rice opens below ¥3,000/5kg this fall — a sharp reversal from the shortage narrative that dominated 2024–2025, and one we have not yet seen picked up in English-language coverage.

Matcha/tencha: boom and bust running in parallel. Ceremonial-grade tencha remains severely supply-constrained — Kyoto auction opening averages hit ¥8,235/kg in May 2025, roughly 1.7x the prior year, with some Tokyo tea shops still capping purchases per customer into 2026 (Norinchukin Research Institute, May 2026). FY2025 green tea exports rose 42% by volume to 13,125 tons and 2.2x by value to ¥84.7 billion, powdered tea making up about 70% of that volume (Jiji Press, April 30, 2026). The under-reported half: a record 13 tea processors and wholesalers closed in 2025 — the highest number on record — even as export unit prices roughly doubled, from ¥2,867/kg in 2019 to ¥5,716/kg in 2025 (NewsPicks, April 23, 2026). Gains are concentrating among a small number of exporters and large wholesalers, while smaller producers squeezed on non-premium sencha are closing at the fastest rate on record — a nuance Bloomberg and Reuters's extensive matcha-shortage coverage has not yet reported.

Pokémon cards: second-highest market level on record, more disciplined than the 2023 bubble. Ahead of the franchise's 30th anniversary, secondary-market prices are running at their second-highest level ever — behind only the June 2023 peak — driven by anniversary demand, overseas buying, and new "Mega Evolution ex" cards released since August 2025 (Japanese secondary-market trackers Altema/SNKRDUNK, 2026). Unlike 2023, the current cycle is "bifurcating": genuinely scarce cards are appreciating while speculative commons from prior hype cycles normalize back toward fundamentals.