The Kitakyushu results of the Prefectural Land Price Survey as of July 1, 2026 (146 survey locations) were published on October 23. The city average change was +2.2% for all uses, +1.3% for residential, +3.2% for commercial and +6.0% for industrial land. Gains were smaller than a year earlier (residential 1.4%, commercial 3.6%). The highest commercial price was JPY 1,160,000 per sq m at Uomachi 1-6-16, Kokurakita Ward, and the biggest rises were in the Kurosaki area.Every year each prefecture checks land prices as of July 1. In Kitakyushu in 2026, land for homes rose 1.3%, land for stores and buildings 3.2% and land for factories 6.0%. But the rises were a little smaller than last year.
Commercial land: average change by ward (2026 survey)
Yahatanishi Ward4.9%
Yahatahigashi Ward4.3%
Tobata Ward4.2%
Kokurakita Ward3.8%
Kokuraminami Ward1.1%
Moji Ward0.7%
How much land prices rose in Kitakyushu
Land for homesLand for stores and buildings
20261.3%3.2%
Year before (2025)1.4%3.6%
Average price per square meterJPY 63,400JPY 207,100
On October 23, 2026 (Reiwa 8), the Statistics Bureau released the Consumer Price Index for Japan for September 2026. The all items index stood at 102.2, up 2.1% year on year; the index excluding fresh food was 102.3, up 2.1%; and the index excluding fresh food and energy was 102.8, up 2.4%. All are on the 2025 base, and the index that strips out the volatile fresh food and energy components rose the most. These are the figures that underpin decisions on price revisions, wage increases and price negotiations with customers.The government (the Statistics Bureau) surveys the prices of many things sold in shops and adds them up. In the survey for September 2026, prices overall were 2.1% higher than in the same month a year earlier. If you leave out things whose prices swing a lot, such as vegetables and fish, and also leave out electricity, gas and petrol, the rise was 2.4%, which is bigger. Companies look at these numbers when they decide whether to raise their prices and whether to raise pay.
Read more →Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)Labor law & HR
On October 23, 2026 (Reiwa 8), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare published the separation status of new school graduates who graduated in March 2023 (Reiwa 5). Within three years of starting work, 36.9% of new high school graduate hires had left (down 1.0 point from the previous year's cohort) and 31.2% of new university graduate hires had left (down 2.6 points). By establishment size, the rate for high school graduates was 61.3% at establishments with fewer than 5 employees and 24.4% at those with 1,000 or more. The highest rate by industry was 61.6% in accommodation and food services (high school graduates).The government (the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) looked at how many people who left school and joined a company then quit within three years. Among those who graduated in March 2023, 36.9% of the people who finished high school and took a job had quit within three years, and 31.2% of the people who finished university and took a job had quit. Both figures are a little lower than in the previous survey. The study also found that the smaller the workplace, the higher the share of people who leave.
Read more →Supreme Court of JapanEconomic news (Japan & world)
According to the Supreme Court's Courts Data Book 2026, district courts newly received 92,059 bankruptcy cases in 2025 (Reiwa 7), up 8.2% from 85,115 the year before. Of these, 83,255 were individuals (+8.9% year on year), the third consecutive annual increase since 2023. Individual rehabilitation cases also rose, to 11,415.When someone can no longer repay money they borrowed, they can ask a court for "bankruptcy". According to the courts, individuals filed 83,255 cases in 2025, about 9% more than the year before. It has gone up three years in a row.
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