Many major firms notified their labor unions Wednesday that they will raise pay scales to conclude this year’s spring wage negotiations, responding to strong calls from the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to help end long-standing deflation. Toyota Motor Corp., which has huge influence over other companies, will raise ...
A maglev line through Kyoto on the way to Osaka would have about twice the economic effect as the currently ...
The government is aiming to reduce patent examinations from the current average length of nearly 2½ years to about 14 ...
Economic growth is gaining momentum in the United States, Europe and other advanced countries despite temporary setbacks, the OECD said Tuesday. Smaller government spending cuts and fewer tax increases this year should boost growth in most developed countries, according to the international organization. Households ...
The level of market access proposed by Japan does not meet the standards of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, James Fatheree, president of the U.S.-Japan Business Council, said recently. “It is clear that Japan has more work to do in order to meet the expectations,” ...
A government tax panel called Wednesday for a corporate tax cut in an attempt to boost foreign investment despite budgetary constraints, according to a statement presented by its chief, Hiroko Ota. Ota, a former finance minister who heads the panel, which has been newly ...
The clumsy bear mascot for a remote Kyushu farming region has rocketed to superstar fame and has notched up an unlikely marketing triumph in a nation obsessed with all things cute. The life-sized Kumamon and his now nationally ubiquitous image — red cheeks and ...
Forty-nine of 100 major firms are considering hiring more female graduates in spring 2015 than the levels planned for this year, according to a Jiji Press survey. The potential boost is likely the result of the efforts of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has ...
The Bank of Japan said Tuesday it will maintain its ultraeasy monetary policy and keep unchanged its assessment of the economy for the sixth consecutive month, saying it has “continued to recover moderately” based on the judgment that deflation is disappearing. After a two-day ...
Corporate bankruptcies in February fell 14.6 percent from a year earlier to 916, the lowest for the month in 23 years, a credit research agency said Monday. The number has now posted year-on-year declines for 16th months straight as government monitoring of lending to ...
Japan posted a record current account deficit in January, marking four straight months of red ink for the first time as soaring demand for energy and the weakening of the yen triggered a surge in import costs, the Finance Ministry said Monday in a ...
The nation’s economic growth was slower than initially estimated in the fourth quarter of calendar 2013, the government said in a revision Monday, adding to concern the economy may retreat at a faster pace after the April 1 consumption tax hike. The world’s third-largest ...
When it comes to trade policy, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces a choice between the fears of an aging farm lobby and the hopes of suburban families.
U.S. employers stepped up hiring in February despite a blast of harsh winter weather, renewing hopes that the economy could accelerate this year. February’s gain of 175,000 jobs, up from January’s 129,000, coincided with a rise in the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent from ...
Kazufumi Yamamoto is having such a hard time finding waiters and sushi chefs to fill jobs at Ganko Food Service Co. that he’s going to boost wages for the first time in more than a decade. “Positions remain open for several months, leaving some ...
