Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
National Topics
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 10, 2013
China urged to stop drone flights near Senkaku Islands
Japan on Tuesday communicated to China its “interest” in a drone flight near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea the previous day, a senior Foreign Ministry official said, effectively calling on China to curb similar flights. Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera meanwhile told ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 10, 2013
Ex-U.S. official in Okinawa tapped for NSC
The White House will name Raymond Green, former U.S. consul general in Okinawa Prefecture, as the next director for Japan affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, sources said. Green is currently director of the economic policy office at the U.S. Department of State’s ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 7, 2013
Regional rapprochement far off despite Abe's schmoozing
Despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s first face-to-face encounters with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts amid fraught bilateral ties, full rapprochement with the two neighboring countries is still a long way off. In Russia for a Group of 20 summit, Abe chatted briefly with ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 7, 2013
U.S. oil sanctions waiver extended
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that Japan has again qualified for an exemption from Washington’s sanctions against Iran, citing “additional significant reductions” in Tokyo’s crude oil imports from Tehran. Kerry said Friday that 10 European Union countries, including Britain, France and Germany, ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 6, 2013
China says its view of Japan is unchanged, despite first Xi-Abe chat
Beijing said Friday its diplomatic position toward Tokyo has not been eased just because the top leaders of the two countries exchanged words for the first time. “China’s position remains unchanged,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news conference, noting that President Xi ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 6, 2013
Japan, India agree to more than triple currency swaps to $50 billion
Japan and India agreed Friday to boost their bilateral currency swap agreement to $50 billion from $15 billion, aiming to help stabilize global financial markets, including those of emerging nations, the Finance Ministry said in Tokyo. The deal was reached during talks between Indian ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 6, 2013
Abe, Obama agree to cooperate on Syria
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama have agreed to cooperate toward improving in the situation in war-torn Syria during a bilateral meeting at the Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. During their hour-long discussion Thursday, Abe and Obama shared ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 6, 2013
With too many titles to list on 'meishi,' Amari is linchpin of 'Abenomics'
by Keiko Ujikane and Takashi Hirokawa
Akira Amari, minister for economic and fiscal policy, has so much on his plate that all of his titles don’t fit on his business card. He’s also the minister in charge of economic revitalization and reforming social security and taxes, and the head negotiator ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 4, 2013
No Abe-Xi summit on G-20 sidelines: Tokyo official
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will not sit down for one-on-one talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Thursday-Friday Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday. Although the ministry will work hard to ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 4, 2013
Abe, Putin to hold isle talks on G-20 sidelines
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Thursday with the aim of accelerating negotiations on the four Russian-held islands at the center of a bilateral territorial row. Abe left for St. Petersburg on a government ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 4, 2013
Abe reportedly to announce tax hike decision Oct. 2
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won't announce his decision on whether to raise the consumption tax until Oct. 2, a government source says.
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 3, 2013
Abe, visiting U.S. senators blame Assad regime for worsening situation in Syria
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Tuesday with Kirsten Gillibrand and four other U.S. senators, and they agreed that responsibility for the worsening situation in Syria lies with the regime of President Bashar Assad. Abe emphasized chemical weapons are “highly likely to have been used” ...