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April 30, 2024
 

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Erica Yokoyama
For Erica Yokoyama's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Akihiko Matsuura, head of UA Zensen, has called for a standard 6% increase in total wages.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 2, 2024
Major union UA Zensen calls for 6% pay raise to support BOJ policy shift
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also pushing for wage gains after hikes last year failed to keep up with inflation, putting a burden on household budgets.
The unemployment rate fell to 2.4% in December, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2024
Japan job market remains tight, keeping hopes for wage hikes
The Bank of Japan is watching the labor market closely as it seeks evidence of a virtuous cycle linking rising wages with demand-led price gains.
Kishida speaks at a meeting with leaders of Japanese Trade Union Confederation and Japan Business Federation on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2024
With meetings, Japan leader amplifies call for wage hikes at small firms
Dissatisfaction over falling real wages has been one of the factors undermining the prime minister's support rate, which remained under 30% in a series of recent polls.
Projections for Japan's primary balance are presented at a meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2024
Japan’s baseline forecasts show government missing budget goal
The primary balance is projected to be around minus 0.4% in fiscal year 2025.
Former finance ministry official Michio Saito says Japanese long-term yields won’t climb much beyond 1% even if the Bank of Japan revises its yield curve control program.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 15, 2024
Mr. JGB says end of BOJ’s negative rate won’t set yields on fire
Yields won’t keep shooting up after the initial jump as the central bank will still be offering support for the economy, says Nomura's Michio Saito.
Japanese workers' real wages kept shrinking for a 20th month in November, raising fresh alarm for the sustainability of the country's economic recovery as firms enter the period of annual pay negotiations with labor unions.
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2024
Japan’s slower wage growth adds to reasons for BOJ to hold
Nominal cash earnings for workers rose 0.2% from the previous year, decelerating sharply from a 1.5% increase in October, the labor ministry said.
Consumer price gains in Tokyo slowed for a second month in December.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 9, 2024
Tokyo inflation slows as thrifty consumers curb some outlays
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.1% in the capital, decelerating from 2.3% in November.
The Tokio Marine & Nichido Building in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2023
Japan penalizes biggest property insurers for price fixing
The Financial Services Agency has issued business improvement orders on the core units of Tokio Marine, MS&AD Insurance and Sompo.
An electronic board displays various companies' share prices at a business district in Tokyo in October.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2023
Japan’s labor demand holds steady in positive sign for wages
The job-to-applicants ratio eased a tad to 1.28, meaning there were 128 jobs offered for every 100 applicants, the labor ministry reported.
Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.5% in November from a year earlier, marking the slowest pace of increase in over a year in a sign of easing cost-push pressures in the world's third-largest economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 22, 2023
Japan’s cooling inflation also offers encouraging signs for BOJ
Consumer prices excluding fresh food items rose 2.5% from a year earlier as falls in energy costs deepened and gains in processed food prices eased.
Japan's exports in November fell for the first time in three months, dragged down by China-bound chip shipments, underscoring worries that slowing overseas economies will complicate policymakers' efforts to wind back on stimulus.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 20, 2023
Japan’s exports dip as global slowdown puts pressure on recovery
Exports fell 0.2% from a year earlier despite weakness in the yen, dashing economists' hopes for a 1.4% increase and support from overseas demand.
The reading of the key index measuring confidence among major Japanese manufacturers, such as those in the auto and electronics sectors, rose for the third straight quarter, according to the Bank of Japan's tankan survey.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 13, 2023
Firms more confident ahead of BOJ policy meeting, tankan shows
Evidence of robust corporate sentiment boosts the odds of large wage hikes, paving the way for the normalization of monetary policy.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.3% in November from the prior year in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 5, 2023
Tokyo inflation cools to slowest pace in over a year
The development supports the Bank of Japan’s view that it should continue to be cautious about a tightening of policy.
Strong shipments of cars, especially to the U.S., helped push up Japan’s industrial production more than expected in October.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 30, 2023
Japan's factory output beat expectations in October
Improvement in supply chains bolstered automakers while inventory adjustments underpinned the electronics parts industry.
Japan's economy shrank 2.1% in the July-September period from the previous quarter on an annualized basis, suggesting that its economic recovery remains patchy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 15, 2023
Japan’s economy shrinks, backing BOJ and government's stimulus case
Gross domestic product contracted at an annualized pace of 2.1% in the third quarter, deeper than economists’ estimate of a 0.4% shrinkage.
Economists estimate Japan's real gross domestic product shrank at an annualized 0.4% in the three months through September.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 14, 2023
Japan’s economy likely shrank in summer as recovery sputters
Economists estimate that real gross domestic product shrank at an annualized pace of 0.4% in the three months through September.
A monitor in Tokyo shows the yen weakening below ¥151 to the dollar on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 1, 2023
Japan ramps up yen intervention warning after BOJ-fueled sell-off
The broad decline toward ¥152 to the dollar has the currency around the threshold that a year ago drove Japanese authorities to swoop in to prop it up.
Japan's industrial output increased a smaller-than-expected 0.2% in September.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 31, 2023
Japan's September industrial production growth misses consensus
Factory output increased 0.2% from a month earlier, missing economist expectations of a 2.5% gain.
Japan's exports rose more than expected in September, led by shipments of cars and medical supplies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 19, 2023
Japan exports rise more than expected in support for recovery
The value of exports gained 4.3% from a year earlier, led by shipments of cars and medical supplies in the first overall rise in three months.
Japan's real wages in August declined for a 17th straight month, as persistent price hikes continued to outpace salaries.
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2023
Japan's slower-than-forecast wage growth supports BOJ caution
Nominal cash earnings for workers rose 1.1% from the previous year, matching the revised figure from the previous month.
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
Yen rebounds strongly after first slide past ¥160 since 1990
The yen dropped to ¥160.245 per dollar on Monday before heading into the other direction to ¥155.01 amid speculation of an intervention by Japanese currency authorities.
JAL cancels international flight after captain gets drunk at Dallas hotel
A Japan Airlines' flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled last week after its captain got drunk at a local hotel.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

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