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April 28, 2024
 

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Leika Kihara
For Leika Kihara's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2019
Bank of Japan keeps policy steady but sends clearer signal of future rate cut
The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday as expected but offered a stronger signal it may cut interest rates in the future, underscoring its concern that overseas risks could derail the country's fragile economic recovery.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 20, 2019
BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda says central bank can 'certainly' cut short-term rates if further easing is needed
If it needs to ease monetary policy, the Bank of Japan will u2018certainly' reduce short- to medium-term interest rates, Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda says.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 21, 2019
How Japan turned against 'bazooka'-wielding central bank chief Haruhiko Kuroda
In late January 2016, the lights were on well past midnight on the seventh floor of the Bank of Japan's headquarters. Inside, a handful of bureaucrats were working on a shock plan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2019
Regional bank in Japan battles ultralow interest rates with wine bar and sea urchins
As years of near-zero interest rates in Japan make traditional lending barely profitable, one regional bank is seeking to drum up business through less conventional enterprises, from opening wine bars to helping fishermen farm sea urchins.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2018
Heard on the grapevine: How the Pacific trade pact primes New Zealand wine for Japanese market
From sleepy New Zealand hillsides to sleek Tokyo dining scenes, a bottle of Hawke's Bay wine shipped to Japan traces an arc that exporters like Nigel Avery see as an avenue for multimillion dollar growth built on a free trade pact.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 22, 2018
Japan may soften trade stance as U.S. keeps up pressure
Despite calls to resist protectionism and for the United States to rejoin a multilateral trans-Pacific trade pact, Japan is gradually shifting gear to adjust to a trade environment shaken up by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2018
Japan may be forced to do bilateral trade deal with U.S.: ex-diplomat
Japan will have little choice but to enter into a bilateral trade deal with the United States similar to one President Donald Trump clinched with South Korea, a former top currency diplomat from Japan said.
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2018
Abe adviser says BOJ should consider buying foreign bonds to reflate economy
The Bank of Japan should consider buying foreign bonds as part of efforts to reflate the economy during Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda's second term at the central bank helm, an economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 26, 2017
Abe's post-election policy targets wages but delays fiscal reform
The prime minister's economic agenda is shaping up after his election win with a focus on steering firms to hike wages, and with moves to shift fiscal prudence targets.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 29, 2017
Japan's strong inflation, factory output point to robust recovery
A flurry of positive Japanese economic indicators bolsters optimism about the world's No. 3 economy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2017
Japan's regional bank consolidation 'inevitable' as BOJ's prolonged ultraeasy policy hurts profits: FSA
Further consolidation among Japan's regional banks is inevitable given the rapidly aging population and ultralow interest rates, according to an adviser to the Financial Services Agency.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 16, 2017
Frugal households offer no respite for BOJ, retailers
Naruhito Nogami, a 37-year-old systems engineer in Tokyo, drives to discount stores on weekends to buy cheap groceries in bulk, even though he earns enough to make ends meet and the prospects for Japan's economic recovery are brighter.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2017
U.S. may find tough negotiator in fiery minister Aso
In his presidential campaign last year, U.S. President Donald Trump promised to scrap trade deals that gave unfair advantages to other nations and replace them with new ones that would revitalize the U.S. economy and bring jobs back home.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 16, 2017
Souring relations with market puts BOJ's bold experiment to test
Japan's attempts to revive anemic consumer spending through unconventional monetary policy have created new problems for the central bank in its daily dealings with financial markets, as rising global yields muddle its efforts to manage local rates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2016
Bank of Japan tries financial education where a mound of money failed
Having spent more than three years and trillions of dollars in a losing battle against deflation, the Bank of Japan is hoping that a little financial education will convince a nation of inveterate savers to put their cash to better use.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 25, 2016
As Abenomics loses shine, Japan's shoppers seek bargains
Three years of Abenomics, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bold stimulus program, has failed to dislodge a deflationary mindset among businesses and consumers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2016
BOJ makes contingency plans for Brexit, sees dollar squeeze a risk
Policymakers are in frequent contact with their European counterparts on how to soothe markets if Britain votes to leave the European Union, with the first line of defense aimed at preventing a shortage of dollar liquidity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 13, 2016
BOJ to debate exempting $90 billion in short-term funds from negative rates
The Bank of Japan's policy board is set to discuss this week whether to exempt $90 billion in short-term funds from its newly imposed negative interest rate, people familiar with the matter said, after the securities industry warned that investment money would be driven into bank deposits.
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2015
Kuroda's call for firms to do more to fight deflation seen indicating BOJ's out of QQE ammo
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda J is urging companies to do more to tackle deflation, a tacit admission that his massive money-printing exercise has failed and policymakers are losing faith in the point of delivering more of the same.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 23, 2015
BOJ to snip GDP, inflation forecasts for 2015, 2016
The Bank of Japan will cut its growth and inflation outlook for this fiscal year at a rate review next week, but only slightly tweak its projections for next year, sources said, possibly tempering expectations that the central bank will soon ease monetary policy further.
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.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
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.
'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.
Air China to buy 100 locally made C919 jets in $11 billion deal
A Comac C919 during an aerial display at the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore in February
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.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
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.
Top U.S. and China diplomats talk tough amid warnings of new ‘downward spiral’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Friday
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass
Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

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