Business Oct 9, 2020

Hong Kong’s woes may help Japan woo financiers, top official says

The vice finance minister said tax cuts and other tweaks to regulations ultimately matter less than whether Japan can bring back business opportunities for firms.

Business Jun 24, 2020

Aging administrative pipeline holds back Japan's ¥230 trillion virus-response aid

Slow response due to small government and lack of digitalization has seen some companies go out of business.

Business / Economy Jun 7, 2020

Japan's ultralow official jobless rate ignores 4 million on leave

Factor in those on partially paid leave and the 2.6 percent rate hits 11.5 percent. Then there's the 940,000 who left the labor force in April but weren't counted.

Business / Economy Mar 28, 2020

Budget in hand, Abe shifts focus to pandemic response as economy reels

Prime Minister Abe’s team is working on steps to save jobs and spark a v-shaped recovery, but is money all it takes?

National Jan 21, 2020

Wipe out: Japan's ski slopes suffering worst winter in decades

Japan's ski resorts are suffering through one of the worst snow seasons on record, disappointing locals and foreign tourists, and jeopardizing the country's budding reputation as an international ski destination. In Hokkaido to the north, where resorts like Niseko are known for reliable, fresh powder, ...

Business Nov 29, 2019

Massive fiscal stimulus in works as Japan's politicians shrug off concerns about national debt

Japan looks set to re-embrace the power of public spending with one of its biggest ever stimulus packages. Slowing global growth, a higher sales tax and a string of natural disasters are giving policymakers in Tokyo plenty of reasons to lead a worldwide shift toward ...

Business May 27, 2019

Warning that tax hike would doom Abenomics, former aide vows to convince PM to delay yet again

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should postpone the consumption tax increase scheduled for October or face the failure of Abenomics, his six-year economic revival program, according to one of the architects of that program. "Abenomics will fail for real if the tax is raised now," Etsuro ...

Business Mar 17, 2019

Forget consumption tax hike and give structural reform another try, ex-economy chief Heizo Takenaka says

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should again abandon his oft-delayed plan to hike the consumption tax this year because it risks pushing Japan's economy into recession and hampering efforts to generate stable inflation, according to former economy minister Heizo Takenaka. "Of course a sales tax hike ...

Business Dec 25, 2018

Japan may be in hot pursuit of robotics, but on the farm it's still all about human hands

The country that brought robots to car factories looks set to stay resolutely old-school in agriculture as it seeks to attract more foreign workers to replenish an aging workforce. This month's vote by the Diet to open the door more widely to overseas laborers confirms ...

Business Nov 9, 2018

It pays to listen to the the real needs of women consumers in Japan

The country's male-dominated businesses are starting to ditch long-held views about what kinds of products women want as female consumers flex their growing spending muscle. While the result — more goods that emphasize the practical rather than the pretty — is the way it's long ...