For Masaki Kondo's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
It's still early, but there are signs Japan's equity market is approaching escape velocity when it comes to a force that has entranced it for years. It's the yen, whose level against the dollar has generally been all you needed to know to tell where ...
At the pace the central bank is purchasing government bonds, Japan's sovereign debt market will be extinct by 2027. The ¥616 trillion of JGBs now available to markets would shrink by about ¥52 trillion a year under current policies, making all of the securities either ...
The Bank of Japan's failure to achieve its inflation target will see the yen rebound to its highest since 2012, reversing the results of its unprecedented stimulus, according to Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. The currency will strengthen beyond 85 per dollar "by this fall," said ...
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has shown that a single unprecedented expansion of monetary policy has more impact than a series of smaller steps, and economists say he's preparing to prove it again. The yen has tumbled almost 9 percent since Kuroda doubled monthly ...
The Bank of Japan's stimulus is building a wall against the yen gaining beyond ¥100 to the dollar, amid an investor flight into the currency as a haven, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. The yen has climbed 3 percent against the greenback this year, set ...
The rising cost of overseas travel and imported goods such as Apple computers is spurring concern in Japan's bond market that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's success in fueling inflation will be short-lived. ANA Holding Inc. and Haagen-Dazs Co. increased prices as the yen's inflation-adjusted value ...
Price increases are prompting Japanese shoppers to buy less mayonnaise, showing the fragility of any economic rebound unless wages keep up with living costs. Production of the sauce fell 5.1 percent in the five months that ended on Nov. 30 from a year earlier, which ...
The worst prime minister for Japanese government bonds in almost two decades is poised to return, ousting the best since 2006. Shinzo Abe, the front-runner to replace Yoshihiko Noda in Sunday's general election, oversaw a 1.2 percent gain when he was in office for a ...
Japan's worsening trade gap will make it harder to service the world's largest debt, fulfilling part of the doomsday scenario that Hayman Capital Management LP is betting on. The nation's 10-year note yield may rise toward 10 percent from the world's third-lowest of 0.79 percent, ...
Softbank Corp. expects to gain market share from NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp. by focusing on small businesses. The nation's third-biggest mobile phone company slashed fees in January to ¥980 a month, the cheapest in Japan, and offered unlimited calls to spur user growth. ...
