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April 25, 2024
 

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Ruth Carson
For Ruth Carson's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
The dollar's resurgence has come on the back of a slew of signs that the U.S. economy avoided the slowdown many anticipated.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 23, 2024
U.S. dollar’s extended reign delivers stark wake-up call to markets
Global investors are talking about "U.S. exceptionalism” after a predicted slowdown to the nation's economy didn't transpire.
Yen traders are bracing for 160 to the dollar or even further declines.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 16, 2024
Yen traders brace for 160 level even as intervention risks rise
The yen weakened 1% last week alone as fears of higher-for-longer U.S. borrowing costs spurred a stampede to the dollar.
Investors will be heaping ever more scrutiny on Japanese assets, with negative rates potentially relegated to history.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 15, 2024
BlackRock and Man Group reveal big Japan bets before BOJ decision
Snap up more Japanese stocks and keep buying the yen — these are some of the most popular calls from big-name money managers.
The risks are particularly evident in Asia, home to some of the world’s worst-performing major currencies against the greenback.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 19, 2024
Dollar dominance is triggering intervention fears across markets
The greenback's recent spike is a reality check to investors betting on dollar weakness and for the authorities hoping for a respite.
Pacific Investment Management headquarters in Newport Beach, California. The bond giant says it has started building a long yen position.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2023
Pimco is buying yen to prepare for tighter BOJ monetary policy
The bond giant started building a long yen position when Japan’s currency weakened past ¥140 per dollar a few months ago.
Veteran Japanese investors are split over whether to put their money into Chinese bonds.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 27, 2023
Friends who help manage $640 billion clash on China bonds
While they’ve been friends for at least a decade, their take on trading China bonds couldn’t be more diametrically opposed.
Nikko Asset Management is ditching its bearish view on the yen, and now has a ¥135 target against the dollar by year-end.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 20, 2023
Nikko Asset shifts to bullish yen slant as Ueda bides his time
The shift in his view highlights potential upside for the yen, where inflation-adjusted interest rates have exacerbated its decline to multidecade lows.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 18, 2023
An $880 billion fund is shorting key Japanese bonds in BOJ bet
An $880 billion fund is betting it’s only a matter of time before the Bank of Japan tightens monetary policy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2023
Putin’s war ignites backlash against dollar across the world
All around the world, a backlash is brewing against the hegemony of the U.S. dollar.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 1, 2023
A $3 trillion threat to global financial markets looms in Japan
Just over a week before a momentous leadership change at the Bank of Japan, investors are gearing up for the seemingly inevitable end to a decade of ultralow interest rates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 24, 2023
The world’s most painful trade is finally ending as dollar peaks
Investors say the dollar is on the way down because the bulk of Fed rate increases is over, and most other currencies will strengthen as their central banks keep tightening.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2023
Global bond bulls face reckoning however new BOJ chief shapes policy
Beyond the yield fireworks any hawkish policy shift may soon ignite, steady selling of overseas bonds in favor of local alternatives by Japanese investors is already a market fact.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 19, 2023
Funds plan relentless pressure on BOJ as they eye full surrender
The Bank of Japan may have wrong-footed bond bears once again, but investors say a shift in policy is inevitable.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 22, 2022
Investors rush to update yen playbook after Bank of Japan’s surprise shift
The yen surged 4.8% on Tuesday after the BOJ blindsided the market by raising its cap on 10-year bond yields to 0.5% from 0.25%.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 15, 2022
‘Mother of all pivots’ in 2023 spurs top Asia fund to eye yen
The yen has climbed more than 11% from its October nadir amid government intervention, hopes for a slowing of U.S. rate hikes and speculation over a BOJ shift.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 5, 2022
The year’s big yen short set for a dramatic U-turn in 2023
Analysts' bullishness is a marked change in tune from September, when hedge funds couldn't get enough of shorting the yen — a high profile casualty of the BOJ's ultradovish monetary policy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2022
Japan expected to keep last central bank negative interest rate
Explaining the refusal to shift gears is getting harder and such doggedness risks triggering a fresh downward spiral for the embattled yen.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Oct 21, 2022
Violent market swings await day the BOJ’s yield anchor lifts
For now, most economists expect BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda to stick with yield-curve control, until he steps down in April, even as the yen slides.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2022
Stealth intervention talk permeates market as yen approaches ¥150
Dropping to u00a5150 is seen as an important psychological level in Japan and a break may increase pressure on authorities for further action.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2022
Yen traders show resilience to risk of more Japan intervention
One-week implied volatility in the dollar-yen has fallen to trade well below highs seen last month, even as the currency pair closes on u00a5145.90 per dollar.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Over 40% of Japan's municipalities at risk of vanishing, study finds
Of 1,729 local municipalities nationwide, 744 have been identified as being at risk of disappearing.
'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.
Tokyo issues strong warning on yen intervention as currency dips further
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on the sidelines of IMF and G20 meetings in Washington last week.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.
LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.
A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.

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

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa
A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

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