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April 23, 2024
 

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Sayuri Shirai

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Sayuri Shirai
For Sayuri Shirai's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan's benchmark Nikkei index is on a roll, having broken its bubble-era record last week.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 27, 2024
What explains the recent surge in Japanese stock prices?
Japan needs for increase domestic capital investment, technological innovation and sound risk-taking to improve long-term competitiveness.
The Bank of Japan's headquarters in Tokyo
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 19, 2023
The Bank of Japan faces a monetary policy conundrum
The BOJ may need to interpret the 2% price stability target more flexibly.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 23, 2023
BOJ faces monetary policy challenges amid an inflationary environment
The BOJ with its monetary policies must navigate various structural issues, including population decline, aging and geopolitical tensions to achieve its desired price stability.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 23, 2023
Will the new BOJ chief choose to maintain the status quo?
After 10 years of monetary easing under BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, all eyes will be watching the central bank’s next steps under its new chief, Kazuo Ueda.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 24, 2023
Can the BOJ's next governor resist calls to exit the ultraeasy monetary policy?
While Ueda will surely maintain the current policy for the time being, it is not clear whether he will take the risk of normalizing the monetary easing policy during his governorship.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2022
Why is the Swiss franc still a safe-haven currency?
While other leading safe-haven currencies have taken a hit as of late, the Swiss franc keeps going strong.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 21, 2022
Inflation, oil prices and the yen: What’s behind the BOJ’s tack?
Japan's inflation rate is around 1%, one of the lowest in the world. Why is Japan, which has been battling deflation for two decades, still the exception even as global inflation is rising?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 13, 2021
Will closer monetary-fiscal policy coordination lead to fiscal dominance?
As yield curves are already so flattened, central banks may need to rely more on reducing their holdings of government bonds to prevent an inversion of the yield curve.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 16, 2021
Will TSE reforms boost Japan's corporate value?
In a bid to attract more long-term investors, Japan plans to reform its primary stock market.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 15, 2021
Time for Tokyo to become a leading hub of green finance
With investor interest in sustainable finance growing globally, Japan is encountering a rare opportunity to turn Tokyo into one of the leading green financial hubs in Asia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 7, 2021
Bank of Japan policy hurts sustainable finance
An expansion of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investment and a sustainable finance market is essential for Japan's economy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2020
Changes afoot in the world of central banking
Further monetary easing may become inevitable for the U.S. Fed to make inflation targeting effective, and for the ECB to justify greater emphasis on the environment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 14, 2020
Time for Japan to present a credible energy policy
The nation should not miss the opportunity to restructure its economic and energy-consumption structure for future generations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 8, 2020
BOJ’s monetary easing lags behind U.S. and European central banks
Monetary easing measures adopted by the Bank of Japan lack boldness.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2020
Fiscal stimulus can ease the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy
Prompt actions by governments could help prevent the collapse of affected firms and individuals.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2019
China's digital currency could threaten dollar's dominance
China's central bank digital currency may boost the internationalization of the yuan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 6, 2019
Trump aims to use trade deal to win election
Japan continues to find ways to please Trump while avoiding a worst case scenario for Japan's economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2019
Can MMT be Japan's savior?
Modern Monetary Theory may not be able to solve the nation's complicated long-standing structural problems.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 26, 2019
Japan's labor shortage and low-wage puzzle
Why does wage growth remain sluggish despite Japan's growing labor shortage?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2019
Japan's growing debt divergence
The BOJ may have no choice but to end up providing permanent government support to avoid painful fiscal consolidation.
Japan’s cannabis market growing rapidly amid regulatory shift
The legality of products that contain cannabinoids, a group of substances derived from the cannabis plant, has been somewhat murky in Japan.
Philippines wants U.S. and Japan to take over rail deal eyed by China
Delfin Lorenzana
'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.
At least one dead, seven missing after two MSDF helicopters crash off Izu Islands
Contact was lost with the two SH-60K helicopters, each carrying four crew, in an area east of Torishima in the Izu Island chain during anti-submarine warfare training Saturday night.
Tokyo Rainbow Pride lights up capital as organizers celebrate 30 years
Rainbow flags were flown through the capital's busy Shibuya and Harajuku areas for Tokyo Rainbow Pride events this weekend as organizers hailed 30 years of one of Asia's largest LGBTQ celebrations.
'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.
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.
Tsukiji 2030s: A stadium, culinary center and transportation hub
A computer-generated image shows redevelopment plans for the former site of the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.
Hearing the impact of climate change in Okinawa, one bird call at a time
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
Japan’s cannabis market growing rapidly amid regulatory shift
The legality of products that contain cannabinoids, a group of substances derived from the cannabis plant, has been somewhat murky in Japan.

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

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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