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May 19, 2025
 

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ECONOMY

Gross domestic product contracted 0.4% on an annualized basis in the October-December 2023 quarter, following a 3.3% contraction in the previous quarter.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 15, 2024
Japan loses spot as No. 3 economy after surprise GDP contraction
Analysts caution that the data is perhaps not as bad as it seems, given solid readings from other economic indicators.
No politicians, government officials, bankers or business leaders have voiced strong opposition to Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda's intention to put an end to the world’s last negative rate regime.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2024
Lack of political opposition opens way for BOJ rate hike
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is in a rare sweet spot for such a move, in sharp contrast to the experiences of his BOJ predecessors.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 14, 2024
Yen's slide past ¥150 per dollar prompts stern warnings from Japan
The yen has tumbled more than 6% versus the dollar so far in 2024.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva (right) speaks during the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2024
IMF and World Bank warn Gaza and Red Sea chaos imperils global economy
The Israel-Hamas war and its knock-on effects could impact the world the longer the fighting drags on, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said.
Japan’s latest growth figures are set to confirm it slipped to become the world's fourth-largest economy last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2024
Japan GDP set to confirm slip to world’s fourth-largest economy
Figures for the calendar year are almost certain to show the value of output falling behind Germany’s in dollar terms.
A slew of listed Japanese firms have logged solid earnings for the nine months ended in December including Toyota, which posted operating and net profits that reached the highest levels on record for a Japanese company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 11, 2024
Major Japanese firms post higher earnings in April-December period
Of 786 component firms of the broad Topix index that had announced their April-December results as of Wednesday, 455 companies reported higher net profits.
The market in 2023 and 2024 has been marked by breathless enthusiasm for the potential of artificial intelligence as well as wildly disparate guesses about how the technology will translate into future cash flows.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2024
Is the S&P 500's surge signaling a bubble or a bull market?
Are we reliving 1995 — when, coincidentally, a previous "soft landing” economy pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 5,000?
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 9, 2024
Japanese firms boosting pay for young workers is good news for Bank of Japan
If wage gain momentum carries over into this year, the BOJ is expected to end the world’s last negative interest rate regime by April.
The Japanese government forecast that number of digital workers in 2026 will fall short of projected needs by 2.3 million.
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2024
Japan struggles with digital transformation
Japan's general tendency toward risk aversion reduces the readiness to adopt new policies, procedures and technologies.
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida says after the bank ends its negative rate policy, financial conditions will remain easy and any policy moves thereafter will occur at a gradual pace.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 8, 2024
BOJ's Uchida says sharp hikes unlikely after rates policy shift
Uchida was one of the architects of the bank's current policies and now works closely with Gov. Ueda as an influential member of the BOJ policy board.
Opening up to foreign workers may ultimately be Japan’s best hope for stemming a rapid population decline.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 7, 2024
Record 2 million foreign workers are changing the face of Japan
Opening up to job seekers from abroad may ultimately be the country's best hope of stemming a rapid population decline.
Women workers demand equal pay during a protest in Melbourne.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2024
Asia is fighting off the diversity backlash
Gender equality is at a crossroads amid a corporate backlash that is threatening progress in in workplace diversity.
Japan’s shortage of software engineers in particular has caused the country to lag behind in its digital transformation.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 6, 2024
Tech firms in Japan are scouring for talent amid labor shortage
Three-quarters of technology hiring managers in Japan found recruitment to be "very” or "quite” competitive last year.
Taylor Swift (right) cheers on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the AFC divisional round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, New York, on Jan. 21. The Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 6, 2024
Taylor Swift rocks the world and drives the far right crazy
The “Swift effect” has become a force in both U.S. domestic politics and international relations.
The Bank of Japan signed a joint statement with the government in 2013 committing itself to achieve its 2% inflation target "at the earliest date possible."
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 6, 2024
Japan's inflation goal still needed even if negative rates end: official
Chief government economist Tomoko Hayashi says any shift in BOJ policy would not alter the importance of the 2% inflation target.
Nominal cash earnings among workers in Japan rose 1.0% in December from the previous year, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 6, 2024
Japan’s wage data likely solid enough to keep BOJ policy shift on track
Nominal cash earnings rose 1.0% in December from the previous year with the help of a 0.5% gain in winter bonuses.
Prolonged factory deflation is threatening the survival of smaller Chinese exporters, who are locked in relentless price wars for shrinking business as higher interest rates abroad and rising trade protectionism squeeze demand.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Feb 5, 2024
China's small exporters threatened amid price wars and low demand
Producer prices have been falling for 15 straight months, crushing profit margins to the point where industrial output and jobs are now at risk.
Asia's pandemic-era policies must now be unwound against a backdrop of slower GDP growth, higher inflation and increased debt.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2024
A new economic policy agenda for Asia
Asia's pandemic-era policies must now be unwound against a backdrop of slower GDP growth, higher inflation and increased debt.
Akihiko Matsuura, head of UA Zensen, has called for a standard 6% increase in total wages.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 2, 2024
Major union UA Zensen calls for 6% pay raise to support BOJ policy shift
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also pushing for wage gains after hikes last year failed to keep up with inflation, putting a burden on household budgets.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House in Washington in January 2023. Some Japanese businesses are keenly waiting for the results of the U.S. presidential election in November.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 1, 2024
Japanese firms seek political stability and stronger alliance: survey
A possible Taiwan contingency is just one of the issues on the minds of companies in the country.
Nissan to solicit early retirements while eyeing plant closures in Japan
Nissan's Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, may be closed as part of the struggling carmaker's streamlining efforts.
Australian firm produces heavy rare earth, in first outside China
The Lynas Rare Earths processing plant in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Police arrest Chinese man in Saitama hit-and-run case
Police questioned a man who turned himself in as he closely resembled the driver recorded on the dashcam of another vehicle that happened to pass by the scene of a hit-and-run incident in Saitama Prefecture.
Wholesalers may be behind elevated retail rice prices
Wholesalers added ¥7,593 on average to their selling prices for stockpiled rice, far more than the ¥2,206 to ¥4,689 added for the 2022 rice.
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.
In Nintendo’s backyard, foreign indie game devs are thriving
Kyoto's gaming landscape is dominated by Nintendo's headquarters, but a contingent of foreign-born indie developers is also working in the gaming giant's shadow.
Akazawa's dilemma: no tariff deal or a half-baked deal
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa and his delegation in the Oval Office of the White House in April. Since then, Japan's trade negotiations with the U.S. have produced no tangible results.
Nissan hoping to electrify home crowd as Formula E returns to Tokyo
Nissan's Oliver Rowland drives during qualifying for Miami E-Prix at Homestead Motor Speedway in Homestead, Florida, on April 12.
For his first feature film, director Ryuya Suzuki created a masterpiece
"Jinsei," which follows its protagonist over a century, probes themes of identity and societal issues with a dark comic touch. The director, however, says he created the story without knowing where it would lead.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb
By Alex K.T. Martin

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