Japan economy

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the lender that has made about $13 billion in acquisitions overseas since its founding a decade ago, is making a pivot toward its home market. "A financial institution's mother market should be its first priority," Nobuyuki Hirano, president and chief ...

Though information and communications technology has made remarkable strides since 1991, it appears to have stunted Japan's economic growth rate.

The steep fall in crude oil prices has certainly benefited consumers, but Japan needs to develop a wise energy policy that shields it from the vagaries of oil-price fluctuations over the long term.

The draft government budget for fiscal 2015 paints a positive picture with regard to expectations of more tax revenue but indicates little effort to rein in government spending to restore Japan's financial health.

The year 2014 was full of unexpected events, but none helped to jolt Japan's economy, politics or society out of a sense of being stalled.

Japan needs to address six major challenges in the post-Abenomics era with an eye toward structural reforms aimed at reviving Japan's influence on the global scene.

Worrying signs appear to outweigh the bright spots in the Bank of Japan's latest "tankan" survey. The government-laid scenario of steady recovery in consumer spending after the consumption tax hike in April has not materialized.

What are the geopolitical implications of China entering a long-term period of Japan-like stagnation but without Japan-like wealth?

It is time for Japan's leaders to shift from the demand-focused first and second arrows of "Abenomics" to the supply-oriented third arrow: a new growth strategy.