Tag - japanese-economy

 
Menu
Search
 
April 27, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

JAPANESE ECONOMY

Some regional smaller firms have decided to prioritize raising pay to retain or hire workers, even if they have not been earning sufficient profits, the Bank of Japan has said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 8, 2024
Bank of Japan sees wage hikes spreading across economy
The optimistic assessment may heighten the case for the central bank to raise interest rates as soon as its next meeting on July 30 and 31.
Japan logged a current account surplus for the 16th straight month in May.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 8, 2024
Japan logs largest May current account surplus
The country logged a current account surplus for the 16th straight month.
A working group led by the Japan Securities Dealers Association finished a series of monthly meetings in June that discussed details of applying covenants to local corporate notes with lower ratings.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 8, 2024
Japan pushes for greater use of protections on corporate bonds
A Japan Securities Dealers Association working group finished meetings in June on adding covenants to lower-rated corporate notes.
Japanese workers' base pay increased 2.5% in May from a year ago, the fastest growth since 1993.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 8, 2024
Japan base pay jumps most since 1993 in positive signal for BOJ
Base pay increased 2.5% in May from a year ago, the fastest growth since 1993.
Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture. The mayor of Himeji has suggested that foreign tourists pay four times more to enter the castle than the current ¥1,000 entrance fee.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024
Japan really should charge tourists four times more
The suggestion by a Kansai mayor that foreign visitors pay more for tourist attractions doesn't go far enough. The government should establish a nationwide policy.
Several support networks have launched to help startup founders in Japan whose native language isn't Japanese.
BUSINESS / Companies / Longform
Jul 8, 2024
As Japan's startup ecosystem grows, so does a supportive community of entrepreneurs
Interest in startups is outpacing ecosystem capabilities, which has led more founders to turn to each other for guidance and support.
One analyst argues that the billions of dollars flowing from Japan to the likes of Apple, Amazon and Microsoft might be more a positive than a negative in that more companies and individuals are using digital services.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2024
Japan’s digital deficit might be a good thing
The digital deficit indicates that digitalization has accelerated in the country, says Mitsubishi Research Institute researcher Kengo Wataya.
According to an annual survey, among all respondents who answered that their living conditions were difficult, 26.5% chose "very difficult" and 33.1% "somewhat difficult."
JAPAN / Society
Jul 6, 2024
60% of households in Japan face 'difficult' living conditions, survey finds
Among all respondents who answered that their living conditions were difficult, 26.5% chose "very difficult" and 33.1% "somewhat difficult."
Bain Capital partner Masashi Suekane during an interview last month
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 5, 2024
Bain Capital to invest ¥5 trillion in Japan over five years
Bain Capital plans to increase its workforce in Japan and has established a team to help firms make effective use of their real estate with low profitability.
A monitor displaying the Topix share average, 225-issue Nikkei average and the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar, outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 5, 2024
Japan’s stock records lack punch of yen’s fall
When the yen collapsed to a 38-year low just days before the stock-index record was achieved, the event was seen as significant and greatly concerning.
The number of bankruptcies in Japan between January and June hit the highest level in a decade, up 22% from the same period last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 5, 2024
Japan's first-half bankruptcies reach highest mark in a decade, report shows
There were 4,887 bankruptcies between January and June, up 22% from the same period a year ago.
The weak yen continues to attract visitors from abroad, while travelers from Japan are rethinking their plans amid rising costs.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 5, 2024
Weak yen slows overseas summer travel recovery
While the currency's weakness continues to attract visitors from abroad, travelers from Japan are rethinking their plans amid rising costs.
OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap speaks at a news conference on the opening of the Japan office in Tokyo in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 5, 2024
Japanese companies lag in AI adoption, white paper says
The white paper also urged action against fake online ads.
A monitor in Tokyo shows Japan's two major stock indexes hitting new highs on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 5, 2024
Investors hunt for Trump-win trades in Japan's stock market
The Topix index gained almost 30% in dollar terms in the year after the 2016 U.S. presidential election that Trump won, beating the S&P 500 and the MSCI World index.
Japanese household spending unexpectedly fell in May as higher prices continued to squeeze consumers' purchasing power.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 5, 2024
Japan’s household spending falls, clouding growth outlook
The yen's slide is expected to further raise prices for imported raw materials, energy, and food.
Circulators on display at a Bic Camera store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district on June 26
JAPAN / Society
Jul 5, 2024
Japan companies beat drum for heat-beating goods
Sales of air conditioners, fans, and circulators are rising with the mercury, as high electricity prices make energy-saving products increasingly popular.
An electronic board in Tokyo shows the Topix stock index on Thursday morning. The index ended the day at 2,898.47, a record high exceeding that set in December 1989.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 4, 2024
Japan's main stock indexes close at record highs
Shares of automakers, banks and technology firms led the gains on the emergence of a robust corporate outlook for the latter half of 2024.
A Vietnamese worker harvests tomatoes at a farm in Asahi, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2024
Japan faces shortage of almost a million foreign workers in 2040
At the current pace, 5.91 million foreign people will be working in Japan in 2040
The weakness of the yen is posing a big problem for small and midsize businesses. As for desired exchange rates, 69.5％ said they want the yen trading between ¥110 and ¥135 to the dollar.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 4, 2024
Weak yen inflicts major damage to small and midsize businesses, survey says
While some larger, export driven companies have benefited from the weak currency, smaller firms are struggling to adjust.
Restaurant chains such as Yoshinoya rely on U.S. beef imports. The price surge has led to Yoshinoya's parent company looking into developing new dishes using ingredients other than beef.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 4, 2024
Soaring prices make U.S. beef procurement hard in Japan
The yen's recent sharp depreciation compounds the problems of reduced supply and strong demand for American beef in other countries.
Japan to resist Trump efforts to form trade bloc against China
As Japan gears up for the trade talks, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is also seeking to cushion the blow that the U.S. tariffs may have on the domestic economy.
Japan doubles down on stimulus to counter effects of Trump tariffs
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks about U.S. tariffs in Tokyo last week.
Tokyo court fines Amazon Japan ¥35 million over counterfeit products
Takahiro Fujii (center), the president of Try and E, and his lawyers speak during a news conference on Friday in Tokyo after a ruling was handed down in a case against Amazon Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Toyota chairman proposes record buyout of its supplier at $42 billion valuation
Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Akio Toyoda after a meeting in Beijing last month
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.

Podcast

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

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society
Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER