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May 10, 2024
 

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JAPANESE ECONOMY

Japan's law-abiding pedestrian culture and norms may help explain its economic performance.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2024
The economic consequences of legal behavior
There is a complex relationship between cultural norms, legal systems and economic development.
A seafood restaurant at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. In a proposal to the government's top economic council, the panel urged policy changes in the face of rising domestic prices and interest rates, as well as wage growth at a 30-year high as companies face job shortages.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2024
Japan panel calls for shift away from stimulus-driven economy
The panel urged policy changes amid rising domestic prices and interest rates, as well as wage growth at a 30-year high as companies face job shortages.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. While some BOJ watchers flag the risk the BOJ could move quickly to raise interest rates again, Tsutomu Watanabe, who was a potential governor candidate last year, says he doesn't think the move will come so soon.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2024
BOJ’s next hike likely in October at earliest, ex-official says
The views of Tsutomu Watanabe contrast with those of some BOJ watchers who flag the risk the BOJ could move quickly as the yen slumps near a 34-year low.
The Bank of Japan's tankan survey showed that large nonmanufacturers saw improvement in their sentiment with the index reaching the highest level since 1991, helped by a surge in inbound tourists.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2024
Japan service firms’ optimism tempered by softer factory sector
The deterioration in manufacturing sentiment partly reflects the impact from scandals among some vehicle producers.
Department store operator Takashimaya is among the big firms planning to increase hires in spring 2025, a survey shows.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 31, 2024
Over 30% of big firms to hire more new grads in '25, survey finds
In addition to new graduate hires, some companies are looking to hire midcareer workers to secure talent amid fierce competition.
A man works at a supermarket in Tokyo last month. Price increases backed by higher ingredient costs have started to come back due to unstable weather, Teikoku Databank has said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 30, 2024
Japan to see prices of 2,806 food items raised in April
The figure exceeds 2,000 for the first time since October last year, though down 48.1% from April last year, when prices increased for 5,404 items.
Officials from the Finance Ministry, the Bank of Japan and the Financial Services Agency hold an emergency meeting over the yen at the ministry on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 29, 2024
Japan brought forward emergency yen meeting to maximize market impact, source says
Meeting like these are considered a sign Tokyo is moving closer to intervening in the currency market.
Prices excluding fresh food rose 2.4% in March in Tokyo, slowing slightly from 2.5% in February.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 29, 2024
Tokyo inflation slows but stays above BOJ target
Prices excluding fresh food rose 2.4% in March from a year before, slowing slightly from 2.5% in February.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 28, 2024
BOJ summary hints at cautious approach to further rate increases
The summary indicates Gov. Kazuo Ueda and his fellow board members are in favor of taking a slow approach to rate hikes.
A monitor in Tokyo shows the yen dropping to nearly ¥152 against the dollar on Wednesday morning.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 27, 2024
Yen slides to 34-year low, heightening talk of intervention
Although the Bank of Japan hiked rates for the first time in 17 years last week, the yen’s weakness has persisted.
The land price for the premise of Yamano Music in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district as of Jan. 1 was the highest among surveyed locations across Japan for the 18th straight year at ¥55.70 million ($368,000) per square meter.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 26, 2024
Japanese land prices up for third year, returning to prepandemic levels
Residential land prices in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya grew 2.8%, while prices rose 7.0% in the four big regional cities and 0.6% in regional areas.
Signs of a decline in hedging demand suggest that local investors are less concerned the yen will rebound sharply.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 26, 2024
Lower hedging costs reveal Japan investors' confidence in weak yen bets
Three-month yen basis swaps, which indicate decreasing demand for hedging the more they rise, closed last week at their highest level since January 2022.
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda takes questions during a news conference. The bank's monetary policy overhaul announced last week was known by some Japanese media before it was made public.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 25, 2024
The BOJ has sprung a leak. Japan must investigate.
The bank's policy of disclosing information selectively to certain media is harmful and needs to be looked into, as slip-ups in other countries show.
People feel that Japan may be getting out of deflation and there could be an economic transformation, a top regulatory official says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 25, 2024
Japan seeing more interest from foreign asset managers, official says
Tokyo has inched up one position higher to 19th place in the Global Financial Centers Index.
Some prominent private equity-related dealmakings in Japan in 2023 include the ¥2.1 trillion ($14 billion) takeover of Toshiba.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 25, 2024
Japan private equity deals jump in otherwise gloomy year for Asia
Japan’s momentum is expected to continue into 2024 as companies face pressure to improve shareholder value.
An electronic stock board in Tokyo on Thursday. Signs that deflation has ended are driving investors to bet ever more on Japan’s economic growth.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 23, 2024
Japan’s stock boom gets broader support than just exporters
Signs that deflation has ended are driving investors to bet ever more on Japan’s economic growth.
The record high, which reflects rising prices, was the worst since the subject was added to the poll in 2008, according to a Cabinet Office official.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 23, 2024
Record 63% in Japan feel financially uncomfortable, government survey finds
The result, which reflects rising prices, was the worst since the subject was added to the poll in 2008, according to a Cabinet Office official.
Hedge funds have been consistently short the yen since 2021, according to CFTC, with the trade remaining popular in recent months on expectations that the BOJ’s pursuit of policy normalization will nonetheless remain accommodative.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 23, 2024
Hedge funds boost bearish yen bets after BOJ’s dovish hike
The yen fell more than 1% against the dollar following the conclusion of the central bank’s meeting Tuesday, and is now set for a second weekly drop.
Shoppers in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2024
Historic day for BOJ will take some time to be felt by people in Japan
With future rate hikes likely, the yen and mortgages could still see a more substantial impact.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference on Tuesday after the central bank ended its ultra-aggressive monetary stimulus program and scrapped the world's last negative interest rate.
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2024
The BOJ's rate hike is both more and less than it seems
There are some fears that the BOJ's return to a positive interest rate environment threatens weak companies.
Japan bread recalled after rat parts found inside packs
Pasco Shikishima has recalled 104,000 packs of its white Chojuku bread after parts of a rat's body were discovered in two of them.
Tokuryū, a new crime menace in Japan, emerges from the shadows
The National Police Agency coined the term "tokuryū" to classify individuals involved in dark part time jobs and quasi-gangsters, using the words "tokumei" (anonymous) and "ryūdo" (fluid) to reflect their characteristics.
Nearly 6 million elderly people in Japan will have dementia by 2040
The latest figure is significantly less than a previous projection released in 2015 that said more than 8 million people would have dementia by 2040.
Thanks, tourists. Views of Mount Fuji are now blocked.
Tourists pose in front of a convenience store with Mount Fuji on Friday in the town of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture. Local residents are upset over littering, overcrowding and the inconvenience caused by the visitors.
Is Modi’s party heading for a stunning election loss?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign tactics have escalated, including anti-Muslim rhetoric and fearmongering, reflecting his ruling party's desperation.
Stormy seas ahead as Beijing and Manila trade barbs over secret deal
Philippine Marines wave to Philippine Navy personnel and the media during a resupply mission at their military outpost, the BRP Sierra Madre, a warship run aground in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in 1999, in the South China Sea, in March 2014.
Unlike 10 years ago, Japan's new security bill sparks little debate
The Lower House starts discussing a security clearance bill on April 19 in Tokyo.
After blockbuster boxing victory, what next for ‘Monster’ Inoue?
Naoya Inoue celebrates his victory over Luis Nery in their IBF-WBA-WBC-WBO super bantamweight title boxing match at Tokyo Dome on Monday.
Xi bristles as Macron and von der Leyen urge China to do more on Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen walk after their meeting in Paris on Monday.
How a Japanese scientist is turning the climate crisis into music
A screencap of a performance of Hiroto Nagai's “String Quartet No. 1 ‘Polar Energy Budget’” by the PRT Quartet

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

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

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