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April 30, 2024
 

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JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES

BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 22, 2010
Climate change battle demands cooperation, not new appliances
The Japanese economy posted growth in the last quarter, but I would like to make a few observations about the components of the growth.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 1, 2010
Message for Hatoyama from his patron saint
Saint Thomas More is the patron saint of politicians. As a Catholic myself I should have known this before, but the information actually came to me quite recently via the Mainichi Shimbun. So many thanks to the newspaper for this piece of religious education.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 22, 2010
How many factors are driving euro's descent?
The euro's value is falling conspicuously. Compared with the highs in the last quarter of 2009, Europe's unified currency has dropped from around ¥135 to ¥122, and from about $1.52 to roughly $1.37, losing nearly 10 percent against the yen and the dollar. What is causing its fall and where will it go from here?
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 25, 2010
What if Clarke had embarked on an economic odyssey?
The movie "2001: A Space Odyssey," Arthur C. Clarke's epoch-making science fiction masterpiece, was first published in 1968. Its sequel "2010: Odyssey Two" came out in 1982. To put "2010" more precisely in its place, it was actually the first sequel among three. The ultimate resolution, if such it may be called, takes place in "3001: The Final Odyssey."
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 28, 2009
The Dubai shock: What to learn from our previous bubbles
With one real estate megaproject after another, including an man-made resort island shaped like a coconut tree and the world's tallest skyscraper, Dubai has been aiming to turn the tiny emirate into the financial center of the Middle East.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 30, 2009
When real is nominal and nominal real: the world of falling prices
A newspaper headline tells me 'Pace of growth picks up in Japan." The actual figures bear out the statement. Japan's real GDP registered a quarter-on-quarter increase of 1.2 percent in the July-September quarter. The Japanese economy is expanding.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 23, 2009
Yen's steady drop in foreign reserve status reflects wider worries
Ten years have passed since the euro was launched as a common European currency by 12 members of the European Union based on the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. The euro was initially used only for interbank trading and other electronic transactions, but the debut of euro notes and coins on Jan. 1, 2002, put an end to the national currencies of the participating countries, including the German mark, which rose to prominence after Germany raced with Japan to rebuild from the ashes of World War II.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 26, 2009
Warped triangles show global economy being pulled toward ruin
I have triangles on the mind lately. I used to think that economic activity was a triangle with growth, competition and distribution making up its three sides. The perfect triangle is equilateral. That is to say, its three sides are identical in length.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 19, 2009
Mighty dollar's demise won't be quick despite depreciation woes
The G20 summit in Pittsburg reaffirmed the need for a common set of policies to correct global imbalances, and the G7 finance ministers and central bank chiefs, meeting later on in Istanbul, agreed that wild fluctuations in exchange rates harm global economic and financial stability.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 21, 2009
'Alien' prime minister, new-look Cabinet bring change to old politics
Politics is not the kind of stuff you normally stay up to watch on the telly long into the night. Not unless scandals, drunkenness and other juicy activities are involved, of course.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 14, 2009
Increasing prospects for jobless recovery will test DPJ policies
About a year has passed since the subprime-mortgage-loan debacle and the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a global financial crisis and worldwide recession. In Japan, some indicators suggest the economy has bottomed out and may be headed toward recovery. However, the employment situation hasn't shown any improvement and is worsening instead.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 3, 2009
The Great Recession's five-act drama might end up being a tragedy
"All the world's a stage." So says the Bard, and who are we to argue? The global economy is certainly not short on drama these days.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 27, 2009
Dollar beauty may be fading but it still tops currency pageant list
The Group of Eight countries and the outreach participants in the July 8-10 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, discussed promotion of an international currency system that is stable and functions well. But it remains an elusive goal to find concrete ways of reforming the system.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 29, 2009
Two cheers from the grave punctuate the nationalization of GM
The automaker General Motors filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, and there are surely two people rejoicing in their graves at the news. One of them is John DeLorean. The other is Clement Attlee.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 22, 2009
Stakeholder rethink in order as dust settles from GM's collapse
General Motors Corp., which until several years ago led not only the U.S. economy but the global economy as the world's largest automaker, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 1, concluding a corporate history that spanned more than a century.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 25, 2009
Traditional merchant values resurgent in recessionary Japan
There is an old Japanese saying that keeps cropping up in my conversations with people lately. It is the phrase "sampoh-yoshi."
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 18, 2009
Will second wave of 'price destruction' finally spur change?
A major wave of what could perhaps be called the second round of "price destruction" is accelerating in Japan.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 20, 2009
Aso's gift-tax cut for rich puts wealth gap issue on back burner
Who are the people that are suffering the most as this global depression unfolds? Clearly, it is the weakest members of society who are getting the worst deal. That, sadly, is the way it has always worked. There's not much that can be done about this particular fact of life.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 6, 2009
Demand-supply gap is driving Japan's precipitous slide
The Japanese economy is stuck in a tailspin. With industrial output sinking 10.2 percent in January and 9.4 percent in February, economic activity could drop to half in another six months.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 16, 2009
Survival instincts need rethink before killer disease spreads
We used to think that SARS was the killer disease. No doubt it still is. But at least it seems dormant for the moment. In its place we now have a potentially more potent epidemic going around that looks set to engulf the whole world. I hereby christen that disease SLICS. This is short for "So long as I can survive."
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
Yen rebounds strongly after first slide past ¥160 since 1990
The yen dropped to ¥160.245 per dollar on Monday before heading into the other direction to ¥155.01 amid speculation of an intervention by Japanese currency authorities.
Man, 28, arrested in Okinawa over burned bodies found in Tochigi
Hikaru Sasaki enters the Metropolitan Police Department's Osaki police station in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on Monday after being arrested on suspicion of disposing of two bodies found in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, earlier this month.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

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

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

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