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April 30, 2024
 

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JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES

BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 21, 2008
Squabbling ruined chance for private-sector BOJ chief
The dispute over replacing the Bank of Japan governor, whose seat was left vacant when Toshihiko Fukui's five-year term ended March 19, was finally settled April 9 when Deputy Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa was officially promoted to chief of the central bank.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 31, 2008
The vacancy at the BOJ and the merits of emptiness
Nature abhors a vacuum. So said Aristotle. Human beings also abhor a vacuum. Especially when they are LDP politicians in search of a new governor for the Bank of Japan.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 24, 2008
Chinese frozen foodand frigid bilateral relations
Bilateral relations can be complicated by conflicting interests, which makes occasional problems inevitable. What's important, however, is whether the two countries can communicate frankly about the problems, find their causes and resolve them. This is one reason wh countries set up hot lines between the top leaders.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 3, 2008
No place for celebrity currencies in global jungle
Just recently I took part in a very interesting discussion program for NHK television in which economists and strategists from around the world came together to debate the state of the global economy and what kind of a beating the financial markets were liable to take as a result of the ongoing subprime securitization crisis.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 25, 2008
G7's changing world and the need for microeconomic steps
The Feb. 9 meeting of the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank chiefs — the first one held in Tokyo in eight years — adopted a statement recognizing that the global economy is facing more challenging and uncertain circumstances.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 28, 2008
Nightmare becomes reality: Classic credit crunch leaves policymakers floundering
In this column last month, I talked about the nightmarish possibility of a global financial crash. Well, a month is a long time in economics, and the nightmare has well and truly become reality.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 21, 2008
Sovereign wealth funds warping market, pose insider-trading hazard
The international profile of sovereign wealth funds is expanding, and the Group of Seven's finance ministers and central bankers are expected to discuss the depth of the funds' risk control, management and accountability when they gather Feb. 9 in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 31, 2007
'08 to see nightmare of globalization, or alert central banks?
Looking back at what I wrote in this space this time last year, I find that I was dreaming of a Japan of the United States, in which the regions become city states unto their own and make Japan a generally more interesting place. The dream still remains but a dream. But I keep hoping.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 24, 2007
Tax transfers from rich areas to rural poses problems
On the surface, the ruling coalition's tax reform package for fiscal 2008 contains a number of promising proposals, including the transfer of local corporate tax revenue from better-off prefectures to fiscally distressed rural areas, a new system to let people combine stock investment returns with dividends when declaring taxable income, preferential treatment for small and medium-size firms, and tax deductions to promote the use of ethanol in fuel.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 3, 2007
Wrathful gods bear down on sinful global economy
'W rath of Gods" is the title of an award-winning documentary directed by Jon Gustafsson, the Iceland-born filmmaker. It could equally be the title of a documentary about the state of the global economy as it stands in November 2008.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 26, 2007
Japanese housing slumps into legal, moral quagmire
Japanese housing starts have fallen sharply in recent months, just as housing-related markets in the United States have declined since the advent of the subprime mortgage crisis. But the backgrounds of the two slumps are totally different.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 29, 2007
Sovereign vultures look Adam Smith in the eye
When Adam Smith wrote "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" in 1776, the industrial revolution had entered its second decade and the relationship between nations and their wealth was still relatively straightforward.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 22, 2007
Japan should study U.S. housing crisis, end land price stagnation
On Sept. 19, just as global financial markets were getting jittery about the U.S. subprime mortgage loan problem, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry released its survey of Japanese land prices.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 1, 2007
Fukuda and the 'Cabinet of the Walking Dead'
Atitle in the Financial Times' Lex Column caught my eye Wednesday. The item, "Japan's Zombies," turned out to be a very readable story about large Japanese electronics companies. But until I got down to actually reading the piece, I was totally convinced it was about Japan's latest Cabinet.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 24, 2007
Incoming prime minister's guide to closing 'winners-losers' gap
Yasuo Fukuda was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party on Sunday and is certain to become Japan's next prime minister this week to replace Shinzo Abe, who surprised the nation Sept. 12 by suddenly announcing his intention to step down.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 27, 2007
'Lucky bag' binge turns into Pandora's box
Japanese retailers like to offer "fukubukuro" (lucky bags) to customers as an added attraction. The bags, sold at a fixed price, are filled with an assortment of goods that are supposed to be worth more than what you paid for the bag.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 20, 2007
Time for BOJ to reflect on role in U.S. credit market meltdown
The problem with the U.S. subprime mortgage market — housing loans made to high-risk borrowers — had a global impact on markets this month, forcing monetary authorities in Japan, the United States and Europe to pump huge amounts of liquidity into money markets to prevent a credit crunch.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 23, 2007
10 years on, currency earthquake is waiting to rattle Asia once more
It is 10 years since the Asian currency crisis. Currency crises are like earthquakes. I hesitate to use this analogy when lives have been lost and people continue to suffer as a result of the quake last week in the Chuetsu area of Niigata Prefecture. Yet the parallel is a valid one.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 16, 2007
Companies must fight for balance between greenmailers, growth
The biggest feature of this year's crop of annual shareholders' meetings — which came on the heels of May's removal of the ban on triangular mergers — was the move to install defensive measures against so-called greenmailers, the corporate interlopers who chase after short-term profits.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 25, 2007
Social responsibility: the buzz word nobody gets
Spas are for healing, nursing homes are for caring, language schools are for communicating, amusement parks are for amusing and pensions are for carefree retirement. This is how things ought to be. It is not how things are in modern-day Japan.
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.
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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