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November 22, 2024
 

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Noriko Hama
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 19, 2005
Time to remove life support: Government should heed BOJ
To end or not to end. That is the question. The Bank of Japan says yes. The government says no. The BOJ feels the time is ripe to do away with the policy of "quantitative easing." The govern- ment feels it is premature to do so. Dueling time is here again over the conduct of monetary policy.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 21, 2005
Tweedle-George, tweedle-Jun and their futures in Wonderland
In Alice's world through the looking glass, Tweedledum has "Dum" embroidered on his collar and Tweedledee has "Dee" embroidered likewise. Alice assumes they both have "Tweedle" written on the backs of their collars as well. In our world of 2005, "Dum" would read "George W." and "Dee" would be "Junichiro,"...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 31, 2005
Why should Japan's Pharaohs fear the locusts of change?
"God said to Moses, 'Extend your hand over Egypt to bring the locusts, and they will emerge on Egypt. They will eat all the foliage in the land . . . " (Exodus 10:12)
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 3, 2005
Japan's GDP and GNP: How far will the domestic and the national spread?
Numerical targets are much in vogue these days. The post-election Koizumi government also seems to have caught the bug in light of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy's latest plans for managing the economy over the medium to longer term.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 29, 2005
Choice is no longer choice when showbiz 'assassins' terminate voters' rights
When is a choice not a choice?
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 25, 2005
Right for the wrong reasons: deflation dilemma at the BOJ
What do you do when things turn out right for all the wrong reasons? Do you laugh? Do you cry? Do you do a bit of both, or none of either? This must be the kind of mental acrobatics that observers of consumer price developments at the Bank of Japan are going through at this particular moment.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 27, 2005
Economists, remember to mind your Ps and Qs
Children are told to mind their Ps and Qs when they go visiting. They must be on their best behavior. They have to be able to speak like well-educated young people. They have to know P from Q. Well, so do economists, actually.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 16, 2005
Climbing up the down escalator: Inflation still out of Japan's reach
Inflation is not about to return to Japan just yet. According to the Bank of Japan's latest "Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices" released at the end of last month, the BOJ Policy Board members' median forecast for consumer prices in fiscal year 2005 is a 0.1 percent decline over FY 2004. Their...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 18, 2005
Of mobile landings and staircases: Japan in the global school of wizardry
"Poised on the landing" is the way people have taken to talking about the Japanese economy lately. The English-language way of referring to the same thing is to call it "going through a soft patch."
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 28, 2005
The 'Vision Thing' comes to Japan in blurry fashion
"Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old people shall dream dreams, and your young people see visions . . ." (Joel, 3:1). This particular daughter is not up to much in powers of prophecy, but this does seem to be the season for visions in Japan.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 28, 2005
Beware of financial conglomerates in FSA's Wild Kingdom
Every year, the media trot out a list of Japan's most popular phrases. Last year's "phrase of the year" award went to "I feel ultra-fine!" -- the quote by swimmer Kosuke Kitajima who brought home multiple gold from the Athens Olympics.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 6, 2004
Mixed-up policy mix links U.S. and Japan
Economic policy is all about mixing and matching. The trick is to get the mix just right between monetary policy and fiscal policy so that they match and complement each other nicely.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 15, 2004
The importance of questioning fearlessly and answering honestly
"Any damn fool can answer a question. The important thing is to ask one."
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2004
Buoyant Koizumi makes mad dash for the pole -- but which one?
He was supposed to go to the north pole, but changed directions on the way and ended up discovering the south pole. A connoisseur of polar-expedition literature would immediately say this is a description of Roald Amundsen, the great Norwegian explorer of the early 20th century.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 6, 2004
End-of-summer thoughts
"The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" (Jeremiah 8:22).
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 16, 2004
A fairy tale warning for financial giants
Oscar Wilde is the spinner of some of the finest tales in literary history. He wrote for a very wide-ranging public, including children. His fairy tales are truly fine. It is a characteristic of Wilde's fantasy tales for children that they contain profound insights into the very real world of adult folly...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 5, 2004
Apprentice Fukui and the prisoner of the Bank of Japan
As any sorcerer's apprentice will tell you, it is always easier to start something than to finish it. Exit strategies are by far the most difficult part of any game plan. The most recent and graphic case in point is, of course, the Americans in Iraq. But the same is equally applicable to monetary policy,...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 7, 2004
Kanebo's rescue: cosmetic surgery or a new lease on 'beautiful life'?
"Kanebo, for beautiful human life."
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 17, 2004
The yes and no of inflation revival -- how far downstream are you?
Once upon a time, there was this epidemic that people were suffering from all over the world. People called it "inflation." Three causes were determined for its emergence. One was demand-pull. This happened when too many people were wanting too much of everything at the same time. The other was cost-push....
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 29, 2004
Hooked on China's seven percent solution
For Mr. Sherlock Holmes, a seven percent solution provides solace in times of intellectual inactivity, when the game's not afoot, and his brain craves for stimulus. On those occasions, he turns to a seven percent solution of cocaine injected into the forearm to compensate for the lack of vibrant mental...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.

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