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November 22, 2024
 

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Noriko Hama
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
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
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
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.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 21, 2007
Pondering the futility of the Bank of Japan's inflation comfort zone
Members of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board are said to be at odds about where the rate of inflation ought to be over the medium to longer term.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 16, 2007
Politicians on quest for referendums should be doubted
Proposals establishing the procedure for a referendum on constitutional reform were rushed through parliament last week. While both politics and legal procedures preclude the actual tabling of reform proposals before 2010, the stage is being set with no-holds-barred determination by Prime Minister Shinzo...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 19, 2007
Advice for Japan as it returns to the jungle: Don't feed the animals
The Japanese economy is now a fully signed-up member of the global jungle.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 12, 2007
Mum's the word, Mr. Yanagisawa
Keeping mum has never been a strong point of politicians. Hakuo Yanagisawa, the beleaguered health, labor and welfare minister, seems especially bad at keeping mum on the subject of mums. In his world, mums are machines. Their sole function is to breed.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 1, 2007
Dreaming of a Japan of United States
A time to dream impossible dreams. The New Year holiday season is surely such a time. And one such dream might be a Japan of United States.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 27, 2006
The importance of being ambiguous at APEC
APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. A strange name. Neither a committee nor a council, not even a commission -- just "cooperation."
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 23, 2006
Room for microcredit in the notorious 'gray zone'?
For sci-fi lovers, the twilight zone is a scary place, the stuff of bad dreams. But for borrowers of consumer loans in Japan, it is the "gray zone" that constitutes the nightmare.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 25, 2006
Many fears, few hopes haunt Japan's transition
"Children should be seen and not heard."
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 7, 2006
From Poland to Japan: a contrasting tale of two central bankers
Two central bankers have been catching intense media attention over the past couple of months. One is Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui. He is in a bit of a dog house for his investments in the now notorious Murakami Fund, as well as for some of the other ways he has been moving his money about.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 3, 2006
Inflation, Japanese monetary policy and global imbalances
Here are three questions to ponder over in the summer season: Is inflation back? When will Japanese interest rates start rising? Do global imbalances matter?
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 5, 2006
A sleuth's Marple-lous take on takeover bids
In the novel "A Caribbean Mystery," Miss Marple asks Mr. Rafiel about takeover bids. She sounds like someone who is talking about a word in a foreign language.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 8, 2006
In search of Galbraithian wisdom for Japan's woes
John Kenneth Galbraith died last month. He was arguably one of the most influential economists of our time. One wonders what his comments would have been, had he been asked to say something about the course of the Japanese economy during these past few months.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 17, 2006
'CPE' by stealth: the state of youth jobs in Japan
French students are victorious. They have managed to push the infamous "first-time employment contract" ("contrat premiere embauche") out of the window.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 20, 2006
What the Merchant of Venice might think about BOJ policy
"The quality of mercy is not strained."
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 27, 2006
Of winter sports and economic fortunes: What's the connection?
The Winter Olympics were last held in Japan in 1998. The stage was Nagano, and on that stage, the Japanese athletes performed brilliantly. They won no less than five gold medals, one silver and four bronzes. Many of the winning athletes sported auburn, if not blonde-tinted hair. Some even went for eyebrows...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 30, 2006
Alchemist or apprentice: a guide to Livedoor hype
Takafumi Horie, aka Horiemon, is in disgrace. He and other senior executives of Livedoor, the Internet company, have been arrested on suspicion of violating securities laws.
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.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
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.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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