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December 22, 2024
 

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Heizo Takenaka

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Heizo Takenaka
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 7, 2021
What’s behind Japan’s ambivalence about Kishida
Kishida has toed a cautious line on almost everything, raising questions about how he will actually deliver on his policies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 11, 2021
Will Japan’s economy improve in 2021?
The Japanese economy is slowly recovering. In the second quarter of 2020, GDP growth rate was a grim -28%. The third quarter showed a recovery of 23%, but there are still many problems.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 25, 2020
The post-COVID-19 industrial revitalization
There's still no end in sight for the pandemic crisis, but as Japan's economy averts a worst-case scenario, how to revitalize its industries is becoming a major issue.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2020
Getting 'Suganomics' on track: Three points to gauge PM's progress
The new Japanese government will be successful if early and small successes can be achieved to give it momentum.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 21, 2020
Macroeconomic challenges amid the COVID-19 crisis
The government faces a difficult road ahead in guiding the economy through all the twists and turns of the pandemic.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2020
Japan's post-pandemic information technology challenges
A 'shock therapy' policy that identifies clear targets and timelines, and implements reforms in one go, is needed to push forward Japan's digital transformation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 26, 2020
Japan’s structural problems exposed by COVID-19 crisis
A crisis exposes the contradiction inherent in a society in various forms. That is an important lesson from history. The confusion caused by the COVID-19 crisis has brought various problems of Japanese society into focus. But that also means an opportunity to drastically reform society in one go. It...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2020
The right economic response to the COVID-19 crisis
Extraordinary measures are needed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2020
Coronavirus crisis exposes Japan’s strength and weakness
The COVID-19 pandemic will likely prompt Japan to fully embrace the digital shift.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 25, 2020
Now is the time for Japan to make a digital shift
The coronavirus pandemic has made it clear that Japan lags far behind other countries in putting new digital technologies to actual use.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 3, 2020
Reforming Japan's social security system
Rebuilding Japan's fiscal health will be impossible without overhauling the social security system.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 24, 2020
Take a fresh look at intangible assets
A key challenge for the economy going forward is to how to invigorate Japanese firms' investments in intangible assets.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 27, 2019
Nurture Japan's strength to innovate
Japan is lagging behind many other countries when it comes to innovation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 29, 2019
What Japan's next stimulus package should aim for
The government's challenge will be to put together a spending package that shores up consumer spending and increases the economy's growth potential.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 31, 2019
Questions over raising minimum wages
The adoption of a social security policy for the purpose of a competition policy must be avoided.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2019
New Cabinet's must-do economic policies
The Cabinet must pursue management of the economy that will achieve near-term stimulus and medium- to long-term growth.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2019
Break the bureaucrats' grip on policy power
Despite past reforms, the bureaucracy continues to wield strong influence over policy decisions today.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2019
Managing the economy in a slowdown
The Abe administration has secured a stable political footing, but is now confronted with major challenges in its economic policies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 25, 2019
Politicians must address retirement concerns
The government needs to make information about the public pension system more transparent and easy to understand.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2019
The high cost of the U.S.-China confrontation
Japan must not underestimate the cost that the U.S.-China confrontation could bring.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

Podcast

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

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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