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July 28, 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.
Japan Times
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.
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
Yen melt-up nudges Japanese stocks into correction territory
Japanese stocks are down 10% from their July peak as the yen strengthens.
‘Crazy’ yen rally is at risk of shattering as soon as Wednesday
Some investors are warning that a yen rally is fragile, as was on show this week when the yen rapidly retraced an advance after Thursday’s stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth figures.
Japan's average life expectancy rises for first time in three years
A decline in COVID-19-caused deaths likely helped boost the average life expectancy for Japanese men and women to rise for the first time in three years in 2023.
The Japanese Olympians looking to shine in Paris
Rim Nakamura, who is attempting to win Japan's first Olympic gold medal in cycling, will be one of the top Japanese athletes to watch at the Paris Games.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan eyes gold — and the future — as Olympic men's soccer campaign begins
Japan midfielder Yu Hirakawa controls the ball during a match against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.

Podcast

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

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
By Alex K.T. Martin

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