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August 15, 2024
 

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Elizabeth Beattie
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida leaves at the end of a news conference, in which he announced he is stepping down, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 14, 2024
Kishida's shock announcement shakes already unsettled Japanese markets
The prime minister's decision to step down follows the Bank of Japan's surprise rate hike just two weeks earlier.
An electronic board displaying Topix and the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2024
Tokyo’s Monday stock crash an afterthought by Friday
Concern remained, and the search for a coherent explanation as to why Tokyo stocks crashed and shook investors globally was ongoing.
The 225-issue Nikkei stock average dropped more than 4,000 points on Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 5, 2024
Nikkei plunges by 12% as it registers largest-ever point fall
The drop exceeds the point fall recorded Oct. 20, 1987, the day after Black Monday in New York.
The Nikkei 225 fell more than 2,000 points on Friday, capping a volatile week in the financial markets.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 2, 2024
Japanese stocks fall almost 6% just days after shock rate rise
In the span of less than a month, the 225-issue Nikkei average went from all-time records to a shocking rout.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris might maintain some of the economic policies of former President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2024
A President Harris might be decidedly Trumpy in approach to Asia trade
The efforts to contain China economically is a common theme that is likely to be maintained after the election.
Japanese stocks are down 10% from their July peak as the yen strengthens.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 26, 2024
Yen melt-up nudges Japanese stocks into correction territory
Japan’s benchmark index is now down 10% from its July peak, meeting the textbook definition of a market correction.
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2024
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018.
The Nishiki market in Kyoto. June’s inflation report shows extraordinary jumps in the prices of some items favored by households, including cabbage (27.6%), potatoes (28.5%) and tomatoes (15.6%).
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 19, 2024
Households struggle as Japan’s inflation rises near U.S. levels
Consumer prices in Japan rose 2.8% on the year in June, close to the 3.0% in the United States.
An empty street in Fukiya, Okayama Prefecture. Japan may be both experiencing overtourism in some places and witnessing the opposite in others.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024
Japan doesn't have too many tourists, statistics suggest. It just feels that way.
The country received 0.2 tourists per capita in 2023, compared with France's 1.5, Greece's 3.4, Portugal's 2.5 and Spain's 1.8.
Omoide Yokocho in Shinjuku, Tokyo. According to data recently published by Mercer, Tokyo fell 30 places from 2023 and is now the 49th most expensive city in the world, just ahead of Houston.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 9, 2024
Tokyo is cheaper to live in than San Juan, according to global survey
The capital fell a full 30 places from 2023. It was No. 3 in 2020 and No. 1 as recently as 2012.
A monitor displaying the Topix share average, 225-issue Nikkei average and the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar, outside a brokerage in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 5, 2024
Japan’s stock records lack punch of yen’s fall
When the yen collapsed to a 38-year low just days before the stock-index record was achieved, the event was seen as significant and greatly concerning.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 4, 2024
Shareholder revolts in Japan put proxy advisory firms in the hot seat
Two proxy advisory firms are having a moment as thinking around corporate governance in Japan undergoes a gradual shift.
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2024 Liveability Index gave Tokyo perfect scores for stability and health care.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 28, 2024
Osaka and Tokyo ranked as world’s ninth and 14th most livable cities
The Economist Intelligence Unit scores cities on the basis of education, stability, health care, culture, and the environment and infrastructure.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani said that the mobile company now has more than 7 million subscribers, and is seeking to hit 10 million subscribers next.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2024
Money-losing Rakuten Mobile rolls out new 700 MHz service
The new offering, which is being introduced incrementally, will improve connectivity, including in densely populated areas, it says.
The rate of the yen against the dollar displayed in the trading room at foreign exchange brokerage Gaitame.com in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 27, 2024
Yen taken back to the '80s by messaging missteps and loss of confidence
Some analysts see the speculative fever as unsustainable, and that any signs of U.S. inflation falling faster than expected could allow a dramatic comeback.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on June 12
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 24, 2024
Yen nears lows as Bank of Japan leans dovish
The BOJ has suggested in recent weeks that it might not hurry in tightening monetary policy, unsettling the market.
Tuesday's shareholders meeting was held at the company’s headquarters in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 18, 2024
Shareholders deliver vote of confidence to Toyota and Toyoda
They stood their ground against the advice of the world’s most influential proxy advisory services urging them to reject Toyoda's reappointment to the board.
A person uses a tong with a camera and GPS system attached to pick up litter, part of an initiative to boost participation in collecting trash.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jun 16, 2024
Japan’s gamified environment apps target a greener mindset
Government funding has helped drive a boom in environmental and social app development.
Only 6% of the Japanese workforce is engaged while a third of the workforce is job hunting or looking out for new opportunities, according to a Gallup report.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2024
Despite its hardworking image, Japan might be No. 1 in quiet quitting
Only 6% of the Japanese workforce is engaged, one of the lowest readings in the world, according to a Gallup report.
Toyota has temporarily stopped manufacturing its Corolla Fielder and Corolla Axio models following the data falsification scandal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2024
Japan looks to minimize economic fallout of auto-test falsifications
The top government spokesman has described fraudulent activity uncovered this time as "minimal" compared to that of Daihatsu, which spanned decades.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.11 : Sekisui House Ltd.World’s top homebuilder acts on its responsibility
mission sustainability vol.11 : Sekisui House Ltd.World’s top homebuilder acts on its responsibility

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