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December 22, 2024
 

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DEBT

Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Personal debt is overwhelming an increasing number of Japanese as higher interest rates and the rising cost of living bite.
The streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district in 2020. Consultations over matters relating to host clubs have been increasing every year at police stations nationwide, according to the National Police Agency.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2024
National Police Agency panel calls for stricter rules against host clubs
The expert panel recommends targeting malicious practices, rather than specific establishments, to cover more ground.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 12.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 3, 2024
Barbados completes world's first debt swap for climate resilience
Barbados' new deal could generate around $125 million to go toward sewage treatment plant upgrades that should boost water supplies and reduce pollution.
"No matter who takes the helm, Japan’s fiscal discipline will worsen in a situation like this," said Mana Nakazora, a credit analyst on an economic panel advising Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 3, 2024
Japan needs a wake-up call on debt, government advisor warns
The advisor criticized the government’s decision to resume subsidies for utilities as part of the stimulus package.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of the U.S. Treasury market as it sets global stock and bond prices and shapes U.S. deficit financing costs.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2024
Bessent will have to fix America's finances. Good luck with that.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of the U.S. Treasury market as it sets global stock and bond prices and shapes U.S. deficit financing costs.
Amid a slowing economy, Beijing has avoided large-scale fiscal stimulus to prevent further debt buildup, focusing instead on modest measures to alleviate regional financial stress without adding new borrowing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 21, 2024
No, China doesn’t really have a debt crisis
Beijing is gun-shy about fiscal stimulus due to concerns more debt will build up. This thinking is muddled.
A Ferrari F12tdf fetched a record-high price of ¥171,001,000 ($1.09 million) in a tax agency auction this week.
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2024
Ferrari sells for ¥171 million at Japanese tax sale
The gunmetal gray Ferrari F12tdf, registered in 2017 and with only 1,509 kilometers on the odometer, received 127 bids during the auction.
The streets of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, in October show that the city is still struggling from the aftermath of the Jan. 1 earthquake and heavy rain in September.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Nov 15, 2024
Japan faces urgent need to boost state finances for emergencies
If a major earthquake were to strike directly beneath Tokyo, the projected damage would total around ¥107.5 trillion.
China's finance ministry estimates "hidden debt" — or debt accumulated through local government financing vehicles — was at 14.3 trillion yuan ($2 trillion) at the end of 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 11, 2024
What you need to know about China's $1.4 trillion debt package
Beijing aims to swap "hidden debt" for official debt to help local governments save hundreds of billion yuan in interest, and unclog money pipes to the real economy.
Investigators from the Osaka Prefectural Police conduct a search last month at the high-end Japanese restaurant Tenhime, operated by Tateki Okuda, in the city of Osaka.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024
Osaka brothel owner arrested for allegedly forcing 150 into prostitution
The suspect, who had already been arrested for facilitating prostitution, was newly arrested along with four others for offering venues for prostitution.
Krishna Srinivasan, director of Asia and Pacific at the International Monetary Fund
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 2, 2024
IMF Asia-Pacific chief urges Japan to start debt cuts
The leading IMF official called for Japan to "have a well fleshed-out, credible medium-term fiscal framework."
Government Pension Investment Fund saw a loss of 3.6% in the three months through September, with assets totaling ¥248.2 trillion ($1.6 trillion), it said Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 1, 2024
GPIF has worst loss since 2020 as yen strength hits assets
GPIF, one of the world’s largest state pension funds, incurred losses in three of four major asset classes.
Krishna Srinivasan, director of the International Monetary Fund's Asia Pacific Department
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 1, 2024
Japan must avoid issuing debt to fund fresh spending, IMF says
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has pledged to compile another large-scale spending package to cushion the blow to households from the rising cost of living.
Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto (front) stands next to Indonesia's new Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin during a handover ceremony at the Ministry of Defense in Jakarta on Oct. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 31, 2024
Indonesia’s new president faces $186 billion debt dilemma
Indonesia might have as little as $70 billion in government coffers after debt servicing and the required fund transfers to regional governments.
Baku Olympic Stadium, the venue of the COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 26, 2024
Future of U.N. climate dialogue threatened by budget shortfall
An analysis found a budget hole of at least €57 million — or nearly half of the funding needed for the U.N. climate secretariat to run annual climate negotiations.
Senior IMF official Vitor Gaspar speaks during an interview in Washington last Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 24, 2024
IMF official warns Japan of debt deterioration in event of future shock
The IMF predicts that Japan's debt will exceed 250% of its gross domestic product this year before gradually decreasing.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Fall meetings signage outside the IMF headquarters in Washington on Sunday
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 21, 2024
As poor nations' default wave peaks, a cash shortage could replace it
The issue, and what to do about it when Western countries are increasingly loath to send money overseas, is a key topic at the IMF World Bank autumn meetings this week.
Gantry cranes at the Yantian International Container Terminals in Shenzhen, China, on April 15
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 21, 2024
World economy fault lines shift from prices to politics and debt
The U.S. presidential election, soaring government debt and the escalating conflict in the Middle East all hang over the global economic outlook.
Interest on the federal debt exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in fiscal 2024 while spending grew for the Social Security retirement program, health care and the military, the Treasury Department said Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 19, 2024
U.S. budget deficit tops $1.8 trillion in fiscal 2024, third-largest on record
The deficit for the year ended Sept. 30 was up 8%, or $138 billion, from the $1.695 trillion recorded in fiscal 2023.
Afghan women after an earthquake in Herat, Afghanistan, on Oct. 10, 2023
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 14, 2024
Poorest nations in worst financial shape since 2006, World Bank says
The World Bank report finds these economies are poorer today, on average, than they were on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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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