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July 17, 2024
 

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ECONOMY

A monitor in Tokyo shows the Nikkei stock average rising above 36,000 on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 17, 2024
Nikkei retraces after setting new 34-year high above 36,200
A weaker yen buoyed the outlook for corporate profits, overshadowing the impact from overnight Wall Street declines and disappointing Chinese economic data.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. None of 51 surveyed economists expects the central bank to raise its negative interest rate this month, with two-thirds forecasting a rate hike by April.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2024
Polled economists all see BOJ holding in January after quake
None of 51 surveyed economists expects the central bank to raise its negative interest rate this month, with two-thirds forecasting a rate hike by April.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrives on stage during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. 2024.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 17, 2024
China sees one of its worst years of growth since 1990 as recovery stalls
China's National Bureau of Statistics revealed that gross domestic product expanded 5.2% to hit 126 trillion yuan ($17.6 trillion) last year.
Li Qiang at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Jan 17, 2024
In Davos, Chinese premier takes aim at trade 'barriers'
Li's remarks came as the World Economic Forum's 54th annual conference is preoccupied with a slew of global risks, including wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
At stake in this year's spring negotiations between trade unions and large Japanese firms, analysts say, is whether wages will rise far enough to ignite the sustainable inflation that policymakers consider a prerequisite for ending negative interest rates.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2024
Japan's top business lobby calls for worker pay raises above inflation
The call sets the tone for annual wage talks that may pave the way for the Bank of Japan to exit its ultraeasy monetary policy.
Takashimaya's managing director, Kazuhisa Yokoyama, holds a news conference on Dec. 27 in Tokyo to address the issue of damaged Christmas cakes that were delivered to hundreds of customers.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 16, 2024
Collapsed cakes and the price of perfection in Japan
As its labor crunch worsens, Japan might see more cases of skimping or slipshod quality.
The "wolf warrior" metaphor is used for Chinese diplomats who are known for aggressively making their country’s case on the world stage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2024
Doves, pandas and dragons: Decoding the global political zoo
Animal metaphors help us reflect on the rich and varied landscape of foreign policy discourse.
A vehicle carrying Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang arrives during an official visit in Kehrsatz, near Bern, in Switzerland, on Monday. Li is visiting Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 16, 2024
China set to woo global elites with large delegation at Davos forum
Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang will make a special address on Tuesday, and will be the most senior Chinese official to attend Davos since President Xi Jinping in 2017.
Japan's input inflation was flat in December, the weakest showing in almost three years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 16, 2024
Japan’s input inflation flatlines for weakest result since 2021
Input prices were unchanged last month from a year earlier, the weakest showing in almost three years as the yen’s recent gains helped cap import costs.
Stronger annual wage negotiation results are likely to pave the way for the Bank of Japan to end its negative interest rate by this spring, a former BOJ official says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 16, 2024
Wage gains of 4% would pave way for BOJ rate hike, ex-official says
Market participants are monitoring annual wage talks closely as they may be a decisive factor in prompting Japan's central bank to end the world’s last negative rate.
The Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance headquarters in Tokyo. The insurer isn't interested in buying Japan’s superlong sovereign bonds until yields start rising.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 16, 2024
Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance to avoid Japan sovereign bonds for now
Japanese life insurers are the main buyer of bonds due in more than 10 years and typically increase purchases toward the end of the fiscal year.
Corporate bankruptcies with liabilities of at least ¥10 million increased 35.2% in 2023 from the previous year.
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2024
Business failures in Japan hit eight-year high in 2023
Failures rose in all 10 surveyed sectors for the first time in 31 years, due to rising prices, deepening labor shortages and the start of repayments of COVID relief loans.
Farmers dry coffee beans at the Thiririka farming cooperative in Kiambu County, Kenya, in November 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2024
Is it time for a coffee cartel?
If farmers in the developing world are prevented from getting their fair share from coffee production they should take matters into their own hands.
The Nikkei stock average temporarily rose above the 36,000 mark in Tokyo trading Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 15, 2024
Nikkei hits 34-year peak above 36,000 as shippers rally
The index finished the day nearly 1% higher at 35,901.73, after touching the highest since February 1990 at 36,008.23.
Former finance ministry official Michio Saito says Japanese long-term yields won’t climb much beyond 1% even if the Bank of Japan revises its yield curve control program.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 15, 2024
Mr. JGB says end of BOJ’s negative rate won’t set yields on fire
Yields won’t keep shooting up after the initial jump as the central bank will still be offering support for the economy, says Nomura's Michio Saito.
U.S. President Joe Biden in Charleston, South Carolina, on Jan. 8
WORLD / Politics
Jan 14, 2024
Biden refines economic pitch for 2024 in bet worst is behind him
Biden’s messaging blitz hinges on whether consumers buy it.
A screen displays the Nikkei 225 Stock Average figure on the trading floor at the Nomura Securities headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 13, 2024
Tokyo stocks find their mojo as bubble-era highs draw nearer
The roaring start to 2024 looks to be on far more solid ground than last time stocks reached these levels as investors bet the country is escaping deflation.
Eleven of 21 sectors surveyed saw increases in winter bonus payments at major Japanese firms.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 13, 2024
Winter bonuses at major Japan firms see modest rise
The average increased for the second year in a row, though at a slower pace than the 7.77% growth marked in winter 2022.
The recent surge in the 225-issue Nikkei average has some strategists believing it could rewrite a new all-time high later this year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 13, 2024
Surging Nikkei may top 40,000 this year, strategists say
The recent surge in the 225-issue Nikkei average has some strategists believing it could rewrite a new all-time high later this year and breach the 40,000 mark.
Foreign visitors learn how to make sushi in a cooking class in Tokyo's Asakusa district. Japan's services balance swung back into the black in November, thanks to increased spending by foreign visitors to the country.
BUSINESS
Jan 12, 2024
Japan logged record ¥1.93 trillion current account surplus in November
The current account surplus, one of the widest gauges of international trade, expanded 8.7% from a year earlier.
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
China’s economic growth comes in worse than expected
Pedestrians in the Wangfujing shopping area in Beijing on July 11, 2024. China's economic growth in the second quarter was lower than forecast, adding pressure on Chinese leaders to lift confidence at the Chinese Communist Party's third plenum this week.
Kansai airports to increase takeoff and landing slots ahead of Osaka Expo
Kansai International Airport in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture. The upper limit on the number of takeoff and landing slots at the airport as well as Kobe Airport in Hyogo Prefecture will be raised in spring next year ahead of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

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