Tag - economy

 
 

ECONOMY

An electronic stock board displays the 225-issue Nikkei average and the rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar outside a securities firm in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 1, 2024
Ishiba cool on Abenomics, pragmatic and a bit of a mystery
Analysts argue that the new prime minister will be more like former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida than former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Big nonmanufacturers' mood has improved, the Bank of Japan's 
<i>tankan</i> survey shows, underscoring the strength of domestic demand.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 1, 2024
Big manufacturer sentiment steady in third quarter, tankan survey shows
While the survey found optimism among manufacturers, nonmanufacturers expect conditions to worsen in the months ahead.
The Bank of Japan's September board meeting summary suggests the BOJ will endeavor to send clearer hints before raising its benchmark rate again.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 1, 2024
BOJ keen to avoid surprises after rate hike tanked Nikkei, meeting notes show
The bank's July 31 rate hike shocked markets and prompted the 225-issue Nikkei average's biggest tumble on record.
Prices of nearly 3,000 food and beverage products will rise in October, due to the soaring costs of ingredients.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 30, 2024
Food price hikes in Japan in October to be largest so far in 2024
Prices of 2,911 products from 195 major food and beverage manufacturers will be raised in October, surpassing April’s figure.
An employee works on the production line of Nio electric vehicles at a JAC-NIO manufacturing plant in Hefei, Anhui province, in China in 2022.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 30, 2024
China's factory and service sectors skid as stimulus calls grow
The data showed China's manufacturing industry remains a pain point for policymakers, who acknowledged the economy faces "new problems."
Shigeru Ishiba, the newly elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, holds a news conference after the LDP leadership election, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 29, 2024
Ishiba calls for loose monetary policy amid fragile economic recovery
On fiscal policy, Ishiba said he will aim to compile a package of measures at an early date to cushion the economic blow from rising living costs.
Shigeru Ishiba, the newly elected leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party holds a news conference after the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 28, 2024
Ishiba gets down to the business of forming new administration
The incoming prime minister has reportedly decided to keep Yoshimasa Hayashi in the key post of chief cabinet secretary.
A photo of Chinese leader Xi Jinping is displayed at the National Security Exhibition Gallery in Hong Kong on Monday. The 24-man Politburo led by Xi has recently unveiled a series of pro-growth goodies to help the country's economy.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2024
Xi’s big stimulus week aims to draw a line under China slowdown
A recent barrage of policy announcements marked a sea change in Xi’s approach to managing China’s $18 trillion economy.
The Federal Reserve building in Washington. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week he felt that the pre-pandemic years during which the Fed's rate hovered near zero for years and Europe delved into the exotic world of negative rates are gone for good.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 27, 2024
A global hunt for neutral rates to shape world finance costs
Policymakers are exploring whether the rates required to keep inflation in check and economies growing are higher now than the ultra-low ones before the pandemic.
Shoppers in Tokyo. Consumer inflation in the capital eased in September after outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reinstated energy subsidies to help households cope with one of the hottest summers on record.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 27, 2024
Tokyo inflation cools as government resumes energy subsidies
The government's energy subsidies were the biggest factors behind the deceleration, knocking 0.5 percentage point off overall inflation.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a news conference in Osaka on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 26, 2024
Small rate hike unlikely to hurt economy, BOJ policy board noted in July
The move came as a surprise and caused roller-coaster fluctuations in stock and currency markets.
Traders betting on further recovery in Japanese equities are looking to any steer from the Bank of Japan that may cap the yen’s gains and support exporters.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 25, 2024
Japan's corporate service inflation steady, BOJ focusing on Oct data
The BOJ is closely monitoring service-sector inflation to see if demand-driven price increases are broadening enough to warrant further interest rate hikes.
Residential buildings in the Toyosu area in Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 11, 2023. If rising rates on real estate investment loans are seen as a burden, people may become more cautious about acquiring properties for leasing, experts warn.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2024
Tokyo home prices are seen to largely withstand BOJ rate hikes
The days of making large profits from property in Tokyo may be over
Italian former prime minister and economist Mario Draghi (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen take part in a joint news conference about the future of European competitiveness at the EU headquarters in Brussels on Sept. 9.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 25, 2024
Draghi warns Europe — and Japan — about the failure to innovate
The warning could not be clearer. Europe faces “an existential crisis.” “Over time, we will inexorably become less prosperous, less equal, less secure and, as a result, less free to choose our destiny.” Moreover, “without action, we will have to either compromise our welfare, our environment...
CCP Committee Secretary and People's Bank of China head Pan Gongsheng in Beijing on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 25, 2024
Xi’s economic adrenaline shot is only buying China a little time
The measures include interest rate cuts, more cash for banks, bigger incentives to buy homes and plans to consider a stock stabilization fund.
Toyota added ¥200 billion to a ¥1 trillion stock repurchase plan announced in May, according to an exchange filing Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024
Toyota raises buyback to ¥1.2 trillion, citing share levels
The carmaker’s operating profit for the three months ended June 30 was ¥1.31 trillion, 17% higher than a year earlier.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda indicates the central bank is in no rush to raise interest rates further.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 24, 2024
BOJ chief signals no rush in raising rates further
The central bank can afford to spend time scrutinizing market and overseas economic developments in setting monetary policy, Gov. Kazuo Ueda says.
Troops from the Ground Self-Defense Force take part in the 05JX military exercises on the island of Tokunoshima in Kagoshima Prefecture last November. While Japan's overall ranking in the 2024 Asia Power Index dropped, it scored improvements in the defense and security sphere.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2024
Japan falls behind India to No. 4 in new Asia power survey
The 2024 Asia Power Index highlights shifting power dynamics in the region, with the U.S. still dominant but facing rising military pressure from China.
Decades after Bhutan introduced its Gross National Happiness index, the idea that gross domestic product is an inadequate indicator of human well-being and social progress is gaining ground.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2024
Is gross national happiness the way forward?
The World Happiness Report's top-ranked countries tended to be smaller Western countries, led by Finland. Larger Western economies tend to perform worse.
Rice in a field in Tambasasayama, Hyogo Prefecture in August. Rice prices jumped 28.3%, posting the largest increase since September 1975.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2024
Japan core consumer prices up 2.8% in August
Rice prices shot up 28.3%, electricity rates soared 26.2% and city gas rates 15.1%, following an end of government subsidies.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan