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April 05, 2025
 

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ECONOMY

Japan's new prime minister may want to consider setting a budget surplus-to-gross domestic product target to ensure that the nation stays in the black, government adviser Takero Doi has said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 3, 2024
Japan’s new prime minister must set fresh fiscal target, adviser says
Setting such a target would help bring down Japan’s public debt-to-GDP ratio, government adviser Takero Doi has said in an interview.
Concern about the yen strengthening might limit the Bank of Japan's room for maneuver.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024
Yen calling the shots as BOJ mulls rate increase
Analysts are concerned that the BOJ is at risk of going too far with its rate hikes and that the currency is close to being too strong.
The U.S. has been pressuring Japan to impose additional restrictions on the ability of firms to sell advanced chipmaking tools to China, as part of a long-running campaign to curtail China’s semiconductor progress.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024
China warns Japan of retaliation over potential new chip curbs
One major concern is that Beijing could cut off Japan’s access to critical minerals that are essential for automotive production.
Japanese firms' capital expenditure rose 1.9% in the three months through June from the previous quarter.
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2024
Japan’s firms lift outlays in sign of modest domestic demand
Capital expenditure on goods excluding software rose 1.9% in the three months through June from the previous quarter.
With so many voters suffering financially and showing an eagerness to throw politicians out of office, delivering higher living standards appears to be a necessary condition for restoring political stability to the world’s democracies.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2024
Political and economic chaos through 'the looking glass'
America is not alone in experiencing an unanticipated upheaval. Five years ago, it seemed inconceivable that a major ground war would occur on the European continent.
Despite current limitations, the progression toward practical humanoid robots is anticipated, driven by advancements in technology and artificial intelligence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 1, 2024
The future of robots is coming on two legs
Unlike traditional robots, which have already transformed industries with their transport capabilities, bipedal robots are still in the early stages of deployment.
Core consumer prices in Japan's capital rose 2.4% in August from a year earlier, accelerating for the fourth straight month and keeping alive market expectations of further interest rate hikes in coming months.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 30, 2024
Inflation accelerates beyond forecasts in Tokyo, boosting case for rate hike
Analysts say the data shows that the real economy and its fundamentals are continuing to recover but at a slow pace.
Despite the challenges, including sluggish consumption and market volatility, the Bank of Japan's recent policy adjustments reflect a strategy aimed at ensuring a stable path toward its inflation goals.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 30, 2024
BOJ’s recent policy changes highlight a shift toward global monetary practices
The BOJ's approach is influenced by global financial regulations and aims to balance market stability with effective monetary policy.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2024
Japan raises view of economy for first time in 15 months
The Cabinet Office said in its August report that the economy is recovering at a moderate pace, and only parts of it are pausing.
For a billionaire with a mission to prevent climate change, “He greened the energy policy of the world’s fourth-biggest economy (Japan),” would make a hell of an epitaph for Mike Cannon-Brookes. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024
An activist investor could green Japan for $700 million
For a billionaire with a mission to prevent climate change, "Greened the energy policy of the world’s fourth-biggest economy” would make a hell of an epitaph.
Japanese workers in their 40s and 50s — known as the "lost generation" — saw their wages rise slightly in the second quarter.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2024
Japan’s 'lost generation' gets a raise, and the economy, a small boost
The pay bump in the second quarter is vitally important to the economy, as consumption by Japanese workers in their 40s and 50s is an important driver of growth.
The government made it mandatory for companies to disclose their gender pay gap in 2022, but disclosure alone isn’t enough to improve the situation, data suggests.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2024
Disclosure rules fail to narrow Japan’s yawning gender pay gap
There has been little progress toward equality, with the highest-paying firms showing some of the biggest disparities.
Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 28, 2024
BOJ deputy governor sees rate hike justified if outlook realized
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino's comments underscore the central bank's basically unchanged stance following ructions in the financial markets.
There is a significant divide between security experts, who emphasize the unquantifiable risks of geopolitical instability, and economists, who focus on the measurable costs of restructuring supply chains.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2024
Traditional economics fail the geopolitical test
The seemingly yawning gap between the views of the security specialists and the business and economics types is striking.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda "predictably unpredictable" actions and policy shifts highlight the need for improved communication, reflecting modern central banking practices.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 28, 2024
How long can the BOJ get away with rate shocks?
The BOJ’s shifting policies and Kazuo Ueda’s unpredictable approach reflect the need for better alignment with modern central banking practices.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a Lower House committee meeting on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Aug 26, 2024
BOJ shows how action matters more than hawkish signs
In the debate over how central banks can affect market perceptions, the central bank may have gotten it right when in July it raised rates for a second time.
U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2024
Powell’s pivot leaves traders debating size and path of rate cuts
Bond traders are now focusing in on bets over the size of the first U.S. interest rate reduction and the future path of easing.
Robert C. Neff, passed away at after a long illness at 77 years old on July 31, 2024, at his home in Hayama, south of Tokyo.
COMMUNITY
Aug 25, 2024
The American journalist ahead of the game on an ascendant Japan
Neff was part of a golden age of magazine journalism as Tokyo bureau chief for Businessweek magazine and a lover of hot spring retreats.
IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas says Japan's inflation is higher than 2% and inflation expectations have started to move toward, or "maybe even a little bit above" the BOJ's 2% target. As a result, the BOJ is normalizing the extremely loose monetary policy it has had for decades.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 24, 2024
IMF sees scope for Bank of Japan to keep raising rates
The BOJ can raise interest rates gradually as heightening inflation expectations leave further scope for normalization, the IMF said.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a Lower House hearing on Friday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 23, 2024
Ueda promises better communication as he sticks to the script
Ueda took extra care with his comments to an extraordinary session of parliament called to discuss the market turmoil sparked by the central bank's surprise rate hike.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
3D printer used to construct train station building in Japan
A train station building (front) is assembled from parts printed using 3D printer technology, in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.

Podcast

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

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
By Johan Brooks

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BOARDING & INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2025 (Sunday, April 20)
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