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August 15, 2024
 

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JAPANESE ECONOMY

Beyond factors such as the "motherhood penalty," Japanese women struggle to advance in their careers due to the structure of the workforce, including the two-tiered clerical versus managerial track.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2024
Why is it taking so long to break the glass ceiling?
Japan isn't unique in having a thick glass ceiling, but some factors don't apply to other countries, like the U.S., where many more managers are women.
The Bank of Japan in January. The BOJ is monitoring wage trends closely for signs of a virtuous cycle linking higher pay with demand-led price gains.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 7, 2024
Japan wage growth beat forecasts in January, in fastest rise since June
The data comes as annual wage negotiations between firms and unions are reaching their climax, with the first results expected next week.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2024
Possible Trump return causing concern for Japanese firms
Trump has already said that he would impose a 10% tariff on all imported products.
Japan’s stock market is breaking records right when the government has launched an expanded tax-free investing account. But due to government regulations, stocks still remain out of reach for many starting investors. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2024
Everyone’s buying Japan shares. I only want to buy one.
An expanded tax-free investment account program that launched to much fanfare at the start of the year has come at a perfect time.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a forum in Tokyo on Tuesday. Tackling a bloated balance sheet is set to be a challenging hurdle for the central bank.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 6, 2024
Normalizing Bank of Japan's balance sheet will take nine years, says ex-official
Failing to issue guidance on the planned normalization could lead to high market volatility in yields, former Executive Director Kenzo Yamamoto warns.
An Upper House budget committee session for questions and answers on the fiscal 2024 draft budget held Wednesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2024
Japan's huge draft budget raises questions over fiscal accountability
The government allocates reserves and determines their use at Cabinet meetings, requiring only retroactive approval by parliament.
A Vietnamese worker picks tomatoes at a farm in Asahi, Chiba Prefecture. Japan is set to sharply increase the number of foreign nationals it accepts under its skilled worker visa, with plans to receive up to 800,000 people in the next five years.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 6, 2024
Japan considers doubling limit on skilled foreign workers
The government is said to be considering adding the road transportation, railway, forestry and timber sectors to those eligible for the visa.
Japan's service sector activity expanded in February, thanks to continued strong demand for inbound tourism.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2024
Japan's service activity grows on firm tourism
Inbound tourism is an important part of Japan's economy, with annual visitor spending exceeding ¥5 trillion for the first time last year.
Economy minister Yoshitaka Shindo said the government was currently not thinking about calling an end to deflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2024
Japan ministers deny report government thinking of calling end to deflation
Policymakers are focused on ensuring the economy doesn't revert to a protracted period of falling prices, they said.
The pickup in consumer prices largely reflected the fading impact of government subsidies rolled out last year to keep a lid on utility costs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2024
Tokyo prices heat up again, supporting case for BOJ rate hike
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.5% in the capital, re-accelerating after cooling in January to a revised 1.8%.
Japan's corporate spending on plants and equipment jumped 16.4% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 4, 2024
Japan corporate capex jumps, paving way for BOJ exit from stimulus
Capital expenditure rose 16.4% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, and 10.4% on a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis.
Shiseido is aiming to cut about 1,500 jobs in Japan through early retirement program.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2024
Outliers in Japanese stocks’ bull run under pressure to downsize
A rising number of blue-chip Japanese companies are cutting staff — a move that used to be seen as a last resort.
Japan's benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average surpassed the 40,000 mark for the first time on Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 4, 2024
Japan's Nikkei index surpasses 40,000 points for first time
The Nikkei’s smashing of previous records is credited in part to the weakness of the yen against the dollar.
A new future initiative aimed at training foreign workers is part of a broader strategy to address pressing labor shortages in Japan.
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2024
Japan eyes training foreign workers amid labor shortages
The proposed training system will supersede the current foreign technical internship system.
Daihatsu saw its sales fall by about 60% in January amid a scandal over fraudulent testing.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2024
Japan auto sales down almost 20% in February
The decline reflected the effects of certification test scandals, with new vehicle sales at Daihatsu down roughly 80% and those at Toyota down about 30%.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government would draw up a political policy package for the next three years or so for system reforms allowing the country's competitiveness and birthrate to improve by 2030.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 1, 2024
Japan may have lowest per capita GDP among major economies in 2060
The government estimate is likely to materialize if the country's productivity growth remains low as in recent years and the population continues to fall.
Japan's unemployment rate fell to 2.4% in January from 2.5% in the previous month, with economists suggesting that the current recession is making firms hesitant to increase job postings.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 1, 2024
Japan’s tight labor market to keep upward pressure on wages
The unemployment rate fell to 2.4% from a revised 2.5% a month earlier, the internal affairs ministry reported Friday.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference in Sao Paulo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 1, 2024
BOJ governor says price target not already in sight
Kazuo Ueda played down the significance of Japan’s slide back into a technical recession.
What is the BOJ hoping to achieve through tighter policy? The bank's governor, Kazuo Ueda, dissented in 2000, arguing then a hike was premature — and he was right. Why the change now.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 29, 2024
Selling a rate hike during recession is tough. Good luck, Ueda.
What sounded like a statement of the obvious by Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda last week — that a country where prices are rising by 2% is, in fact, experiencing inflation — has more to it than meets the eye.
Japan's factory output in January fell at the fastest pace since May 2020 due to a drop in automobile-related production.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 29, 2024
Japan factory output falls at the fastest pace in nearly four years
A production downturn in motor vehicles is also adding to concerns about the fragility of an economy that slipped into recession late last year.
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

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