Tag - japanese-economy

 
 

JAPANESE ECONOMY

Kimono-clad visitors take selfie photographs at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto on Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2023
In July, Japan welcomed most overseas visitors since pandemic hit
The weak yen is helping to boost tourism and contribute to a surge in growth for the world's third-largest economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 15, 2023
Return of Chinese group tours to Japan to bring economic boost
The average amount of spending by individual Chinese tourists is the second largest at ¥338,238, just behind ¥358,888 by travelers from the U.K.
Japan’s economy has expanded at a much faster pace than forecast, despite weak domestic consumption.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 15, 2023
Japan’s GDP grows at 6% on strong exports as consumption falters
Capital spending by businesses was flat, versus forecasts of a 0.4% increase, while private consumption unexpectedly declined by 0.5%.
Blackstone is working on more acquisitions in Japan with several bids out and properties like hotels and data centers in the pipeline.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 14, 2023
Blackstone eyes more Japan property after selling $4.5 billion
Real estate investments in Japan have been rosy compared to other countries, where rising costs have squeezed finances and workers have shunned offices.
The Bank of Japan's attempts to dismantle ultraloose monetary policies have led to unexpected market reactions and left some investors struggling to understand the central bank's intentions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 10, 2023
The BOJ gets a new doctrine. It’s just keeping it to itself.
The BOJ is likely sincere when it says the 2% price goal is still some way off, even if one member seemingly believes it’s on the horizon.
Japan's wholesale inflation slowed in July year-on-year due to softer energy costs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 10, 2023
Japan's wholesale inflation slowed in July for seventh month
The slowing pace of increases, due to softer energy utility costs, suggest pressures that drove up consumer prices are running their course.
Some strategists think that foreign investors, who had helped drive one of the world’s biggest rallies so far this year, may pose risks for Japan’s stock market in the second half.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 9, 2023
Global funds that drove Topix rally may now threaten Japan gains
A lack of bold policy measures by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and China's economic slowdown are also seen as curbing the bullish trend.
A recent report showed that the number of career bureaucrats leaving government to join startups had quadrupled over the two years through fiscal 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 8, 2023
Japan’s young civil servants are growing disillusioned
Big companies remain the most popular career option, attracting 34% of those who change jobs.
Eisuke Sakakibara, former top finance official, says Japanese authorities are unlikely to intervene in foreign exchange markets to prop up the yen.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2023
Japan's 'Mr. Yen' Sakakibara expects no intervention
The yen has fallen around 14% since the Fed began rapidly raising rates to combat soaring inflation in March 2022.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference, following the central bank's policy meeting, on July 28.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2023
BOJ debated chance of sustained inflation at July meeting
The central bank's upbeat view on the inflation outlook suggests they are now more convinced that conditions for phasing out stimulus could fall in place.
Technical trainees from Vietnam work at a knitwear factory in the city of Mitsuke, Niigata Prefecture, in February 2019.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2023
Japan is bringing in more foreign nationals than you think
Japan isn’t an outlier when it comes to low fertility rates, merely a front-runner.
Chef and restaurant owner Rikuo Morimoto, who runs the restaurant Andante in Tokyo, on May 1. A 2019 government report estimated that about 1.27 million small business owners would be 70 or older by 2025 and have no successors.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 6, 2023
'Era of mass closures': The Japanese firms with no successors
A 2019 government report estimated that about 1.27 million small business owners would be 70 or older by 2025 and have no successors.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2023
Japan shares post biggest one-day drop this year
Then benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average closed down 2.30% at 32,707.69 — its sharpest one-day drop since Dec. 20.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. BOJ Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida has said there is still a long way to go before conditions fall into place for the bank to raise its short-term interest rate target.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2023
BOJ tweak not prelude to ultralow rates exit: deputy governor
Shinichi Uchida said there is still a long way to go before the BOJ can raise its short-term interest rate target from the current minus 0.1%.
A new high-rise is erected in Beijing in October 2021. The same year, 41% of the assets in China’s banking system were accounted for by property-related loans and credit.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023
Is Japan’s economic past China’s future?
China is facing a long period of low growth similar to Japan’s experience since the 1990s.
Japan's industrial production in June climbed 2% from the previous month, led by brisk output of new automobiles amid strong demand at home and abroad.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2023
Japan’s production rebounds, signaling continued modest recovery
Factory output rose 2% from the previous month, rebounding from the previous month and led by increases in cars and electronic devices.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda gives a news conference in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ jolted financial markets by loosening its grip on bond yields.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2023
BOJ yields some control, but also throws a curveball
In trying to keep several plates spinning as it pertains to monetary policy and inflation, BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda steps on his message.
Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on Friday. The Japanese yen is on a bumpy path toward strengthening after Friday's central bank policy change, threatening to upend the carry trade, one of this year's most popular strategies, as the currency inevitably becomes more expensive.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jul 29, 2023
Bank of Japan's opaque policy shift means stronger and wilder yen
The Japanese yen is on a bumpy path toward strengthening after Friday's central bank policy change, threatening to upend the carry trade.
Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan, speaks during a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 28, 2023
BOJ to allow ‘greater flexibility’ with yield curve control policy
The bank also raised its inflation forecast in the quarterly outlook, projecting that consumer prices for fiscal 2023 will be 2.5%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 28, 2023
Japan’s average minimum wage set to top ¥1,000
With the government eager to create a healthy cycle of pay and price increases, the minimum wage panel suggested a record 4.3% hike from the current average of ¥961.

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Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?