Tag - japanese-economy

 
 

JAPANESE ECONOMY

Japan Exchange Group only has a female board ratio of 13%, a level that’s less than half the average of global peers.
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2023
Japan stock exchange’s board diversity is among worst in world
Japan Exchange Group’s female board ratio remains far below global peers and its own listing rule goal.
The average for summer bonuses this year was slightly higher than the ¥845,453 in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and trailed only the ¥870,731 in 2018, the labor ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 9, 2023
2023 summer bonuses second-highest on record in Japan
Bonuses at major Japanese companies this summer averaged ¥845,557, up 1.59% from a year before, the labor ministry has announced.
Kazuo Ueda
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 9, 2023
BOJ's Ueda signals chance of ending negative rates, report says
The central bank could have enough data by year-end to determine whether it can end negative rates, Gov. Kazuo Ueda said in an interview.
Japan's economy grew less than initially estimated in the second quarter as capital expenditure slid, suggesting heightening overseas uncertainties are weighing on business confidence.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 8, 2023
Japan economic growth revised down as firms and consumers cut back
Gross domestic product grew at an annualized 4.8% from the previous three months, revised figures from the Cabinet Office showed Friday.
Kohei Saito, a philosophy professor at the University of Tokyo who appears regularly in Japanese media to discuss his ideas, at home in Tokyo on March 16.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 7, 2023
Can shrinking be good for Japan? A Marxist bestseller makes the case.
Saito has tapped into what he describes as a growing disillusionment in Japan with capitalism’s ability to solve the problems people see around them.
People make their way through Tokyo's Ameyoko shopping district. In a sign rising inflation is already taking a toll on consumption, Japan's household spending suffered its biggest drop in nearly 2½ years in July.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 7, 2023
China's economic gloom hangs over Japan's long-awaited recovery
If Beijing fails to shore up demand with meaningful stimulus, that could potentially delay an exit from the Bank of Japan's ultraloose monetary policy.
Hajime Takata, a member of the policy board at the Bank of Japan
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 6, 2023
BOJ policymaker sees signs of change in deflationary mindset
Conditions for phasing out the bank's massive stimulus seem to be falling into place, central bank policymaker Hajime Takata said.
Tourists drive rental go-karts while dressed up as game characters through the streets of Shibuya and other areas of Tokyo in December 2018.
COMMENTARY
Sep 6, 2023
A 10-year tourist boom and all I got was this lousy 'Mario Kart'
Like cockroaches in a nuclear apocalypse, seemingly nothing can destroy the "Mario Karts": not legal action, not the government and not even the pandemic.
Japan's household spending dropped 2.7% in July from the previous month, as persistent inflation continued to erode purchasing power.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2023
Japan’s households cut back spending as Kishida considers measures
Weak data indicate an economy struggling to build momentum as inflation outpaces wage gains and consumer spending remains below pre-pandemic levels.
The total value of unpaid household tasks was ¥111 trillion for women and ¥32 trillion for men in 2021, according to a recent Cabinet Office report, indicating the amount of men's work around the home is less than a third of what women do.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 4, 2023
Japanese women are missing out on ¥111 trillion in unpaid wages
A recent report has highlighted both the wage gap between men and women, as well as the sheer amount of uncompensated work that gets done in Japan.
Japan's economic output ran above full capacity in April-June for the first time in nearly four years, a government estimate showed, suggesting that conditions for ending its policy of ultralow interest rates could be falling into place.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2023
Japan's economic output runs above capacity in signal for BOJ
The data suggests that conditions for Japan to end its policy of ultralow interest rates could be falling into place.
Japanese companies raised spending on plants and equipment in the April-June quarter but the pace of annual gains slowed to the lowest in five quarters, reflecting global recession worries amid China's slowing growth.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 1, 2023
Japan firms cut capital spending over global growth concerns
The latest figures feed into a picture of Japan’s growth being overly reliant on overseas demand.
Bank of Japan board member Toyoaki Nakamura says it is uncertain whether smaller companies can earn enough profits to keep hiking wages next year and beyond.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 31, 2023
BOJ policymaker warns against premature monetary tightening
Tightening monetary policy before rising prices are accompanied by higher wages would hurt domestic demand and corporate profits, Toyoaki Nakamura said.
According to a survey conducted by the Tokyo Stock Exchange, 20% of the 1,235 prime-listed companies have come up with specific measures.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 31, 2023
Most Japan firms yet to disclose plans for better capital efficiency
The TSE made a rare call in March for firms to disclose plans in the long run to improve capital efficiency, but nearly 70% have yet to do so.
Manufacturing machinery and electronic components were among the biggest drags on Japan's industrial output in July.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 31, 2023
Japan output drops in July as global slowdown reverberates
Factory output declined 2% from June, the industry ministry said Thursday.
As China slips into deflation, one word is popping up more and more to describe the gloomy atmospherics: "Japanification."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 30, 2023
'Japanification' for China? It should be so lucky.
China is not on the path to global dominance nor set for collapse, and observers should consider the various shades of gray in analyzing these countries.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. A board member with the central bank Naoki Tamura has hinted that officials might be able to confirm some time early next year they’ve hit the goal needed to usher in policy change.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2023
Leading BOJ hawk hints at chance of policy shift in early 2024
"The achievement is finally and clearly within sight after a decade of large-scale monetary easing aimed at attaining it,” board member Naoki Tamura said.
Japan’s unemployment rate rose for the first time in four months in July.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2023
Rising jobless rate dims outlook for labor market and inflation
The job market must tighten to spur wage gains, which in turn would contribute to a virtuous cycle of inflation and salaries.
A gasoline tanker truck at an Eneos gas station in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2023
LDP approves extension of gasoline subsidy to year-end
The ruling party also agreed in principle to further expand the program, which pays subsidies to oil wholesalers to curb retail fuel price increases.
The Bank of Japan's inflation outlook doesn’t reflect reality, according to one of the country’s leading experts on prices.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2023
BOJ’s outlook doesn’t reflect reality, key price expert says
While the bank sharply raised its price outlook last month, it was still kept too low, said University of Tokyo economics professor Tsutomu Watanabe.

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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?