Tag - japanese

 
 

JAPANESE

As investors look for opportunities in the new environment created by the Bank of Japan and the resulting market turmoil, there is broad consensus that they will have to reevaluate what they thought they knew about the country.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 7, 2024
Japan morphs into the center of worry for global investors
In less than a week, Japan has completely upended the world’s expectations for its markets and economy.
The Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in Tokyo
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 7, 2024
Former actor held over alleged break-in to smell Tokyo woman's underwear
The man was arrested while serving a suspended sentence after being convicted in 2022 for stealing another woman's underwear in Fukuoka Prefecture.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. BOJ Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida sent a strong dovish signal in the wake of historic financial market volatility in Japan by pledging to refrain from hiking interest rates when markets are unstable.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 7, 2024
BOJ deputy governor plays down chance of near-term rate hike
Shinichi Uchida's remarks stand in contrast with Gov. Kazuo Ueda's hawkish comments made last week when the BOJ unexpectedly raised interest rates.
Kagoshima District Court has given a former Kagoshima Prefectural Police officer a suspended sentence for leaking investigative information.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 6, 2024
Former Kagoshima police officer found guilty of leaking investigation details
The judge said that the magnitude of the privacy violation was large as the officer shared information on personal criminal records and details of more than 100 cases.
Ngun Nei Par, the general manager at Ginshotei Awashima in Numata, Gunma Prefecture, graduated from a university in Myanmar with a degree in geography.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 6, 2024
Japan needs foreign workers, but it might not want them to stay long
Japanese politicians remain reluctant to create pathways for foreign workers, especially those in low-skill jobs, to stay indefinitely.
Yoshifumi Matsumura (second from right), head of the National Public Safety Commission, inspects Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district in June.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 5, 2024
Tokyo host bar worker arrested over kickbacks for brokering prostitution
It is the first time a worker at a host bar has been arrested over receiving kickbacks for brokering prostitution.
The Bank of Japan released minutes from its June policy board meeting Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 5, 2024
Up rates before it’s 'too late,’ one BOJ policy board member said in June
Some members of the nine-member policy board mentioned that a weak yen could inflate import prices and put upward pressure on consumer prices.
The Nikkei stock index saw the biggest plunge in eight years Friday following the Bank of Japan's rate hike earlier in the week.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Aug 4, 2024
Investors take long-term view as rate hike whipsaws Japan
As the country normalizes after years of negative interest rates, corporate pricing power and higher pay for workers may spur economic growth, analysts say.
Chef Hironori Fujii moved his restaurant, Oryouri Fujii, to the Iwase district of Toyama City in 2019, finding the ideal setting in its historic surroundings.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Aug 4, 2024
Oryouri Fujii: High-end Japanese cuisine in a picture-perfect Toyama setting
Chef Hironori Fujii will serve according to the seasons: ‘ayu’ (sweetfish) and ‘nodoguro’ (blackthroat perch) in summer; snow crab and yellowtail in winter.
Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi meets with victims of forced sterilization at the ministry in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 2, 2024
Victims of forced sterilization seek ¥15 million in compensation
Under a now-defunct eugenics law, the government allowed doctors to perform nonconsensual sterilization surgery and abortion on those with disabilities.
Kazuo Momma, former assistant governor of the Bank of Japan
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2024
BOJ likely to hike in October after big shift, former official says
The BOJ’s basic stance now seems to be that as real rates are extremely low, they can keep raising them as long as no major shock hits the economy.
A government white paper stressed the need to pay attention to the impact of interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan on personal consumption.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2024
Japan warns of weak yen impact on households in government white paper
A weak yen has become a source of concern for policymakers as it has dampened consumption by inflating the cost of importing fuel, food and raw material.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. A majority of the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg said this week’s rate hike by the central bank was appropriate, and nearly 70% expected the rate to be raised again by the end of this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2024
Most BOJ watchers rethink pace of hikes after Ueda’s hawkishness
Some 68% of 41 economists see the policy rate rising to 0.5% from 0.25% by the end of this year, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda holds a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday. The bank raised rates to 0.25% in just the second hike since 2007.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 1, 2024
Ueda’s big day was lost in a communication black hole
The BOJ should improve its information release process, including fixing leaks and setting fixed release times, to avoid similar issues in the future.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after the central bank's policy meeting, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2024
BOJ’s sudden hawkishness attributed to yen defense
Economists believe political pressure may have had something to do with the central bank’s shift in stance.
As metal prices rise, so do cases of theft, with more and an increasing number of metal cables being stolen from solar power plants in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
Japan's solar plants see over 9,000 cases of cable theft since 2023
The survey were the first to be conducted by the National Police Agency on the situation, at a time when metal prices are rising.
Japan's personal mortgages are set to rise for the first time in a generation following the Bank of Japan's rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2024
Japan’s ultralow mortgages to see first increase in 17 Years
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said it plans to increase the short-term prime rate for the first time in 17 years in September.
A 28-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of deceiving a man she met on a dating app into paying her cash for sexually transmitted infection tests.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
Tokyo woman arrested on suspicion of STI test fraud
Police said Misaki Watanabe asked a man to pay for tests before engaging in sexual relations, but ceased all communication after receiving the money.
The amount of money stolen in fraud cases linked to social media in the first half of 2024 exceeded that of the whole 2023, the National Police Agency said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
¥66 billion stolen in Japan via online scams in first half of 2024
Of the investment fraud cases reported, 51.6% involved advertisements on social media platforms.
Forced sterilization plaintiff Sumiko Nishi at her home in Hino, western Tokyo, on Wednesday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 31, 2024
First settlement reached for forced sterilization plaintiff in Japan
The state has agreed to pay ¥16.5 million — the same amount awarded to plaintiffs in a related Supreme Court case.

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’