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September 18, 2024
 

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SPENDING

A supermarket in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, operated by Aeon. Shares of Aeon have extended their gains to 25% this year and reached a record high this week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2024
Seven & I proposal fuels rally in Japanese retailers like Aeon
An increase in Japan’s consumer spending, which accounts for more than half of Asia’s second-biggest gross economy, is also supporting retailers.
The total cost of cooking curry rice has topped ¥300 for the 12th straight month and is expected to exceed ¥350 per serving in August, according to a survey.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2024
Making a bowl of curry rice at home now costs over ¥300, survey says
The cost of the budget-friendly dish hit a record ¥342 in July, up ¥44 from the same period last year, according to a survey.
Shoppers outside an office building in Beijing in August. China's overall public spending — which includes local governments — is shrinking, not growing. It contracted about 2% in the first seven months of 2024.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2024
China’s attempt to boost demand is stifled by wall of austerity
While finance chiefs in Beijing are testing new ways to boost the economy by encouraging demand, their counterparts in the provinces are in full belt-tightening mode.
Japan's household spending rose less than expected in July as consumers remained wary of loosening their purse strings in the face of higher prices.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 6, 2024
Japan’s household spending stays flat in signs of tepid growth
Spending on housing and education jumped from June figures, while outlays on transportation and food declined.
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.
People at the Sensoji temple in Tokyo in July. The three months between June and August were 1.76 degrees Celsius hotter than average in Japan.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Sep 2, 2024
Japan sees joint hottest summer on record
The three months between June and August were 1.76 degrees Celsius hotter than average, matching the record set only last year.
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.
A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
BUSINESS / Economy / Longform
Aug 26, 2024
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?
Intense heat and an increase in storms, by-products of a changing climate, are altering consumer behavior.
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.
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.
Fuel prices are displayed on a board at a gas station in Tokyo in September 2023. Fighting high prices is among the priority policy measures encompassed by a special spending quota for the fiscal year from April 2025.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2024
Japan to create priority policy spending quota in fiscal 2025
Priority measures include strengthening the country's defense capabilities, raising its birthrate and expanding investments in carbon reduction.
The Bank of Japan building in Tokyo on March 18. With the BOJ’s policy tightening, the difficulty of managing the country’s debt payments is expected to become worse.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2024
Japan expects to hit primary balance goal in fiscal 2025
The government initially aimed to achieve the goal in fiscal year 2011 but kept pushing it back for over a decade.
Workers of Save the Children Japan make preparations on July 11 in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, to deliver food to households facing financial difficulties.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 24, 2024
Japanese households worried about summer vacation food costs
A Save the Children Japan survey found that 89.4% of those applying for food aid said they lack enough money for adequate food due to rising prices.
Bank of Japan officials are divided over whether to raise interest rates at a policy meeting next week, people familiar with the matter say.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 23, 2024
BOJ is said to see weak consumer spending complicating rate call
Weak consumer spending has prompted the government to cut its fiscal year growth forecast to 0.9%, with central bank likely lowering its projection to 0.5%.
Covers for paper fans used for oshikatsu activities are sold at a Sanrio shop in Nagoya.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 22, 2024
60% of Japanese moms enjoy supporting their favorites through 'oshikatsu'
68.5% of mothers spend less than ¥50,000 a year on oshikatsu, with those who spend ¥50,000 or more and less than ¥300,000 accounting for 20.7%.
Visitors take photos of a tunnel of roses at Yokohama English Garden on Wednesday in Yokohama.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 18, 2024
Japan’s summer travel spending soars despite economic pressures
Households plan to spend the most in six years this summer as more people aim to travel despite rising inflation and a weakening yen.
Some regional smaller firms have decided to prioritize raising pay to retain or hire workers, even if they have not been earning sufficient profits, the Bank of Japan has said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 8, 2024
Bank of Japan sees wage hikes spreading across economy
The optimistic assessment may heighten the case for the central bank to raise interest rates as soon as its next meeting on July 30 and 31.
Japanese household spending unexpectedly fell in May as higher prices continued to squeeze consumers' purchasing power.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 5, 2024
Japan’s household spending falls, clouding growth outlook
The yen's slide is expected to further raise prices for imported raw materials, energy, and food.
The share of stocks and investment trusts in Japanese household assets rose to a record high of 19.7% at the end of March.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 27, 2024
Japan inflation spurs record shift to household assets in stocks
Households have been coping with a surge in inflation over the past two years.
Japanese household spending in April showed the first year-on-year increase since February last year, marking rises in such categories as education, rent and clothing.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 7, 2024
Japan’s households boost outlays for first time in 14 months
Real outlays rose 0.5% in April from a year ago, marking the first increase since February last year.
'Shogun' becomes first non-English-language winner of best drama Emmy
Japanese actress Anna Sawai, winner of the outstanding lead actress in a drama series award for "Shogun," and Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada, winner of the outstanding lead actor in a drama series award for the show, pose in the press room during the 76th Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Chris Broad's new bar puts cocktails first, YouTube second
A self-proclaimed lover of great cocktails, YouTuber Chris Broad says his new Shibuya watering hole is more a place to get yourself a solid drink than it is anything related to his social media career.
South Korea is facing deepfake porn crisis
Activists hold up symbolic eye masks during a protest against deepfake porn in Seoul on Aug. 30.
In LDP presidential poll, three kingmakers hold all the cards
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo in January as former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (left) looks on.
Yen strengthens beyond ¥140 per dollar for first time since 2023
Then yen strengthened on Monday beyond ¥140 per dollar ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting this week that is widely expected to see officials cut interest rates.
‘Shogun’ and the painstaking art of ‘getting it right’
Hiroyuki Sanada and the cast and crew of "Shogun" accept the award for best drama series at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California.
Japan’s schools battle to keep kids cool, with or without AC
Students sit under a misting system during recess at Hikarigaoka Haru no Kaze Elementary School in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, on Sept. 6.
Chris Broad's new bar puts cocktails first, YouTube second
A self-proclaimed lover of great cocktails, YouTuber Chris Broad says his new Shibuya watering hole is more a place to get yourself a solid drink than it is anything related to his social media career.
In LDP presidential poll, three kingmakers hold all the cards
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo in January as former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (left) looks on.
How China’s dominance of solar and batteries is impacting Japan’s energy transition
Solar panels and wind turbines at a power plant in Hami in China's Xinjiang region. The U.S. and other countries have described China’s actions against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, a key cog in the cleantech supply chain, as a genocidal campaign aimed at erasing an entire culture.

Podcast

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

Longform

A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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Sasakawa works for a sustainable blue economy

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