Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Jul 6, 2011, 12:37 pm
According to figures released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Tuesday, nominal average monthly cash earnings per regular employee in Japan rose 1.1% year-on-year to Y271,621 in May. Overtime pay fell 3.2% in May, according to the data. Base wages fell 0.4% in May, for the fifth str...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Jun 23, 2011, 8:12 pm
You can read the lies for yourself here: Japan’s giant pension fund sees asset sales steady next year. This has to be one of the worst articles I’ve ever read, full of more lies I’ve ever seen. “Mitani said the 2.5 trillion yen may be recovered under the third supplementary budget that t...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Jun 21, 2011, 7:03 pm
A government paper published on Tuesday said that women make up 11% of lower house members and 1% of corporate leaders. While figures from various media sources vary, it seems clear that Japan has a very low percentage of women in positions of power. Foreign critics, predictably, seem to have no sol...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Mar 29, 2011, 5:39 pm
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has apparently said that suspending the government’s plan to reduce corporate tax rates in the wake of the current crisis is a “major option.” This would be an obvious mistake. Rather than continuing to penalize businesses with a ridiculously high tax burden, Japan nee...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Feb 28, 2011, 8:59 am
There were those who said McDonald’s or Starbucks wouldn’t succeed in the Japanese market. And those who claimed the iPhone wouldn’t gain much traction in Japan appear to have fallen silent. Of course, Facebook has had its naysayers as well, with countless articles telling us why Facebook didn...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Feb 10, 2011, 6:23 pm
According to data released Wednesday by the Cabinet Office, Japan’s Consumer Confidence Index rose by 1.0 point to 41.1 in January, showing an increase for the first time since June of last year. The consumer confidence index itself contains five scores, each of which is considered positive when...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Feb 10, 2011, 9:03 am
Not even two weeks after Standard & Poor’s cut Japan’s sovereign debt rating from AA to -AA, Moody’s has issued a warning that it may downgrade Japan’s sovereign debt rating if fiscal reforms are not soon set in place. Statements from Moody’s indicated that economic growth on its own would...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Feb 8, 2011, 9:34 am
A few days ago I wrote about how average wages in Japan had increased 0.5% in 2010, showing their first rise in four years. A closer look at the figures, however, revealed that base wages had actually declined 0.2% in 2010 to 245,098 yen. The figures had been skewed by increases in overtime pay at m...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Feb 6, 2011, 9:58 am
For those concerned about Japan’s fiscal condition, it may (or may not) come as some relief that the government has set up a new panel of experts to study reforms to the social security and tax systems. The panel met for the first time yesterday, and is being chaired by Prime Minister Naoto Kan. J...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Feb 2, 2011, 10:45 am
Well, sort of. According to a report released yesterday by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, monthly wages in Japan rose 0.5% in 2010 for the first rise in four years. These figures, however, include increases in overtime pay at manufacturers, and underscore the truth that base wages act...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Feb 2, 2011, 5:38 am
Over at Neojaponisme, W. David Marx has done a superb write-up on the decline and firesale of iconic fashion brand A Bathing Ape. The article raises one particularly intriguing question: Will Chinese consumers of BAPE continue to view it as a “hip” brand even though it’s now owned by a Hong ...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Jan 31, 2011, 10:07 am
Last Thursday, Standard & Poor’s cut Japan’s sovereign debt rating from AA to -AA. Reasons given for the downgrade included the aging population, ineluctable increases in social spending liabilities, Japan’s stagnant economy, and a lack of any “coherent” government strategy to deal with th...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Oct 18, 2010, 3:14 am
Earlier today, the Japan Department Store Association released data showing that sales at department stores nationwide fell 5.2% to 446.3 billion yen in September, marking the 31st consecutive month of decline. The survey covered sales at 92 department store operators with 260 shops, down from 263 a...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Sep 21, 2010, 10:11 am
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal opened with this: The Galapagosization of Japan continues. According to a survey released today, a shocking two-thirds of the country’s white-collar workers said they didn’t want to work abroad…ever. The results are downright depressing, given tha...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Sep 17, 2010, 7:31 pm
Back in 2007, some folks in the US were claiming that Japan was keeping its currency weak by pursuing a low interest rate policy. Such accusations were of course out of tune with economic science, but the mainstream media published them unquestioningly nonetheless. In May 2010 we reported that the...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Sep 5, 2010, 10:54 am
There’s no real way to describe this other than quoting the Nikkei: 60% Favor No Lunch Break At TSE: Poll About 60% of Japan’s retail investors support scrapping the noon recess for trading shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, a poll taken by kabu.com Securities Co. (8703) shows. The survey of...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Aug 23, 2010, 10:44 am
According to data released earlier today by the Japan Chain Stores Association, supermarket sales in Japan fell 1.2% to 1.05 trillion yen in July. Supermarket sales have now fallen for 20 consecutive months on a year-on-year comparison, though the rate of decline is slowing somewhat. Here is a brea...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Aug 22, 2010, 10:54 am
According to data released today by the Japan Franchise Association, convenience store sales rose 0.5% in July, showing an increase for the first time in 14 months. The hot weather appears to have helped convenience store sales in July, as sales of cold drinks, ice cream and processed food increas...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Aug 21, 2010, 12:18 am
Ito En is currently Japan’s fourth ranked soft drink manufacturer. In third place is Kirin (Coca-Cola and Suntory, respectively, are #1 and #2). However, Ito En has slowly been sneaking up on Kirin’s market share and when private label production is included, Ito En actually outsold Kirin in the...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Aug 20, 2010, 10:26 am
I’ve been working with Yahoo Pipes to create a single RSS feed that should provide coverage on Japan news without having to use multiple feeds and/or feed readers. This is obviously a work in progress and will be developed more in the weeks to come, but it’s a start: http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipe...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Aug 12, 2010, 10:29 am
The Nikkei is reporting that both Sony and Panasonic have seen about a 20% decrease in prices since launching their 3D television sets this past Spring. 3D televisions still cost about 30-50% more than their 2D flat screen counterparts. In terms of sales, 3D tellys account for 2.6% of sales of telev...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Aug 5, 2010, 11:16 am
Although Apple’s iPhone has thus far been sold exclusively in Japan by Softbank, Japan Communications intends to launch a service that will allow the iPhone 4 to tun on DoCoMo’s wireless network, according to various sources. This is good news, until one looks at the price tag. While a...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Jul 30, 2010, 11:16 am
‎”(There is) a growing recognition that the dispersion of credit risks to a broader and more diverse group of investors…has helped make the banking and wider financial system more resilient. The improved resilience may be seen in fewer bank failures and more consistent credit provision...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Jul 27, 2010, 10:00 am
A Nikkei report published today told us that Japan’s convenience stores experienced their second lowest annual growth in financial 2009 since 1978 as sales booms derived from the introduction of the TASPO card wore off. According to the paper: Overall sales at domestic convenience stores edge...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Jul 14, 2010, 9:26 am
Earlier today, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Treasury David Cohen visited Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to outline US financial sanctions against Iran. These sanctions were signed into law by US President Barack Obama on 1 July. The fact t...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Jul 12, 2010, 11:55 am
On Monday, the Nikkei published an article asserting that Western firms “are returning to the Japanese real estate market, taking proactive steps in the hope of big gains once the market improves.” This, of course, means that they are paying too much for real estate investments that wil...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Jul 10, 2010, 2:30 am
A Kyodo article published today tells us: A private advisory panel for Japan Tourism Agency chief Hiroshi Mizohata held its first conference on Friday with six experts on various subjects, including sports and business, discussing ways to promote tourism in the country…panel member Saburo Kaw...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Jul 6, 2010, 10:43 am
TBS news tells us that according to the Ministry of Justice, the number of registered foreigners in Japan has dropped for the first time in 48 years. Here is their report: Unsurprisingly, Chinese nationals are the largest group of registered foreigners in Japan, followed by Koreans, Brazilians, Fil...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 30, 2010, 9:44 am
According to Friday’s Nikkei, Subway Japan opened up a small outlet inside a karaoke parlor in Ehime on Friday. Apparently the firm intends to sell sandwiches to takeaway customers as well as deliver them to rooms in the karaoke facility. (more…)
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 29, 2010, 7:15 am
On Friday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced that Japan’s consumer price index had fallen 1.2% in April, while core consumer prices (excluding fresh food) tumbled 1.5%. As Japan includes energy prices as part of its core CPI, it’s always helpful to look at what the C...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 23, 2010, 9:52 am
On Thursday, the Cabinet Office announced that Japan’s GDP had risen an annualized 4.9% in the January-March quarter. This result was lower than the 5.5% gain forecasted by a Bloomberg survey and the 5.9% forecasted by a Dow Jones survey. Real GDP has now risen in each of the past four quarter...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 19, 2010, 10:00 am
For the first time in 17 years, the United States is no longer the most competitive economy in the world, according to IMD’s annual competitiveness survey. The US dropped to third place, as Singapore and Hong Kong surged ahead in the rankings. (more…)
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 18, 2010, 9:07 am
According to data released today by the Japan Department Store Association, sales at department stores nationwide fell 3.7% to 484.6 billion yen in April, marking the 26th consecutive month of decline. The survey covered sales at 92 department store operators with 267 shops. Here is the breakdown o...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 17, 2010, 9:00 am
According to a report released today by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, wages in Japan fell 3.3% to 315,311 yen per month in fiscal 2009. This is the strongest drop seen since the ministry began issuing data in 1991, while 2009 was the third consecutive year in which average wages fell i...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 16, 2010, 10:56 am
Jesper Koll, Managing Director of Research at JP Morgan, spoke at the TEDxTokyo event this past weekend. The presentation focused on the difference between the collapse of the Japanese bubble and the current economic crisis.
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 14, 2010, 12:00 pm
On Thursday, the Bank of Japan released its preliminary figures for April monetary supply. The results show a 2.2% rise in M3 from April of last year, to 1.075 quadrillion yen. M3 includes currency in circulation, as well as money in deposit accounts, time deposits and certificates of deposit. The ...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 14, 2010, 11:44 am
On Thursday, the Cabinet Office released the results of its monthly Economy Watchers Survey for April, and the results showed a 2.4 point increase over March to 42.4 points. The Economy Watchers survey is measured as an index with a score above 50 indicating a positive view of the economy and a sco...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 14, 2010, 9:22 am
A report released today by the International Monetary Fund asserts that Japan’s government debt will reach 250% of GDP in 2015. The IMF suggests that Japan increase its consumption tax by 5% as a step towards reducing its public debt. (more…)
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 12, 2010, 9:50 am
According to data released by the Finance Ministry today, Japan’s foreign reserves rose by $4.16 billion at the end of April from the previous months to $1.047 trillion. The value of Japan’s foreign reserve assets has thus risen for the first time in three months, and the Finance Ministr...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 10, 2010, 11:53 am
According to Breitbart: The Bank of Japan’s decision Monday for a dollar swap accord with the U.S. Federal Reserve was welcomed by analysts, who said pumping liquidity into the banking system and helping businesses raise necessary funds are crucial to keeping Japan’s economic recovery o...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 7, 2010, 1:58 pm
Apple announced on Friday that it intends to put the iPad on sale in Japan (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK) on May 28. Advance orders can be made from Monday. Apple released the iPad in the US on April 3, and announced it had sold one million units 28 days ...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 6, 2010, 11:14 am
A slew of contradictory economic data is pouring out of Japan this week: McDonald’s saw net profit fall 80% in the first quarter while Uniqlo sales fell 12.4% in April. However, the Japan Center for Economic Research says that GDP increased 1.4% in March against February, for the second straig...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - May 6, 2010, 9:39 am
Christopher Dillon, the author of Landed: The expatriate’s guide to buying and renovating property in Hong Kong, has now published a similar guide on buying property in Japan. Landed: The Guide to Buying Property in Japan is now available and will be supported by a series of public events next wee...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Apr 28, 2010, 10:31 am
In a press conference earlier today, Forever 21 Chairman Don Chang told reporters that his firm intends to open ten stores a year in Japan until about 100 locations are in business. Forever 21 opened its first shop in Japan last April in the trendy Harajuku neighborhood. Tomorrow, it will open its...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Apr 26, 2010, 10:48 am
With development costs per handset in the range of about 25 billion yen, it seems about time Japan’s mobile phone manufacturers got together and decided on a standardized platform. According to a report in Reuters yesterday, Sharp, Panasonic, Fujitsu and NEC and set to launch a unified core so...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Apr 22, 2010, 10:41 am
According to data released earlier today by the Japan Chain Stores Association, supermarket sales in Japan fell 6.6% to 976.18 billion yen in March. Supermarket sales have now fallen for 16 consecutive months. Here is a breakdown of March’s adjusted same-store figures (not including stores opene...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Apr 21, 2010, 11:15 am
A major Japanese newspaper (which we may not link to) is reporting that the Japanese government is considering tax breaks and simplified immigration procedures in an attempt to boost foreign investment in Japan (By the way, if you would allow us to link to your website, you would have thousands of p...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Apr 21, 2010, 9:56 am
Those following the English language teaching industry in Japan won’t be surprised to learn that language school operator GEOS filed for bankruptcy today (The link is to a Yahoo News writeup. The Nikkei has a story in English as well, but they don’t want traffic coming from blogs). As ...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Apr 20, 2010, 10:54 am
After the sales boom that followed the introduction of the Taspo card for tobacco purchases, Japan’s convenience stores have had a difficult time keeping sales up. According to data released today by the Japan Franchise Association, convenience store sales fell 4.9% in March, showing a decline...
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Ken W. posted an article on Japan Economy News and Blog - Apr 19, 2010, 10:43 am
According to data released today by the Cabinet Office, Japan’s Consumer Confidence Index rose by 1.1 point to 40.9 in March, showing an increase for the third consecutive month1. The 40.9 score was the highest seen since October 2007, when the index stood at 42.8. The index also crossed the 40 po...
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