Friday, March 19, 2010

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Most Recent Stories

Japan consumer confidence rises for second straight month in February

According to data released yesterday by the Cabinet Office, Japan’s Consumer Confidence Index rose by 0.8 points to 39.8 in February, showing an increase for the second consecutive month.... 

Japan’s GDP down 0.3% in January

According to a report released Wednesday by the Japan Center for Economic Research, Japan’s GDP fell by 0.3% in January compared to the previous month, showing a decline for the first time... 

Consumer confidence index inches up in January

According to data released Friday by the Cabinet Office, Japan’s Consumer Confidence Index rose to 39.0 in January, up from 37.6 in in December. January’s rise, however, did not make... 

Nikkei: “Devastation” awaits department stores in 2010

The Nikkei certainly isn’t mincing words when it comes to describing the state of Japan’s department store industry. In an article entitled “More Devastation Awaits Dept Stores... 

Mutantfrog: The history of department stores in Kyoto

For an absolutely awesome writeup on the history of department stores in Kyoto, check out Roy Berman’s recent post “The history of department stores in Kyoto, and Kyoto in the history... 

Japanese wages continue freefall

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released its figures on wages for December 2009 and for 2009 as a whole. First, taking a look at the December figures, we see a fall of... 

Hatoyama lays out growth strategy

Earlier today, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama unveiled his economic growth strategy, which is intended to… …never mind, Hatoyama’s plan is a complete and utter farce, a sick... 

Massive Fiscal Stimulus Spending Project Proposal #2: Changing Lanes

Back in May, I laid out a plan by which the Japanese government could waste tremendous amounts of public money by simply issuing brand new bank notes of radically different sizes and shapes,... 

Asia is now the biggest market for Japan’s nonfinancial listed firms

According to Tuesday morning’s Nikkei, Japan’s nonfinancial listed firms earned greater sales from Asian markets than from the US for the first time ever in the six months to September... 

Government sponsored mortgage discounts coming in 2010

It has been projected that in 2009, Japan’s housing starts will fall below the one million mark for the first time in 42 years. In response to this, and in a seeming attempt to spur economic... 

Links and Resources: Online Colleges’ “100 Best Blogs for International Business Students”

Online Colleges recently published their list of the “100 Best Blogs for International Business Students.” I definitely recommend checking it out, though it might be a bit dangerous... 

Japanese government to collect used mobile phones in lottery campaign

Earlier today, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced that it plans to kickoff a campaign to collect used mobile phones from November 21. During the campaign, which is scheduled... 

Ishihara: Tokyo to bid for 2020 Olympics

Those who felt that Tokyo’s failed bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics was a colossal waste of $48 million are surely going to groan at today’s headline: Tokyo to bid for 2020 Summer... 

McDonald’s betting on coffee for profit growth?

On Monday, McDonald’s Japan reported that its pretax profit had jumped 25% in the January-September period compared to a year ago, despite a 10% drop in same-store sales, which can be explained... 

No change for now at Narita or Haneda

After transport minister Seiji Maehara announced on Sunday that Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (formally known as Tokyo International Airport) should become a 24 hour hub for domestic and international... 

Japan’s video game market shrank 10.5% in April-September period

According to gaming magazine Enterbrain, the domestic market for video game sales shrank by 10.5% in the April-September period, to 213.8 billion yen. According to the report, sales of Nintendo... 

News roundup, Thursday October 1: Wages, Tankan, Nikkei, Disney, auto sales and more

According to a report released yesterday by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, average wages at Japanese firms with five or more workers fell 3.1% in August, to 273,360 yen. August was... 

Japan core CPI falls at record pace for fourth month in August

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced that Japan’s consumer price index had fallen 2.2% in August, while core consumer prices (excluding fresh food) tumbled... 

Things heating up over yen appreciation

When Peter Schiff recently said that Japanese policymakers were embracing a “strong yen” policy, one of my eyebrows raised a bit. Although Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii has made... 

Peter Schiff on the rising yen and the dollar carry trade

But are Japanese policymakers really embracing a “strong yen” policy? Or has the media twisted up some quotes?  Read More →