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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 up for the drop seen in December, as the index remained below the 39.5 level seen in November 2009.

The consumer confidence index itself contains five scores, each of which is considered positive when above 50, and pessimistic when below the 50 mark. Here’s a breakdown for January figures, with the change from the previous month: Read more

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 In ‘10,” the paper made its case for why the department store industry might see a record number of closures over the coming year.

The Nikkei points out that after five department stores had been shutting down each year, that number rose to nine in 2009 and ten are already scheduled to close this year. The current all-time high is 15 closures in 2000. That was the year in which department store giant Sogo collapsed. Read more

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 of the department store” at the Mutantfrog Travelogue.

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 6.1% in wages at firms with at least five employees against a year ago, with the average total wage clocking in at 549,259 yen. That figure may seem high, but winter bonuses are usually paid in December, and bonus payments fell by 10.6% against a year ago. December’s overall wage decline follows a 2.4% fall in November. Read more

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