http://www.japaneconomynews.com News and Reports on the State of Japan's Economy - With Links to Sundry Resources Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:33:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's most recent report on the state of Japan's labor force is not encouraging. According to the report, 6.2% of Japan's workers are satisfied with their current pace of pay increase, compared to 15.7% in 1990. We also see that since 2001, the proportion ... http://www.japaneconomynews.com/2008/07/23/japans-labor-force-lower-bonuses-more-part-time-workers/ Just over two years ago, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced his goal that Japan would have its national budget balanced by 2011. That isn't going to happen. Although most observers probably never expected it to happen, the Cabinet Office announced today that rather than having a balanced budget, it expects ... http://www.japaneconomynews.com/2008/07/22/koizumis-dream-of-a-balanced-budget-officially-dead-cabinet-office/ Financial markets are closed today, so here's the latest mass-media fluff piece to be done on Japan: CNN is reporting on the "Butlers Cafe" staffed with western men in Shibuya with the sub-headline, "Japan's women go ga-ga over a cafe filled with Western servers." 1 The two customers definitely could have played ... http://www.japaneconomynews.com/2008/07/21/shibuyas-butlers-cafe-makes-cnn/ Despite strong gains in department store sales in Shinjuku immediately following the opening of the new Fukutoshin subway line on June 14, department store sales fell 7.4% in Tokyo and 7.6% nationwide in June. According to the Japan Department Stores Association, 588 billion yen in sales were rung up across ... http://www.japaneconomynews.com/2008/07/18/japans-department-store-sales-down-76-in-june/ A few stories concerning consumer spending and behavior caught my eye today. First, the Japan Times tells us that an increasing number of shoppers are buying discount gift certificates for themselves, in order to cut down on food and clothing costs. According to the paper, gift certificates can be usually ... http://www.japaneconomynews.com/2008/07/15/gift-certificates-gas-coupons-expensive-school-lunches-and-reduced-houshold-spending/ This is a quick note that BizCast Japan #14 has been released over at Trans-Pacific Radio. In this edition of the show, Albrecht Stahmer and I start with a follow-up on the state of Tokyo's department store scene, and then move into a host of other topics. http://www.japaneconomynews.com/2008/07/14/bizcast-japan-14-the-iphone-in-japan-department-stores-real-estate-the-g8-nissan-shinsei-and-consumer-sentiment/ In May, we saw Japan's consumer confidence fall to its lowest level since December 2001. Late last week, the Cabinet Office released figures for June, and we now see that Japan's consumer confidence has indeed fallen to its all-time low. According to the numbers, consumer confidence fell 1.3 points to ... http://www.japaneconomynews.com/2008/07/13/japans-consumer-confidence-index-hits-all-time-low-in-june/ On Thursday, the Bank of Japan released its corporate goods price index data for June, and the trend of rising producer prices is only intensifying. Wholesale prices rose 5.6% from the previous year in June, which follows a 4.8% climb from May. June's rise was the highest seen in 27 ... http://www.japaneconomynews.com/2008/07/12/japans-wholesale-prices-up-56-in-june-highest-rise-since-1981/ It's 7AM, and that means Apple's 3G iPhone is going on sale at Softbank's Omotesando location right now - but not until noon elsewhere. Am I posting from there? Heck no - I already have a phone, an iPod and two pockets, so I'm waiting for all the bugs to ... http://www.japaneconomynews.com/2008/07/11/apples-iphone-goes-on-sale-in-japan-right-now-softbank-makes-a-solid-opening-marketing-move/ Although the number of bankruptcies in Japan had decreased by 1.5% May, that good news has been fully tempered by a string of negative data on June and first-half 2008 bankruptcy numbers. First, according to Tokyo Shoko Research, 1,324 firms went bust in Japan in June, which was an 11.7% ... http://www.japaneconomynews.com/2008/07/11/japans-june-bankruptcies-soar-117-liabilities-up-562/