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Keiko Ujikane
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 7, 2016
Economy is about to grow by ¥19.8 trillion, at least on paper
Japan’s economy will grow by an amount equivalent to New Zealand’s economy in the blink of an eye on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Nov 24, 2016
In Japan, world’s gloomiest millennials see a future of struggle
Youthful optimism can be hard to find in Japan, where millennials rank as the gloomiest of those in the world’s biggest economies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 7, 2016
Japan needs ‘double dose’ of monetary, fiscal stimulus: Abe adviser Honda
Japan needs a double dose of monetary and fiscal stimulus, including further easing by the central bank next month, says Etsuro Honda, one of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic advisers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2016
Signs of graying Japan: pensioners in the gym and a shortage of denture experts
As graying takes hold in Japan, the changes it brings go far deeper than the impact on social welfare and the labor force.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2016
Chinese ‘explosive shopping’ boom turns to Japanese cosmetics, supplements
The spending power of Chinese tourists in Japan is so impressive there’s a special word for it: bakugai, or explosive buying.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2016
60 seen as too young to retire in aging, worker-short Japan
Hiroshi Suzuki had a fulfilling career in which he traveled the world as an engineer. Then, at age 65, he retired. That didn’t last long. For the past seven years Suzuki, 72, has been a nursing aide in the Tokyo area, and says he’s years away from true retirement.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2016
Amid turmoil, housing market may get boost from refinancing rush
The Bank of Japan’s adoption of negative interest rates two weeks ago hasn’t provided a lasting boost to stock investors or weakened the currency, but it has spurred some optimism for the housing market.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 19, 2016
El Nino is snow joke for Japan’s ski resorts, hit also by declining interest in the sport
The nation’s ski industry, hurt by demographics that have aged out many from the sport, this winter has additionally suffered — until this week — balmy, winter weather, courtesy of El Nino.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 2, 2015
Kuroda sows doubts on further easing among some BOJ watchers
After twice this year putting off his inflation target yet declining to step up monetary stimulus, Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has discouraged some analysts from thinking he’ll ever boost policy again.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 29, 2015
Industrial output climbs a surprise 1%, raising bar for BOJ action
Industrial production unexpectedly increased in September, potentially raising the bar for an expansion in stimulus when Bank of Japan policy-setters meet on Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 18, 2015
Consumer spending recovery hampered by pension payment cuts
More than a year after a consumption tax increase tipped Japan into a recession, efforts to clamp down on soaring pension payments are suppressing a recovery in consumer spending.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 10, 2015
Toilet seat makers, diamond sellers among Japan firms fearing China plunge
The plunge in China’s stock market and concerns about its economic growth are having effects well beyond the nation’s borders — with shares of Japanese companies that benefit from Chinese tourists also declining.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2015
Japan still set for 2017 tax hike despite struggling economy
The central government still plans to raise the national sales tax again in 21 months, even as the economy struggles to gain momentum following the recession caused by a hike in the levy last year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 12, 2015
Pricy beef bowls show how to beat deflation
Restaurants, food producers and retailers are among a small but growing number of companies doing what few managed for long during Japan’s lost decades: raising prices.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 1, 2015
Kuroda shifts to defense in BOJ’s struggle to reach inflation target
For the first time, Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said his original two-year time frame for reaching 2 percent inflation will not be reached. But it did not prompt him to step on the stimulus accelerator.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2015
Loyalty to 1960s machine shows risk from Japan’s aging factories
The oldest piece of equipment at Osaka Machine Tool Co. has been there so long that only the company’s 70-year-old chairman, Katumi Takata, still knows how to use it. He isn’t planning to replace it anytime soon.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2015
‘Red purge’ during MacArthur era hurt unions now pushing on wages
As annual wage talks climax this month, one of the obstacles to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s campaign for outsize pay raises has its roots in the 1940s: a stunted union movement.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 2, 2015
Kuroda approaching limit on JGB buying, says ex-BOJ official
Speeding up the Bank of Japan’s purchases of Japanese government bonds would risk further distorting the world’s second-biggest sovereign debt market, said Yuri Okina, vice chairman at Japan Research Institute.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Feb 18, 2015
Bonds’ forward yield surging as market assesses risk of BOJ ending stimulus
The bond market is starting to price in the risk that the Bank of Japan will end its stimulus policies before the government has fixed the nation’s finances.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 16, 2014
Unlocking growth potential is top task for Abenomics 2.0
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s election win strengthened his hand to move beyond the fiscal and monetary stimulus that brought an end to deflation in his first two years. The tougher task for “Abenomics 2.0” will be to boost Japan’s growth potential.

Longform

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