| Jan 10 | Japan, China, S. Korea to kick off FTA talks |
| Japan, China and South Korea are expected to start negotiations for a trilateral free trade agreement in the first half of this year, possibly in May, a Chinese newspaper reported Monday. "If there is no strong opposition from inside the Republic of Korea, talks on the China-Japan-ROK FTA will be officially launched during the first half of this year, in May at the earliest," China Daily, in a front-page article, quoted a source at the Commerce Ministry as saying. The paper suggests leaders of the three countries are likely to reach agreement during a trilateral summit slated for this spring in China. The unidentified source was quoted as saying negotiations for a bilateral FTA between China and South Korea "will probably start in the first half of this year." (Mainichi) |
| Jan 10 | Pension 'trump card' goes unplayed / System to forcibly collect unpaid premiums dormant since creation 2 years ago |
| The system touted as a "trump card" for halting the decline in contributions to the government-run pension scheme has not been used since its creation two years ago, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. Under the system launched in January 2010, the Japan Pension Service is allowed to delegate to the National Tax Agency its authority to forcibly collect pension premiums in serious cases of nonpayment. Explaining why the system has not been utilized, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said people often agree to pay when informed that tax authorities may forcibly take the money. However, the number of people in arrears on their national pension premiums is still growing. (Yomiuri) |
| Jan 08 | Sales tax hike insufficient / Consumption levy of 17% needed to cover social security costs |
 The government and ruling parties have described the planned increase in the consumption tax rate as a "first step" because they have deemed the boost to 10 percent will not fully cover the shortfall in social security revenue, making a further hike unavoidable in the future.
In their draft outline of integrated reform of the social security and tax systems, compiled Friday, the rate hike to 10 percent is said to be "the first step to simultaneously achieve the goals of securing stable revenue sources for financing social security and regaining governmental fiscal health."
If the consumption tax rate is raised from the current 5 percent to 10 percent, the central and local governments will rake in a total of about 13.5 trillion yen more in annual revenue. (Yomiuri) |
| Jan 07 | The true story of Japan |
 Japan has succeeded in delivering an increasingly affluent lifestyle to its people despite the financial crash. In the fullness of time, it is likely that this era will be viewed as an outstanding success story.
How can the reality and the image be so different? And what can the United States learn from Japan's experience?
It is true that Japanese housing prices have never returned to the ludicrous highs they briefly touched in the wild final stage of the boom. Neither has the Tokyo stock market.
But the strength of Japan's economy and its people is evident in many ways. There are a number of facts and figures that don't quite square with Japan's image as the laughingstock of the business pages. (New York Times) |
| Jan 07 | Recovery predicted for April / Business leaders confident, but press for reforms, sales tax hike |
| The economy will begin recovering in April thanks to rising demand for reconstruction projects in areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake, leaders of the nation's three major business organizations have predicted. At the same time, they expressed anxiety about the European fiscal crises and the sharp appreciation of the yen, and called on the government to quickly implement integrated reform of the social security and taxation systems, including a consumption tax hike. The leaders of the three organizations --the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI)--presented their opinions about the economy this year at a joint press conference. (Yomiuri) |
| Jan 06 | Japan buys 300 mln euros of EFSF bonds |
| Japan has bought 300 million euros ($383 million) worth of bonds sold by the euro zone's rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), in an auction on Thursday, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Friday. The amount accounts for 10 percent of an oversubscribed 3 billion euros worth of bonds sold by EFSF on Thursday to raise funds for Ireland and Portugal. The bond was the first with a three-year maturity for the triple A-rated EFSF, which is seeking to offer a greater range of maturities. It attracted orders close to 4.5 billion euros. (Reuters) |
| Jan 06 | Japan's trade gap and the impact on the yen |
| Amidst the unrelenting focus on Europe's slow-motion financial self-destruction last year, very little attention was paid to the deterioration in Japan's trade fundamentals. In the first eleven months of 2011, Japan's trade deficit exceeded JPY 2 trln (around USD 26 bn). Calendar 2011 will be the first year since 1963 that Japan has recorded a trade shortfall. Before getting too concerned, it is worth pointing out that last year's earthquake and subsequent tsunami knocked out a significant proportion of Japanese production, capacity which is slowly being rebuilt. Exports fell 2.3% over the eleven months to November vis-a-vis the comparable period of 2010. As a result, imports increased to compensate for the inability of domestic production to satisfy local demand. (fx-mm.com) |
| Jan 04 | Deal with Japan better than Trans-Pacific Partnership? |
| Farm groups interested in submitting comments about what Canada should bring to the table for Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations should also consider preparing submissions for Canada's trade agreement talks with Japan "and tell them why it would be better," says an international trade specialist. Peter Clark, president of Grey, Clark, Shih and Associates in Ottawa, calls the federal government's recent call for feedback on the Trans-Pacific negotiations "due diligence." The federal department of foreign affairs and international trade posted a notice in the Canada Gazette, the federal government's official newspaper, last week. It seeks "advice and views on any priorities, objectives and concerns relating to possible free trade negotiations with TPP countries" and encourages comment on subjects ranging from market access liberalization for TPP countries' products to barriers when selling to governments of TPP countries and competition policy. (betterfarming.com) |
| Jan 04 | New fissures open in Japan |
| Hideo Sato, 47, and his family escaped to this snowy city 200 kilometers from the radiation emitting Fuksuhima power plant that was struck by the earthquake-driven tsunami on March 11. "We were forced to move from our house in Okuma-machi barely eight kilometers from the damaged nuclear plant. We wanted to protect our children from radiation, but now we are at the mercy of the government," he said. Nine months after the disaster, Sato, a former employee at a car sales company, lives on a US$1,500 monthly unemployment dole. His wife is occupied with looking after their three children and cannot take up a job. Sato's plight is shared by tens of thousands of people from the tsunami-battered coastline of northeastern Tohoku, that was home to factories producing automobile components and semiconductors for export. The World Bank estimated the economic cost of Tohoku to be $235 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster in history. (Asia Times) |
| Jan 03 | The rise and fall of property taxes |
 There are many incentives for buying a home. One of them is to simply get out of paying rent - but that isn't to say that once you own your residence there aren't costs that have to be paid on a regular basis.
If it's a house it must be maintained, and if it's a condominium there are monthly management and repair fees that can add up to as much as the rent of an apartment.
Then there's property tax, which in Japan is made up of a koteishisan-zei (fixed-asset tax) and a toshikeikaku-zei (municipal tax). Though everyone knows property owners have to pay the authorities for the privilege of owning that property, the obligation doesn't always figure into a potential buyer's financial plan. Whenever we inspect properties we ask the real-estate agents how much the annual tax is, and many times they say they don't know, which seems strange. Understanding the tax liability is as important as understanding the payment terms of the housing loan. (Japan Times) |
| Jan 02 | 58% of poll respondents oppose consumption tax hike |
| Fifty-eight percent of respondents in a nationwide survey in Japan are opposed to the government's policy of doubling the consumption tax rate in stages by the mid-2010s, according to The Tokyo Shimbun daily Sunday. The poll suggests that many of the respondents are against the consumption tax hike because of the added burden on the public, especially those with low incomes, at a time when there are growing concerns about Japan's economic outlook in the wake of the rising yen and the debt crisis in Europe. (Japan Times) |
| Jan 01 | Record amount of cash kept at home, in offices in Japan |
| A record 84 trillion yen has been left undeposited at year-end in Japan, as people choose instead to keep cash at home or in office safes, according to the Bank of Japan. The amount is up 2 percent from the previous year's figure. It is the second straight year in which a record amount of cash was left undeposited. An increasing number of households are believed to be keeping cash at home instead of depositing it at financial institutions because of the ultra-low interest rate, while the Bank of Japan continues supplying a large amount of cash to the market in its monetary easing policy. (sacbee.com) |
| Jan 01 | Japan faces many challenges in 2012 |
 Today marks the first New Year's Day since the Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011.
The unprecedented natural disaster left deep scars on the national psyche and on society. Cleaning up the debris left behind by the earthquake and tsunami has not proceeded smoothly, and the reconstruction of disaster-hit communities is just beginning. The catastrophe at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has not been settled completely, and people who fled their homes to escape the nuclear crisis are scattered around the country.
Our nation's economy is suffering from the dual blows of a super-strong yen and low stock prices caused by the financial confusion in the United States and Europe. Furthermore, the transfer of manufacturing facilities overseas is accelerating--exacerbating the hollowing-out of the nation's industrial base. We hope the economy can return to a growth track through full-fledged reconstruction of the areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. (Yomiuri  ) |
| Jan 01 | Japan spent over 14 tril. yen on forex interventions in 2011 |
| Japanese monetary authorities spent a total of 14.30 trillion yen (about $184.5 billion) on currency interventions in 2011, the third-biggest amount on record, according to Finance Ministry data released by Friday. The ministry said Friday that it and the Bank of Japan did not step into the foreign exchange market between Nov. 29 and Dec. 28. The authorities conducted publicly announced market interventions three times this year -- in March, August and October -- to stem the sharp rise of the yen against the U.S. dollar and other major currencies. (Mainichi) |
| Dec 31 | Japan consumer spending seen picking up |
| As we approach the end of the year and the most important holiday season in the Japanese calendar, it appears consumer spending is starting to see a rebound. The streets of Tokyo are bustling with shoppers - a sight no different from those at the end of previous years. But this has been a difficult year for Japan. Immediately after the triple disasters of the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in March, consumers in Japan were in no mood to spend - even at the popular shopping district of Akihabara in Tokyo. Yukari Yahiro, a salesgirl at Kotobukiya, said: "After the disasters, there were no customers coming to Akihabara. It was a severe situation. But since Christmas and as we approach New Year's eve and New Year, many customers have returned." (Channel NewsAsia) |
| Dec 31 | Few growth options in 2012 |
 The sky-high yen and global economic downturn will likely continue to exert downward pressure on the economy in 2012, but domestic demand linked to postdisaster reconstruction work is expected to underpin growth.
Japan is stepping up its austerity measures, including preparations for raising the consumption tax as early as in 2013, amid increasing concern that any delay in fiscal rehabilitation could in the long term cause the bond market to collapse in a similar manner to eurozone nations.
The Bank of Japan, which has little room to lower its key interest rate from the current zero to 0.1 percent range, may lack alternative options to boost economic growth, although expanding its asset-purchase program could be an option. (Japan Times) |
| Dec 30 | Trade deficit not necessarily problematic, but is for Japan |
| Japan has finally joined the ranks of countries running a trade deficit! According to a Dec. 21 announcement made by the Finance Ministry, the country posted a trade deficit of 680 billion yen for the month of November. Even if it were to bounce back with a trade surplus in December, an annual trade deficit for 2011 is said to be inevitable. The trade deficit is to be expected, seeing as Japan has been treated to a triple punch of the Great East Japan Earthquake and related disasters, a strong yen, and the European sovereign debt crisis. The future remains uncertain. While some observers say that a trade surplus will return as soon as the effects of the ongoing nuclear disaster diminish, others predict that the trade deficit will continue. (Mainichi) |
| Dec 29 | Japan PM says to invest $4.5 bln in India industrial corridor |
 Japan will invest $4.5 billion in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor over the next five years, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Wednesday after meeting his Indian counterpart in New Delhi.
The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is a mega infrastructure project of $90 billion with the financial and technical aids from Japan, covering an overall length of 1,483 kilometers between the political capital and the business capital of India. (The Economist ) |
| Dec 29 | Deflation's grip returns as production, retail sales slide |
| The rebound from the March earthquake and tsunami sputtered in November as production and retail sales tumbled, deepening the return to deflation that first took hold a decade ago. Industrial output slumped 2.6 percent from October, a government report showed Wednesday. Retail sales slid 2.1 percent. Consumer prices excluding fresh food fell 0.2 percent from a year earlier after a 0.1 percent decline the previous month. The weakening economy, hurt by Europe's debt crisis and plans by companies from Panasonic Corp. to Nissan Motor Co. to shift production abroad, may undermine Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's plan to raise taxes and cut the world's largest debt burden. (Japan Times) |
| Dec 28 | Japan's industrial output down, unemployment flat |
| Japan's industrial output dropped last month - with production, shipments and inventory figures all decreasing - but government forecasters had manufacturing and production looking for a rebound this month and next, officials said Wednesday. The unemployment rate adjusted for seasonal differences was unchanged in November from the previous month, at 4.5 percent, the government also announced. Industrial output dropped a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in November, according to the Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry. It was the first decline in two months. (AP) |
| Dec 28 | Women beat men to jobs as Japan 'mancession' spurs deflation |
| Three times a week, Seiya Ogawa bikes to an unemployment center in Kadoma, home to Panasonic Corp., looking for work to help pay for his son's final year at college. "At this point, I'm willing to take any job," said the 49-year-old, who assembled electronic circuit boards in what was once a bustling manufacturing suburb of Osaka, Japan's third- largest city. This month, it's officially one year since he first signed on at the center, and "it's like my humanity's been stripped from me," he said. Ogawa and his son rely on the incomes of his wife and daughter, a social role reversal that is spreading in Japan as factories and building companies fire workers and services that hire mostly women add employees. The new jobs pay lower average wages, making it harder for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to spur consumer spending and pull the world's third-largest economy out of a decade of deflation. The increasing burden as breadwinners also gives women less incentive to marry and have children early in a country that already has the fastest-aging population in the developed world. (BusinessWeek) |
| Dec 28 | China and Japan currency deal not threat to dollar reign |
 China's surprise currency deal with Japan does little to chip away at the dollar's reign as reserve currency, but it could foreshadow an era when the yuan has more global influence.
The two countries announced Sunday that they would start direct trading their currencies, instead of using the dollar as intermediary. The move is part of a financial agreement between the two countries following meetings between Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda and Chinese President Hu Jintao.
China is Japan's biggest trade partner with annual two-way trade of close to $350 billion, and as part of the agreement Japan will also apply to buy Chinese bonds next year. (CNBC ) |
| Dec 27 | Japan pushing bilateral, regional trade talks |
| Japan has been advancing a series of trade talks recently to hammer out bilateral or regional free-trade agreements because it sees high-level economic partnerships as the key to revitalizing its stagnant economy. While announcing last month its plan to join multilateral talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a U.S.-led free-trade initiative, this month Japan concluded a joint study with China and South Korea on the possibility of signing a tripartite free-trade accord and resumed FTA negotiations with Australia. Japan is also looking to conclude preparatory talks with the European Union for a future FTA. (Japan Times) |
| Dec 26 | Budget belies Noda's austerity drive |
| Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda pledged fiscal restoration but has apparently failed to match words with deeds in his new budget, which signals the need for more government spending amid a shortage of tax revenue. While Noda fulfilled some of his self-imposed austerity goals under the initial fiscal 2012 budget, analysts doubt the significance of the achievements, and the situation is only adding to widespread concerns about Japan's fiscal health, which is worse than some of the countries at the center of the European debt crisis. (Japan Times) |
| Dec 26 | Japan to start purchasing Chinese government bonds |
| Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed Sunday to step up cooperation in international finance, with Japan to begin purchases of Chinese government bonds and both to encourage the use of their own currencies instead of the dollar when settling bilateral trades, officials said. The two leaders also decided during their talks in Beijing to set up a working group composed of officials from both countries to discuss private-sector requests on deregulation and other issues. (Japan Times) |
| Dec 25 | Combined government debt poised to hit all-time high Y937 trillion in 2012 |
 The outstanding balance of central and local government debt at the end of fiscal 2012 is expected to rise to an all-time high of ¥937 trillion, the government said Saturday, leaving Japan with the worst fiscal health among major developed countries.
The total debt will be equivalent to 195 percent of Japan's gross domestic product, the Finance Ministry said.
The central government's total bond debt is expected to amount to around ¥709 trillion at the close of fiscal 2012, which ends in March 2013, up from the projected ¥676 trillion at the end of the current fiscal year. (Japan Times ) |
| Dec 25 | Japan to enter dollar swap agreement with India |
| The Japanese government is considering a dollar swap arrangement with India to provide emergency liquidity in case the European debt crisis reaches emerging economies, the Nikkei business newspaper said on Sunday. The agreement would set the total swap arrangement at $10 billion, or 780 billion yen, the Nikkei said. Both countries are looking to sign off on the arrangement next Wednesday, when leaders meet at a bilateral summit, the paper said. (Reuters) |
| Dec 22 | Commentary: Japan's purchase of Chinese bonds will benefit both Asian giants |
| Japan acknowledged Tuesday that it could buy up to 10 billion U.S. dollars worth of Chinese government bonds, a move that can be mutually beneficial for both Asian economic powerhouses. Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said his country and China would discuss the possibility of purchasing each other's bonds during Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda's visit to Beijing next week. Tokyo could use 10 billion dollars of its foreign exchange reserves to buy Chinese bonds. It will be the first time for Japan to buy the yuan-denominated bonds. The historic move will be of strategic importance for Japan, owner of the world's second largest foreign exchange reserves, to diversify its portfolio. It will also be of huge significance for China in promoting the international use of the yuan. (Xinhua) |
| Dec 21 | Japan's exports fall for second straight month |
| Japan's exports fell for the second straight month in November, hit by faltering demand from Asia and Europe. Exports shrank 4.5 percent from a year earlier to 5.198 trillion yen ($66.7 billion), according to a finance ministry report released Wednesday. The result is steeper than October's 3.8 percent decline. The data underscore the growing pressures facing the world's third-largest economy, which relies heavily on exports to drive growth. A persistently strong yen, Europe's debt problems and the recent flooding in Thailand are eroding gains made since the March earthquake in Japan disrupted manufacturing. Economists predict economic growth will slow this quarter after the economy expanded at an annualized rate of 5.6 percent in the July-September period. (AP) |
| Dec 21 | Economy sees first signs of nasty drop |
| Kiyohito Okuda is a businessman and an optimist, and so he has found at least one redeeming angle to Japan's slow-motion economic decline: Never has the pain felt too acute to bear. After years of shrinking sales and curtailed ambitions, he can still handle a little more bad news. When Toyota Motor Corp. recently urged its suppliers - Okuda's auto parts manufacturing company among them - to cut prices 3 percent, Okuda said OK. Indeed, the request sounded fair. Okuda's profits will wither, but he won't need to take out loans, he said, and he won't lay off any of his 130 workers. The company will still throw its end-of-the-year drinking party. (Japan Times) |
| Dec 21 | Debt undermines the classic answer to recession |
| The eclipse of Keynesian economics proceeds. When Keynes wrote "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" in the mid-1930s, governments in most wealthy nations were relatively small and their debts modest. Deficit spending and pump priming were plausible responses to economic slumps. Now, huge governments are saddled with massive debts. Standard Keynesian remedies for downturns - spend more and tax less - presume the willingness of bond markets to finance the resulting deficits at reasonable interest rates. If markets refuse, Keynesian policies won't work. Countries then lose control over their economies. They default on maturing debts or must be rescued with loans from friendly countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), government central banks (the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank) or someone. (Japan Times) |
| Dec 20 | Japan sales tax debate in final stage as deadline looms |
| Japan's government has entered the final stage of debate on doubling the 5 percent sales tax to pay for welfare costs, a welcome step towards fiscal consolidation that would still require further tax hikes and spending cuts to lower public debt. Any delay in the sales tax proposal could draw the ire of ratings agencies, which earlier this year threatened Japan with downgrades. The government has set itself a year-end deadline to flesh out a plan originally floated in June to reform welfare spending. Some of the details that have emerged so far, such as linking pension payments to Japan's falling consumer prices, would take some pressure off state coffers. (Reuters) |
| Dec 18 | Hike in inheritance tax eyed / Gift tax may be eased to encourage generational asset transfers |
 The government is calling for a hike in the inheritance tax in a draft of integrated reforms of the social security and taxation systems, according to government sources.
Discussions about the reform draft are in their final stage.
The draft also includes a reduction of the gift tax to ease the burden on grandchildren receiving assets from living grandparents, with a view to encouraging asset transfers from older to younger generations, the sources said.
The maximum inheritance tax rate is now 50 percent for estates valued at more than 300 million yen. (Yomiuri ) |
| Dec 17 | Why a nation obsessed with whales is drowning in a sea of bureaucracy |
| Want to know why Japan's earthquake recovery efforts are moving in slow motion? Ask the whales. Tokyoites have grown accustomed to shocking news items since the earth shook and the oceans rose. The nuclear meltdown has proven far worse than the government admitted; radioactive cesium made its way into baby food; more leaks were found in the damaged Fukushima reactor; and warnings by seismologists still go unheeded. Yet the tale of the whales and the $US30 million is what proved most disturbing - and shed light on why Japan is either unable or unwilling to undertake reforms needed to avert credit-rating downgrades and reverse deepening deflation. Advertisement: Story continues below Japan spent about 2.28 billion yen ($29 million) on whaling expeditions from funds allocated for recovery from the earthquake and tsunami. It's a drop in the proverbial bucket, given that the government plans to spend at least $US300 billion rebuilding the Tohoku region. It's a highly telling expenditure, though, with significance far beyond the price tag. (Sydney Morning Herald) |
| Dec 15 | Japanese business confidence turns sour |
| Japanese business mood turned pessimistic in the three months to December, the central bank's tankan survey showed, a sign the stubbornly strong yen, Europe's debt crisis and slowing global growth were taking their toll on the export-reliant economy. The sobering reading adds pressure on the Bank of Japan to offer further monetary stimulus, although the bank has signalled it would prefer to stand pat next week to save its limited ammunition in case the pain from Europe's crisis deepens. The December tankan's sentiment index for big manufacturers worsened to minus-4 in December from plus-2 three months ago, indicating pessimists outnumber optimists. (Sydney Morning Herald) |
| Dec 15 | Canada and Japan explore bilateral trade deal |
| Canada and Japan have agreed to decide soon whether to negotiate a bilateral economic partnership agreement, and Canada also aims to complete a free trade agreement with India by 2013, government officials said on Wednesday. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda agreed in a phone call late on Tuesday night to complete a joint study in the near future on the feasibility of an economic partnership deal, Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall said. The two countries launched the study in March. (Reuters) |
| Dec 15 | Pension boost planned for FY13 / Higher payments for low-income earners eyed after consumption tax hike |
 The government will take measures to ease the burden on low-income pensioners and people who do not qualify for pension benefits, in or after fiscal 2013 when the consumption tax rate is expected to be raised, according to an outline on social security issues.
The outline was presented Tuesday at a meeting of the Democratic Party of Japan's council on the integrated reforms on social security and taxation chaired by Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Ritsuo Hosokawa.
The outline includes pension scheme reforms to increase the benefits to be paid to low-income earners who receive small pension payments. (Yomiuri ) |
| Dec 14 | Recovery boosted pollution by 3.9% |
 Greenhouse gases equivalent to 1.256 billion tons of carbon dioxide were emitted in Japan in fiscal 2010, up 3.9 percent from the year before and the first surge in three years amid an economic recovery, the Environment Ministry said Tuesday.
Compared with the 1990 level, the base year under the Kyodo Protocol, emissions were down 0.4 percent, but by including emissions rights bought from abroad, a 10.3 percent reduction was attained in the year through last March, the ministry said in a preliminary report.
Emissions could rise sharply in the current fiscal year, however, as reliance on nuclear power fell amid the Fukushima crisis. (Japan Times ) |
| Dec 14 | Japan's post-tsunami revival plan reaches tipping point |
| Nine months after a historic magnitude 9.0 earthquake unleashed a deadly tsunami that wreaked havoc across Japan's northeast, the nation, armed with $155 billion in funding, is entering a critical stage of the rebuilding effort. Damaged railways and major roads are mostly fixed with at least temporary repairs, two-thirds of ruined ports have been restored and 47,000 households moved from emergency shelters to temporary housing. Of 22 million tonnes of rubble, two-thirds have been cleaned up, but final disposal remains a dangerous challenge because of concerns about radiation that spewed from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. (Reuters) |
| Dec 13 | Portugal tax treaty to aid investments |
| The governments of Japan and Portugal have agreed in principle to sign a tax treaty to help companies in the two countries invest in each other, the Finance Ministry said Monday. The agreement, still subject to domestic procedures for signing and ratification, would also prevent double taxation, while facilitating cooperation between the authorities to enforce measures against tax evasion. The ministry says the treaty would support the two countries' attempts to enhance mutual investment and strengthen economic ties. (Japan Times) |
| Dec 13 | Japan dominates Asian real estate funds' allocations |
| With the sovereign debt crisis at its peak in Europe and the USA and the volatility of capital markets persisting, Asian real estate markets have slightly been forgotten lately. Although the first signs of uncertainty have started to emerge on the Asian continent as well, with listed real estate companies trading at discounts, real estate fundamentals remain largely sound. From the macro-economic perspective, Asian giants, China and India, continue to enjoy GDP growth rates of 9.1% and 7.7% respectively in Q3 2011 while other significant markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong also witnessed GDP growth of 6.1% and 4.3% respectively in Q3 2011. (property-magazine.eu) |
| Dec 13 | Grim job situation continues in Tohoku |
| The number of people receiving unemployment allowances in three Tohoku prefectures increased 60 percent in October from a year earlier, reflecting the grim job market caused by the March 11 disaster. Job creation is likely to become an even more pressing issue from January, when government unemployment benefits begin to expire, observers said. Figures from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry show there were 49,848 people in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures receiving unemployment benefits in October, a 59.7 percent increase compared to the same month of last year. (Yomiuri) |
| Dec 12 | Japan consumer mood worsens in Nov, govt cuts view |
| Japanese consumer confidence in November worsened from the previous month, a Cabinet Office survey showed on Monday, suggesting that turmoil from Europe's debt crisis and slowing global growth are weighing on sentiment. The survey's sentiment index for general households, which includes views on incomes and jobs, was 38.1 in November, down from 38.6 in October. The Cabinet Office downgraded its assessment to say that consumer confidence is almost flat. Previously, it had said the pace of pickup in consumer confidence was moderating. (Reuters) |
| Dec 12 | Japan, South Korea maneuver to restart stalled FTA talks |
| The Japanese and South Korean governments are making arrangements aimed at resuming stalled negotiations for a free trade agreement in the first half of next year, sources close to bilateral relations said Saturday. The two sides are hoping that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak will agree to resume the talks during the time frame when they meet for a bilateral summit on Dec. 17 in Kyoto, the sources said. (Japan Times) |
| Dec 11 | Govt decides tax cut plan for next year / Focus on car owners, 'eco' home buyers |
| After struggling until late Friday night to come to an agreement with a Democratic Party of Japan tax panel, the government decided early Saturday on an outline of a set of tax changes for fiscal 2012, including a cut of 150 billion yen a year on levies for car owners. The outline approved by the Cabinet is in preparation of the compilation of an initial state budget for the next fiscal year starting April 1. The Finance Ministry is scheduled to draft the budget by the end of the year. The biggest difference in views in the talks between the government and the DPJ on the tax changes was over the party's proposal for abolishing the acquisition and weight taxes for vehicle owners. (Yomiuri) |
| Dec 10 | One in three single Japanese women poor, says study |
| Makiko Shimabata is a 35-year-old single woman who lives alone in Tokyo and is struggling to make ends meet on her receptionist's salary. She is not alone. In Japan, one in three single women who live alone, with and without children, between the ages of 20 and 64 are "poor," according to a recent study by the National Social Security Institute. Among single women between 20 and 64, 32 percent are poor, and in those over 64, 52 percent are poor. Fifty-seven percent of single women with children under 19 are living in poverty. Poverty rates are higher among single women than men - 57 percent of these women are poor compared to 43 percent of men, according to 2007 statistics. (majirox news) |
| Dec 09 | Japan debt stays lukewarm as Europe boils over |
| Europe's debt crisis has brought Japan's own debt pile into a spotlight that ironically buys Tokyo more time to fix its finances by making alternatives to Japanese bonds look even less appealing. A closer look at Japan's debt and savings dynamics, market conditions and its tax and welfare reform plans suggests a funding crunch of a kind that now looms over southern Europe is still several years away. Income and corporate tax hikes agreed to last month should cover most of the nearly $244 billion to be spent on rebuilding from the March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster and prevent it from piling on a debt mountain double the size of Japan's annual economic output. (Economic Times) |
| Dec 09 | Japan Q3 GDP revised down slightly; capex weak |
| Japan's economy rebounded in the third quarter at a slightly slower pace than initially estimated as companies pulled back on capital spending, worried that yen strength and slowing global growth will hurt exports. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew a revised 1.4 percent in July-September from the previous quarter, slightly slower than a preliminary 1.5 percent increase but above a median forecast of a revised 1.3 percent expansion. While the data does not change the bigger picture of the world's third largest economy emerging from a March earthquake-triggered recession thanks to a steady mending of supply chains, analysts say a slowdown is inevitable as growth in many overseas economies stutters. (Reuters) |
| Dec 08 | Japan may see casinos as Diet seeks quake aid |
| Japan's record earthquake may achieve what Las Vegas magnate Sheldon Adelson has been trying to do for years: Persuade the government to allow casinos. Adelson, chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), has for at least half a decade sought to reverse a ban on the gambling houses in the world's third-biggest economy, only to be blocked by Japanese legislators arguing casinos would fuel organized crime and provide little benefit. Now, a group of 150 lawmakers plans to introduce a bill by tomorrow that could allow resorts that combine slot machines and gambling tables with hotels, shopping and restaurants. Japanese casinos could emerge as a 3.4 trillion yen ($44 billion) industry, according to a 2009 study by Ryosaku Sawa, an economics professor at Osaka University of Commerce. That would provide an attractive source of tax revenue for a government facing a 19 trillion yen reconstruction bill from the March 11 earthquake, on top of the world's largest public debt. (Bloomberg) |
| Dec 08 | Japan's new math seen adding $129 bln to GDP |
| The Japanese Cabinet Office is changing its method to measure gross domestic product (GDP), in a move that is expected to add 5-10 trillion yen ($64.33-$128.65 billion) to the country's nominal GDP, business daily Nikkei reported. The new method -- to be used for the revised July-Sept GDP figures due on Friday -- may beat a price-adjusted 5.3 percent growth that private-sector economists predicted the government would report, the newspaper said. (Reuters) |