Japan Economy News

According to figures released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Tuesday, nominal average monthly cash earnings per regular employee in Japan rose 1.1% year-on-year to Y271,621 in May. Overtime pay fell 3.2% in May, according to the data. Base wages fell 0.4% in May, for the fifth straight month with a year-on-yeah [...]

A government paper published on Tuesday said that women make up 11% of lower house members and 1% of corporate leaders. While figures from various media sources vary, it seems clear that Japan has a very low percentage of women in positions of power. Foreign critics, predictably, seem to have no solutions to propose, but [...]

Prime Minister Naoto Kan has apparently said that suspending the government’s plan to reduce corporate tax rates in the wake of the current crisis is a “major option.” This would be an obvious mistake. Rather than continuing to penalize businesses with a ridiculously high tax burden, Japan needs to make it easier for them to [...]

There were those who said McDonald’s or Starbucks wouldn’t succeed in the Japanese market. And those who claimed the iPhone wouldn’t gain much traction in Japan appear to have fallen silent. Of course, Facebook has had its naysayers as well, with countless articles telling us why Facebook didn’t have what it would take to truly [...]

According to data released Wednesday by the Cabinet Office, Japan’s Consumer Confidence Index rose by 1.0 point to 41.1 in January, showing an increase for the first time since June of last year. The consumer confidence index itself contains five scores, each of which is considered positive when above 50, and pessimistic when below the [...]

Not even two weeks after Standard & Poor’s cut Japan’s sovereign debt rating from AA to -AA, Moody’s has issued a warning that it may downgrade Japan’s sovereign debt rating if fiscal reforms are not soon set in place. Statements from Moody’s indicated that economic growth on its own would not help in resolving Japan’s [...]

A few days ago I wrote about how average wages in Japan had increased 0.5% in 2010, showing their first rise in four years. A closer look at the figures, however, revealed that base wages had actually declined 0.2% in 2010 to 245,098 yen. The figures had been skewed by increases in overtime pay at [...]

For those concerned about Japan’s fiscal condition, it may (or may not) come as some relief that the government has set up a new panel of experts to study reforms to the social security and tax systems. The panel met for the first time yesterday, and is being chaired by Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Joining [...]

Well, sort of. According to a report released yesterday by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, monthly wages in Japan rose 0.5% in 2010 for the first rise in four years. These figures, however, include increases in overtime pay at manufacturers, and underscore the truth that base wages actually dropped 0.2% in 2010 to [...]

Over at Neojaponisme, W. David Marx has done a superb write-up on the decline and firesale of iconic fashion brand A Bathing Ape. The article raises one particularly intriguing question: Will Chinese consumers of BAPE continue to view it as a “hip” brand even though it’s now owned by a Hong Kong apparel maker?