News On Japan
All the latest news on Japan



Japan's unemployment rises, output falls (Jul 30)
Japan's unemployment rate ticked higher while production of automobiles and electronic gadgets saw a surprise slip in June, data showed Friday, in signs that an export-driven recovery may be stalling. The data poses a challenge for Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government, which must balance Japan's uncertain economic reality with an agenda that has placed cutting the industrialised world's biggest public debt at its core. Shipments of cars, gadgets and components have been crucial in offsetting a weaker demand picture back home, but concern is mounting that Beijing's efforts to cool China's economy and doubts over eurozone and US demand may hit Japan. (AFP)


Japan, Mongolia agree to cooperate on resource development (Jul 30)
Japan and Mongolia agreed Thursday to cooperate closely on the development of mineral resources and energy in Mongolia through technology transfers and investment, Japanese officials said. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku met with visiting Mongolian Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Dashdorj Zorigt and briefed him on Japan's new growth strategy that features exports of technology, finance and personnel training know-how. (AP)


Don't scorn Germany and Japan; learn from them (Jul 29)
In the midst of the Great Recession, the United States is suffering through nearly 10% unemployment, rising inequality and poverty, 47 million people without health insurance, declining retirement prospects for the middle class and a general increase in economic insecurity. The global marketplace has become tumultuous, so when we find a bright spot, one would think it deserves a mention. How then should we regard a country that has 5% unemployment, the lowest income inequality, healthcare for all its people and is one of the world's leading exporters? (Los Angeles Times)


All ministries face 10% budget cut (Jul 27)
Despite dissent within the ranks of his Democratic Party of Japan and Cabinet, Prime Minister Naoto Kan's administration endorsed on Tuesday a 10 percent cut on all ministries' fiscal 2011 budget requests and earmark at least ¥1 trillion to stimulate economic growth. The approved guideline, which ministries will use when they compile their budget requests, caps annual policy-related spending at ¥71 trillion, as previously pledged by Kan. The Cabinet also agreed to hold open debate on which projects deserve a share of the ¥1 trillion. (Japan Times)


Kan, ministers agree to 'actively' seek FTAs (Jul 27)
Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other ministers on Tuesday affirmed that that they will actively work to seek free trade agreements with other countries, trade minister Masayuki Naoshima said. It was the first gathering of ministers to discuss the issue since Kan succeeded Yukio Hatoyama as premier in June, according to a government official. "The Kan Cabinet would like to actively work (on the trade agreement issue) in the same way as the Hatoyama Cabinet," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Naoshima told a regular press conference. (AP)


'No pressure,' says BOJ's 1st female branch manager (Jul 26)
Despite her recent appointment as the first female branch manager in the 128-year history of the Bank of Japan, Tokiko Shimizu says she feels no pressure. She's probably telling the truth, for this is not the first, or even the second time she's broken such ground at the central bank. Shimizu was also the first woman to be appointed deputy head of the bank's London office, her former post, and the first to be in charge of foreign exchange intervention. (Yomiuri)


Stimulus cut of ¥1 trillion tough for Kan (Jul 26)
A Cabinet committee endorsed a plan Monday to earmark more than ¥1 trillion for stimulus growth measures in the fiscal 2011 budget, instead of the ¥2 trillion the ruling Democratic Party of Japan has urged the government to allocate for such measures. The draft also urges each ministry and agency to cut back on requests for policy-related spending in the fiscal year starting next April by 10 percent to squeeze out funds for the special allocation. (Japan Times)


Gov't eyes over 1 tril. yen for growth stimulus in FY 2011 budget (Jul 26)
The government is considering securing over 1 trillion yen for special growth stimulus measures in its budget for fiscal 2011, Cabinet members said Monday. The government is also planning to widely canvass public opinion on what policies should be pursued under the stimulus spending, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said at a press conference. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan proposed last week allocating at least 2 trillion yen for fresh growth steps within the government's spending cap of 71 trillion yen for the year through March 2012. (AP)


Why Japan finds it So Hard to Change (Jul 25)
Sometimes Japan seems to be on the wrong continent. Everywhere else in Asia, from Shanghai to Mumbai to Jakarta, there is an aura of perpetual motion, a sense that tomorrow will be better than today. The region is on a frenetic 365-day-a-year hurtle into a brighter future. Japan once shared Asia's dynamism and mission. But not anymore. Today, Japan is an island of inertia in an Asia in constant flux. Japan's political leadership is paralyzed, its corporate elite befuddled, its people agonized about the future. While Asia lurches forward, Japan inches backward. (Time)


Young Japanese are outsourcing themselves (Jul 25)
In October 2008, at the height of the financial crisis when job markets were freezing up globally, Akane Natori easily found a position she liked. "Things went so smoothly after applying online, and before I knew it, I had the job," said Ms Natori, who was then a 26-year-old sales assistant at an import-export company in Tokyo. There was just one catch: Ms Natori's new job - working in a call centre answering queries from customers in Japan - was in Bangkok. The trend is one that speaks volumes about the Japanese economy and the challenges younger Japanese face in a country where college graduates used to count on lifetime employment with the company they joined. (The Hindu)