Friday, July 25, 2008

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Most Recent Stories

Japan’s June supermarket sales down 0.9%

Japan’s supermarket sales fell for the third consecutive month in June, sliding 0.9% to 1.08 trillion yen, according to the Japan Chain Stores Association. These figures follow a 1.1% fall... 

Japan’s labor force: Lower bonuses, more part time workers

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... 

Koizumi’s dream of a balanced budget officially dead: Cabinet Office

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... 

Shibuya’s Butlers Cafe makes CNN

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... 

Japan’s department store sales down 7.6% in June

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... 

Gift certificates, gas coupons, expensive school lunches and reduced houshold spending

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,... 

BizCast Japan #14: The iPhone in Japan, Department Stores, Real Estate, the G8, Nissan, Shinsei and Consumer Sentiment

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... 

Japan’s Consumer Confidence Index hits all-time low in June

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... 

Japan’s Wholesale prices up 5.6% in June, highest rise since 1981

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... 

Apple’s iPhone goes on sale in Japan right now - Softbank makes a solid opening marketing move

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... 

Japan’s June bankruptcies soar 11.7% - liabilities up 56.2%

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,... 

Amidst rising prices, might foodcrime be the next trend?

After all the hoopla surrounding food safety and labeling in Japan over the past year, and the subsequent hand-wringing over higher prices, especially of dairy products and grains, it seems just... 

News Corp moving into Japan’s online advertising market

According to Tuesday’s Nikkei, News Corp has plans to enter Japan’s lucrative online advertising market. Back in April 2007, we reported that Dentsu claimed Japan’s online advertising... 

Japanese government considering reforms to temporary employment laws

The Japanese government is currently discussing a bill that would prohibit temporary staff companies from dispatching day laborers, as well as require firms to tell workers about the commissions... 

Economy Watchers Survey down in June, to lowest level since 2001

After having seen a slight recovery in March, the monthly Economy Watchers Survey declined 1.4 points to to 35.5 in April, and then 3.4 points to 32.1 in May. According to the Cabinet Office,... 

Retail Roundup: Seiyu announces more changes to come

Let’s start by looking at Seiyu, a firm that has been much discussed on this website over the past year or so. According to the Nikkei, Seiyu intends to renovate about 90 of its locations... 

Bank of Japan Lifestyle Survey: 89% expect higher prices over the following year

The Bank of Japan released the 34th edition of its quarterly lifestyle survey last Friday, and one result that immediately catches the eye is that 88.9% of those surveyed reported that they expect... 

Japan’s pension fund lost 5.65 trilion yen in fiscal 2007

As a quick follow-up to yesterday’s post on the creation of a sovereign wealth fund and the taking of seed money from Japan’s pension fund, it was announced today that the Government... 

LDP panel proposes soverign wealth fund setup for Japan

Things have been slightly quiet on the sovereign-wealth-fund-for-Japan front lately - a bill proposing an SWF for Japan was supposed to have been written in April - but today the issue finally... 

Nikkei average falls for tenth straight day, first time since…

The Nikkei just closed this afternoon at 13,286.37 - down 176.83 points. Today was the tenth consecutive trading day to finish at a loss. When was the last time the Nikkei declined for ten straight...