One of the strongest major currencies in the world since the onset of the 2008 crisis has been the Japanese yen. This is a dramatic change of fortune for what had long been - and what should be - a weak currency.
Click to Enlarge Take a look at this chart, which tracks the dollar/yen exchange rate. In late 2008, a dollar would buy you 110 yen. Today, a dollar will not buy you even 80. And remember, the dollar has been relatively strong over the past four years. The yen's performance against the euro or British pound would be even more dramatic.
Anyone who follows Japan must legitimately be scratching their heads in confusion right about now. In a market in which investors have been shunning risk for the past four years, why would the currency of the most heavily indebted major country in the world rise? (investorplace.com)
The Japanese yen: Handle with care
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Fiscal ills not DPJ's doing but it's holding the bag
The tax and social security reform outline adopted by the Cabinet on Friday indicate the government has run out of options and must finally address welfare costs and public finances that have been spiralling out of control for years.
Many members of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan continue to demand that further budget-cutting efforts be made before the consumption tax is raised.
The party's lawmakers fear the proposed hike is so unpopular among the public it could potentially result in the DPJ being booted out of power at the next general election. (Japan Times)
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Malpractice info leak nets cop jail
The Tokyo District Court sentenced a former police inspector Friday to 10 months in prison for leaking investigative information in a 2009 fatal malpractice case.
Yoichi Shirotori, 58, was convicted of breaking confidentiality as a civil servant. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of one year behind bars. Shirotori denied the allegations.
The court ruled that testimony by a 54-year-old former colleague that he had received investigative information from Shirotori was rational and credible. After leaving the Tokyo police force, the colleague had landed a job at the Shinagawa Cosmetic Surgery clinic with help from Shirotori. (Japan Times)
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Japan's territorial dispute with Russia heating up again
As the Noda Administration grapples with the Futenma base relocation issue with the United States, Japan's territorial disputes with Russia has re emerged as another major irritant to foreign policy making. Russia has once again asserted its claim over the southern Kurils/the Northern Territories, which for long has been claimed by Japan. Despite Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's recent eagerness to resolve the territorial dispute with Russia, the latter so far has not shown any indication of toning down its hard-line diplomatic stance on the issue.
Japanese historical accounts suggest that under the Treaty of Commerce, Navigation and Delimitation signed by Japan and Russia on February 7, 1855, Russia accepted Japan's sovereignty over the four islands: Shitokan, Habomai, Kunashiri and Etorofu. However, after the end of World War II, Russia not only seized these islands from Japan, but also forced the 17,000 Japanese residents there to leave. (idsa.in)
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Defense chief richest member in Noda Cabinet
Among the 19 members of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka, thanks to his wife's fortune, ranks tops in terms of family assets, with ¥303.31 million, documents showed Friday.
Four new Cabinet members - Tanaka; Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada; Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa; and Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Hirofumi Hirano - unveiled their family assets.
According to the newly disclosed documents of Tanaka, he has ¥100.91 million, while his wife, Makiko, a former foreign minister and daughter of the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, has ¥202.40 million. The defense chief took the Tanaka family name when he married. (Japan Times)
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Diminishing waistlines, a Japanese health problem
Americans may be battling the bulge, but the Japanese are struggling to expand their waistlines.
The Health Ministry said the number of young, skinny women has risen to troubling levels. A record 29 percent of those in their 20s are underweight, according to a recent government survey. Those with a body mass index of less than 18.5 percent are considered underweight by Japanese standards.
The ministry has yet to come up with a plan to reduce the number of underweight citizens, but the government now treats diminishing waistlines as a national health problem, and worries that the problem could affect fertility rates. Japan already has one of the lowest birthrates in the world.
(ABC News)
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ANA looking to cut Y100 billion in costs, expand international services
All Nippon Airways Co. plans to slash costs by ¥100 billion and expand international flights as it gears up for rising competition at home.
The carrier, the world's only operator so far of Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner, plans to boost international capacity by 22 percent in the two years starting April 1, the carrier said Friday.
The cost savings are planned by the end of March 31, 2015, it said.
ANA, which has 55 of the Boeing 787s on order, plans to use the new planes to expand overseas service, including flights to Seattle and San Jose, California, from Tokyo. (Japan Times)
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K-Pop in Japanese music market shows steady growth in revenue
On February 16, Oricon released a revenue trends report regarding K-Pop artists' music softwares and their sales. According to the report, the total revenue of Japanese music market has been steadily decreasing in the past five years, but K-Pop artists' Japanese music software sales skyrocketed, reaching 24.4 Billion Yen in revenue.
Girls' Generation and Kara contributed greatly to such exponential growth in K-Pop artists' revenue in Japan. Girls' Generation's "Girls Generation" and Kara's "Super Girl" each made about 2.9 Billion Yen and 2 Billion Yen in revenue. K-Pop artists' revenue in Japanese music market increased for three consecutive years since 2008. Compared to February 2010, K-Pop revenue in Japanese market grew 22.3% (soompi.com)
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Foreign visitors off for 11th month
The number of foreign visitors to Japan in January fell 4.1 percent from a year earlier to 685,000, declining for the 11th straight month since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, an estimate by the Japan National Tourism Organization showed Friday.
The rate of decline was the lowest and the number of foreign visitors the highest during the 11-month period, showing signs of a recovery, although the Fukushima nuclear crisis and the yen's historic appreciation continue to weigh. (Japan Times)
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Japan slowly wakes up to doomsday debt risk
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Soccer: Japan call up five new caps for Iceland
Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni called up five new players for a friendly against Iceland next week in preparation for a World Cup qualifier later this month.
"I called up those who have never been named before because... they have the potential to represent Japan in the future," the Italian coach told reporters on Friday.
Japan's Europe-based players, led by CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda and Borussia Dortmund striker Shinji Kagawa, cannot be obliged to play for the national side in friendlies and so are absent for the Iceland match.
The new players were Vegalta Sendai, goalkeeper Takuto Hayashi, midfielders Ryota Isomura (Nagoya Grampus) and Gaku Shibasaki (Kashima Antlers), along with forwards Hidetaka Kanazono (Jubilo Iwata) and Yuya Kubo (Kyoto Sanga). (AFP)
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Court nixes key depositions against Ozawa
The Tokyo District Court said Friday it will not adopt as evidence key depositions of former aides of ex-Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa, who stands accused of violating the Political Funds Control Law, and slammed prosecutors' interrogations as "illegal."
Interrogation records of lawmaker Tomohiro Ishikawa were regarded as important evidence for the court-appointed lawyers serving as prosecutors to prove allegations that Ozawa conspired with his former secretaries to make false entries in the financial reports for his political funds management body Rikuzankai in 2004 and 2005.
But Ishikawa later denied Ozawa's involvement and testified during his boss's trial that he was forced to make the admissions during interrogations. (Japan Times)
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Learning a foreign language: blood, sweat and beers
A recent education ministry survey evaluated Japanese "third-year middle school students" on their attitudes toward learning English. One editorial indicated that the results of the survey showed that students nationwide had an "ambivalent and contradictory attitude toward English." Wow, imagine 14-year-olds being ambivalent and contradictory!
The problem seems to be that while 85 percent of the students thought English was important, and 70 percent said knowing English would help them get a job, only 11 percent wanted a job requiring English. The editorial found this contrast between what students said was important and what they wanted for themselves "disappointing." (Japan Times)
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70 years on, survivors remember the Japanese bombing of Darwin
Allen Heckenberg was a 19-year-old ammunition loader on a three-inch anti-aircraft gun overlooking Darwin Harbour when the port was attacked by dozens of Japanese aircraft just before 10 am on February 19, 1942
As wave after wave of Zero fighters, dive bombers and torpedo bombers blasted a fleet of 20 or more sitting ducks in the harbour, including the American Destroyer USS Peary, Mr Heckenberg and his gun crew on Elliott Point fought furiously against the enemy swarm.
The 89-year-old from Woonona south of Sydney, will make his fourth trip back to Darwin this weekend to mark the 70th anniversary of the day he went to war with the 14th Anti-Aircraft Battery. His gun was the first to open fire after a bomb hit the Stokes Hill wharf.
(news.com.au)
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Caterpillar to shift production from Japan to US
Caterpillar said Friday it was shifting production of small tractors and excavators from its Sagami, Japan plant to the United States.
The world's leading construction equipment maker said it will build a new $200 million facility near Athens, Georgia, that will produce small track-type tractors and mini hydraulic excavators.
The facility is expected to directly employ 1,400 people and generate another 2,800 jobs among suppliers and other supporting businesses.
"The decision to shift production from Japan to the United States is driven by the proximity to a large base of customers in North America and Europe," Mary Bell, the head of the division, said in a statement. (AFP)
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Japan's consumer electronics industry reliance on Google presents a dilemma
So, with the FCC confirming Google is indeed testing a home wireless "personal communications device" prototype and rumors of the imminent release of Google's "Project Tungsten" home media device, you might think Japan's consumer electronics companies are worried about Google. And you'd be right, but the worries should be on a deeper level than readily apparent.
But first, a bit of history. With the arrival of Apple's iPhone on the market in 2007, it was abundantly clear the mobile phone market was entering a new phase of competition, one that Japan's i-mode fueled domestic mobile phone market would find difficult to resist. To compete with Apple, Japan Inc. could have started up a project to locally create a competitor to iOS and Apple's app development ecosystem, one which would have taken some time and, given such history as NTT DoCoMo's expensive failure to export i-mode to the rest of the world (anyone remember DoCoMo's $9.8 billion investment in AT&T Wireless and mMode?), arguably one with a dubious future. (Forbes)
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The many faces of Tokyo
It is a country where tradition meets cutting edge, where peace and quiet meets buzzing excitement. From tea ceremonies to capsule hotels, jaw-dropping temples to digitised toilets, there is simply no other country quite like Japan.
Its capital, Tokyo, is one of the world's great cities. Three million passengers flow through Shinjuku train station every day, and the "scramble" pedestrian crossing in Shibuya is a wonder of choreography. But beyond the hustle of the salarymen and office workers, you will discover a hospitality and attention to detail that makes Tokyo feel like a collection of charming villages.
Before you get started, remember to look up: Tokyo hides many of its secrets on the fifth or sixth floor. Start in Harajuku, where fashionista teenagers display what the rest of the world will be wearing in three years, then pop into Tokyu Hands to pick up the latest cute and hilarious Japanese toys and gadgets. (guardian.co.uk)
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Yakuza intractable in Japan showbiz
Six months ago, Shinsuke Shimada, a comic who hosted several big primetime shows on Japanese TV, admitted ties to organized crime and resigned from showbiz. His abrupt departure caused a media sensation as it shone a harsh light on the mob's influence on the industry, and new ordinances went into effect in Tokyo and Okinawa in October making it a crime to pay off the yakuza -- Japan's mafia -- or profit from dealing with them.
But if anyone expected these "startling" events to bring significant changes, they've since been disappointed.
The Japanese entertainment industry has its roots in a vast night world of clubs, cabarets and bars, which have connections with the yakuza that go back centuries and are still pervasive, despite efforts by the police (who call the thugs boryokudan, meaning violence groups) and the biz to sever them. (Variety)
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iOS 5.1 will add Japanese Siri support, new lock screen
A new report says Apple will push out an update to iOS in the coming weeks. Although not much is known about it, iOS 5.1 will add Japanese-language support for Siri, the digital voice assistant on the iPhone 4S, as well as a new lock screen that will make it easier to access the phone's camera.
Boy Genius Report says it somehow got a look at Apple's coming iOS 5.1 update, which it reports will be hitting the the streets around March 9. With the update, Apple continues to improve Siri, adding Japanese language support. The iPhone 4S has been available in Japan since October, but if the report is true soon its people will actually be able to the digital voice assistant. You might also want to get ready for a new wave of humorous viral videos surrounding Siri's answers, possibly with more Manga references. (mashable.com)
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Scientists find no radiation in sick ringed seals
Lesions and other symptoms associated with sickened or dead ringed seals along Alaska's northern coast last year were probably not caused by radiation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday.
Preliminary screening of tissue samples from both healthy and sick ice seals and walruses showed no radiation levels that would have directly caused the symptoms, the agency posted on its Alaska region website.
Radiation was considered because of the timing and size of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident that followed a tsunami in March 11 in Japan. According to the NOAA announcement, marine animals and fish near the accident site in Japan were affected by radiation but there is no evidence to support any effects on animals in Alaska. (MSNBC)
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