Nipponica

Foreign nationals in Japan earn less than their Japanese counterparts even after controlling for such factors as education and experience, according to a recent government report covering an area at the center of intense policy debate.

The Cabinet Office's economic white paper for fiscal 2024 includes for the first time a section focusing specifically on Japan's more than 2 million foreign workers, finding that they earn 28% less than Japanese nationals.

This owes in large part to demographic differences, with many Japanese workers being in their 40s to 50s while their foreign counterparts skew younger, often in their 20s, and have less experience. But even after adjusting for age, education, and other characteristics of individual workers or workplaces, the paper still found a 7% gap that cannot otherwise be explained.

The Nikkei stock index closed with its largest single-day point drop in history on Monday, tumbling over 4,400 points and 12 percent, in a global market crash amid a firming yen and escalating fears of a U.S. recession triggered by disappointing economic data.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei Stock Average on Friday recorded the second-biggest daily drop in its history, as stocks extended losses following a sell-off in New York overnight.

The index plunged to 35,909.70, down 2,216.63 points, or 5.81%, marking its lowest close since Jan. 26.

Wheeee.

We are living through a transition period in world affairs. The power and the unity of Western countries to act as the ultimate arbiters of global affairs is not collapsing, but is in clear decline.

Most of us can agree on this point, but where is the better place to spectate this era of transition, from inside the West or from outside? Perspective is everything. For those of us from Western countries, on both sides of the Atlantic, the politics of populism inevitably becomes a major talking point when viewing the changing world.

While I broadly agree with the overall point of the shift of global power away from the west, almost no mention was made in the article about the rise of Africa to fill some of the western vacuum. Nigeria alone is quickly becoming a powerhouse in population while China and the rest of East Asia is declining. Factor in India and ASEAN and the multipolar future looks quite clear.

Japan's average hourly minimum wage is set to rise by another record amount as the government endeavors to support households in the face of persistent inflation and as it works to boost economic growth with wage-driven stimulus.

A panel tasked with arriving at a target for the minimum wage has agreed to a national average increase of ¥50 ($0.30), the fourth record increase in as many years.

Should be more but progress...

Over a year has passed since the PDAS-X06 unmanned experimental aircraft, part of a space travel project, crashed into the sea off Shimojishima Airport in the city of Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture.

PD Aerospace, the Nagoya-based developer of the aircraft, aims to realize space travel by manned spacecraft from the airport under the Shimojishima Spaceport Project, which was signed between the company and Okinawa Prefecture in September 2020.

Under the project, the company’s spacecraft, which is designed to fly to an altitude of 100 kilometers, will allow passengers to experience a state of weightlessness for about five minutes. Originally, the company had planned to launch space travel in 2025, sending 100 passengers to space that year and gradually increasing capacity to 1,000 by 2030.

With this story and the previous one about Hokkaido Spaceport, Japanese industry is making up for lost time in the new space race. While JAXA is far from a small player in the industry, it is small in comparison to the legacy space states. But, experimentation like this could be vital to the next generation of spacecraft and there could be a breakthrough in the testing on Miyako.

Located on the Pacific coast, Taiki, with 5,300 people, is home to the Hokkaido Spaceport (HOSPO), billed as Asia’s first privately operated spaceport, which the town first proposed nearly 40 years ago.

Since 2008, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been carrying out experiments involving scientific balloon, aeronautical technology and the Hayabusa2 laser altimeter at HOSPO following the signing of an agreement with the town.

But now, HOSPO is aiming to become one of Japan’s major domestic spaceports for launching satellite-equipped rockets and spacecraft as well as for the aerospace industry to conduct research and development.

Japanese online marketplace Mercari has laid off nearly half of the employees from its U.S. subsidiary, Nikkei has learned, as it struggles with falling sales and competition from low-price Chinese e-commerce rivals like Temu.

The June layoffs have apparently reduced the workforce to a little over 100 people. The subsidiary had 226 employees at the end of June 2023, excluding temporary workers, a securities filing showed.

Potential new hires will receive training required to work in the Mos Burger chain, such as how to speak to customers and handle ingredients, at an educational institution it has tied up with in Vietnam.

The company expects to begin recruiting workers next spring in accordance with the needs of franchisees, with the chain already having applied for approval with related agencies.

More private business are realizing that an increasing immigrant workforce is necessary to survive in the near future.

Pesek said that the Japanese government had been “pretty certain that Biden had this well in hand.” However, following the recent turmoil in Biden’s party, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is now reappraising the odds of a “Trump 2.0 presidency.”

“I think the issue with Trump, he’s very transactional, he’s not very predictable. He’s not very loyal in terms of relationships anywhere. Never mind Asia. If you’re Japan, they’re looking at the future and wondering, ‘this could be a fascinating few years for for us.’” Pesek said.

Carrying on from yesterday, a contrasting view on a second Trump reign from the Japanese perspective. The variable of his unpredictability alone makes this a more realistic scenario for Japan.