From Kyodo:
The yen continued to fall against the U.S. dollar to the upper 160 range on Wednesday, hitting its lowest level in over 37 years in New York despite heightened vigilance about another market intervention by Japan to slow its rapid drop.
The bank accounts of a nation crying out together in pain...
Ryo Asayama from Nikkei:
Leading Japanese retailer Aeon will take on 4,000 skilled foreign workers groupwide by fiscal 2030 amid severe labor shortages in Japan's food service sector, Nikkei has learned.
The Aeon group currently employs around 1,500 under Japan's Specified Skilled Worker program, which targets foreign workers with specialized skills in shorthanded industries. They work largely at food-processing plants that supply Aeon supermarkets.
From Kyodo:
Japan stands ready to take appropriate steps against volatile yen moves at "any time," a senior finance ministry official said Monday in a fresh warning, as the currency neared levels at which authorities have previously intervened to slow the yen's decline.
Hajime Tsukada from Nikkei:
Moves are underway to introduce a lodging tax on hotel and inn guests in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island and home to many spots popular with international tourists, including renowned ski resorts and hot springs.
Unlike the temple tax that I wrote about the other day in Himeji, I think this is a more appropriate way to profit off of tourism, especially for the smaller towns like Kutchan and Niseko.
From Kyodo:
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that the government will compile fresh inflation relief steps around this fall, providing cash handouts to low-income households struggling to weather the cost-of-living crisis.
I know Japan isn’t known for being speedy when its bureaucracy is involved, but saying we will get around to helping you out in 3 to 4 months is just another nail in the coffin of the Kishida administration.
Ryoko Shimonoya from Nikkei:
The Nippon Foundation and the University of Tokyo together found deposits of some 230 million tonnes of manganese nodules on the seabed around Minami-Torishima, located roughly 1,900 km southeast of Tokyo, in a survey conducted between April and June.
From The Mainichi:
It is the first time since June last year for Japan to be on the "monitoring" list. In its biannual report to Congress, the department also placed six other economies on the list -- China, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Back on the naughty step.
Brad Glosserman from The Japan Times:
In simplest terms, Japan’s problem is sclerosis. The country’s economic policymakers have opted for stability, halting the “creative destruction” that promotes innovation and delivers prosperity. “Among all rich countries, it is Japan where new companies find it hardest to get the external funding that is needed for growth. Consequently, the birth and death rate of companies has plunged and is now one of the lowest among 27 rich countries.”
A book review of The Contest for Japan’s Economic Future by Richard Katz. In my own personal experience in the country, this tendency towards risk-aversion and stability is very real.
Yuhi Sugiyama from The Mainichi:
This is the first bank note update since 2004. Now adorning the 10,000-yen (about $63) notes is Shibusawa Eiichi, an industrialist considered to be the father of capitalism in Japan. On the new 5,000-yen (some $32) notes is Tsuda Umeko, founder of Tsuda University in the Japanese capital. Lastly, honoring the 1,000-yen (roughly $6.30) notes is Kitazato Shibasaburo, a microbiologist who established a treatment for tetanus.
This is very much an "evolution, not revolution" design change for the yen banknotes as they still maintain the general look of the previous set while incorporating new imagery and security features.