Japan’s lottery rakes in declining revenues as younger generation gives...
Several weeks ago Mavis Wanczyk, a 53-year-old woman from Massachusetts, won $758 million in the Powerball lottery — the largest single winner jackpot in North ...
View ArticleJapan’s student grant system could leave university grads in deep black hole...
Everyone knows that a university education leads to a higher salary, but how much higher?According to labor ministry statistics, there isn’t much difference between salaries ...
View ArticleAre libraries to blame for Japan’s slump in bunko paperback book sales?
Kiyondo Matsui, the president of the publishing house Bungei Shunju, spoke at this year’s All-Japan Library Conference, which took place in Tokyo on Oct. 12 ...
View ArticleAbe’s free day care pledge may be an appealing solution for the wrong problem
Just before the recent Lower House election in October, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to make public day care services and kindergartens free for children ...
View ArticleElectric vehicles are here, but are they practical and economical?
The future seems to belong to electric vehicles (EVs).Several countries, including France and the U.K., have already set deadlines to end internal combustion engine car ...
View ArticleJapanese consumers increasingly face stealth price hikes via ‘shrinkflation’
In Japan, a phenomenon known as “shrinkflation” — an important economic countermeasure against inflation for businesses — has been catching the attention of consumers.The term, ...
View ArticleShrine murder highlights huge amount of cash — most of it off-book — raked in...
In December, the former gūji (head priest) of Tokyo’s famous Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine allegedly murdered his sister before committing suicide. Later, it was reported by ...
View ArticleTepco’s compensation for 3/11 victims has made matters worse for many
As of the end of March, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. had paid more than ¥8 trillion in compensation (baishōkin) related to the Fukushima ...
View ArticleSecondhand retail redefined in Japan as online flea markets rise in value
In June, the popular online flea market, Mercari Inc., is expected to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mothers section, which is reserved for ...
View ArticleDays are numbered for ATMs in Japan’s banking system
On May 2, Shinsei Bank announced that starting from October it will impose fees for automatic teller machine (ATM) transactions. Shinsei’s main sales point has ...
View ArticlePoverty in Japan: Underclass struggles to achieve upward mobility
Last month, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai said during an LDP gathering in Tokyo that people who opt not to have children are “selfish” ...
View ArticleMeasuring the economics behind a shift to streaming
An article in the Feb. 17 issue of the Asahi Shimbun describes a restaurant in Osaka where diners can watch J. League soccer games. The ...
View ArticleReassessing the negative impact of hosting the 2020 Olympics
The estimated cost of the 2020 Olympic Games has increased astronomically since Tokyo won the right to host it. On Dec. 22, Asahi Shimbun reported ...
View Article‘Nekonomics’ does its bit to keep Japan’s economy purring
In our last column we talked about the economic effectiveness (keizai kōka) of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Keizai kōka is often used as an indication ...
View ArticleTellmeclub’s bankruptcy grounds discount travel services
On March 27, discount travel company Tellmeclub filed for bankruptcy while a number of its Japanese customers were still overseas on package tours.Owing to the ...
View ArticleJapan waking up to the problems of sleeping cash
In recent weeks there have been two well-reported robberies of people carrying large amounts of cash on the street. Thieves got away with ¥384 million ...
View ArticleWith stagnant minimum wage, a ‘decent life’ is out of reach
One of the bedrock principles of market economics is that as demand for labor goes up, so do wages. Lately, there has been evidence that ...
View ArticleLower tariffs on EU cheese imports may not translate to reduced prices for...
Japan and the European Union just announced a deal on free trade and will seek to reach a final agreement by the end of this ...
View ArticleJapan’s health care is far from free, and ballooning costs could mean higher...
Japan’s health insurance system is considered “universal,” since it covers everyone in the country, but it is hardly “free” in the sense of having the ...
View ArticlePricey family graves a fading tradition in aging Japan
Last month, a man was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police for leaving human remains at a garbage collection station near his residence in Adachi ...
View ArticleBad news around mutual funds does little to boost Japanese people’s appetite...
On July 27, the Asahi Shimbun reported that the Bank of Japan had overestimated the value of mutual funds being held by individuals by about ...
View ArticleRethinking the notion that hot weather means increased consumption in wake of...
Japan seems to suffer more than its fair share of natural disasters, and this past summer was especially bad. In addition to two earthquakes that ...
View ArticleEffort to nudge Japan to go cashless with offsets to sales tax hike faces...
On Oct. 15, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed during an extraordinary Cabinet meeting that the government would raise the consumption tax from 8 to 10 ...
View ArticleAbuse is the norm for Japan’s hometown tax donation system
On Sept. 11, then-Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Seiko Noda gave a news conference at which she stated the government’s intention to revise laws for ...
View ArticleIn 2019, how hungry is Japan for whale meat?
Japan is currently the object of criticism for its decision to leave the International Whaling Commission, and resume commercial whaling in territorial waters and its ...
View ArticleExamining the high price of Japan’s water systems
When we were negotiating for the purchase of a piece of land, the realtor told us that the lot we were interested in had no ...
View ArticleJapan’s tax laws get in way of more women working full time
One of the key elements of the Abe administration’s efforts to stimulate the economy is getting more women into the workforce. As it stands, Japan ...
View ArticleIs a lack of money behind Japan’s drought of local political candidates?
In an Asahi Shimbun editorial published March 30, a week before nationwide elections were held for prefectural and municipal assemblies on April 7, the newspaper ...
View ArticleCracks forming in Japan’s premium-based universal health care system
One of the issues U.S. voters say they care the most about right now is health care. America is almost alone in the developed world ...
View ArticleJapan facing increased pressure to hike minimum wage, but business leaders...
Last month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy recommended that the government draw up detailed measures to bring the nationwide average ...
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