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Buying foreign continues: August data shows that Japanese residents are still snapping up foreign stocks and bonds.
Over US$400 billion: Using an exchange rate of 117 yen to the dollar, Japanese public sector debt held externally crept just over $400 billion in the latest IIP quarterly report. Balancing that, the Japanese government owns double that in foreign reserves, which largely pay higher interest.
Grant aid for Jordan, Nepal, and Eritrea: ODA has been announced for Jordan, Nepal, and Eritrea. Nepal will receive grant funding for improvement of radio broadcasting stations. Eritrea will receive urban water supply money for Debub. Jordan will receive 1,300 million yen as a grant that the Jordanian government will be free to decide as to its use.
The greatest Japanese inventors: Reading about Prime Minister Koizumi’s recent visit to the Japanese Patent Office, we took a look at some of the information from the Patent Office. It turns out that back in 1985, the Patent Office asked Tokyo University’s Seiji Kaya to choose the 10 greatest Japanese inventors. His list was Sakichi Toyoda, Kokichi Mikimoto, Jokichi Takamine, Kikunae Ikeda, Umetaro Suzuki, Kyota Sugimoto, Kotaro Honda, Hidetsugu Yagi, Yasujiro Niwa, and Tokushichi Mishima. Considering the recent achievements of such luminaries as Iijima and Nakamura, perhaps it is time to expand the list?
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Image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Source: Website of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). |
Akihabara and nanosatellites: There is a remarkable interview with Shinichi Nakasuka at JAXA’s website. Strikingly, the first of his group’s nanosatellites launched in 2003, the XI-IV, contains parts from Akihabara: We had a tight budget, so we bought parts in Akihabara, which is often called the electronics capital of Japan. So we have proven that commercial components can be sufficient as long as they are well designed and manufactured. I think this was a remarkable achievement.
13 yen make one kilogram: The production cost of 1 kilogram of potatoes in 2005 was only 13 yen, up 2.4% from 2004.
Takeda presents on its antidiabetic medication: Takeda has presented some very positive data about possible cardiovascular benefits with its antidiabetic drug Actos®.
Honda and ethanol: Honda has been working with Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) on improving the production of ethanol from “soft biomass.”
Open standards for digital cameras: The digital camera world has produced a set of open standards at Four-Thirds.com. The name is a reference to the desirable ratio for image sensors adhering to the concepts of this standard.
JAL outsourcing?: From what we hear, JAL is apparently doing some outsourcing to TATA, a major Indian outsourcing company.
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street crossing practices (Source: Honda) |
Exports continue booming: Trade data for the first twenty days of August show that this year’s strong growth in exports continues apace.
Foreign reserves up 4%, continue steady growth: Japanese government foreign reserves are now at USD$879.9 billion, up about 4% from the $847.8 billion held at the end of August 2005.
Will we see 0.1% rates?: Line 6, average interest rates on ordinary deposits is now at 0.099%.
Bank lending up 2.6% year-on-year: We were reading these excerpts from a speech made by Atsushi Mizuno at the Bank of Japan, when we happened on this happy sentence: "The lending attitude of financial institutions is accommodative on the whole, and the year-on-year rate of increase in the amount outstanding of lending by major banks, regional banks, and regional banks II, after adjustment for extraordinary factors, was 2.6 percent in June, higher than the 2.0 percent growth in May.".
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Class Paul Fennell from U.S. Fleet and Industrial Supply Center (FISC) Yokosuka instructs 8KEE Side loader operator. (Source: U.S Navy photo by Operations Specialist Kevin D. Harris.) |
Seabees and Shinko Electric save U.S. Navy time and money: Shinko Electric refurbished a forklift for the U.S. Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Yokosuka. The refurbishment saved $126,000 over buying a new forklift, and also was 7 months faster than acquiring a new forklift.
Prime Minister Koizumi sets another record: The Prime Minister’s trip to Helsinki has set another record: he has now gone on 51 international trips while serving as prime minister, far ahead of Prime Minister Nakasone’s twenty-two trips.
The Philippines make 4: The signing of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement now brings the number of such pacts to 4: Mexico, Malayasia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
ODA for Ouagadougou: Japan is sending ¥866 million in grant money to Burkina Faso. The money is intended for 29 Burkinabe elementary schools.
History in the making: The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has put out its annual Bluebook, and while it is hard to pick our favorite portion of this excellent document, the diplomatic history for 2005 is particularly outstanding.
Soy bean production costs drop in 2005: The cost of producing a kilogram of soybeans dropped to 283 yen in 2005, down 22.4% from 2004.
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pictures while visiting Yokosuka on the U.S.S. Gary as part of the September 1st disaster drill in Tokyo. (Source: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Paul J. Phelps) |
Tax receipts up strongly: Tax receipts are up 11% through August for FY2006 over the same period last year.
Bank of Japan plans: The BOJ has released its Annual Report, which includes The Bank’s Management Strategy: Framework and Progress, a detailed and interesting report. BOJ-Net in particular seems to be going great guns, with RTGS expansion and DVP working out well. However, we were a bit surprised to note the Bank’s musings on staff reductions in some areas, to be balanced with some increases in technology staff. We think that the BOJ is quite possibly the most talented central bank in the world, and in order to retain its leadership, we would think that they should be intent on increasing its already impressive staff. In other areas, the strong emphasis on business continuity planning looks excellent.
Assistant Secretary in Tokyo on the 4th and 5th: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State For East Asian and Pacfic Affairs Christopher Hill will be in Tokyo on September 4th and 5th to talk about the North Korean situation.
South Korea asks for support: The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the ROK, Mr. Yu Myung-hwan, asked Japan to support Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, ROK’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as a candidate for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations.
First "Gaimusho Open House": The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is holding a "Gaimusho Open House" on Monday, September 4th, at 6:00pm. Members of the non-Japanese media are welcome.
Canada and Australia swap places: Most months, Japan reports receiving a small amount of oil from Australia and less from Canada (usually 0 kiloliters), but for July, it appears that Canada was the leader, with no imported oil for the month from Australia. Imports from Iran were also light, though substantially up from the miniscule amount imported in June.
Textile production recovering: After strong shipments in the first half of 2006, production has been picking up in the Japanese textile industry. Very welcome news in an industry that has been in a slide for the past few years.
Japanese unemployment drops to 4.1%: Seasonally adjusted figures show unemployment down to 4.1% in July. The labor force participation rate was 60.7%.
Tiffany sales up 11%: Tiffany sales in Japan were up 11% in the first half of the year on a constant-exchange-rate basis over the same period last year.
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for the USS Shiloh. (Source: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Adam York) |
Drilling on seabed 5,815 meters deep is world record: METI has set a world record of drilling on a seabed 5,815 meters deep and is considering submitting this record to the Guiness Book of World Records. According to this METI document, this far eclipses previous work, which went down only as far as 3,000 meters.
Toyota production up 9.3%: In the first seven months of the year, Toyota has produced 5,233,773 vehicles worldwide under its Toyota, Daihatsu, and Hino names. Year-on-year, that’s a 9.3% increase over the same period in 2005.
Honda production up 5.1%: In the first seven months of the year, Honda has produced 2,092,809 vehicles worldwide. Year-on-year, that’s a 5.1% increase over the same period in 2005.
Residents buying foreign: Looking at the Ministry of Finance’s numbers, it appears that the recent buying spree by residents of foreign securities is still going on, as we first reported on July 23rd.
Americans value Nichi-bei relationship: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released the results of a survey of 1,754 people in the United States titled 2006 Image of Japan Study in the U.S. The Japan-American relationship is highly esteemed by Americans — even rating Japan slightly ahead of Britain in the area of sharing common values.
From AKARI: JAXA has new images of star birth and death (and here also with more explanatory material) from AKARI (formerly known as ASTRO-F) which was launched in February of this year.
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(Source: Mazda Corporation) |
Nougyou comes to the Internet: One of our favorite print agricultural publications now is on the Internet: visit the website of Nougyou Shimbun (Agricultural Newspaper).
Exports booming: Exports for July were 6,321,130 million yen. About half of those went to Asia; about a quarter went to North America.
Experts helping: Japan has, at the request of the Philippine government, sent a team of disaster relief experts to help assess the damage and provide advice on recovery efforts from the August 11th spill of 200,000 liters of industrial oil.
Byrd Act repercussions: Japan will extend the Byrd Act countermeasures for another year.
The door is still open: The door for companies that want to do business in Japan is still open.
Who’s who at JAXA: JAXA has put out an organization chart as of July 31st.
Capital spending booms: Capital spending in fiscal year 2006 is now predicted to be 12.9% over fiscal year 2005, for the first double digit gain since 1990. It also appears that capital spending in the manufacturing area will also grow in the double digits for the fourth year in a row.
Time or land? If you have more time than land, you might consider planting carrots — the income from just one hour of farmhouse labor in open field carrots was a very healthy ¥3,110 in 2005.
Expanding operations from motorcycles to cars: Honda is expanding its operations in Vietnam to include automobile manufacturing and sales.
International Investment Position report in PDF available: The PDF format of “Japan's International Investment Position at Year-End 2005 ” is now available. To give the most succinct version of the report, this one sentence from the report does a good job: Comparison with other major countries suggests that Japan has been the country with the largest net asset position for the 15th consecutive year since year-end 1991.
Vietnam and Japan sign science agreement: Vietnam and Japan signed an agreement to cooperate in science and technology on August 21st in Hanoi.
NPLs continue to dwindle: Nonperforming loans (NPLs) have dropped to ¥13.4 trillion as of the end of March. That’s a drop of ¥4.6 trillion yen from the same date last year of ¥17.9 trillion.
Japan and Iraq, $3.5 billion: Japan has promised to loan up to $3.5 billion in yen loans to Iraq for infrastructure development in addition to lending more air transport aid from the JASDF (Japan Air Self-Defense Force).
JAL sees pickup of holiday traffic to China: JAL is reporting a 38% increase in passengers visiting China during the August 11-August 20 holiday period this year.
No rice from Beikoku?: According to Greenpeace, Japan has halted import of long grain rice from the United States due to concerns about genetic modifications creeping into supposedly non-GM rice.
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of JAXA’s eventual ETS-VIII with LDR. Image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Source: Website of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) |
Lift-off for LDREX-2: Arianespace will be able to carry LDREX-2 (an experimental version of the large-scale deployable antenna reflectors (LDR) for the ETS-VIII communications system) up in mid-September from French Guiana via an Ariane 5 rocket.
Japan-America Professional Exchange 2006: A symposium with a program entitled 500 Years of Professional Exchange Between Japan and the West will be held on September 15 in Washington, D.C.
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for its new homeport of San Diego (Source: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Paul J. Phelps) |
Rosy view improves: From the minutes of a recent monetary policy meeting at the Bank of Japan (BOJ): As for the level of economic activity, members concurred that it was appropriate to change the assessment of the current state of Japan's economy from "Japan's economy continues to recover steadily" to "Japan's economy is expanding moderately," given that the estimated output gap seemed to have become positive, and the perception among firms of having a shortage of labor and production capacity was likely to grow further, judging from the June Tankan. It’s music to our ears.
JAL revises routes: JAL will be dropping 7 flights per week from Tokyo to Chicago, cutting in half its current service level of 14 per week. It will be adding 12 new flights per week to Asia: increasing Nagoya-Guangzhou flights from 3 to 7, Tokyo-Bangkok from 14 to 21, and one additional from per week from Tokyo to New Delhi.
Rates still rising: One of the most dramatic movers in interest rates has been item 6, the average rate on ordinary deposits. Having sat at 0.001% for a very long time, we documented its sudden rise to 0.058% in our July 27th update. It has now moved sharply again, up to 0.098%.
As the footlights fade: As Prime Minister Koizumi’s remarkably successful tenure comes to an end, he has conducted a number of state visits. Coming up next will be first-time ever visits to Central Asia by a Japanese prime minister, as P.M. Koizumi visits both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Building construction orders held steady: Looking at the first half of the year, the value of new building construction orders was up to 16,166,205 million yen, up slightly from the same period of 2005 which was at ¥16,113,917 million.
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Sailors and Seabees paint at Kasuga Yochien School (Source: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Adam R. Cole) |
57 tons per hectare: Japanese farmers harvested 57 tons of sugarcane per hectare on average in 2005.
Toyota net income: Net income at Toyota up 39.2 percent to ¥371.5 billion for the quarter ending June 30th from the same period last year.
Seiko Epson and Tohoku University cooperative agreement: Epson and Tohoku have established a cooperative agreement. This is the second university to come to such an agreement with Epson, the first being Shinshu University.
iPod in your Mazda: Mazda will offer an iPod adaptor for its factory-installed audio systems beginning in August.
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from Panasonic (Source: Panasonic) |
Staging brings over 50% efficiency: Mitsubishi Heavy has managed to combine two power systems in a 75kW power system that is running at over 50% efficiency. The two tiers combine a fuel cell with a micro gas turbine to achieve this high degree of efficiency.
Toshiba’s New Fab: Toshiba has announced construction of a new 181,000 square meter facility in Mie prefecture. In keeping with its high technology roots, it will feature a “superconducting magnetic energy storage” (SMES) that instanteously triggers in the event of any power interruption, including lightning strikes.
Puchi Petites coming to the New World: A collection of miniature Japanese household goods will be brought into the U.S. market. These are both collectible and suitable as children’s toys.
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Oshkosh (Source: Courtesy of Honda News) |
General account receipts way up: General receipts by the government to the general account from the private sector in July of 2006 were 978,500 million yen from July of 2005, an increase of 18.8%.
Relief for Africa: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has announced food aid amounting to ¥2 billion (approximately $18.1 million) through the World Food Program to refugees in Darfur, and to people in Sudan, Chad, Kenya, and Uganda facing serious food shortage caused by drought.
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returning to Yokosuka (Source: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Paul J. Phelps ) |
Major banks making major money: Major banks in Japan made in FY 2005 a cumulative net profit of ¥3 trillion, a record. The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio dropped to 1.8% at major banks.
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(Source: Courtesy of Mazda) |
Mazda Hydrogen Vehicle in Norway:Mazda will exhibit its RX-8 Hydrogen RE (Rotary Engine) at ONS2006, in Stavanger, Norway, from August 22. The opening of Norway's first hydrogen filling station near Stavanger will be used for this first exhibition outside Japan.
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artwork of Torii Kiyomasu (Library of Congress, LC-USZC4-8412) |
Banks’ growing commitments: Commitment lines have grown from December’s ¥22,820,100 million to ¥24,648,400 million in June. Drawdowns have increased in the same period from ¥575,100 million to ¥603,000.
1,779,298 US dollars to Sri Lanka: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has announced assistance in the areas of entrepreneurship development, improving agriculture, and other vocational activities.
Oil imports from Iran drop: Oil imports from Iran dropped from 2,622,580 kiloliters in May to just 765,511 kiloliters. Percentage-wise, that’s a fall from a 13.4% share of all imports to just 4.6%, putting it for the month behind Saudi Arabia (33.1%), the UAE (27.1%), Qatar (12.4%), Kuwait (7.3%), and even Africa at 5%.
Takeda reports: Net sales were up 7.9% year-on-year for the period April 2005 to March 2006, and net income up 12.9% in the same period.
Honda on race day: Helio Castroneves, racing for Team Penske, won the Firestone Indy 400 with an average of almost 194 mph, a new track record. All of the cars in the race were outfitted with the Honda HI6R Indy V-8 engine, and there was only one mechanical failure in this race.
“Distinctive Approaches”: On a web page from the City of Tokyo that begins with the memorable sentence “The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs has formulated the Tokyo Metropolitan Stockbreeding Promotion Plan in order to show the future outlook of the livestock industry within metropolitan Tokyo and to serve as a guideline for the promotion of stockbreeding...”, we can add nothing except our appreciation.
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circa 1910 (Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-113132) |
Supporting the Sudan: Japan is giving $1,298,374.21 in assistance to the program “Support of Safe Motherhood in Nuba Mountains.” This follows $100 million already provided to the Sudan since 2005.
Cited by the MOFA: Four companies have been cited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in relation to ODA projects, and will be ineligible to receive a contract funded by Japan’s Grant for one month. The four companies are ICONS International Cooperation, Inc., Nanyo Boeki Kaisha, Ltd, Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., and Fujita Corporation. A fifth company, Central Consultant Inc., was also cited and is ineligible for two months. The announcement can be found here.
Oku en in 2008?: Titled the “Hideyo Noguchi Prize for Africa”, this new prize will make its first award of approximately ¥100 million in 2008. Eligible recipients are people and organizations doing medical research and providing medical services fighting disease in Africa. The announcement can be found here.
Commercial sales at the wholesale level continue to boom: Commercial sales at the wholesale level continued their strong performance this year, up 6.5% in the month of June compared to June of 2005. Q2 came in at 7% over last year’s figure.
Call for Papers: The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) will hold a conference on December 7 and 8 on “Conference on Intellectual Assets-Based Management Toward innovation and sustainable growth” in Tokyo. The details can be found here.
Dominican Republic, 50 years later: Japan has formally apologized to those Japanese who emigrated to the Dominican Republic in the 1950s. Also, a one-time payment will be offered those emigrants.
Moving to Tokyo: Tokyo-to was one of eight locales that received net positive internal migration in 2005. 39 showed a net loss. Tokyo was the highest at 0.71%.
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at Naval Station Pearl Harbor. (Source: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class James E. Foehl.) |
Tokyo gasoline: The price of gas was 135 yen per liter in the month of June in Tokyo. (That’s about $4.40 a gallon at 116 yen to the dollar.)
Working for more than a living: The average working household brought in 684,632 yen in June; its expenditures were ¥301,978. ¥178,432 went into savings.
Plenty of pigs: The average Japanese pig farmer keeps 1233 pigs. Unsurprisingly, Kyushu has the largest number of farms, and Kagoshima by itself has just over 10% of all Japanese pig farms.
JAL and Singapore Airlines e-ticket: You can now book an e-ticket on JAL flights connecting to those of Singapore Airlines. This makes the thirteenth such arrangement for JAL. Already participating are American Airlines, British Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Air France, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways, Continental Airlines, Aloha Air, and Thai Airways.
Branding success: BusinessWeek and Interbrand rate Japan’s most successful global brands: Toyota, Honda, Sony, Canon, Nintendo, Panasonic, Nissan, and Lexus.
3 of 8: Daimler-Chrysler’s Global Supplier Awards went to eight companies, of which three where Japanese: Yazaki, Denso, and NYK Line.
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in Tokyo can be found at Maru-ya Niku-ten in historical Bunkyo-ku. |
From our Best of Tokyo list: Visit Maru-Ya Niku-ten on Kikuzaka Dori in historical Bunkyo-ku for what we think is the very best croquette in Tokyo. [Feature]
Exports for June up 14.4%: Exports for June were 6,269,633 million yen, up 14.4% from the same period in 2005. Exports to China were even stronger, up 25.6% over June 2005.
Interest rates sharply up on ordinary deposits: We had to go look twice, but the Bank of Japan really has published an “Average Interest Rates on Ordinary Deposits” of 0.058. Wow. Compare this week’s report with last week’s (the item to look for is item #6 on each page.)
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formation with U.S. Navy ships (Source: U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Walter T. Ham IV) |
RIMPAC: The U.S. Navy has put a page “Japanese Navy steams out to sea in support of RIMPAC 06” that has several photographs of JMSDF ships, airplanes, and helicopters.
Iraq and Japan: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has put out an excellent document on Japan’s role in the reconstruction of Iraq.
JDRs in the future?: METI is mulling over Japan’s economic strategy for the future, and while the proposal doesn’t appear to us to be a “Tanaka” plan for the 21st century, some of the specifics are interesting. In line with ADRs, the plan proposes developing JDRs (Japanese Depositary Receipts) to allow Asian firms access to the Japanese capital markets. Also interesting is mention of becoming a leader in “environmental aircraft” (which in light of the rapid progress of HondaJet seems reasonable.) Among the main proposals is a reform of the depreciation rules, a change that we heartily approve of.
Great information at the Japanese Patent Office: The JPO just posted an excellent compendium of world patent and intellectual property laws.
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the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Source: Website of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). |
JAXA plans next launch of SOLAR-B: The launch schedule promulgated is September 23rd from Uchinoura. The press release can be found here. Also scheduled is the launch of H-IIA no. 10 on September 10th from Tanegashima.
JAMA reports: In its annual industry report, the Japan Automotive Manufacturers Association reported that just over half of the standard-size passenger cars exported from Japan went to the U.S. and Canada in 2005. However, the U.S. and Canada account for less than 10% of Japan’s total truck exports.
4.5kW for $3500?: Those are the numbers that Sharp is talking about with its new home solar energy system.
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in Tokyo can be found at Maru-ya Niku-ten in historical Bunkyo-ku. |
When you have a hankering for great croquettes: Visit Maru-Ya Niku-ten on Kikuzaka Dori in historical Bunkyo-ku for what we think is the very best croquette in Tokyo. [Feature]
Stamps, aisle one; JGBs, aisle two: The Ministry of Finance plans to increase sales of JGBs over the counter at the Post Office by a cool ¥300 billion this fiscal year, a 10% increase over last year’s ¥2,800 billion.
$2 billion in change: Looking over the balances of the Bank of Japan, we noted that the BOJ officially keeps about $2 billion of coins on hand. We wonder if this includes the cash value of the BOJ’s excellent Currency Museum?
Relations with Montenegro: The Government of Japan has established formal diplomatic relations with the Government of Montenegro.
JOCV in the Philippines: It turns that the Philippines have hosted the most Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (the Japanese equivalent of the United States’ Peace Corps) of any country in the world.
Japan grants ¥380 million: Japan will grant up to ¥382 million for students from the Philippines to study in Japan.
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electronic paper. (Image courtesy of Seiko Epson Corp) |
Epson develops A6-sized electronic paper: Expanding the state of the art, Epson has developed an A6-sized electronic paper with a resolution of 1536 x 2048 pixels.
Details on the Citibank problems: The Financial Services Agency (FSA) has released a report with details on the widely reported Citibank troubles. In reading it, we were surprised to find that Citibank has been outsourcing to Singapore.
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Image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Source: Website of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). |
WINDS to bring gigabits: The Wideband Internetworking Engineering Test and Demonstration Satellite is expected to lift next year. Testing is proceeding well. One goal of the project is to achieve a 1.2gigabit per second flow to customers who put up a 5 meter antenna; those who opt for a 45 centimeter antenna can hope for 155 megabits (OC-3 speed) coming down, and 6 megabits going up.
Toyota production is growing: Toyota worldwide has produced 4,522,002 vehicles through June under the Toyota, Hino, and Daihatsu branches. That’s up 9.4% over the same period in 2005.
And so is Honda’s: Honda worldwide has 1,818,177 vehicles through June. That’s up 5.0% over the same period in 2005.
Sony invites 20 Chinese students for stay: Sony has invited 20 students from China to visit for seven days in Japan. Part of the trip will include a two-night home stay with Sony employees as well as discussions with the chairman of the board and the president of the company.
Miss Japan is the runner up: Kurara Chibana was the first runner up in the Miss Universe® contest. In the event that the winner, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico, is unable to fulfill her duties as Miss Universe, Miss Chibana will assume the role.
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outside Hong Kong (Source: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Adam R. Cole) |
U.S.S. Patriot returns to Sasebo: The minesweeper U.S.S. Patriot has returned to Sasebo after a three month deployment in Southeast Asia.
No sale: Word is that despite any reopening of U.S. beef exports that Japanese companies aren’t very interested in buying.
Special Exhibition at Rekihaku: The National Museum of Japanese History in Chiba is holding a special exhibition The Sakura Regiments and the Age of War until September 3rd.
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at a 4th of July celebration for the Kitty Hawk. (Source: United States Navy’s Naval Media Center, Mr. Thomas Holt) |
Japanese investors buying foreign securities: Looking at the Bank of Japan (BOJ) numbers for foreign securities trading by Japanese residents, the trend over the last four weeks is clearly on the buy-side. Debt purchases have particularly been strong. At an exchange rate of 116 yen to the dollar, net purchase of bonds and notes was a brisk 13.4 billion dollars from June 18th to July 15th.
Emergency aid to Burma: The Government of Japan has given $260,000 on Friday to UNICEF for polio vaccinations in Burma for 1,970,000 children five and under. This follows a case of 19 month-old contracting the disease in Burma.
PAC-3s and radar, too: Kadena Airbase and Kadena Munitions Storage will start building Patriot PAC-3 capability starting in August. Deployment should be complete by year-end. In June, Shariki JASDF Base in Aomori-ken installed a forward-based X-band FBX-T radar. Plans are that JSDF will also be deploying its first PAC-3 by March of 2007.
Exporting to Japan?: If you are exporting electrical goods to Japan, you have new requirements for registration and marking of your products. Here’s METI’s announcement in English.
Prime Minister Koizumi catches royal ride, receives tofu with ice cream: His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan gave Prime Minister Koizumi a ride home after dinner during the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Jordan. On the same trip, the Prime Minister also was served tofu topped with ice cream while at the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg.
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in Tokyo can be found at Maru-ya Niku-ten in historical Bunkyo-ku. |
Another one for our “Best of Tokyo”:Visit Maru-ya Niku-ten on Kikuzaka Dori in historical Bunkyo-ku for what we think is the very best croquette in Tokyo. [Feature]
The graying of Japan: New demographic numbers show that from March to July that the only age bracket showing population growth was that of people 65 and over.
Not saying it with flowers: Wholesale sales of cut flowers were down 2% in 2005 both in quantity and cash value. Potted plants sales were down 6% in cash value, though only 4% in quantity.
No motor show until 2007: Tokyo has seen its last Commercial Vehicle Motor Show, which had been held in 2000, 2002, and 2004. The next Tokyo Motor Show will be in Makuhari during October and November of 2007.
Lexus brand strong in Japan: Cars sold under the Lexus brandname came in at 19,901 through May of this year.
Matsushita to develop Linux global keitai technology: Look for Matsushita to produce a global mobile telephone platform technology based on our favorite operating system, Linux.
Sharp has the explanation: Sharp has published detailed research as to why its Plasmacluster Ion® technology is so effective.
Takeda starts phase 3 clinical trials of Actos® combination: Takeda has started U.S. phase 3 clinical trials of its type 2 diabetes drug Actos® and its new investigational hypertension drug TAK-536.
Honda’s Acura will power three teams in LeMans 2007: Andretti Green and Hicroft will run Acura-Courage LC75 entries, and Fernandez will run an Acura-powered Lola B05/40.
$50 billion?: Nomura Research Institute is forecasting that the Japanese nanotechnology market will grow to $50 billion by 2010.
JAL now offers Aloha: You can now book through JAL connecting Aloha Airlines flights.
Fujitsu’s PRIMEQUEST 500 supports Linux: Normally, we can go days without mentioning Linux (which also powers the Japan Journal’s website), but Fujitsu has also announced a new powerful line of servers that are specifically geared to run Linux® and Windows®. PRIMEQUEST servers already power some very high-end clientele such as Toyota and the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The OECD says go slow: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has publicly advised the Bank of Japan to “go slow” on any further rate increases. We have to agree — Japan’s government has a lot of outstanding debt. As long as it is paying low interest rates, we aren’t that concerned about the size of that debt relative to Japan’s GDP. But if interest rates were to climb too quickly, government interest payments will quickly grow.
Special Exhibits at the Mint: The Mint of Japan’s Museum will have another August special exhibition entitled Various Coins from all over the World from August 18th to August 31st.
Free concert in the park: Rikugien Gardens will have a free performance from the Froebel Boys Choir this weekend.
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by Iwo Jima (Source: United States Navy’s Naval Media Center, Mr. Jarod Hodge) |
Seasonal rain:The main island of Honshu has received a lot of rain recently, and unfortunately there have been deaths and some destruction, mostly from numerous mudslides.
Done with “deflation” For the first time in five years, that word won’t be needed in Japanese economic reports. Hooray!
0.3772% for finance bills on the 19th: Finance bills hit a yield of 0.3772% at Thursday’s auction. Long gone are the days when we could report 0.0099% as we did in August of 2004.
Tanker readiness: Japan’s Self-Defense Forces first Boeing KC-767 is now starting its “Test Readiness Review” to prepare for flight testing in Kansas.
That's a big television: Panasonic has announced a 103 inch television.
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Indonesia lagging?: Exports overall are looking very good, but apparently high crude oil prices are causing some cutback in exports to Indonesia.
Buses powered by fuel cell: Toyota-Hino will be running their new fuel cell buses again starting on July 22nd in the vicinity of the Central Japan International Airport (Nagoya).
Five more Banana Republics: An update for our Japan Update of the 14th: Banana Republic plans to expand to a total of 13 locations in Japan this year. Fukuoka, Tachikawa, Kawasaki, Nagoya, and Hiroshima are the five lucky cities.
One-seg penetrates 1.5% of the market: One-seg, officially introduced in April, was owned by 1.5% of the people interviewed in a 29,000 person survey done by Yano Research Institute.
Good times: Golden Week travel was strong, and in general, bars and restaurants have been doing very well according to the Bank of Japan’s recent reports.
Yaizu is number one: With 229,000 tons of fish landed last year (up 1%), Shizuoka’s Yaizu holds onto its title for the fourth year of most productive fishing port. Chiba’s Choushi was second with a strong 215,000 tons, up 7% from 2004. Hokkaido’s Kushiro slipped from 3rd to 5th, catching only 76% of what it had the year before.
Methanol? No, make mine water: NTT Docomo and Aquafairy are working to improve fuel cell technology by eliminating methanol and using just water to power its micro-fuel cells. They are claiming 2 watts from their new unit.
Beets beat cane: The remuneration from growing sugar beets was found to be 4.55 times per day than from growing sugar cane for an average family farm for each crop in 2003.
Ryobi recalls radials: Ryobi is recalling its RA200 and RA202 “RYOBI 8 1/4" Radial Arm Saw.” Consumers should immediately stop using their saws. More information is available from Ryobi Customer Service at (800) 525-2579 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET any day of the week, or from the Ryobi website.
The BOJ says 0.25%: As widely predicted, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) finally brought to close its 0% target rate.
You saw it here first: It looks to us like lending has taken a strong upswing. Expect to see big business results over the next year.
Courtesy of the VOA: We reprint the Voice of America story “Bush, Koizumi Press Putin to Back North Korea Resolution.” [Reprint]
Sockaroony quarter: The first quarter showed the current account balance up a very healthy 18%.
Number one for 15 years and counting : Japan continues to be the country with the world’s largest net international investment asset position, as it has been since 1991. Were it not for the large growth in the stock market (thus inflating foreign-owned asset values a bit), it would have likely set another record in 2005. As it was, the position was 180.7 trillion yen in the black, down 2.7% from 2004.
A quarter of a point?: That’s the rumor as to the first BOJ hike from 0%. 30 year JGBs came in at 2.56% at the auction on the 13th. Floating rate 15 year JGBs will be auctioned on July 20th.
Kids and the Foreign Ministry: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold a “Kids Gaimusho Tours 2006” on August 23th and 24th. If you want to attend, applications must be received by August 1st. There are 140 seats available. See here for more details on applying.
The Gap: Believe it or not, Gap Inc. has more than 100 The Gap and Banana Republic stores in Japan.
4K resolution: Mission Impossible III is now playing digitally at many sites at 4,096 by 2,160 pixels.
More digital delivery: VON Japan 2006 and Expo Comm Wireless will be at Big Sight from July 19th to July 21st.
First time in the 21st century: For the first time since 1999, long term prime lending rates are up to 2.65%.
“Curator’s choice”: The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Ebisu will have a special exhibition through the 17th of July of the curators’ favorite photographs.
50 years in the making: Construction began in 1956 on the Kanpachi Dori, and it was finished just this year.
New news from the JDA: The Japanese Defense Agency (JDA) has a new document out describing what has been happening recently at the agency. At the very end, it mentions that you may book tours of the new Ichigaya premises. The telephone number listed for making a reservation is 81-3-3268-3111.
Disaster planning at the U.S. Embassy: USAID, the Japan Institute of International Affairs, and the U.S. Embassy will sponsor a seminar/workshop at the Embassy on July 11th and July 12th.
Eh? Toyota Boshoku brings parts facility to Ontario: In Dr. Toyoda’s words: “Toyota Boshoku is very pleased to locate a new manufacturing facility in Canada to supply Toyota's new RAV4 plant. The commitment and support of the Ontario government and Woodstock citizens and governments has been very refreshing and encouraging. We look forward to working with the province's skilled workforce to build a successful partnership as we together build and operate this new facility.” Production is anticipated to begin in 2008.
Really 2.1%? Apparently the Cabinet Office will notch predictions for real GDP increase up to 2.1% for 2006.
Kobayashi wins again: Takeru Kobayashi has won the Nathan’s hotdog eating contest for a sixth year, but with some real competition this year. Another competitor managed to also consume more than 50 hotdogs.
Six buildings collapsed in Wakayama: Excessive rains have triggered a landslide in Kamitondach in Wakayama-ken. No injuries have been reported.
864.9 billion U.S. dollars: Japan's foreign reserves have grown to 864.9 billion dollars. None of the increase is due to currency intervention.
Twenty days in June, 2005 versus 2006: Trade numbers have leaped this year for the first twenty days of June. Imports were up a sizzling 16.4%, and exports up strongly at 13.9% over the same period in 2005.
New international construction numbers from Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI): Contracts for overseas construction leaped 33% in FY 2005. The top three categories were energy plants (over US$10 billion in new contracts), transport infrastructure (over $5 billion), and power plants (also over $5 billion.)
Regions doing well also: The Bank of Japan (BOJ) regional report is looking bright. The nine regions in the survey are all showing steady recovery. Hokkaido: the only region to show a slowdown from its previous status in April. Tohoku: the only region to show an uptick in recovery status from April’s status. Hokuriku: steady recovery continues. Kanto-Koshinetsu: steady recovery continues. Tokai: economy continues its expansion. Kinki: economy is expanding. Chugoku: recovery on track. Shikoku: showing signs of picking up. Kyushu-Okinawa: recovering. For more details, see the BOJ’s article.
JAL and JTB join forces on three fronts: JAL and JTB will begin working together on charter flights, such as to Hawaii and to unserved areas of Asia. They will also work on together on their high-end tour brands I’ and AVA. JTB will also take over JAL’s overseas tourist offices, and develop English language online sales system for Europe. See the press release from JAL.
Homerun? Sammy Sosa meets with Prime Minister Koizumi: At the meeting, PM Koizumi expressed his interest in seeing Mr. Sosa hit a homerun in Japan.
Krispy Kreme comes to Tokyo: Lotte will be bringing the world’s greatest doughnut treat to Tokyo. Maybe it will fare better than rival Dunkin Doughnuts.
0.001%: is the average interest rate for ordinary bank deposits throughout Japan. A 360-day or longer CD is fetching an average 0.449% interest rate.
Finance bills auctioned: Finance bills went for 0.3747% average yield at the July 5th auction.
Japanese pharmaceuticals with 20% of the world’s top 40 sellers in 2005.
10 JGBs fetched 1.981% at auction: The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is reporting that Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) fetched on average 1.981% yield at the auction on July 4th.
The Bank of Japan adopts traveller survey technique: The BOJ has decided to change its calculation of its “travel” component of Japan’s balance of payments from a compilation of payments system to a “survey of travellers” system. For more details, look here at the BOJ.
More ODA announced: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has announced a list of new ODA items around the globe. Among the recipients are Iraq, Pakistan, Macedonia, the Ukraine, Mongolia, Algeria, and Kenya. See our summary at [News]
24 hours of hybrid Lexus: Toyota has announced that it will enter a GS450h in the Tokachi 24 hour race held in Hokkaido from July 15th to 17th.
High oil prices boost Showa Denko’s bottom line: Showa Denko has announced improved expectations for its net income this year due to higher operating income from strong petrochemical prices.
Nissan, Renault, GM: Will Carlos Ghosn and Kirk Kerkorian succeed in bringing these three giants into a single alliance? It’s the biggest question in several boardrooms today.
Mitsubishi Heavy going nuclear in the U.S.: Mitsubishi is setting up shop in D.C. with a new entity called MHI Nuclear Energy Systems Inc. It will seek certification of a design that MHI originated at Tsuruga Units 3 and 4 which boasts a thermal efficiency of 39%. MHI will be accepting new orders, also, which seems good timing with the renascence of American nuclear energy planning. [Article]
The price of power: Mitsui is selling its stakes in the aluminum smelters Intalco and Eastalco due to its inability to garner favorable electrical power prices. Aluminum smelting requires an intensive use of electrical power.
Toyota in Thailand: Toyota has announced a new unit to be called "Toyota Motor Asia Pacific Co., Ltd." to support Toyota production operations in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and India. The new Thai company is expected to to slowly take up responsibility for production, purchasing, and logistics. Read the press release here.
Saudi oil still the leader: Crude oil from Saudi Arabia still dominates the Japanese market, with 5.594 million kiloliters imported in May.
Counter-terrorism conference ends: A two day conference of ASEAN-Japan (would that make it ASEAN+1?) on counter-terrorism measures ended on June 29th. A presentation on the Japan ASEAN Integration Fund was given by the ASEAN Secretariat.
Mapion still is our favorite Tokyo on-line mapping tool: If you haven't tried it, it's at http://www.mapion.co.jp/html/map/web/japan.html
JAXA unveils new HTV: There's a new “H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)” prototype in Tsukuba. It’s designed to haul six tons of materials. Here's its current page at JAXA.
Positive on SME lending: The FSA is reporting high confidence by lenders in lending to SMEs in its just released newsletter.
New figures for construction starts show strength: The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation’s start of construction figures are still showing good strength.
At the rooftop of the world with JAXA : A very nice webpage about pictures of the Fedchenko Glacier from JAXA’s JERS-1 has been put here.
Radius Health licenses SERM from Eisai: In a press release dated June 29th, Eisai announced that Radius Health, Inc. had licensed its compound Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator (SERM) for all markets outside of Japan. It is expected to be used in drugs for such ailments as osteoporosis.
One of the one-of-the kinds: Japan has many one-of-a-kind items, but we find one of the most remarkable to be the Nihon Nogyo Shimbun, a twice-daily newspaper targetted at Japanese farmers throughout Japan.
From JAL, for sake tourism: If you haven't visited JAL’s Sake website, you are missing a treat. It’s very well done.
GDP still growing: GDP figures from the Cabinet Office show that the GDP is still growing. The latest quarterly figures for real, seasonally adjusted GDP show the Japanese economy at 557.4 trillion yen (the annual figure for calendar 2005 put the economy at 545.3 trillion yen.)
Total bonds outstanding to drop in 2006: For the first time since 1988, the Ministry of Finance is predicting that the total Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) outstanding will drop this year in its Guide to Japanese Government Bonds 2006.
Deploying Forces for International Security: The Japan Defense Agency has posted a good speech by the Minister of State for Defense of Japan. Japan has become far prominent as a player in international security in recent years. We were particularly impressed by the ability of Japanese forces to put significant resources on the ground quickly after the great Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004. (The Wikipedia is giving "Sumatra-Andaman earthquake" as the scientific name for the event.)
Shelter from the storms: The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has rushed supplies to hard-hit areas of Indonesia, which have been deluged by torrential rains.
Better driving? The National Police Agency is showing that from January 1st through June 29th that traffic fatalities nationwide are down 6.4% compared to the same period in 2005, dropping from 3105 to 2907. The greatest percentage drop has been in Shimane-ken, down 60% from last year. The great percentage increase? In Shikoku's Kagawa-ken, up 31% from the same period last year. This drop continues a 10 year trend, going from 9,942 fatalities in the year of 1996 to 6,681 for all of 2005.
The Japan-U.S. Alliance of the New Century: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a brief page summarizing recent progress in the Nichi-Bei relationship at the Washington Summit.
Samawah will get more power: Reconstruction in Samawah is going apace. A ceremony kicking off construction of a new diesel power plant was held on June 28th in Samawah.
In town this week: The President of the Dominican Republic will be in Tokyo from July 1st to July 4th.
Japan Mint in Kofu: Japan Mint will hold an exhibition in Kofu from July 26th to July 31st. More details can be found here.
Missile defense gets another boost: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that further direct cooperation in research and development of ballistic missile defense (BMD).
June starts with strong exports: The first 10 days of June showed 12.3% growth over the same 10 days in June of 2005.
Tokyo's bid for a second Olympics: Tokyo's Governor Ishihara has announced a plan for Tokyo to compete for a second Olympics as a follow-on to its 1964 Olympics.
Finance is not quite free: Finance bills brought an average of 0.3228% in yield at the June 28th auction.
2 years at 0.844%: The June 27th auction of two year JGBs saw them at 0.844%.
Interested in investing in Japan? Mark your calendars for October: METI will be holding more Invest-in-Japan seminars in October in both Sendai and in Yokohama.
Medals: Japan now stands with 15 gold medals and 9 silver medals.
Visit from the Sudanese: The Minister of Foreign Affairs from the Sudan will visit Japan from September 5 to the September 9.
Medals: Japan now stands with 15 gold medals and 9 silver medals.
2 years at 0.169%: 2 year JGBs went for 0.169% average yield, with bid-accept coverage of almost 6.
Toyota surges: Production at Toyota reached 622,264 vehicles for July, a 7% increase over July 2003. Year to date, Toyota is at 11% growth for like period in 2003 with over 4,400,000 vehicles produced worldwide.
Building a strong case: The Ministry of Finance has put an excellent pamphlet on Japan’s role in the international security and peacekeeping arena. It builds a very strong case for Japan’s seeking a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Iron and steel: Iron and steel are still moving up in price, having seen strong increases over the last year.
New pickup line: Toyota has announced a whole new line of pickups designed for world markets under the name “IMV” (Innovative International Multipurpose Vehicles.) The production, using insourcing among four subsidiaries in Thailand, South Africa, Indonesia, and Argentina, aims to produce a lot of these type trucks, with aggressive goals for 2005 of 480,000 trucks.
Pearl ink: The Bank of Japan has published some very interesting facts about the new security features on its banknotes. Besides the aforementioned pearl ink, they will be using more intaglio printing to give more texture to the notes.
20 years at 2.237%: 20 year bonds went for 2.237%, with a bid-accepted ratio of 3.3. Finance bills were at 0.0099%.
Government at all levels: The Prime Minister met with leaders from all levels of government (the National Governors' Association, the National Association of Chairpersons of Prefectural Assemblies, the Japan Association of City Mayors, the National Association of Chairpersons of City Councils, the National Association of Towns and Villages, and the National Association of Chairmen of Town and Village Assemblies) for discussion of restructuring of financing. Under the proposed changes, more tax revenues would simply go directly to regional governments.
A peach among 18: There are 18 new papers over at the Bank of Japan’s website; one of them has the amusing title “Securing the Peach after a Truce in the War on Inflation.” The paper itself is an interesting thought piece on disinflation and its natural limits.
Kodama in the skies: An update on the very interesting Kodama data relay satellite is now available. Not only does it move some serious data, but its acquisition capabilities are really on track.
Afghani airport: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced economic support for a new terminal at Kabul International airport to the tune of 87 million yen.
That’s a lot of cars, deja vu: The totals for new motor vehicles production for June, 2004 are astonishing: 935,302 motor vehicles, up well over 100% from June, 2003. GM Japan produced 0.
15 and 8: Japan has garnered 15 gold medals and 8 silver.
Don’t forget: You can visit the Japan Space Agency campus in Sagamihara (Odakyu-sen in Kanagawa-ken) on Saturday, August 28th, on a very special day when much of the normally closed to the public campus is open. Call +81-42-759-8008 (internationally) or 042-759-8008 (inside Japan) for more information.
Medals: Japan now stands with 12 gold medals and 4 silver medals.
0.4: That’s the maximum number of milligrams of cadmium per kilogram of rice that will be allowed if the current draft standard from the MAFF is adopted.
Saving electricity: As has been widely reported, China is experiencing major power problems. Epson, China LTD is helping to lead the way in reducing power consumption in China, and has received a “2004 Energy Conservation Contribution Award” from the China Standard Certification Center.
Saving not at the mint: Japan Mint has opened a new mint shop at Kansai International Airport, which joins the other branches in Tokyo and Hiroshima. The main office is in Osaka.
Today’s take: Japan has changed its attitudes about its military forces, which have gone from their lowest point after the war to again a world leader. The Japan Foreign Press Center has a good briefing on this subject.
For the children: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced more help for children in Khazakhstan and children in Central Asian Republics who need family care, or are in risk of needing it. The aid will total $2,160,000, with a comprehensive program built around alternative care.
Invest in us: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking even further steps to encourage investment in Japan. (See our business section for our earlier comments.) We recommend Japan as a great place to do business.
Medals: Kyoko Anno won a gold medal in judo, and Hiroshi Yamamoto won a silver in men’s archery. So far, Japan is doing well with 9 gold and 4 silver medals.
Another big week for bonds: Foreign buying of bonds really picked up last week, with a net of ¥1.2089 trillion purchased.
The Governor: The governor of Al-Muthanna (the province where Samawa is located) will be in Japan for over a week at the invitation of the government.
Indian thoughts: Details about Foreign Minister Kawaguchi’s visit to India are now available. Particularly interesting was the fact that the subject of U.N. Security Council seats was broached.
The least of the robots: Epson has developed a tiny, flying robot. Coming in at 12 grams with battery, this microrobot is under development and could appear in commercial release in as little as two years. Now we can see what they will be doing in their magnificent new research facilities in Nagano-ken.
To the future: As Japan leads the way into the future, you can see where we might be in the next few years at the Future Creation Fair to be held from August 27th to August 30th at one of our favorite venues, the Tokyo Kokusai Forum in Marunouchi.
Financing: Finance bills went for an average yield of 0.0079% on August 18th, up from 0.0059% on August 11th. The coverage ratio of bid to accepted was 118, as compared to 2.63 last week.
0.001%: That's the average rate on ordinary deposits in Japanese banks.
The Great North from above: JAXA has published pictures of Alaska as viewed from way, way above.
From space, at high speed: New results have been published on Japan’s bold new extraterrestial high-speed network WINDS that is now in its R&D phase. This is by far the fastest network space-based system proposed, offering up to 1.2 gigabytes per second for big antenna users.
Mitsubishi Materials precious: Mitsubishi Materials will have a jewelry exhibit from September 17 to September 19 at the Tokyo Kokusai Forum. You can call 03-5252-5373 (81-3-5252-5373 from outside of Japan) for more information.
30 year JGBs: 30 years went for 2.56% for the lowest accepted price.
1 year T-bills: 1 year bills went for 0.0228% on average.
Prime Minister news: Prime Minister Koizumi led a ceremony at the Budokan for those who died in war.
¥2952 per hour: That’s what the figures for June show as total cash earnings per all hours worked for the average Japanese worker. (That's about $27.00 per hour at 110 yen to the dollar.)
2005 World Expo: The 2005 World Expo begins March 25 in Aichi. The theme will be “Nature’s Wisdom” and the official mascots will be Kiccoro and Morizo, two denizens of the forest.
Building your business? Hiroshima is holding a business forum for businessmen interested in Japanese-American cooperation.
Coming to the U.S.A.: Kao and ADM have partnered up to bring the very popular Econa brand oil to the U.S. under the new brand name Enova. This amazing food oil purports to have very low calories, but the same taste and cooking properties as regular oil.
Giving to Guinea: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced a $1 million donation to the Guinea to aid in community rehabilitation and creating income generating projects such as farming and small businesses. This aid is intended to help the numerous refugees from crises in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote d’Ivoire who have fled to Guinea. This marks $227 million that Japan has donated to the Trust Fund for Human Security, which it established in 1999.
Giving to Timor Leste: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also announced a donation of $1.6 million to the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste via the same Trust Fund for Human Security. This money is earmarked for basic necessities such as drinking water, irrigation, and classes in basic agricultural activities, as well as some electrification projects and the purchase of a mobile health unit.
Now that would be ODA: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (though we could argue that this might should come from the Ministry of Finance) has published a laundry list of possible Indonesian projects which if we didn't overflow our calculator looks like $1.86 billion of possible ODA activity.
Foreign Minister visits Islamabad: Foreign Minister Kawaguchi was in Islamabad from August 10-12. Many issues were covered, including the improvement in relations between Japan and Pakistan as well as counter-terrorism and non-proliferation issues.
GDP growing: Nominal GDP for April through June was ¥126.251 trillion, which annualized is an increase of 1.8% over last year’s same period. There was a major decrease (down 15.5%) in public investment.
Darfur gains support: The Foreign Ministry has officially endorsed the Darfur plan.
Accommodative: In the always interesting monthly minutes from the Bank of Japan’s internal musings on monetary policy, we read: The lending attitude of private banks was becoming more accommodative, and the lending attitude of financial institutions as perceived by firms had improved more noticeably.
Samawa aid: Japan will extend a $430,000 grant to the Al-Muthanna television station in Samawa, Iraq.
5 years auctioned at 0.776%: The average yield on five year JGBs sold on August 12th was 0.776%
Well covered: The coverage ratio was 1.867 for reserve balances to required reserve for banks last month: Reserve balances were ¥60,860,000,000,000, and the reserve requirement was ¥32,600,000,000,000.
Big week for bonds: The MOF lists a net of ¥1,859,000,000,000 (about $17 billion) of bonds purchased abroad from August 2nd to August 6th.
Farm talk: Japan and China held their 23rd annual high-level meeting on agricultural cooperation in Xian, China. Two of the topics caught our eye: Advancements in Yield Calculation Technology Using Satellite Data and Management Control and Systems of Wholesale Markets.
Anime, also: Prime Minister Koizumi broached the subject of anime at last month’s summit with South Korea’s President Roh last month. Japan would like to see cultural opening extended to anime also.
That’s not just a recovery: The current account surplus for the first six months of the year was up 31% year-on-year (9.6 trillion yen versus 7.3 trillion yen.) Income from investments were 4.6 trillion yen, up 12%.
Exporters note new maximum residues: New guidelines for chemical residues will go into effect for food products in Japan over the next three years. This will include meat products, so veterinary drug and feed additive standards are part of the guidelines.
Not everyone wants bonds: Banks and life insurance companies each sold net around three billion dollars worth of bonds overseas last week. Trust banks bought net just under 2 billion dollars of stocks overseas. For the first six months of the year, the trend is clearly toward buying stocks more strongly than last year, and bonds at about 50% of the rate last year. Net purchase of stocks from January to June of this year were about $12 billion, compared to last year in the $3 billion range. Net purchase of bonds is at about $70 billion, compared to $140 billion for last year.
Steam accident at Mihama details emerging: Details are emerging on the pipe failure at Mihama: the 56 cm carbon steel pipe had a wall of 1 cm thickness; the failure was in the area where turbulent flows can tend to erode interior materials. The pipe should have been inspected regularly, but apparently was not. The steam temperature and pressure were well within specification for the pipe.
Financing: Finance bills went for an average yield of 0.0059% on August 11th. The coverage ratio of bid to accepted was 2.63.
Stable prices: Prices in the July Corporate Goods Prices Report from BOJ look stable except for hard increases in utilities, which were up 5%. Our speculation is that petroleum price increases (up 13% for the year) are directly driving that. The outliers: Metals were up in the 13%-14% range. Scrap and waste were up over 40%. Export metal prices were up 28%.
Science and Technology spared the axe: The Ministry of Finance budget guidelines show that science and technology spending will stay flat in 2005. The rest of discretionary spending will face a 2% cut.
Confidence is skyrocketing: The Japan-wide consumer confidence index is now at levels not seen since the heady days (link is in Excel format) of June, 1991. July’s figure was 48.7 — June of 1991 it was at 49.4. Residents of Tokyo are registering 50.3.
23.4% is a lot: Orders for big construction (over 500 million yen, about $4.5 million dollars) are up 23% for April through June as to compared to the same period in 2003.
“Operating” is one word for it: We cannot phrase it any better: “ The Bank of Japan will conduct money market operations, aiming at the outstanding balance of current accounts held at the Bank at around 30 to 35 trillion yen.” Well, we don’t think it would be wise to trade on the wrong side of the Bank of Japan.
Venezulan watch: Japan is making an emergency US$47,000 contribution to the Organization of American States in order to fund their sending of observers to Venezula’s upcoming presidential recall referendum. Tokyo will also send two observers to Sunday’s referendum as members of the OAS party.
DVP is fast : JGB settlements via DVP were taking an average of 6.2 minutes in June (table 3-3 on page 5). The first published number was that it took 10.3 minutes in January of 2001, published in April of 2001. Who remembers T+5?
New faces, new backs: Starting November 1st, new 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 1,000 yen bills will start circulating. On the back of the 10,000 yen note will be a phoenix, on the back of the 5,000 yen note will be a rendition of "Kakitsubata-zu" by Korin Ogata, and on the back of the 1,000 will be Mt. Fuji with cherry blossoms.
Positively appended: The Ministry of Finance is showing that the economy is right on track.
In support of democracy: Japan continues to lead by demonstration: Japan is contributing $8.8 million to the elections in Afghanistan this fall.
Survey says: Americans rate Japan very highly indeed. In the annual survey of Americans’ opinions of Japan, the Land of Wa scores big with Americans, and particularly with opinion leaders in the U.S.
Launch! Film at 11: Another first for the Japanese space program: the first deployment of two giant film trials for solar sail designs. Launched from a S-310 rocket from Kagoshima, this test shows tests the effectiveness of the new materials for solar sail technology. Solar sails are a technology that have long been discussed, since they provide a form of drive that requires no fuels of any type; solar sails depend solely on solar flux to push them along.
Delicate consultations: Japan and North Korea will talk this week in Beijing.
Machinery orders are strong: Machinery orders continue their advances, up 10.6% for June over May.
Engine of progress wins awards: Toyota continues on its inimitable ways: They can now add “International Engine of the Year 2004” to their long line of accolades for Prius technology. Its Lexus brand continues its 10 year streak with J.D. Power for most dependable vehicles on the road. And, to top it all off, France gave President Cho the Legion of Honor for Toyota’s contribution to the French economy.
METI recommends: The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry recommends in its 2004 international economy and trade book on page 12 that the U.S. and Japan both introduce structural reforms to improve employment and productivity in order stimulate domestic economies. Our opinion is that METI does good analysis. Page 12 is a particularly interesting page in this report.
Bangladesh relief: Japan is extending 28 million yen in kind to Bangladesh to help in its recovery from the latest flooding.
Good stocks: The Bank of Japan reports that the money stock for July was 697.3 trillion yen. (Interestingly, this is about 10 times the amount of banknotes in circulation; see last week’s updates.) It also an interesting comparison with the total banks have on loan is around 448 trillion yen, and ¥497 trillion on deposit.
China’s “abundance of counterfeit, pirated, and other infringing products”: We have to admit that rather frank phrase caught our eye in the recent 2004 press release on METI’s concerns on consistency among nations in fulfilling their WTO obligations. Well, we also think China’s soccer fans are not very well-behaved either.
Hail the new admiral: The 7th Fleet has undergone a change at the top. Admiral Greenert, a submariner, has assumed command from Admiral Willard.
None but none: As mentioned earlier, currency intervention has slowed to nothing. The latest report is that there was 0 yen in intervention from April until June.
661 billion dollars and counting: Japan’s foreign reserves in the form of securities are up to 661 billion dollars. Total reserves are now at 819 billion dollars. Sure makes a nice balance to the national debt. 9 billion dollars worth of gold aren’t too shabby, either.
Exports up 7.7%: For the first 20 days of July, exports were up 7.7% over the same 20 days last year.
Six month treasury bills: 6 month obligations went at an average yield of 0.0114%.
Cash is king: The Bank of Japan has ¥76,084,300,000,000 in banknotes and coins out and circulating. At 110 yen to the dollar, that’s $691.7 billion.
Special Exhibits at the Mint: The Mint of Japan will have a special exhibition in Osaka Medals from Western Countries from August 25th until August 31st. There will also be a special exhibition in Hiroshima from August 26th until August 30th. There will be no admission fee for either exhibition.
TRMM mission: The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, a joint project with NASA, has been extended through the end of the year at the request of JAXA and NOAA. In the press release , NASA announced that the mission, slated to start decommissioning at the end of last month, will go on through at least through the end of the year in order to further study the 2004 hurricane season; if you are interested, there will be a conference on TRMM’s final mission next month.
13 and counting: From the Bank of Japan’s IIP report, Japan is still the world’s richest country in external net assets, as it has been for the last 13 years. It currently holds over ¥173 trillion in net external assets. For ratios of net assets to GDP, Hong Kong is still by far and away at the top of the hill, at over 200% in 2002; next was Switzerland, at 143%. Japan was only at 34% in 2003. Among major debtor nations, Australia was in debt at over -60% of its GDP, and the U.S. and Spain were both running over -20% in the red.
Leading Indicators: Leading indicators indicate good news. Strength, while not in the remarkable ranges seen early, is still good to excellent.
Water, hospitals, and schools: The JSDF’s humanitarian work in Iraq in pictures and and more pictures. Then there is the main section (in Japanese) with larger photographs.
Believing in education: The average student to teacher ratio in Japan in 2003 was 11.8 at all levels of education, including universities and special schools. In elementary schools, the ratio was 16.8; in lower secondary schools, it was 13.4; and in upper secondary schools, it was equal to the overall average of 11.8. Germany and France are in the same ranges, but the U.S. and the U.K. have higher ratios.
Naturally speaking: The commonplace observation is that Japan does not have much in the way of natural resources. However, there is a difference in “not much” and “none.” (The link is to an Excel file.) Japan dug over 10,000 kilograms of gold ore in June of 2004, and produced over 300,000 barrels of oil. Just a drop in the world’s bucket, but not to be sneezed at either.
Investing in real estate: For the first time in 4 years, investments in new construction were up, to the tune of 3%.
Fishing fouls: Two South Korean and two Taiwanese boats were seized in June due to not following fishing rules. Both South Korean vessels were also charged with making false and misleading entries in their records.
Send photos now: If you have any snapshots that you want to enter in the 25th International Cooperation Photo Contest, you should send them off. Entries will be only accepted until September 24th. Contest themes are International Cooperation (must have Japanese citizens involved), and a General category, which needs to be photographed in a developing country.
Can I coin that? Even shorter time is available if you want to enter the coin design contest at the Japan Mint — entries must be received no later than August 31st.
Speaking of schedules: Put this one on yours: You can visit the Japan Space Agency campus in Sagamihara (Odakyu-sen in Kanagawa-ken) on August 28th on a very special day when much of the normally closed to the public campus is open. Call +81-42-759-8008 (internationally) or 042-759-8008 (inside Japan) for more information.
Hayabusa symposium: The most ambitious spaceflight since the Apollo days is going on right now, the Hayabusa (formerly called MUSES-C) mission to the asteroid belt. Its mission is to visit the asteroid Itokawa and take samples, which, if all goes well, will return to Earth in summer of 2007. JAXA is holding a symposium October 20-23 on this remarkable mission. Applications to attend must be filed by September 1st; applications for financial assistance need to be in by August 15th.
Small bills: The August 4th finance bills went at an average yield of 0.0091%.
A helping hand: Japan is giving Paraguay 5 million yen in kind of emergency aid for the victims of the terrible supermarket fire on August 1st in Asuncion.
How happy is your bag? A 100 million yen ($900,000) happy bag over at Mitsukoshi was sold.
That was a lot of cars: As we remarked last week, Toyota produced a lot of cars this year. Unremarkably, Toyota made a lot yen doing so. Net income was up 287 billion yen, up 29% percent. They have also captured 46% of the automobile market in Japan.
Rising interest rates?: Those floating rate JGBs issued last year are about to get a little sweeter. The MOF is putting the new interest rate at over 1%. Ten-year JGBs went yesterday for an average yield of 1.85%.
Steel yourselves: The steel industry reports more growth. Big increases in shipments to China and the U.S. boosted steel numbers to a 0.9% increase.
Adjusting the structures: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is holding a high level conference on APEC structural reform in September.
Non-performing loans dwindling : In very welcome news, the FSA has announced that non-performing loans have dropped from ¥35.3 trillion to ¥26.6 trillion from March of 2003 to March of 2004.
Worry no more: Do you have an elder that you have to care for, but you cannot be there all of the time? Well, Art Data has the solution for you. (Link is in Japanese) This handy set up lets you monitor conditions as unique as the number of times that the refrigerator door has been opened; it features all of kinds of communications, including video links and dial-out to cellphones. It is a wireless setup, so no messy wires to string about.
A little too much: 790,000 customers are keeping more than the ¥10,000,000 ($90,000) they should at the post office. It is an average of ¥2,658,000 ($24,000) per customer, so it's a matter of many small things making one big thing.
Reorg over at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: As of August 1st, there is a new org chart out at the MOFA. Here is the summary of what the new organization will look like.
Who fuels our engines? In Japan, oil comes from the UAE, followed by Saudi Arabia, and then by Iran. The three of them account for most of the oil used by Japan.
Goodbye, Winter : Smash hit Fuyu no sonata will be followed up by another Korean drama Utsukushi Hibi.
BSE and Kirin beer: If you haven’t heard, Kirin brewery in concert with Hematech LLC has developed the first BSE-free cow embryo. Nor is this their first success in genetic engineering: They had previously modified a mouse (disappointingly, not a giraffe) to produce human antibodies. They have also worked with Merix to produce personalized cancer vaccines.
Kirin produces good beer, but it is faintly disquieting to read about their expertise in genetic engineering.
Speaking of medical advances: Takeda, one of the world’s best pharmeceutical companies and the oldest (now working on its 3rd century) experienced 13% growth in its net income in the 3 months ending June 30th. We respect two hundred years of success.
Ahh, the friendly skies: ANA is making money , to the tune ¥2.6 billion in the last three months. We are big believers in the importance of air travel, and we are delighted to see black ink.
Governed by computers: The Nikkei is throwing a shingdig to talk about electronic democracy at the New Otani on the 2nd and the 3rd. It’s a fine subject for discussion, but since no but no one has solved the computer security problems with and still kept each vote nonattributable, it is probably a bit premature to be talking about the implications of electronic voting.
Reaching out and own something: For last year, the Bank of Japan reports that residents of Japan owned 172.8 trillion yen of net foreign assets. That’s an average ¥1,370,000 per person in Japan.
How are we doing? Each household averaged ¥721,178 in the front door, and ¥308,104 out for living expenses. Still enough to (this is in Excel format) put a few yen (¥195,980) in the chokin .
Toyota pours on the natural gas: Toyota, famous for its groundbreaking Prius, is now demonstrating GTL (natural Gas To Liquid) technology. GTL burns ultra-clean; combine this technology with Russia’s ability to produce very inexpensive natural gas, and this technology may be a player in the next few years. Initial demo runs will be done in London.
Nothing but nothing: The Ministry of Finance is showing that the amount of currency intervention from June 29 to July 28 was zero yen.
50 years of giving: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning a celebration of 50 years of ODA (Official Development Aid.) The highlight will be on October 2nd and 3rd with a festival and town meeting on ODA. Here’s a complete schedule of events. It might also be worth your time to visit the “Rice is Life” exhibit over at the U.N. University which is going on until August 31st.
Send more money: In an unprecedented letter, the United Nations has officially asked Japan to send more money to the Sudan.
The SDF: The Japanese Self Defense Forces have been putting up chronologies of their participation in the recovery from the Fukui-ken disaster. The latest is here (it is in Japanese.)
That’s a lot of cars: Toyota has produced 3,782,307 vehicles worldwide from January to June of this year.
Follow up on entrepreneurism in Japan: Following up on yesterday’s JPRI story on entrepreneurism in Japan, we found some relevant white papers over at the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI). For 2002, there is a very large White Paper on SMEs and a substantially smaller summary of the highpoints. Our own high points are that the most recent figure of wannabe entrepreneurs in Japan is 1.24 million (that’s 1% of the total population), and the success rate in the first year for entrepreneurial enterprises in Japan is an astonishing 70%. The most often quoted figure in the U.S. is 10% succeed in their first year. Even more amazing is that the failure rate drops to 10% in Japan, with most companies becoming profitable in their second year. In the U.S., again, the figures are usually given as far more dismal. If any reader has better figures for the U.S., please contact us.
Hijiki wa daijoubu desu ka: If you like to eat hijiki , you might want to read the statement (in Japanese) over at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare about arsenic levels in hijiki in light of the British FSA’s recent warning. [The link is fixed now. Sorry. ed]
Exchanging notes: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported an exchange of notes with the U.S. to facilitate coordination with Japan’s Self Defense Forces. This will improve the ability of the SDF to aid in the supply of goods and services in coordination with U.S. forces in disaster relief and other situations.
Saving the bacon: Effective August 1st, Japan is raising its tariffs on pork until March of next year. Expect prices to climb 20% in the supaa if retail prices keep pace with the increase.
Worst in 10 years: