Rakuraku comments

DanteKHToday  06:21 pm JST

Some simple statistics show that Japan, not only has the lowest Pension system in the world for the 1st World Countries, but even lower than most of the 2nd World Countries, which means it's ridiculously low.Basically, even if you were a CIO or a CEO, if you didn't save money, you are condemned at a poverty life, with a monthly amount that cannot even cover a monthly house or apartment rent or mortgage.

In ANY other countries in this world, people went out to protest against those kind of things, for the lower pensions and benefits, while in Japan is always the "shoganai", accept and swallow everything your Govnmt does and says. Only people that do not know how ridiculously small the pension is here, will not understand the struggle of the retired seniors to barely

Indeed. The basic Kokumin Nenkin is around ¥66,000. The average pension for a company employee (Kokumin + Kōsei) is about ¥150,000. The maximum is around ¥300,000 because, unlike in other countries, there is a cap—and it’s a very low one. These amounts are ridiculous compared to other developed countries. With 30% of the population over 65 living on this kind of income, the economy is not going to boom!

Asiaman7Today  08:49 am JST

Japan sets 1% wage growth target

Sounds good until you remember the Bank of Japan has a 2% inflation target.

So, in effect, the government target is a real salary decrease of 1% a year.

That’s rather depressing when you think about it.

No they talk about real wage in the article.

“setting a target of approximately 1 percent real pay growth annually over a five-year period to encourage consumer spending and sustain economic growt”.

Totally unnecessary. Even if such a decline were to occur, the govt can still continue paying pensioners through keystrokes on a keyboard. Japan routinely does this (print money) -- because it can.

It’s not because Japan has been able to monetize a massive public debt without triggering uncontrollable inflation so far that it will be able to continue doing so indefinitely.

In case you haven’t noticed, Japan is no longer in deflation. But it’s extremely difficult for the BOJ to take the necessary steps at this stage—namely, raising interest rates—because of the sheer size of public debt.

Can you name a single historical example of a country with such a high level of public debt where things didn’t eventually end in tears for its citizens?

MarkToday  05:05 pm JST

Thankfully they dropped the idea.

In the short term that may have been a relief but if you get less taxes then you have to issue new debt to keep up with current spending and with the re-pay of the interests on current debt.

With such a huge debt already there it's definitely a bad idea to cut taxes, no matter what.

Indeed, I was pleasantly surprised that, for once, they did not buy votes just before an election.

Cutting taxes would mean more debt, which would require keeping interest rates very low in order to finance it. This would translate into a weaker yen, more imported inflation, and ultimately an overall inflation rate higher than the initial benefit of the tax cut.

Inflation is just another form of taxation and a perfectly undemocratic one.

And what would they do with the USD cash resulting from the sale? The U.S. Treasury market is the deepest, most liquid, and safest in the world. There is simply no alternative.

convenience store chain will continue to attract thrifty customers, even in an economic slowdown.

Combini are certainly … convenient but they are definitely not for thrifty customers. Most of what they sell can be found 30% cheaper elsewhere

Disco BiscuitToday  08:39 am JST

Will they be refunding all the guests, local and foreign that have been overcharged? 

A warning ? 

money back thanks

No one is forced to stay at these hotels. Besides, those who can afford to pay 100,000 to 250,000 JPY per night typically don’t worry too much about the price.

Todai is very late. Waseda started to offer this type of full English degree 20 years ago and Keio 10 years ago.

Most of the cash is held by people in their 50s and older. These individuals were traumatized by the bursting of the real estate and stock markets. In the worst cases, valuations dropped by over 80%, and it took 30 years to recover. Given what they went through, it’s understandable that they avoid investing, even though this may be a significant mistake.

Most of the cash is held by people in their 50s and older. These individuals were traumatized by the bursting of the real estate and stock markets bubble. In the worst cases, valuations dropped by over 80%, and it took 30 years to recover. Given what they went through, it’s understandable that they will never invest again having been through this experience, even though it is a huge mistake in this inflationary environment.

As for people in their 20s, 30s and 40 s most of them have barely enough cash to cover their daily needs. How can you expect them to invest?

KariHarukaToday  07:23 pm JST

Each time I visit an onsen (I am the bad foreigner!!), I'd estimate that 9 out of 10 bathers are Japanese. 

But, sure Japan. Let's go ahead and blame foreigners and over tourism once again... What will foreigners be blamed for next? Eating up all of the natto?

I don’t know the last time you went, but to my huge surprise, 80% of the people at the onsen I visited last month in Yumoto, Hakone, were foreigners.

I also used to be the only foreigner in every onsen I visited until recently. It seems completely different today—you have to see it to believe it.

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JeffLeeToday  07:12 am JST

There's no doubt the civilians were a deliberate target," he said.

That doesn't make sense. The USAAF dropped huge numbers of warning leaflets in Feburary on Tokyo warning civlilians of a destructive attacks, and explaing that they were NOT the targets, and for them to evacuate the cities. In fact, the USAAF dropped the leaflets throughout Japan during the war. No other country did. The Japanese police punished anyone caught reading the warnings. 

"By burning them down, you would kill workers, de-house them. You would destroy small factories scattered around the domestic residential zones. And that this would contribute in some way to undermining the Japanese war economy."

OK, now he's contradicting himself. The objective WAS to destory factories and Japan's industrial capacity. Like all modern revisionists, his argument is riddled with contradictions and falsehoods

It is one thing to be warned it is another to know where to go.

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The_BeagleToday  05:08 pm JST

The decision comes as the central government pushes nuclear power so the country can rely less on fossil fuels to achieve decarbonization goals

Reliable cheap energy that is needed for present day needs and future plans.

Do you know that in 2011, the situation was so critical that the evacuation of Tokyo was considered by Naoto Kan the prime minister at the time. In the worst-case scenarios, not only would evacuation have been necessary, but it would have been impossible to live there for 70 years. Naoto Kan said that such an event could have jeopardized the nation very existence.

MarkXToday  07:40 am JST

As soon as I read the headline, I knew JeffLee would comment on it, and I agree with him totally. How can you publish this story and then expect people to continue to see their real wages drop and spending power fail. All the while with increased tourism getting priced out of your own country. Soon will be offered new contracts for the coming school year and am 100% it will be the same price as they have been paying for the past 10 years!

Numbers given in the article are distorted by the huge profits of very large companies. It would be more useful to have the mean numbers as well.

Very large companies sitting on records profits have actually increased base salaries by 5 % or more each of the last 2 years.

But many small and medium size companies do not make record profits at all. Actually many (especially the very small ones) are hardly surviving. Not much pay increase to be expected from them unfortunately.

WeiWeiToday  05:03 pm JST

0.1% growth with 4-5% rampant inflation means the economy contracted a lot in real terms. This folks is the reason for the ”inflation is good” mantra!!

0.1% in the real growth not nominal growth. Usually communication of economic growth figures,unless specified otherwise, are in real term not nominal terms.

kurisupisuToday  09:09 pm JST

The interest rates are still very low in Japan-it’s a wonder that there is any yen in the country!

i have just placed asu stantial amount of my money in a one year foreign currency bond at 4%.

No returns similar in Japan except for expert stock pickers

Without doing any stock picking you could just by the Nikkei 225 index through an ETF. It returned an annualized 7.5% over the past 10 years and 11% over the past 5 years.

The falling JPY due to very low interest rates has pushed real wages down. As a result, consumption has been declining. Consumption represents 55% of GDP and investment 26%. So, all in all, increasing interest rates to prevent the JPY from weakening further is probably positive for the economy as a whole.

An increase of 1.2 % of sales with an inflation between 2.5 % and 3% (officially but probably higher) means actually a very significant fall in volume. Not good at all.

Geeter MckluskieToday  02:33 pm JST

it will probably not happen within 2 decades but at a 7 to 10 years horizon.

*7 to 10 years is "within the next 2 decades.*

Sorry, I meant to say that it will probably happen within 7 to 10 years. At least, it will be technically feasible, but in practice, governments will try to slow things down since society cannot adapt so quickly to such disruptive technologies.

WTF?

Can someone please untangle this pretzle logic. Thanks

Half of current jobs will have been replaced by AI or mass-automation within the next 2 decades or less.

What does "fewer jobs will beome unnecassary mean" in this context. The fact is fewer workers will BE necessary due to their jobs being rendered obsolete.

it will probably not happen within 2 decades but at a 7 to 10 years horizon. Chat gpt 4 already has an is between, the paying version gpt 4.0 of 130 to 150. The enterprise version 155+. Einstein QI was estimated between 160 and 180.

TaiwanIsNotChinaToday  06:43 am JST

Should be titled "grappling with the consequences of their no immigration policies"

I don’t know where you live, but I can tell you that in Tokyo, immigration is massive. It becomes very obvious when you look at low-paid service-related jobs like convenience stores, restaurants, and hotels—it’s a complete change of landscape compared to 10 years ago.

Seven-Eleven plans to limit the business hours when such one-man operations are allowed from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. even after the new security system is introduced, the sources said.

That should be the norm for all their outlets, at least between 1:00 and 6:00. What a waste of energy for so few customers!

WeiWeiToday  08:44 am JST

That is partly thanks to government policies to promote attractions from Mount Fuji's majestic slopes to shrines and sushi bars in more far-flung parts of the archipelago.

That is an overstatement of the year so far. I can bet a lot of money on the fact that NONE of this is due to any government tourist promotions

Indeed. Nothing to do with the government, all due to social networks. We live in 2024!

wallaceToday  07:35 am JST

Two young people I know have returned from the US after 3 years at university paid for by their families. Both speak near-perfect English. One of them is returning for a Masters degree next year

Nice, but this costs around 30 million (including accommodation and other expenses). Not everyone can afford it. This is why any help will be welcomed, even if it only covers a fraction of the cost.

@

@garypen

kurisupisu

Still see the sararimen waltzing around in just their **whistle and flutes **looking tuff though…

Is that non-US English slang for "suit and tie", or something similar? I've never heard it before.

I second your question, Whistle and flutes..? Or is that walking and smoking…?

« Whistle and flutes » is cockney (East London) slang for suit.

It is not rare for teachers to work 60 hours per week, which is absolutely crazy, especially considering the pay they receive.

On top of that, they do not benefit from long holidays like in other countries because they are asked to do useless administrative tasks during those breaks. These teachers are saints.

quercetumToday  02:45 pm JST

how abt this country debt?

Japan's fiscal debt is not relevant. 

Japan's 30-year bond yield is now higher than China's.

This is an important and consequential financial development in the world and no one is talking about it.

@JeffLee

This idea that fiscal debt does not matter is incorrect. An ever-expanding fiscal debt poses several risks. One among several others is the loss of the value of money, both externally (already happened with the sharp depreciation of the JPY) and internally through inflation. The fact that inflation has been negligible or moderate over the past 30 years does not guarantee that this will remain the case indefinitely.

Even though these forecasts are absolutely useless these “experts” who make them are very well paid meanwhile essential workers are paid close to the minimum wage.

Not bad but the S&P is up 27 % in USD and 41% in JPY terms!

Surprise, surprise. Soon, we will see usual titles like inflation above the 2% target for 29 months, wages down, real consumption down…etc.

These old models, which the BOJ relies on (basically, the lower the interest rate, the better for the economy), no longer work. If they did, the Japanese economy, after 20 years of near 0% interest rates, would be flourishing.

The problem is that with Abenomics, they pushed things so far that it’s now probably impossible to exit without significant damage. The BOJ is caught between a rock and a hard place.

By the time the target of 60 million visitors is reached, the seafood rice bowls at Tsukiji fish market, which used to cost 1,500 JPY and now cost 4,500 JPY, will likely reach 10,000 JPY!

This place has also transformed into a scene reminiscent of Dante’s Inferno.