In March 2024, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) ended its years-long experiment with negative interest rates to try and stem the country’s economic stagflation. This decision came after Rengo, Japan’s largest labor union, negotiated a deal that saw some of the countries’ largest companies – including Honda, Nippon Steel, and ANA Holdings – provide their … Read more
As geopolitical tensions remain high, U.S. capital has been moving out of China and into Japan. President Joe Biden’s restrictions on certain U.S. investments in China’s biotech, AI, and any sectors that could be deemed as “civil-military fusion” have caused concerns for many global financers investing in the second largest economy since mid-2023. The U.S. … Read more
Recently two seemingly paradoxical headlines about the Japanese economy caught people’s attention. First, in 2023 Japan’s GDP was surpassed by that of Germany. Japan thus dropped to the world’s fourth-largest economy, 13 years after its long hold on the number two position was overtaken by China in 2010. And yet the Japanese stock market has … Read more
Global investors are convinced 2024 will be the year the Bank of Japan (BOJ) finally “normalizes” policy and hikes interest rates above zero. Making the wrong bet could cost the nation dearly. Negative interest rates have been a hallmark of Japanese monetary policy since 2016, with the BOJ maintaining ultra-easy policy to conquer deflation. Yet … Read more
Japanese media recently reported that Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s approval rating stands at 26 percent, up just slightly from the 23 percent recorded in December 2023. The two figures are the lowest approval ratings for Kishida since the establishment of his Cabinet in October 2021. In the midst of political fundraising scandals, Kishida is attempting … Read more
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s plummeting popularity is raising serious questions about his future prospects. While successfully steering Japan on a course toward major military power status and global diplomatic prominence, his domestic political fortunes have never been more in doubt. A stark contrast is becoming apparent between Kishida’s successes in the conduct of Japan’s … Read more
Advertisement Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has made fresh commitments to combat rising energy and food prices. At a press conference last month in New York, Kishida said Japan’s economy was at a critical point “as to whether it can enter a new economic phase.” Last week Kishida instructed his Cabinet ministers to formulate economic measures … Read more
Advertisement The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with George Magnus – a research associate at China Centre, Oxford University and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London; former chief economist and senior economic … Read more
Advertisement As crises erupted in East Asia, and communism seemed to be on the offensive – evident from the victory of the Communist Party in the Chinese civil war and the North Korean invasion of South Korea – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru (in office from 1948-1954) was laying the foundation of a strategy that … Read more
Advertisement Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s new capitalism seeks to supplant the long-standing neoliberal policies that have dominated Japan since the 1980s, including the country’s more recent shift to “shareholder capitalism.” Instead, the Kishida administration is pursuing a more inclusive “stakeholder capitalism” and aims to stimulate a “virtuous cycle of growth and distribution” to increase wages … Read more