Japan Feb. machinery orders: Ideas later.

Japan's Feb. machinery orders jump 13.6% on month

Article to be deleted after ideas.

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's core private-sector machinery orders rose 13.6 percent in February from the previous month, driven by large-scale projects in the nuclear power sector, government data showed Wednesday.

The orders, which exclude those for ships and from electricity utilities due to their volatility, totaled 1.1 trillion yen ($7 billion), a record high surpassing the previous peak set in January 2008, according to the Cabinet Office.

An official of the office attributed the rise to orders for equipment including turbines for several large-scale nuclear power projects, while adding the office maintained its assessment that machinery orders, a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, were showing signs of picking up.

The official said the impact of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, which began at the end of February, was largely not reflected in the data for the month.

Machinery orders from the manufacturing sector surged 30.7 percent to 569.5 billion yen, while those from non manufacturers rose 0.9 percent to 568.4 billion yen.

Nonferrous metals and other non manufacturing sectors saw strong growth, while orders related to automobiles and auto parts also recovered, the official said.

Total orders including those from the public sector as well as for ships and electricity utilities fell 5.0 percent from the previous month.

Article source:   https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260415/p2g/00m/0bu/025000c

Japan Real Wages in Feb. Updated April 9, 2026.

Japan's real wages rise for 2nd straight month in February with 1.9% growth

Ideas

Real wages in Japan seem to finally see some daylight after months or years being less that inflation and an increase of 1.9 percent, while not much, is a welcome increase for many Japanese households.

Japan has been hit by constant price increases as Japan is a resource-poor country and needs to import much of what it needs and is subject to the whims of global price increases. 

Wage increases, while good but not great, have also helped but companies need to do more its been suggested that many of the name-brand companies are sitting piles of cash which could be used to help with the daily lives of their employees in Japan.

Nominal wages really don't mean much as they give a false sense of an increase but in reality real wages, disposable income, and the purchasing power of Japanese consumers is what really matters in the economy and the daily lives of ordinary Japanese citizens.

If you ask the average Japanese consumer what are nominal wages and of course they probably won't know or even care as global consumers would probably say the same thing, as what really matters is the amount of disposable income they have and the purchasing they have each week and each month.

Yes, despite all of the news about nominal wages, real wages, inflation increases or decreases is good and needed by some in business and government but most consumers could care less about all the stats thrown around in the media, as what they care about is their purchasing power and again how much disposable income they have left on Friday or Saturday or at the end of the month.

While a 1.4 percent increase in consumers prices is maybe beginning to show a decreasing trend, it might still be too high for the most vulnerable in Japanese society as maybe it is still affecting the lower-income groups, the fixed income groups, and of course the single mother who has to take care of her two children and only a contract salary or wage with no real benefits.

Japan is not an isolated island country or economy as, like all countries these days, it is highly interconnected to the rest of the world and what happens in the Middle East easily affects Japan just like the situation in the Ukraine has significantly affected raw material supplies and prices from that region.

Yes, private consumption or consumer spending is estimated to be about half of Japan's gross domestic product, but in reality it might be a little less in actual spending as in recent years consumer spending in Japan just hasn't been enough to significantly help the Japanese economy grow that much as maybe it should be around 55 or even 60 percent of GDP to see any sustainable real growth each year.

The Bank of Japan or BOJ is watching very carefully what is happening in Japan and the Middle East with of course energy and oil prices as Japan has to import much if not all of its energy needs which could be factor in the BOJ's decision to increase rates or keep them where they are now.

And yes, again, the BOJ is watching the wage talk increases as it appears some or many companies have actually met the demand of their labor unions, but as usual, while the large-name brand companies are doing their part, it remains to be seen just what the small and mid-size companies are doing or what can they really do.

It is estimated that up to 70 percent of the Japanese work-force works for small and mid-size companies and not the large name-brand companies that get all the news.

Most if not all small and mid-size companies just don't have the needed resources to match what the large companies can do and such the wage increases by the smaller companies are never going to be as much as a large company wage increases.

While any wage increase is good and needed, what is really important is what does the average Japanese worker feel about their wage increase? Japanese households, Japanese consumers have to got feel good about the wage increases and they have to be able to see it in their disposable income and their purchasing power at the end of the month, and if they don't see it or feel it they are not going to spend enough to increase or help economic growth in the economy.

And of course again, using the phrase the "the least among us" what does it do for the dis-advantaged in Japanese society? Do the wage increases reach the lower-income groups, the fixed income groups, and again do the wage increases help the single mother on a limited contract able to take care of her two children with no real health or medical benefits.

Have a nice day!

© 2026 Tom Metts,  all rights reserved

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260408/p2g/00m/0bu/022000c

Japan Feb. Current Account. Updated April 12, 2026

 

Japan logs current account surplus of 3.93 tril. yen in February

Ideas:

Japan seems to pay very close attention to its current account more that other economies, as Japan is still heavily influenced by being an export economic despite having a relatively strong domestic economy.

A decrease of 0.1 percent is really not that significant as the margin of error in the stats could be more than that, so it might be slightly positive and or slightly more negative.

Yes, the exact affects of the Mid-East situation might not be known or seen until the March numbers come out, as even then its really hard do gauge exactly how much its going to really affect the world economy.

The problem or challenge is companies, whether good or not so good, want to protect their profit margins from immediate and or future disruptions, so they will sometimes increase prices as they think there is going to be some kind of disruption in the supply and demand of their products.

There are positives and negatives related to the weak yen, such a weak yen increases primary income and also increases the price of Japanese exports which helps Japanese export companies bring in more yen too at the same time.

However, there are negatives related to the weak yen to as a weak yen, increases the price of imports into Japan as wholesalers and importers have to pay more for anything imported and of course they pass-on the increased import prices even to the final retail customer.

Japan is a significant export economy as its economy is basically always focused on exports even though it still has a relatively robust domestic economy with 125 million people.

At the same time, as a so-called island nation, it has to import much if not it needs and because of global prices being somewhat volatile at times, it's subject to the whims of global prices.

Trade with China, sometimes can be tricky as the diplomatic tensions between the two countries are not so good at this time, as evidenced by the significant drop in tourists from China due to the Chinese government cautioning Chinese from going to Japan which essentially is like an order not to go.

But at the same, even though businesses in China might have stopped or slowed down due to the Lunar New Year holidays, and the diplomatic tensions, trade still goes on between the two countries.

Most likely, as just suggested, the significant drop in Chinese tourists, which used to get larger tourist group to enter Japan caused Japan's services trade numbers to drop.

Foreign tourists entering Japan is considered an export as foreign tourists spend money in Japan. as they buy things but use foreign currency that they bring into the country including using credit cards from other countries.

Yes the number of foreign tourists from other countries has been very robust and may continue to be that way for a very long time.

At the same time, as suggested, again, in other articles, some in Japan are complaining that foreign tourists are not keeping manners and or making too much noise during the cherry blossom viewing season which is now taking place in most of Japan.

There can be both positives and negatives to foreign tourists visiting a country as the majority of foreign tourists will be polite but there also some who are not so polite and as usual they always get most of the attention.

But in Japan, to be fair, some of the local population ether just don't want foreign tourists in their country and or expect tourists to be able to follow all of the unspoken rules in a society at a foreign might not know about.

But the problem or challenge, which some don't seem to think about, is tourism is a very fragile industry and can easily go in the opposite direction with tourists deciding other countries seem to be more welcoming to foreigners.

Japan needs to be aware of this as sometimes some in a society can get a little arrogant thinking they are just a little better than others and they don't seem to appreciate or be grateful for all the money being spent in their country by foreigners when a foreign tourist an easily just go to another country and spend their money.

Have a nice day!

© 2026 Tom Metts,  all rights reserved

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260408/p2g/00m/0bu/026000c

Japan Feb. Household Spending: Updated April 13, 2026.

 

Japan Feb. household spending falls 1.8% on year on weak spending on food

Ideas

Consumes, Japanese consumers in this case, have to feel good or somewhat good about the economy to spend and if their disposable income keeps decreasing and their purchasing power continues to decrease they will of course reduce their spending.

This is not rocket science or any secret economic theory here, consumers have to feel good and they need to see if their money goes a long way and if it doesn't they are going to reduce their spending.

There are many variables in the economy and global economy that can have an effect on prices and of course the Iran situation is just the latest variable to push prices up and of course the consumer is always the one that feels it as companies will always pass-on their costs to the next in the supply chain including the final retail customer.

Global companies, especially global oil companies, only really care about their stockholders and not anyone else in the global economy, as they are always protecting their profit margins and are quick to increase prices as needed and to make sure their earnings for each quarter don't go down.

It should be noted while stat nerds and those who need to see stat numbers are always obsessing over even the latest up and downs in the variables related to the economy, the average consumer may or may not notice much until they go to the supermarket or pay for gas at the gas station as their lives are just too busy to care about stats or numbers as they want to know why are prices always going up.

Yes, spending on food for most families is around 30 percent of their disposable income but for the lower-income groups, the fixed income groups, and the unfortunate mother of two children working on a temporary contract only might pay up to 40 percent or more of their total disposable income on food.

And yes, auto sales could potentially be a major investment for most families and for the lower-income groups it could be even more so its no wonder in the current economic climate I Japan that auto sales might have been less than expected.

Yes, of course consumers are more selective as their purchasing power and their disposable incomes continue to decrease so they are not just going to spend on everything or anything they want but try to choose wisely as they only have so much to spend.

For the most part, Japan families or consumers have been characterized as more savers than spenders while the US consumer has been labeled for the most part as more spenders, but of course people are people and you can't judge everyone on the spending habits of a few or even the saving habits of a few.

Yes real wages might be increasing some and the pace of inflation might be trending down, but for the average consumer they might not notice much yet, and of course for the lower-income groups they might never see any real difference in their disposable income or their purchasing power.

Elevated crude oil prices can affect everything in an economy and not just those who have cars as it could affect businesses that use gas and oil, consumer products too and companies have to deal with increased energy costs all through an economy.

Private consumption or consumer spending is estimated to be about 50 percent of Japan's GDP, which in itself might sound adequate but in reality, consumers again have to feel good about their incomes, their disposable income, and their purchasing power, and if they don't they might not spend to the point that spending reaches 50 percent of GDP and when it doesn't unfortunately the Japanese economy is not going to grow or expand like it should.

While the 589,038 yen might sound like a lot, which it is for some, the vast majority of families in Japan might reach that level as its just an average so there might be large group above that amount and an equal number below that number, which means they might not feel good about their income or their disposable income or their purchasing power which again means they are not going to spend to the level needed in the Japanese economy for the economy to grow or expand.

Have a nice day!

Article source:   https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260407/p2g/00m/0bu/017000c

BOJ View of Regional Economies: Updated April 20, 2026.

BOJ retains view on all 9 regional economies, despite Middle East conflict.

Ideas

While some regions of Japan, such as major metro areas of Osaka and Tokyo, might see better economic growth than the less populated areas, its a common idea that no region or area, even in Japan, is immune from the global challenges of today.

And of course its not just oil but many other raw material products used by many companies globally, including Japan, are going to see price increases over the next few months or even years to follow.

And the problem, unfortunately, that companies will use this situation as an excuse to increase their prices and say they had no choice but as global prices have increased when in reality its not always true.

The Bank of Japan, Japan's central bank, likes to use the phrases listed in the article as it doesn't want to bring panic in the financial markets in Japan or globally so it never really never says anything too drastic that might scare the markets.

What the article seems to suggest, related to intelligence-related products is Japan has kind of re-entered the semiconductor market arena and is now producing products that can enhance artificial intelligence in Japan and globally.

The Bank of Japan, for the most part, is a very conservative organization, like most central banks globally, as it is not going to do anything rash or cause undo harm to Japan or the markets, so its watching very carefully what is happening in the Middle East and will make a decision to raise the key rate or take a stance of watching further as more data is needed.

And the weak Japanese yen, as been a thorn in the side of the Bank of Japan for a very long time and really doesn't know what to do about it as it has both positives and negatives related to the Japanese economy.

Yes, as suggested in other articles, some companies have adjusted output especially to markets in the Middle East such as Toyota and Honda have reduced production to the fact that there is probably going to be less demand for products and or less potential in getting to the markets in the Middle East.

And yes, again getting raw materials from the Middle East region is going to be challenging along complete supply chain disruptions for some raw material products in the future if not now at this time.

Not be to be too critical but yes large companies, or most large name-brand companies, are planning on wage hikes, but it still remains to be seen just how many small companies have the needed resources to increase wages this year, as small companies just don't have the profit margins to cover the needed or wanted wage hikes.

Inflation, for the most part can be seen as both a positive or negative depending on where it really comes from. For example if companies do increase wages and workers feel good about their wage increases they might increase spending in the economy which is a kind of positive inflation as companies will see consumers are spending again and will accordingly increase prices due an increase in demand.

And then there is another kind of inflation has as hit Japan for a very long time and its related to the increase of energy or raw material prices increases and companies will pass-on their increases costs to the next in the supply chain including the final retail customer.

Of course the Bank of Japan would prefer the type of inflation that is related to consumer spending as it shows there is a good amount of money moving through the economy now.

Big manufactures, and all companies, have got to feel that the economy, and the global economy, is headed in the right direction and if they feel its good they might increase capital investments or capital spending or even increase production as they again feel good about the future.

But of course the Middle East situation is going to have an affect on many companies but not all companies and they should already have contingency plans setup to handle disruptions on the global economy.

The Bank of Japan, again, is very conservative organization and is not going to increase the rate just to increase the rate as it has always though of the idea that any rate hike as both positive and some negatives for the economy.

As such the negatives always weigh heavily on the BOJ's decision as the side-affects of a rate increase might cause undo harm for some or many in the economy. As such, again, it doesn't make a more hastily and will maybe just sit tight as study the situation even more in the future.

Have a nice day!

Article source: 

 https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260406/p2g/00m/0bu/027000c

Japan Feb. Industrial Output: Updated April 19, 2026.

Japan industrial output in Feb. falls 2.1% on month on weak autos.

Ideas

Japan is still an economy that is heavily focused on manufacturing and exports, compared to other advanced economies.

And the auto sector leads the industrial output sector as auto manufacturing combined with auto exports is the leading economic driver in the Japanese economy, meaning Japanese economic growth seems to depend a lot Japanese auto manufacturing and exports.

Yes, of course it fluctuates indecisively, as demand is never linear as there are always going to be ups and downs due to many factors including supply chain disruptions, raw material disruptions, machinery maintenance and breakdowns and so on.

But most companies have probably added into their schedules expected disruptions and or they have contingency plans for possible fluctuations.

An economy is very complicated with many sectors and most of those sectors, as suggested in the article might not all grow at the same time, as with the main economic driver sectors, in Japan, such as the auto industry are down, it has a significant effect on economic growth.

The challenge or problem for Japan, even though of course it has tried, it just doesn't have enough economic drivers as the auto industry seems to be the main economic driver and any of sector is just too far behind to impact any difference related to economic growth.

And again, even though there are many industrial sectors in Japan that can contribute some to economic growth, as with most economies, there is no consistency related to continued growth with any of the sectors suggested in the article.

Part of the challenge is Japan just hasn't been able to move any of the smaller industrial sectors into the forefront to being an solid economic driver as these days, compared to years or decades past, it was much easier to try and develop industries or sectors for future economic growth to be considered a significant economic driver.

The global economy, and of course Japan too, is highly inter-connected and any disruption in the global logistics sector can have significant affects on many countries and their economies.

As such unfortunately, the price of many products are going to increase even if a company's products are not directly tied to the Middle East as energy materials and sources can affect everything in the economy, even products that you think have no direct relation to the area.

And yes, the shipping of products to the Middle East is significantly being affected even though those products and autos are manufactured in countries far away from the Middle East, as global shipping is being affected and of course, because of the situation global shipping and logistics costs are going to increase significantly.

The index of production really doesn't have much of an affect on most businesses overall as the most important variable might be supply and demand and energy and raw materials costs which companies watch closely and not the production index.

But at the same time the index of industrial shipments might be an important variable as again, Japan is still heavily focused on exporting and industrial shipments are a large part of the export mix.

Inventories can be both positive and negative and needs to be watched carefully, as if inventories start to trend upward too much it could be an indication that demand is trending down and or demand was not estimated correctly.

And if inventories are trending to the point that companies just can't keep any inventories in their warehouses it might mean they didn't estimate demand correctly and demand is more than they expected.

Have a nice day!

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260331/p2g/00m/0bu/018000c

Japan Feb. Jobless Rate: Updated April 17, 2026.

Japan's Feb. jobless rate falls to 2.6%, 1st drop in 7 months

Ideas:

There is a supposed labor shortage in Japan now which means for the general population finding a job might be easier now than in the past, and it seems now its might be much easier to change jobs to one that might fit more to what you need or want and maybe a better work/life situation.

But maybe globally, not just in Japan, these days getting a new job or even a first jobs requires so much more than just a cover letter and a resume and there seems to be layers upon layers of gatekeepers to go through.

Its interesting that in years past or more importantly decades past, for the most part, companies in Japan didn't lay off workers as their was for the most part a kind of life-time employment situation in Japan. 

But of course as Japanese companies have become more westernized and placed priority on keeping stock holders happy they are now more like US and EU companies and laying off workers as needed.

Also, for a long time, changing jobs or getting a new job in Japan was a very hard and long process, but the Japanese government, most likely because of the so-called labor shortage, has made it easier for workers to change jobs and as such even at 760,000 people left their jobs for supposedly better jobs.

At the same time, as with any economy, it must be remembered, that there are only so many good jobs available and maybe a lot of the best or better jobs have been taken and workers/people who are looking for that somewhat perfect job might not be able to find it and have to look a lot harder to get the best job they can get.

The jobs availability ratio, while it edged up to 1.19 meaning 119 jobs for every 100 jobs, the key is are these really good jobs, with good benefits are are they less than good and maybe don't allow or better work/life experiences that many workers are looking for these days.

What could be happening with new job openings being much less in specific sectors such as wholesale and the retail sectors, is companies in these sectors had to increase wages to attract or keep workers and now their profits margins are so thin that can't afford to hire any new workers.

And its seems to be a problem with the governments push for companies to increase wages but at the same time many of these companies have compromised their profits margins to the point that now they can't hire any more new workers.

In today's global economy no country is an island or no country is isolated to the point that what happens in the Middle East can affect every country in the world and all countries now, because of financial networks, logistics networks, and other networks are all connected so Japan too will see prices increasing even more due to the situation in the Middle East.

At the same time, Japan is a resource-poor country and has to import much of what is needs and as such, as prices have been increasing continuously almost since the end of the pandemic, and the weak yen has also contributed to higher than normal import prices and Japan might see prices going up even more in the future.

Have a nice day!

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260331/p2g/00m/0bu/020000c

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