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: Ideas Later.

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

Article to be deleted after ideas.

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Bank of Japan on Monday maintained its assessments for all of the country's nine regions despite noting that the Middle East conflict and surges in crude oil prices have led to rises in raw material and energy costs, stoking worries about the outlook.

In the quarterly Sakura report, the central bank said that although some weakness was seen in places, all areas were either "recovering moderately," "picking up," or "picking up moderately" on the back of robust global demand for artificial intelligence-related products and services. The assessments were the same as those used in January.

The report is among materials that the BOJ will scrutinize at its next policy-setting meeting later this month. Views are growing in the market that the bank could raise the key policy rate to address the risk of acceleration in inflation due to the rises in crude oil prices amid the weak yen.

Citing views from a meeting of its regional branch managers earlier Monday, the central bank said the Middle East situation has led to adjustments in output by some businesses. It also noted worries about the reduced procurement of raw materials potentially hitting entire supply chains.

On wage hikes, which the BOJ views as key to deciding whether to raise interest rates, the bank said that both large and small and medium-sized companies have shown intentions to offer high levels of pay hikes for the fiscal year starting April on par with the previous year to secure labor.

The nine regions include the Tokyo area, Tokai where Toyota Motor Corp. is headquartered, and the Kinki region, which includes Osaka and Kyoto.

The BOJ's Tankan survey for March also showed that confidence among big manufacturers had improved for the fourth straight quarter, even as concerns were raised about the impact of the Middle East situation going forward.

The BOJ raised its key interest rate to a 30-year high of 0.75 percent in December and left it unchanged in March as it gauges the impact of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran on Japan's economy and inflation.

Article source: 

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

Japan Feb. Industrial Output: Ideas Later.

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

Article to be deleted after ideas.

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's industrial output in February fell 2.1 percent from the previous month, the first contraction in three months, dragged down by weak output in the motor vehicle sector, government data showed Tuesday, with the impact of the Iran conflict likely to be felt in the coming months.

The decrease followed an upwardly revised expansion of 4.3 percent in January. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry maintained its basic assessment of industrial production from the month before, saying it "fluctuates indecisively."

Output dropped in 12 of the 15 sectors, falling 3.6 percent in the motor vehicle sector after an 8.1 percent rise in the previous month, amid a decline in orders for small trucks and a decrease in production of car engines for overseas markets, a ministry official said.

Reduced production of fabricated metals, including aluminum for industrial use, and of electronic parts and devices such as liquid crystal display panels contributed to the overall fall, while the iron, steel and nonferrous metals sector saw an expansion.

According to a poll of manufacturers, output is expected to rise 3.8 percent in March and 3.3 percent in April, the ministry said.

But the official cautioned that the survey, conducted in early March, may not have factored in the impact of the war against Iran launched by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28, which remains "highly unpredictable" and warrants "exceptional attention."

The Iran war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy waterway, have disrupted supplies of crude oil and petroleum products to Japan, with the chemical sector facing difficulties procuring naphtha, a liquid derived from crude oil that is used to produce ethylene, a raw material for plastics and synthetic fibers.

Some automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. are cutting domestic production of cars bound for Middle Eastern markets due to delayed shipments to the region in March, sources close to the matter said.

The seasonally adjusted index of production at factories and mines stood at 102.3 against the 2020 base of 100, the ministry said in the preliminary report.

In February, the index of industrial shipments dropped 1.6 percent to 100.5, while that of inventories edged up 0.3 percent to 98.1.

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

Japan Feb. Jobless Rate: Ideas Later. To be continued.

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

Article to be deleted after ideas.

Article:

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's unemployment rate in February fell to 2.6 percent from 2.7 percent the previous month, improving for the first time in seven months, partly reflecting people who had voluntarily left their jobs finding employment, government data showed Tuesday.

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.

Article

The number of people with jobs edged up 0.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted 68.27 million, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.

Of those not employed, 430,000 were laid off, a 4.4 percent decrease from January. Meanwhile, 760,000 people voluntarily left their jobs, typically to seek better conditions, a 7.3 percent decrease.

Ideas

To be continued....

Those newly seeking jobs decreased 1.9 percent to 530,000, according to the ministry. A ministry official said, "The employment situation is not deteriorating."

The job availability ratio edged up 0.01 point from January to 1.19, meaning there were 119 jobs available for every 100 job seekers, according to separate data.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, new job openings in the wholesale and retail sector plunged 17.9 percent in February from a year earlier, while job offers in the lifestyle and entertainment services sector decreased by 17.0 percent.

New job openings also fell 14.7 percent in accommodation and restaurant services, 9.5 percent in information and communications, and slid 6.5 percent in the education sector.

While there has been no significant change in the trend, concerns have been growing over rising prices triggered by the Middle East crisis, with developments needing to be closely watched, a labor ministry official said.

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

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