Japan Trip

First day on trip in Yokohama. I will be watching closely the shopping habits of Japanese consumers. At a Starbucks now. It seems less crowded than before, even for a weekday. However this location sometimes has less customers than other places. A lot of people walking around but do not see a lot carrying bags. There is a much larger shopping area nearby that might be more busy.

 

After spending 10 days in Japan, mostly watching and observing the economy, around Tokyo and Yokohama, I would like to say Japan is not as bad off as news reports tend to think. Japan is still a large economy. Third or fourth depending on stats. What is usually lost on news reports is how much economic activity there is in this economy. Even when its not a full potential, which is hasn't been for a while, it is still bigger than all but a few in the world.

 

An interesting observation was the number of Chinese tourists I saw while I was there. Everyday, no matter where I was, there were large groups of Chinese. In the hotels, in McDonalds, yes I went there in Japan, just to visit. In the large discount electronic stores, in the major shopping districts, large groups of Chinese everywhere spending money.

 

Again, the Japanese economy might not be running at full potential, like everyone wants, but it is still a huge economic engine.

 

Since the trip there has been a lot of news about the Japan economy. I will be commenting on some of that news later.


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