Japan Current Account: Updated June 12, 2025.

Japan current account surplus in April rises 3.2% to 2.26 tril. yen

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250609/p2g/00m/0bu/010000c

Ideas

Japan' current account is very important as it might be the only positive right now in the Japanese economy.

An economies current account is like a country's bank account as exports put money into the current account while imports take money out and imports actually reduce economic growth in an economy.

As Japan is resource-poor country, it has to import much of what is needs which means its economic growth is always going to be compromised because of imports.

Again, because Japan is resource-poor country and needs to import much of what it needs it has to balance out imports and exports in order to grow its economy.

Japan, it seems has become more visible again in the semiconductor global sector, which is still controlled by Taiwan and South Korea.

Japanese food exports have now become a major export product for Japan as Japanese food has been experiencing a renaissance of sorts which  means might Japanese food products are now very popular around the world.

Most likely the value of coal and oil might have decreased but not the actual volume of those commodities as again Japan is a resource-poor country and has to import much of what it needs.

Imports maybe more than exports are a major challenge for the Japanese economy, Japanese importers and Japanese households, and the weak Japanese yen and make it hard for all three groups, which means prices can be increased a lot.

The impact of the US tariffs haven't really affected US consumers or US companies just yet, as many US importer stocked up on their supplies before the tariff situation became a reality as many US companies haven't increased prices just yet, but they will have to eventually, and the tariff situation hasn't be resolved just yet.

It's a little too early to see any affect on US consumers and the buying of Japanese products but by the end of the summer there could be some major challenges.

But at the same time, as usual, the US admin. is already backtracking on some of its tariff talk related to key allies and export partners, suggesting another 90 day waiver.

Yes, the Japanese yen can play havoc with primary income as investing overseas is never a winning situation as a stronger Japanese yen can reduce direct investment over time.

Japanese companies and investors need to figure out how much they can lose and still be in overseas global markets as the Japanese yen is always going to be a major variable for Japanese investors.

In many instances, Japan is also a intellectual resource-poor country and has to depend on intellectual property from many global sources still in the 21st century.

Japan is not a major services trade country just yet, as it has to import more than what export in terms of services. 

Some of that is related to some or many Japanese companies or services just aren't marketable globally compared to other countries and their services.

Its logical that the travel surplus increased as the weak Japanese yen and the record number of foreign tourists was at an all time high in Japan, while the weak Japanese yen might have been a cause for some or many Japanese domestic travelers to forego traveling overseas.

And then there is the idea that the continued inflation situation in Japan has significantly reduced Japan's households from being able to save enough to take overseas trips recently.

Have a nice day!