Japan's July- Sept. GDP Decreases: Update Dec. 5, 2025.

Japan's July-Sept. GDP shrinks for 1st time in 6 quarters on weak exports

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251117/p2g/00m/0bu/010000c

Ideas

Overall, Japan's economy is very stable but it doesn't grow that much as its a mature economy which means there is less growth than growing or emerging economies.

An annualized or real growth of 1.8 percent might seem a positive number but it's just a projection about what might happen for the rest of fiscal 2025 in Japan.

But a decrease of 04 percent is the real number to think about as again the Japanese economy just doesn't grow that much despite its huge size. And there is the challenge with business investments which saw a decrease which might be even more important in Japan than consumer spending.

GDP, these days, still seems to be the most important indicator of economic growth in an economy but it doesn't show or represent what is really happening in the real world of consumers and households.

Not to be critical, but all governments seem to use the phrase "recovering moderately" as a way to ensure or encourage the financial markets to be stable instead of upsetting investors with some bad news.

As far as consumer spending is resilient that can be taken with a grain of salt meaning it might be somewhat good but maybe not as robust as it should be, while capital investment might be in the same situation as being good but not a robust as it should be for Japan to grow.

Private consumption or consumer spending just isn't as robust as it is in the US as Japanese consumers just aren't the big spenders like US consumers have been but even in the US that has changed some due to the continued increase in prices.

Japanese households and consumers, for the most part, have been savers more than robust spenders but might that be changing some as disposable income seems to be eroding some in Japan and maybe even eroding the amount of savings Japanese household have now.

And yes, it seems the US tariff situation has finally hit the Japanese car sector which exports significantly to the US but unfortunately Japanese car shipments are maybe going to see some changes over time as the US tariff situation is going to affect both the export sector and many other sectors in Japan.

Even a tariff rate of 15 percent might be too much for some Japanese automakers and also Japanese car parts makers which is a significant sub-sector in the Japanese economy, as there might be a large number of small and mid-size companies that produce car parts in Japan.

While Toyota and Honda might be able to whether the tariff storm but that doesn't mean the much smaller car companies will be able to do it and even the car parts makers are going to feel very challenged with the tariffs and they might not have the profit margins needed to absorb the tariffs and might have to pass-on the tariffs in the supply chain to whomever in the US.

A decrease of 0.1 percent in import prices might not be seem like much now but its too soon to tell if decreasing import prices are trending down or just a one quarter situation, as import prices have a remained high almost since the pandemic ended.

Housing costs, globally, are getting more and more expensive as material costs increase and the price of houses increased causing many young families unable to afford a new home.

It might not be so much a challenge in Japan for young families and maybe they can still get a new home, but in the US its seem very unlikely now as the cost has skyrocketed since the pandemic.

GDP might return to a recovery path in the October-December quarter but it won't be that much of a recovery as the Japanese economy is being challenged by the US tariff situation, continued inflation, and a continued weak Japanese yen, which potentially is going to keep import prices high.

Yes, its quite possible the diversification of Japanese exports from the US only to much of Asia and to many other economies has been a safety net for Japan companies as maybe they don't have to rely only on the US for their sales and profits.

Japan has always focused on as many markets as possible and for a very long time focused on market share over profits and even more focused on the long-term over the short-term that many companies today have to do because of what shareholders want and need from the companies they invest in.

Yes again, its quite possible the Japanese economy can avert a recession but not by much as it really doesn't grow that much but even a 0.1 percent or even a 0.2 percent GDP growth in the October-December quarter would be good.

With regards to digital devices, its highly unlikely that Japan is manufacturing and exporting Japanese smartphones to another Asian economies as it seems Samsung from South Korea and some of the Chinese brands have most of the market share in smartphone.

Most likely Japan is shipping other devices such as notebook computers or even other devices. At one Japan was the world leader in digital devices but many Japanese companies lost their way and stopped innovating and Chinese, Taiwanese, and South Korean companies have passed them by.

Yes, Japan is already seeing hundreds it not thousands of cancellations in airline fights and hotel bookings which is not only hurting Japan but hurting many of the Chinese tour and airline companies in China too.

It's sad, that Japan always seems to move forward one step and then backward two steps with remarks or actions that cause challenges with South Korea or China.

Its been suggested that the increase in foreign tourists going to Japan and the weak Japanese yen and their spending in Japan is like an economic driver that increases economic growth and growth in the GDP. 

But that might be a slight exaggeration as its going to take a lot more foreign tourists to spend even more to help the Japanese economy grow.

But yes, a decrease in the number of Chinese tourists is going to affect the Japanese economy in a negative way. Even if there is a significant surge in South Korean tourists or Indonesian, or Thai tourists it might not be enough to overcome the loss of Chinese tourists.

Robust demand for beverages during the summer is nothing to really be excited about as seasonal changes in the weather causes consumers to buy more cold or more hot depending on the weather.

And yes, food prices in Japan seem to keep increasing as Japanese companies are now passing-on their raw material food costs to the next in the supply chain, which is often the final retail customer.

Private consumption or consumer spending has never really been that robust in Japan except for maybe the roaring 80's when the Japanese economy was near its peak potentially and was expected to be near the largest in the world or close too it at the time.

Consumer spending in Japan is just too low to really have a serious impact on the Japanese economy as 50 percent of GDP is just not enough as it needs to be around 60 percent to really have an impact on the economy.

Capital investment is very important for the Japanese economy and might be even more important than consumer spending to help lift the economy out of its stagnation phase which it has been stuck in for some time.

But the key to capital investment is what Japanese companies think about the future of the Japanese economy, as if think its going to grow they will invest if not they usually take a wait and see approach.

So a 1.0 percent increase in capital investments is not the greatest as maybe many companies are still taking a wait and see approach and hoping the Japanese economy is going to get better in the future.

To be fair, many previous Prime Ministers also had economic packages to help the economy and help Japanese households but they might have helped in the short-term but in the long-term the packages didn't do much.

And then there is what the Japanese Prime Minister wants and plans and always gets watered down in the Japanese Diet as politics unfortunately, good or bad, can change the plans often.

Yes again in the Japanese Diet the other political parties might have their own ideas about how to improve the economy and until they they debate the ideas in session it won't be known what the exact final economic package will look like.

Nominal GDP is not really that important other than to show maybe how much inflation has affected the Japanese economy, as real GDP is what is important for Japanese consumers and Japanese households as it shows much their their disposable income has increased or decreased and how much purchasing power they have or don't have in the economy.

Have a nice day!

Spending in Japan: Updated Sept. 29, 2025.

Clothing, footwear spending in Japan in 2024 halved from bubble-era period

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250925/p2g/00m/0li/017000c

Ideas:

Consumer spending in Japan has always been a challenge is the Japanese just don't spend like US consumers do as the Japanese, for the most part, are more savers than spenders.

Being a saver is good for the individual or family but not good for an economy as for example businesses that save are good for a business but not good for investments or spending in an economy.

Back in the day during the 1980's economic boom in Japan spending might have been out of control or there was a lot of spending maybe thinking that the boom could last forever, which of course it didn't.

Strained budgets are been a part of the Japanese economy for a very long time, as for example many Japanese companies, in the early 2000's decided to limit wage increases for their workers.

As a result, as normal, Japanese workers began to cut-back on their spending which might have caused the Japanese economy to become stagnant and not grow with eventually resulted in deflation.

Only recently, the past two years have Japanese companies have begun to loosen the purse strings have begun to increase wages to help improve the economy and or from pressure from the Japanese government to increase wages to help the economy grow.

Yes, for the most part, except for needed essential clothing, clothing can be considered important but not an essential product to buy every week or every month but just once or twice a year at the most.

And yes, food is very much an essential item and needs to be bought every day or every week as needed, depending on a families style or an individuals style, as some Japanese families might be fresh food every day at the local supermarket and or some might bu bentos or boxed meals as needed as they go home from work.

Yes, as Japanese consumer begin to see less and less in their disposable incomes they might see the need to find clothing bargains and or seek out clothing stores that offer prices which match their budgets.

Today's Japanese mindset among consumers maybe now are getting used to the idea of flea markets and secondhand clothing as needed to keep their budgets from getting too bloated due to increased inflation in Japan.

And yes, fast fashion companies such as GU, Uniqlo, and maybe Zara and H&M are good places to buy as they might be better alternatives than the more traditional clothing shops in Japan.

The traditional clothing shop in Japan, while providing high quality products might not be the best choice for the average Japanese family these days.

And yes, the upper-middle class and other groups might still buy from the traditional high-priced shops but now they might be out of reach for again the average Japanese family of even the lower-middle class family that can't afford to go to Ginza and from the ups-scales stores  in some places in Tokyo.

The spending habits of the average Japanese consumer is changing like it is in many countries globally these days and companies need to be aware that what is good today might not be good tomorrow as consumer spending habits and tastes are are always changing.

Have a nice day!

Japan Economy Growth: Updated Sept. 4, 2025

Japan economy grows 1.0% in April-June, inflation weighs on spending

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250815/p2g/00m/0bu/014000c

Ideas

An economy is a complex organism and it has many different parts or sectors which some see growth and some see less growth. All sectors in an economy are never linear as there are periods of growth and less growth in each.

The Japanese economy rarely see growth beyond 1 percent but even at 1 percent growth that is significant growth for an economy the size of Japan's.

Capital investments are always an important economic indicator for what is going on in an economy as it shows businesses might see the economy improving over time.

But again the major challenge for the Japanese economy is consumer spending as inflation continues to be a major constraint for consumers in Japan.

Yes, the tariff situation might not have been in full effect yet so Japanese exports to the US remained robust for now, but the future might be a little more challenging as Japanese companies might have to start absorbing the tariffs.

Japan might need to re-think its entire strategy with exports as the profits and sales from exports could see significant decreases in the coming months.

Japan is now a mature economy and advanced economy which usually means less economic growth as it takes more resources to grow a mature economy compared to an emerging economy.

As a result even 0.3 percent growth, for Japan, might be considered acceptable as some growth is still better than no growth or negative growth.

Economic data is always being revised as new data become available and all economies always revise their data as needed.

Data should never be taken as complete or static as it's always being looked at again and again to make sure that it's relevant for the situation and always being revised as needed.

Capital expenditures are important for an economy as it shows how much businesses spend just like consumer spending is important for an economy too which of course shows how much consumers spend in an economy.

The fact that software investment might have driven the increase in capital investments might indicate that Japanese companies are finally beginning to take seriously the need to innovate and bring their companies into the 21st century.

And it looks like Japan is becoming, again finally, a semiconductor focused country after losing a lot of market share to Taiwan an South Korea.

Exports in Japan are a major economic driver, which means its contributes a lot to the economic growth of the Japanese economy.

But the future of exports in Japan are clouded as the tariff situation with the US is still very unclear as to what is going to happen exactly.

Japan car companies are now using different strategies to overcome the tariff situation such a reducing prices on cars to the US, offering different models than before as a way to stimulate sales and try to keep profits high.

Many years ago the strategy of Japanese export companies to the US were always focused on improving market share and always offered low product prices. 

But those days are long gone as Japanese companies can't afford to keep prices low for too long without compromising their profit margins.

Japanese car companies, along with all of the smaller car-parts companies in Japan employ a  lot of workers and if profits are decreased too much then yes, salaries and employment will be effected along with consumer spending from those who who work for car related companies.

The GDP formula is consumer spending + business investment spending+ government spending + exports -imports, which means imports actually decreases what the initial GDP might have been with just exports.

Imports reduce an economies current account, which is like an economies bank account, and in Japan's case as it its a resource-poor country has to import much of what it needs which means it can have a significant effect on Japan's GDP growth.

And yes, the tariff agreement might not be as bad as first expected but its still not going  exactly in Japan's favor and will affect the amount of exports from Japan to the US.

Yes, the July-September period potentially could see negative growth as maybe Japan is too reliant on exports as it really doesn't have any other economic drivers at this time.

Private consumption, or consumer spending, which is about 50 percent of Japan's GDP is not up to the task of helping the economy or overcoming the drop in exports as inflation continues to effect Japanese consumers.

And then add it the low wages for workers in Japan and they really don't have enough disposable income to spend like US consumers do, which makes up about 60 percent of the US GDP.

The Japanese economy is dealing with many years of Japanese companies not giving adequate pay increases to their employees and now the economy is suffering from low consumer spending due the fact that Japanese consumers just don't have the disposable income they need as they haven't had adequate pay increases for many many years.

Its might take a few more years with increased pay wage increases for Japanese consumers to finally feel good enough to really start spending again, but again it's going to take several years for the pay increases to have some kind of effect on the Japanese economy.

Nominal GPD is not really important as what is important is real GDP as real GDP shows what the consumers purchasing power really is in an economy, meaning how much money does a consume really have to spend and more important how much disposable income do they have to use in the economy.

Have a nice day!

Japan and Tariffs: Ideas Later: Updated Aug. 11, 2025

Japan warns of US tariffs after trade deal reached: monthly report

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250729/p2g/00m/0na/041000c

Ideas

The Japanese economy doesn't grow very much and now with the tariff situation finished its going to grow even less, unless Japan can find some new economic drivers.

Even though Japan got a trade deal better than expected it's still going to have an effect on the Japanese economy but not as bad as expected.

The Japanese government is always saying the domestic economy is recovering moderately a as a way to not upset the financial markets.

Consumer might be picking up but Japanese consumers will never spend like US consumers do and maybe cultural differences make up a big part of it.

And it quite possible due to a labor shortage in Japan there might be more hiring now and companies are possibly increasing wages to keep workers and get new workers.

And its very good that the tariff deal removed the uncertainty in the marketplace as now companies have a better idea of what is going to happen and they can begin to plan accordingly.

Yes, even large Japanese companies, such a car markers have to worry about their profit margins and profitability as they are always concerned about their stockholders and what they think.

Back in the day, when Japanese car makers first entered the US market they relied on cheap cars just like other Japanese companies and they didn't worry about profits but only increasing their market share in the US. Those days are long gone of course.

Exports are never a complete linear upward thing but sometimes there are going to be ups and downs due to many variables relate to international trade.

Exports are an economic driver for the Japanese economy which is good but Japan has not been able to create any new economic drivers to help the Japanese economy grow.

Some might say foreign tourists coming to Japan and spending large amounts of money might be an economic driver but so far it hasn't helped that much.

It has to be remembered that only 30 percent of Japanese workers work for large Japanese companies and 70 percent of Japanese workers work for small and mid-size companies.

Wage increases for small and mid-size company workers were not the same as large company workers which could be a major challenge for the Japanese economy.

Yes, the tariff situation could have a major impact on the future growth of the Japanese economy, which has enough challenges without the tariff situation.

Again, the Japanese economy before the tariff situation was not in a good place and now its going to be in a even more challenging place.

If sales or profits are not what companies expect in the future, they might not hire as many workers and also at the same time might put off capital spending which is a big part of Japan's GDP.

And there is the constant challenge of private consumption or consumer spending which has never been that good in Japan except for maybe in the 70's and 80's when the Japanese economy was in its boom years.

The Japanese government and the Bank of Japan has to come up with some very creative ways to try and reduce the affects of the tariffs on the Japanese economy,

So to be fair the BOJ and the Japanese government haven't been able to steer its way out of the current stagnant state of the Japanese economy yet so there is not a lot of confidence that its up to the task related to the tariff situation.

Have a nice day!

Japan Household Updated July 10, 2025.

Japan household spending up 4.7% in May, fastest pace in nearly 3 yrs

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250704/p2g/00m/0bu/007000c

Ideas

Japan's household spending might have seen a boost due to the fact that spring bonuses might have been paid before the Golden Week period.

Japanese companies usually give bonuses in the spring and at the end of the year, which conveniently helps Golden Week spending and end of the year holiday spending too.

And of course many Japanese families were waiting for the spring bonus to buy and new car some might have used it for Golden travel.

It should be remembered that the 316,085 yen is just an average and there right be some who spent more and some who might have spent much less as inflation is still a major challenge for Japanese households.

Of course the 316, 085 is not just spending on leisure items or all pleasure spending as some of it and maybe most of it might be related to spending on bills they have.

At the present time, Japan might not be significant credit card spending nation as they spend on a lot using cash but the times are changing and they too might be spending a significant amount now with credit cards.

And yes, the Daihatsu Motor Co. situation might have slowed minivehicle sales down but they might be back to normal or almost back to normal.

Daihatsu is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota but manufactures and produces it own type of cars.

It's interesting that Japan has maybe eight car companies but some of the lesser ones might be subsidiaries of the larger Japanese car companies such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.

It's interesting to note that the US only has three main car companies, excluding Tesla, but Japan has eight, which might be a point that everything in Japan is not cutthroat competition and maybe there is more cooperation that competition in the Japanese economy.

That doesn't mean all eight companies are strong companies or have excellent sales but there is something that might be working in Japan related to companies cooperating with each other.

The Japanese yen is still very strong which means Japanese travelers to overseas places might not be that many as the strong yen means Japanese travelers purchasing power is much less.

So maybe Japanese travelers might choose to travel in Japan and especially during the week long Golden Week holiday period, which is the first week of May.

Again its too early to say anything good just yet about the Japanese economy as maybe the sure in spending and travel might just be a Golden Week bump but could be back to less than good the next few months.

In the late spring period if the weather begins to get hotter and the forecast is for another hot summer of course there are going to be an increase in the buying air conditioners especially since the last few summers in Japan have seen record temperatures.

But the challenge is for the low-income and fixed income groups and the increase in energy costs over the next three or four months as the record temperatures last year lasted until the end of September.

Its possible the Japanese government might give Japanese households subsidies if the energy costs in Japan become too much like they've done in the past.

Yes, most households, even globally, spend about 30 percent of their income on food but the problem is that 30 percent is a lot more for the low-income or fixed income groups.

Most or many prices in Japan might be slowing down but the price for rice in Japan is still the major challenges as rice prices still haven't gone back to normal, as they were before the rice shortage of the summer of 2024.

Consumer spending makes up about 50 percent of Japan's GDP while in the US consumer spending is around 65 percent of GDP.

Japanese consumers usually are more savers than spenders while US consumers are more spenders than savers.

For the good of both economies if the Japanese spent more and the US saved more that might be a better option.

The average monthly income for salaried households might sound good but unfortunately Japan's average income is among the lowest of advanced economies these days when at one time in the late 1980's it was one of the highest.

Japan's economy over the past three decades has digressed and not progressed which is very sad for Japanese families.

And back in the 1980's Japan had many companies that were in the top 10 in the world. But after the 1989 asset crash everything changed and Japan has yet to really recover from that situation.

Have a nice day!

Japan Economic View: Updated March 22, 2025.

Japan keeps economic view, warns price hikes pose downside risk.

Article Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250320/p2g/00m/0li/010000c

Ideas:
Yes, the Japanese economy indeed might be recovering moderately, which in itself is not a bad thing, as recovering too fast or being overheated has it own challenges.

But the real challenge, always, in Japan, has been consumers and Japanese households, traditionally have been more savers than spenders but then add in the continued high prices in Japan and maybe even more consumers are cutting back on spending and or only spending what they really need.

The only a good thing, might be if consumers continue to not spend that might force prices go decrease some as less demand usually means prices can go down as companies reduce prices to spur consumer spending, but it might happen in Japan as companies continue to pass-on their increased costs to the next in the supply chain including the final retail customer.

Not to get into politics but in economic thinking, it might not be good for Japanese exports as going to the US could be priced higher in the US, which means US consumers might not buy Japanese products because they will become too expensive, as again, US companies will pass on the tariff to the next in the supply chain which means the final US retail customer.

And yes, Japanese exports have been a major economic driver for the Japanese economy, as the Japanese economy since the second world war has been been driven mostly by exporting products globally and of course to the US.

Its too early to say what is really going to happen as there is a lot discussion and dissension now in the US so who knows exactly what is going to happen.

The Japanese government, and for good reason, never wants to say anything negative about the Japanese economy as they don't want to upset the financial markets, so they use phrases like recovering at a moderate pace but adding it part be on a pause at the moment, as a way to say while its recovering but not as fast or what we would like.

The Japanese economy is still a very stable economy and really doesn't go down that much or do up that much. That can be both a good thing and a not so good thing, as sometimes it seems like the Japanese economy is stuck or stagnant but there times when it will have a growth spurt but then go back to its stagnation phase.

So the Japanese economy, while staple can be unpredictable sometimes with a little growth and then a little less growth and so on every quarter.

It has been suggested that corporate profits are improving a lot as companies are increasing their wages to their workers and it also has been suggested that many large companies have been sitting on huge sums of cash for many years but are now finally beginning to use the cash to increase their workers salaries as a way to keep existing workers and attract new workers and many companies are doing the same thing, as there is a so-called labor shortage in Japan.

And yes, consumer spending or Japanese household spending is maybe 50 percent of Japan's GDP, but you sometimes never see it as Japanese consumers, due to continued high prices and the lack of wages increasing for many years, they just don't spend like US consumers spend as they are more savers and now cutting back a lot as inflation has been cutting into their disposable income.

Japan is a resource-poor country which means Japan has to import much of what is needs which also means as the Japanese yen is weak compared to the US dollar imports into Japan are expensive now, which of course affects Japanese consumers and Japanese companies that use raw materials from the US to make products, which also means Japanese companies are going to pass-on their increased import costs to the next in the supply chain including the final retail customer.

The only bright spot of the Japanese economy this spring is if Japanese companies increase wages to a level that Japanese workers/Japanese households feel good and that might be enough for Japanese consumers to begin to spend again in the Japanese economy.

The only negative part might be small and midsize companies, which employee about 70 percent of the Japanese workforce, and if small and midsize companies, which don't have the resources that large Japanese companies have, can't increase wages enough that could mean 70 percent of the Japanese workforce might not feel good about the wage increase they get and of course might not spend to help improve economic growth.

Consumer sentiment is everything, meaning if consumers feel good they spend if they don't feel good they will not spend or they will only spend what they need and no more than that.

If enough Japanese consumers don't spend you would think that maybe the Japanese government might try price controls, at least temporarily, to reduce prices and spur consumers to spend again.

The Japanese government has recently since the pandemic instituted energy subsidies as a way to help Japanese consumers and households so why haven't used price controls for some food basics such as milk, bread, eggs and rice to help Japanese families.

Again, not to get into politics but the global economy is very much interconnect as supply chains, globally could potential be affected a lot which means all countries are going to be affected by what is going on. 

Even if a country doesn't have tariffs on its products, because many products are made in many different countries it could affect those economies that don't have tariff challenges.

And again its a little too early to tell what is going to happen as the current administration keeps changing its mind on what and how its going to do things.

Have a nice day!

Japan GDP Growth: Updated Nov. 21, 2024.

Japan's GDP grows 0.9% in July-Sept. on solid consumption

Article Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20241115/p2g/00m/0bu/010000c

Ideas:

For Japan, an increase 0.9 percent is very good, as Japan has challenges growing very much. And even a 2.2 percent quarter growth is still good too.

Consumer spending in Japan is always as challenge as the Japanese consumer doesn't spend like the US consumer as traditionally Japan is a country of savers and not conspicuous spenders.

Of course the one-off tax cut might have along with the normal summer bonuses which might have given some Japanese consumers to splurge some.

But at the same time, not all sectors in an economy grow at the same times as capital spending was somewhat sluggish, meaning Japanese businesses might have been a little weary about the future of the economy.

And then there is exports, which can be considered an economic driver for the Japanese economy, meaning exports usually provide a lot of growth.

Again, 0.2 percent might not sound like much but for the Japanese economy, that is a lot as it is usually stuck in the stagnation range.

And the same for private consumption or consumer spending at 0.9 percent which can be considered very good for the Japanese economy.

But the challenge is, as usual, can the Japanese economy keep the same numbers in the next few quarters or will it do what is usually does meaning a little growth and then back to stagnation or no growth.

Vehicle sales are usually not an everyday purchase so more Japanese need to buy new cars to have vehicles be an economic driver of economic growth.

Most likely there are always positives and negatives, even in a situation such as the hording of rice and other products in August after the earthquake scare, as people bought a lot which might have contributed to an increase in consumer spending in Japan.

The 40,000 so-called handout in June might too have helped with consumer spending, but not to be negative, 40,000 doesn't really go that far in Japan as inflation might have taken a lot of that.

As one person has suggested in the article, without the special positive factors, most likely Japanese consumers are going to go back to their usual ways of not spending due to high prices and will spend only what is needed.

The weak Japanese yen is both a positive and negative for the Japanese economy. For the domestic economy it is mostly a negative as the weak yen drives up import prices which affect most people in Japan. 

However its also a positive for the Japanese economy too, as the weak yen brings in record numbers of foreign tourists who spend a lot on Japanese hotels, restaurants, convenience stores, departments, and tourists places.

Its also a positive for Japanese exporters who get more for the products by selling them overseas as the weak Japanese yen, increases the prices of Japanese products. 

And then add in Japanese foreign investments who get more for their investments because of the weak Japanese yen.

The April bonuses by companies might have reduced the inflation situation somewhat in June and July, but inflation is not just a once a year situation, as prices increase every month, or so it seems in Japan recently, as seen with real wages decreasing again in September.

Capital investment is usually never monthly as companies might choose different times of the year, to invest, while the murky global economy might have been enough for Japanese manufacturers to cut back on manufacturing machinery.

But it must be remembered that, at the present time, the US economy is still the strongest in the world, and demand for Japanese products is still very robust.

Exports in Japan might be considered an economic driver. Anything that is considered an economic driver is some activity that significantly increases economic growth.

And yes foreign visitors, because of the weak Japanese yen,  makes travel and shopping much easier in Japan, and because there are now record numbers each month in Japan, it easily can now be considered driver of economic growth in Japan.

Overseas-made smartphones such as those from Apple, Samsung, and maybe one of the up and coming Chinese brands are very popular in Japan at this time.

As for example, if I go to Yodobashi Camera in Yokohama, when I go to Japan, there is a large floor for I phones only and then for Mac books too on another floor. 

The Chinese economy might be going through a transition period as this time, and its going to take several years to transition back to its normal situation.

As far as the US election is concerned no one knows exactly just yet how Trumps policies will affect Japan.

Yes, its true what the article suggests as Trump's proposed policies could not only affect US consumers but also Japanese consumers and the overall Japanese economy, and of course the global economy too, not to mention the situation with China.

But hopefully, just maybe, there will be some cooler heads in Trump's cabinet or on his team who has some economic common sense, but that unfortunately might be expecting too much. 

Have a nice day!