Japan Households Struggle: Updated Oct. 17, 2025.

Over half of Japan scholarship recipient households couldn't afford food at times

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251010/p2a/00m/0na/013000c

Ideas

It is a very sad situation that a so-called rich country like Japan has seen an increase in inequality to the point that some Japanese households can't afford to buy the needed food. 

Most likely, and it seems to be common in Japan, most of the inequality is related to single mother households, as the mothers just don't have good enough jobs to pay for all of the expenses each month.

Japan needs to be more like the Northern European countries that have almost a 100 percent safety net that is able to takes care of everyone in a society instead of letting the less privileged, or the dis-advantaged slip through the cracks or society and not be taken care of.

A market economy is a very good thing, but at times it fails miserably in taking care of the poor, the less privileged, and the dis-advantaged in a society.

For the most part, the middle class, the upper-middle class, and even the rich never feel or see the effects of increased prices but the groups that do are the fixed income groups, the lower-middle class groups, and then the even more disadvantaged groups such as the single mother groups, the disability groups that can't find work or good paying work, and these are the groups that feel the increase in prices the most, while other groups might feel it every now and then they don't see or feel it everyday.

And then there is the invisible group in Japan being the homeless group which Japan tries to ignore like they don't exist. If Japan is such a rich country why does it have such a large group of homeless people. Most people in Japan try to ignore the homeless as if its their fault for being homeless and or they are labeled as being lazy or something else such as criminals.

Struggling to provide for growing children

Its a travesty that this situation exists in Japan, as again, a so-called rich country that can't come up with the needed safety nets that can take care of the basic needs of the less fortunate in Japanese society.

Some might say why its not the job of government to take care of everyone in society, but that is the exact reason for a government to exist is to take care of those in need or who need it the most when they are struggling.

The next paragraph breaks a person's heart that some people in Japan can't even afford decent meals or even decent clothes.  For example eating only ramen once a day is not sufficient for anyone to live on and then to make matter worse they don't have enough clothes as one light long-sleeve piece of clothing just isn't enough for anyone. 

And as winter is coming quickly to Japan the high cost of healing oil is going to be an added stress on many of these families in Japan. 

Yes economics measures are needed to help the less fortunate in Japan, but it seems the Japanese government has not been up to task recently, as there hasn't been that much action to help these groups as if they are almost invisible to the Japanese government.

What is really needed in Japan, is for non-governmental organizations or NGOs to come together and help these families in need, but NGOs need a lot of donations from society but Japan, for the most part is not a donation giving society like some other countries are.

For example many in Japanese society seems reluctant to help those in need, as the reason seems to be some in society think those in need brought it up on themselves so what should help those who failed.

Funding shortages leave 40% without support

The next two paragraphs are good examples of society reluctant to help those in need as the high school scholarship program is in need of donations to help those families with high school students. 

But the challenge is many in Japanese society are feeling the effects of the increase in prices and they might feel they just don't have any extra money to donate even though they might want to.

Again, its a travesty that a so-called rich country like Japan can't find the needed funds to help the 1,339 applicants that need some kind of help.

In a way its reflection what Japan really is which is not a caring society or a society that is willing to help those in need like maybe the Northern European countries that have decent safety nets that try to help all in need.

Article

To ensure more bereaved children receive scholarships, the Ashinaga fundraising office, composed of scholarship students, will raise donations at 136 major train stations and street locations across Japan's 47 prefectures starting on Oct. 18. Details on locations and times can be found on the Ashinaga Foundation's website at www.ashinaga.org/media/news/24894/ (in Japanese). The donation page in English is here.

Its very good and needed that the Ashinaga foundation is trying to raise money for those in need but again, Japan doesn't seem to be a giving society as they seem to think or many think giving money to those in need is like giving money to those either don't deserve it or they brought it on themselves or they are criminals.

The mindset of Japanese society needs to change to become a more caring society that cares about the less fortunate, the dis-advantaged, and even the disabled, and even the homeless groups in Japan.

Will Japanese society eventually change. Who knows exactly but there is always hope that change is possible.

Have a nice day!

Japan Bankruptcies: Updated Oct. 15, 2025.

Japan bankruptcies hit 12-yr-high in 1st half of FY2025 amid labor scarcity

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251008/p2g/00m/0bu/026000c

Ideas

While bankruptcies are common in a market economy its very unfortunate that most if not all bankruptcies in Japan are small businesses which is usually a family type business.

For a very long time, its quite possible that many of these businesses might have been considered zombie type companies or just barely surviving, as the the Japanese government and or the Bank of Japan with its low interest rates or near zero interest rates kept some or many of these companies from going out of business.

But over time, as interest rates have been inching up, material costs kept increasing, and then add in the labor shortages, many of the small businesses could no longer hold on and finally had to file for bankruptcy.

The article doesn't really explain much about the companies that went bankrupt but most likely many of them might have been family type businesses, which couldn't afford to increase wages for their workers, and or had very thin profits margins that material costs just eroded over time. And then add in the increase in interest rates as the Bank of Japan has increased the key rate several times over the past several years.

Some in business, or academia, or economist might see bankruptcies as a necessary part of the market economy as those that can innovate and keep customers happy survive and move on while those that don't eventually die out and then newer or better companies move into the marketplace and take the place of those that just could't make it.

Some might call it creative destruction as companies that can't make it leave and newer companies come in and create new synergies in the marketplace.

Yes, its not always the smaller companies that go bankrupt as even mid-size companies can die out and even the large name brand companies which might be characterized as too big to fail companies can die out too sometimes.

While very few large Japanese companies have gone bankrupt recently it was not uncommon back during the late 80's or 90's where many companies were on the brink of bankruptcy but the government and the banks propped up many companies from going under.

Japan is in a so-called labor shortage now, which is good for workers wanting to change jobs, if they can find a new job that pays them more or better working conditions.

But its not so good for many small and mid-size companies that have very thin profit margins and can't afford to increase wages to keep workers and or entice new workers to join their company as they can't pay the wages needed that new workers need or want.

Again, some might say this is just a normal mechanism of a market economy and an economy adjusting for maybe too many companies in the marketplace. 

That might be true but it doesn't discount the human suffering involved of a company having to close and people losing their jobs and having to look for a new job if they can find one.

The financial strength of many small companies might have been very weak as again, increased material costs ever since the pandemic have kept increasing, increased energy costs too since the pandemic and then, the past two years many companies have been increasing wages which has put a significant stress on many companies which haven't been able to increase wages which means they might have actually lost workers who then moved to companies that offered increased wages and maybe even better working conditions.

Some might say, right or wrong, that the Japanese economy is actually going through a period of the marketplace getting rid of companies that can't keep up and keeping companies that are financially strong which might actually make the Japanese economy better off in the future.

The weak Japanese yen is another reason for some of the bankruptcies and especially with domestic companies as import prices related to the weak Japanese yen have kept increasing material costs and energy costs which many small domestic companies haven't been able to overcome.

And yes, service type companies and especially restaurants have been hit especially hard as they have been hit hard as they have to pass-on their costs to their customers, or try too, but its become extremely challenging for the to keep increasing prices and losing customers.

The service sector normal has very thin profits margins as they are always challenged to keep prices low but its been impossible for many of them to do it and as they just can't keep absorbing their energy and material costs and have to pass-on their cost to their customers which means customers are going to think twice about buying from them  as customers or consumers have less and less disposable income to spend in the economy.

Once again, it's very unfortunate that any company has to go bankrupt as it's about people and not just a company on a piece of paper and it might involve families too which is very unfortunate.

But again, and finally some would say the Japanese economy is just going through the normal mechanism of a market economy as some companies thrive and go on and some that can't make it die out when gives room for new companies to enter the marketplace.

Have a nice day!

Japan Current Account: Updated Oct. 10, 2025.

Japan current account surplus down 5% in Aug. on lower investment returns

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251008/p2g/00m/0bu/012000c

Ideas

Current account information is rarely published in most newspapers in the US but it seems to be in the news in Japan a lot as Japan is a major export economy and the current account is very important for the Japanese economy.

An economies current account is like a country's bank account as exports put money into the account and imports take money out of the account.

A 4.8 percent decrease in the current might not be much or it might be a lot depending on how a country uses its current account. If the current account is used for government funding then it might a major decrease.

But as the article suggests Japan's current account situation is still in good shape because usually exports are more than imports for Japan and as such more yen is going into the account that leaving the account.

There are always going to be months of up and months of down related to export increasing or decreasing and foreign investments too increasing or decreasing each month.

Again, there are always going to be periods of good returns with primary income and periods of less than good returns and primary income. 

The tariff situation might have had something to do with less primary income as the Japanese auto sector in the US might have seen reduction in profits or sales.

And then there is the idea that August is usually one of the slowest months in the US and the European Union as its still a major vacation period in both places.

Japan is still a major good trade economy as exports are very important for Japan and of course cars are the major export along with car parts products.

And of course Japan exports many other product globally to many different countries these days.

Japan also imports a lot of crude oil, as Japan is a resource-poor country which means it has to import much of what it needs and as such what happens with the Japanese yen can play havoc with import into Japan. 

For example as the Japanese currency is weak compared to the Euro and the US dollar it causes imports to be more expensive in Japan. 

A decrease of 0.4 percent is better than expected as the tariff situation was expected to decrease exports even more.

The services trade deficit can be attributed to the record number of foreign tourists entering Japan as maybe the weak Japanese yen has been a motivating factor to travel to Japan as the weak yen gives foreign tourist more purchasing power which means they can spend more.

Japanese tourists wanting to travel abroad face a strong Japanese yen which means they have less purchasing power in many countries around the world.

Back around 2010 the Japanese government began to liberalize tourism as a major industry, and increased the number of countries that could travel to Japan without a visa and could stay for up to 3 months. 

The motivation behind the liberalizing of tourism was to improve the Japanese economy as the economy had become somewhat stagnant and needed some kind of stimulus from the outside.

As such foreign tourism in Japan might be close to being considered a major driver of the Japanese economy, but it still has a long way to go compared to foreign tourists in Spain or France.

Have a nice day!

BOJ Economic Assessment: Updated Oct. 12, 2025.

BOJ retains economic assessments of 8 regions, but cuts view on Hokkaido

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251006/p2g/00m/0bu/043000c

Ideas

Not every province or region in Japan is going to be up as some might be down due to differences in economic activity in each region. 

The major metro regions of Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, of course have the most economic activity but some regions or province, might actually be on some kind of life-support, meaning economic activity in those regions have been and less and the populations in the smaller provinces might keep decreasing.

The Bank of Japan doesn't want to say anything really negative about any province or region as they don't want to influence businesses or investments from not going to those regions.

So they use phrases as a "recovering moderately" or "picking up" or "picking up moderately to smooth out anything negative, when if reality some or the more rural provinces or regions, for a long time, have been struggling mostly due to a population decrease as citizens the rural provinces have been moving to the larger metro areas to find jobs.

Manufacturing in Japan, by both small, medium, and large companies are in most of the provinces in Japan but some of the small and mid-size companies might actually be just barely hanging on as the cost of raw materials keeps increasing along with some companies having challenges actually finding workers due to the fact they can't afford to pay the wages needed to attract new workers.

And yes, the tariff situation might actually be affecting many of the manufacturing companies in Japan and especially the small and mid-size companies that don't have a lot of resources to either overcome the tariffs and or outlast the tariff situation, which many of the large Japanese companies can do.

In the larger province with the larger metro areas, companies are probably doing somewhat OK but its the smaller provinces that companies might be having a lot of challenges as maybe they don't even have the capital to innovate or improve their situations as again, they might keep losing workers due to the fact workers, now days in Japan are able to look for better wages and they are moving to the metro areas for better jobs.

Many companies don't have a choice as maybe their profit margins are already stretched thin due to increased raw material costs and then add in the increase in wage increases which has caused many companies to have very thin margins and then add in the tariff situation and companies have no choice but to pass-on the tariffs to the next in the supply chain.

Even Japanese company domestic customers might be feeling the affects to the tariff situation as again, companies might have been stress out due to increase material costs, increased energy costs, and then add in the wage increase situation so any Japanese companies that has both domestic customers and US customers already have thin profits margins and so companies might be spreading out the tariff costs to all customers in the supply chain both domestic and US chains.

Its only natural as prices increase demand for products decrease as its just supply and demand, and unfortunately there is always going to be some customers or consumers who look for bargains, look for substitutes and or decrease their spending where they can.

Restaurants, being service type companies, have very thin profit margins and usually have no choice but to increase prices and they usually can't absorb the material price increases like large companies can.

And supermarkets are probably in the same situation as they too usually have very thin margins and can't afford to absorb any costs the incur and they are usually some of the quickest to pass-on their costs the the customer.

There could be many reasons for the decrease in spending by foreign tourists in the Hokkaido area such as increased airline prices, and change in the tourism tax situation, the change in the new visa system in Japan, and of course even the change in foreign spending habits which could affect spending in Hokkaido.

And then there is the idea that Hokkaido is a relatively far off-place from the Tokyo metro area or even the Osaka metro which includes. Kobe, Nagoya, and Kyoto.

The bulk of foreign tourists probably don't want to go to Hokkaido but want to go to either the Tokyo area or the Osaka area for the trip to Japan.

Have a nice day!

Japan Household Spending: Updated Oct. 9, 2025.

Japan's household spending rises 2.3% in Aug. on cars, leisure

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251007/p2g/00m/0bu/014000c

Ideas

Spending in Japan during the summer months could partly be attributed to the Obon summer festival and travel season and some of it might be attributed to the summer company bonuses that were given out at the beginning of the summer.

And then there is the idea of pent-up demand as maybe some or many Japanese consumers, while tired of increased costs, have decide to spend again as pent-up demand or demand in waiting can only last so long before consumers feel the need to get out and spend either in the stores or online or travel again.

The average is just an amount that maybe some spent or maybe the median income as its likely not every two household spent that much which seems very high.

Then there is the idea that maybe the lower-income two households consumers didn't spend even close to that amount, but it was mostly likely the upper-middle or upper income groups that might have spent much.

And then there is the fixed income groups, who might be in the upper group, the middle group, and maybe the lower income group as older consumers just don't spend that much as they as the older a person get usually they spend less and less.

Transportation costs could be anything from buying a new car to spending on repairs to a car, which might have seen a rebound after a year less spending as buying a car is not a yearly expense but maybe only once every five years if even that.

But spending on car repairs could be a monthly, quarterly, or yearly situation depending on how often a Japanese consumer takes their car in for check-ups or repairs.

Spending on communication could mean buying a new smartphone or changing smartphone plans or a new telecom provider which can be relatively expensive in Japan.

Visitors going to the World Expo in Osaka might increased spending in Japan as maybe travel to and from the Expo might have required a hefty outlay for many visitors whether domestic or international visitors.

Spending on culture and recreation, might be less that normal as the continued inflation situation in Japan, might cause that category to see less spending than normal but it might actually increase during the summer months and this summer especially with the Expo in Osaka.

No doubt the record heat in Japan has increased the use of air conditioners in Japan as now most if not all Japanese households have AC's which might not have had them many years ago.

The problem again is maybe the lower-income groups or the fixed income groups might have limited their use of AC's as they just can't afford to run their air conditioners 24 hours day, like maybe some families might or run it for most of the day at least.

And if the news is correct there might have been a record number of people in Japan who had to visit the hospital due to heat related conditions.

Who knows for sure if it was the right thing back in the summer of 2024 to send out the advisory about the possible major earthquake as it seemed to cause a lot of confusion and uncertainty which caused a major surge in spending in Japan on bottled water and instant noodles.

Its like it was during the pandemic with some consumers, globally, hoarding some products and others could find what they needed.

Also in Japan, about the time, was the so-called rice shortage which again caused a surge of rice buying or hoarding of rice and consumers were worried that they would run out of rice which is a major food stable in Japan.

Private consumption or consumer spending is not as high in Japan as in the US where consumer spending might be close to 60 percent of GDP while in Japan is about 50 percent of GDP.

Consumer spending has always been a challenge in Japan ever since the Japanese economy moved into a stagnation phase with less growth which also included less consumer spending.

The average monthly income for salaried households might be what it is for large companies workers in Japan and might not be near that amount for workers of small and mid-size companies which make up about 70 percent of the actual Japanese workforce.

Those that work for the name-brand large Japanese companies might only be about 30 percent or the workforce in Japan and the small and mid-size companies don't pay what the large companies pay for wages which means there might be less spending in the economy by small and mid-size company workers.

Have a nice day!

Japan Aug. Jobless Rate: Updated Oct. 5, 2025

Japan's Aug. jobless rate rises to 2.6%, highest in 13 months

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251003/p2g/00m/0bu/013000c

Ideas

Japan's unemployment rate is one of the lowest among advanced economies but at the present 

time Japan has a major labor shortage which makes it much easier for workers to leave their 

present jobs and look for either better working conditions or better pay.

At the same time, for a very long time, until just recently, it was very difficult for workers to

leave their jobs due to the fact that it took a long time to find a new job.

The unemployment in Japan needs to be taken with a grain of salt as its quite possible that its still taking a 

long time to find a job in Japan even though people have quit their present or past jobs which makes the 

unemployment look worse than it really is.

And then is the possibility that some workers in Japan just couldn't stand their jobs and felt it was better to

go on unemployment than continue in a job they didn't like.

Budgetary constraints being felt my large Japanese companies might be a major in Japan as maybe large companies have had to spend a lot on wage increases for their existing workers and now they don't have any more funds left to hire new workers.

And if its a challenge for large companies its probably even worse for small and mid-size companies that don't have the same resources as large companies to hire any new workers and offer good wage increases at the same time.

Just because there are 120 job opening for 100 job seekers doesn't mean the 120 jobs are good jobs that workers are looking for.

For example some or many of the 120 jobs might be related to jobs from small and mid-size companies that tend to have lower wage offerings than the large name-brand companies in Japan, so there not actually be 120 new jobs offering from large Japanese companies that offer the highest wages.

There is always going to a discrepancy between jobs that have declined and jobs that grew as sometimes reporting of jobs might be late or not reported as all.

There is/was, in any economy, where the number of those with jobs is always going to be larger than reported as again reporting of jobs being added and jobs being lost and those quitting is always in a flux due to reporting errors.

For a very long time, layoffs in Japan were almost unheard of as companies used to never layoff workers but as Japan has become more westernized and are now focused on shareholders and no longer focused on the good of employees they are beginning to use layoffs as a way to maximize shareholder value over the good of employees.

The lifestyle and entertainment sectors are service type jobs and service type jobs usually have lower profits margins and if they gave wage increase the past two fiscal years they probably don't have any more room to hire any new workers and might actually be losing workers to other companies that offer higher wages.

And that same with the wholesale and retail companies, which again are service type companies and can't afford to really hire any new workers as they to either hired enough already and or their material, energy, and labor costs are too much for the profits margins at the present time.

And yes, Japan recently increased the minimum wage which again, meant many of the service type companies which usually have thinner profit margins and rely on minimum wage type workers a lot maybe can't afford any more workers and are assessing the minimum wage increase to see if they need to layoff workers and or can actually higher more workers.

Its very unfortunate that some workers in Japan have to rely on the minimum wage only for a living. It's one thing if its a university student working at a fast-food place but it's a completely different situation if it's a single mother with a child who has to rely on the minimum wage to live on.

Have a nice day!

BOJ Rate Hike Ideas: Updated Oct. 13, 2025.

BOJ chief Ueda reaffirms rate hike path, caution about US economy

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251003/p2g/00m/0bu/022000c

Ideas

The Bank of Japan might say it's ready to raise interest rates but that doesn't mean it's going to do it anytime soon. At the same time the BOJ cautioned about "considerable uncertainties" which is a huge statement which could mean it might take a wait and see approach.

Most likely the BOJ is going to watch carefully how the US tariff situation is going to affect the Japanese economy and make a decision based on what happens with the tariffs. 

Even if the Japanese economy does show some improvement, if the global economy and US economy is not where they should be, that might be enough for the BOJ to continue to take a wait and see position.

Prices in Japan have been increasing ever since the pandemic and might be slowing a little and or trending down, they are still too high for the average Japanese consumer which means the disposable income of most Japanese families are not where they should be which then means less spending in the economy.

The US trade policies are all over the place as they change from month to month. For example more tariffs in October were just placed in China which means no one really has a clue as to how to plan or prepare for the next few months or even the next year.

A central bank or even a company can make a plan based on what is happening today but everything could easily or quickly change the next day which again makes planning very hard to do and companies want stability and or they want clear policies which are not getting now.

Its going to take some time before the Japanese economy begins to see the real effects of the tariffs, as it hasn't been that long as companies might still be looking at how to really deal with the tariff situation.

All countries, including those not directly having tariffs placed on them are eventually going to see some reciprocal affects as all countries now live in an inter-connected global economy and what affects one country will have some kind of affect on another countries now.

Its only been a few weeks since the 15 percent levy went into effect which means most likely there isn't enough data yet on how the levies are affecting companies and the Japanese economy or even the US economy.

It might take a few months to see the real effects as companies begin to see changes in profits and or changes in sales or even effects on the whole economy which might be known or seen for a few months.

Forward thinking and planning for what is going to happen in the future is important and needed as waiting to react to a situation might be too late to help the economy or companies. 

Even if action is only implemented when the actual data is known it might not be too late but its better to makes scenario plans ahead of time as to what might happen in the future.

Again, the BOJ might take a wait and see approach, as it usually does, due to the fact that taking action might actually cause more harm than good and its better to wait than to cause undo damage to the the economy.

The US jobs report, which comes out the first Friday of every month is/was the one report that not only US companies and economists look at but economists from other countries look at it to do gauge what they should do with respect to their economies.

The US jobs report is very secretive as it kept out of reach of everyone until maybe Friday morning at 8:30 as a select group of reporters are brought into a secure room and then exactly at 8:30 they are given a copy of the report to read and then they can transmit the report information to their respective new agencies.

Its so secretive or important that it can change the dynamics of stock markets not only in the US but globally too, as what is known with the report can cause a 24 hours swing of global stock markets staring in NYC and then moving across the world including in Tokyo and so on.

The BOJ is supposed to an independent agency that is not related or affected by any political party but in reality that might not really be so as they do watch and listen to what is happening on the political seen too.

The BOJ of course will be respectful to the new Prime Minister but that doesn't mean they will follow anything a Prime Minister might want to see in the economy, as again, the Bank of Japan is supposed to be an independent agency and makes decisions about the economy based no data, intuition, and inferences, and not political persuasion.

Yes the Prime Minister can make recommendations or suggestions but that doesn't mean the BOJ had to heed the advice of any Prime Minister as again the are not aligned with any party and they are independent which supposedly gives them the freedom to make decisions about the economy without fear or retribution.

But of course if the ideas or the Prime Minister aligns with what the BOJ is thinking then it might look like the BOJ took the advice of the PM and did what the PM wanted, which most likely it was the BOJ's ideas already.

Yes, in normal supply and demand situations decreased demand might lead to a eventual decrease in prices but that is not what is happening in Japan as the Japanese economy has been stagnant for a very long time and prices have continued to increase and if the normal supply and demand mechanisms were in place prices would have begun to decrease years ago.

But because prices of raw materials, energy prices, and even wages keep increasing, and companies continue to pass-on those costs to the next in the supply chain, which prices have remained high despite a decrease in demand in the Japanese economy.

And again, even though consumer sentiment has been less than good and prices continue to increase again normal supply and demand situations just don't seem to be working in Japan, as ever since the pandemic prices in Japan have been well above the 2 percent inflation target of the BOJ.

In most economies when there is persistent or continued inflation consumer demand might decrease to the point where prices naturally begin to decrease but in Japan that hasn't happened.

Prices in Japan might be considered sticky meaning the are stuck and don't go down easily or even at all the past few years, which is a major challenge of the BOJ to solve.

Have a nice day!