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☆ Things to do in Nagoya, Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( John Walton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

In the years since, the city has proven the opposite is true, according to Nagoya residents Lena Yamaguchi and Elisabeth Lloris. Ruben Earth/Getty ImagesIf you’ve traveled by Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka, you’ve passed through Nagoya, and might even remember the skyscraper district around its central railway station. Just 45 minutes from Nagoya Station on the private (non-JR) Meitetsu railway, the area between Inuyama station and its castle has been sympathetically restored in recent years. Back in Nagoya, a few kilometers east of Nagoya Castle you’ll find the Tokugawa Art Museum, one of Japan’s finest private museums, which holds several National Treasures of Japan thanks to its connection with the Tokugawa clan dynasty. If cars are your thing, then the Toyota Automobile Museum, about 45 minutes east of Nagoya Station, features some 140 historical vehicles.

☆ Watch planes take off in Japan — from an onsen
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Emi Jozuka | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Opened last December, the Hotel Villa Fontaine Premier & Grand Haneda Airport has 1,717 rooms and is directly connected to Haneda International Airport Terminal 3. Tokyo has also announced plans to receive up to 60 million overseas visitors to the country by 2030. And as inbound tourism recovers, Haneda – which has been crowned the world’s most punctual mega-airport – hopes to ride that wave. Developers want to expand those routes to greater swathes of Japan as part of broader plans to help revitalize the country’s regions, according to Katsuyuki Tou, general manager of the Haneda Airport Garden. Tou explained that visitors to the multipurpose complex can already get a taste of what Japan offers.

☆ BOJ’s new governor has relaxed debut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

What once looked solely like temporary “cost-push” hikes engendered by volatile energy and food prices are starting to look more entrenched. Instead Ueda kept YCC in place and tweaked the forward guidance to remove reference to pandemic-related risks. The BOJ predicts inflation will fall back below 2% soon and plans a policy review over the next year or so. That suggests the BOJ is more worried about weak growth – it expects 1.4% this fiscal year - than inflation. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Sumitomo triples down on Jefferies at right time
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MELBOURNE, April 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Jun Ohta may have preferred to catch a bigger Wall Street fish. But the CEO of Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) is expanding his relationship with relative minnow Jefferies (JEF.N) at an opportune moment. The $56 billion SMFG also intends to increase its ownership of the $7.6 billion company run by Richard Handler to 15% by purchasing ordinary shares that it will convert into preferred stock. Slumping deal flow after what Jefferies called an “off-the-charts” 2021 prompted its earnings to more than halve last year. SMFG will buy common stock on the open market and then convert it into non-voting preferred stock.

☆ Japanese yen to move sharply higher if BOJ abandons ultra-loose monetary policy, strategist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailJapanese yen to move sharply higher if BOJ abandons ultra-loose monetary policy, strategist saysGiles Keating, director at Bitcoin Suisse, discusses market sentiment, the outlook for the Japanese yen ahead of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting and the outlook for the banking sector.

Tokyo, Japan CNN —Move over, boomers and older millennials – Japan’s young people are stepping into office. Most members of Japan’s parliament are aged 50 to 70 – and are 75% male, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Making headlines is Ryosuke Takashima who, at 26 years old, is Japan’s youngest-ever mayor, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Shin the Hiratsuka YouTuber, who was elected to the Hiratsuka city council. Ayaka Nasuno, 25, is another Gen Z politician making her debut after winning the highest share of votes for the Kawasaki City Council earlier this month.

☆ Rakuten Bank’s Explosive Market Debut Is Justified
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Jacky Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rakuten Bank’s listing ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday. Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg NewsWhat banking crisis? For the initial public offering of Japan’s largest internet bank, shares are flying out of the door. Shares of Rakuten Bank , controlled by one of Japan’s largest e-commerce companies, jumped 38% on their first day of trading Friday after the bank raised $627 billion from its IPO, the biggest public offering in the country since 2018.

“According to the information we have in Khartoum, 50% of hospitals have been out of action in the first 72 hours,” said Abdalla Hussein, the Médecins Sans Frontière operational manager for Sudan. On Wednesday, Japan said it was preparing to send its military to evacuate nationals from Sudan. Smoke rises during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, Sudan, on Wednesday. The RSF denied the claims, blaming Sudan’s armed forces for committing the crimes while wearing RSF uniforms. The armed forces have denied involvement in the violations, and reiterated accusations that the RSF has committed crimes against humanity.

☆ Japan nuclear disaster: Fukushima's fishing industry fears Tokyo's next move may finish it off
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Emiko Jozuka Krystina Shveda Junko Ogura Marc Stewart Daniel Campisi | Emiko Jozuka | Krystina Shveda | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Ocean currents have since dispersed the contaminated water enough that radioactive Cesium is nearly undetectable in fish from Fukushima prefecture. A year before the 2011 disaster, government data shows Fukushima’s coastal fishing industry landed catches worth around $69 million. At the same time, ground and rainwater have leaked in, creating more radioactive wastewater that now needs to be stored and treated. This isotope is radioactive tritium, and the scientific community is divided on the risk its dissemination carries. He argues TEPCO should build more storage tanks to allow for the decay of the radioactive tritium, which has a half-life of 12.3 years.

☆ MGM Group Gets OK to Build Japan’s First Casino in $8 Billion Project
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Megumi Fujikawa | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Osaka’s plans call for a 5.3 million-square-foot complex with a gambling area, conference center and theaters on Yumeshima, or Dream Island. TOKYO—A group that includes MGM Resorts International won government approval Friday to build Japan’s first casino, which they hope to complete by 2029 on an artificial island in Osaka. The decision finally creates a clear path forward for a long-delayed plan to make casino resorts part of Japan’s tourism mix. Osaka, a popular tourist destination that has a large international airport and is close to the ancient capital of Kyoto, was among the first to raise its hand for a gambling license after legislation in 2016 made that possible.

☆ Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route: Japan's 20-meter-deep snow corridor reopens for visitors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Maggie Hiufu Wong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A giant snow corridor near the otherworldly Mount Tateyama, one of Japan’s three sacred mountains, is reopening to travelers on April 15. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route offers stunning views of the Japanese alps. The opening of the Yuki no Otani walk also marks the resumption of traffic through the entire Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route at the end of winter. Tateyama Kurobe Alpine RouteTravelers can opt to stay in one of the mountain accommodations on offer. Travelers visiting the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route are advised to wear winter clothing and gear suitable for trekking or mountaineering.

☆ EQT's pet-drug foray could yield tame returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - EQT (EQTAB.ST) is turning to furry friends to defy the buyout market’s record slowdown. Still, it looks a stretch to secure the sort of 20% returns buyout shops usually seek. EQT’s offer values Dechra at 27 times its EBITDA for the last 12 months. Bullishly assume the group can grow revenue at 10% annually, improve the current 28% EBITDA margin to 30%, and sell after five years at a superior 28 times EBITDA multiple. Even financing a quarter of the deal with debt at 6 times EBITDA, the deal’s internal rate of return would only amount to 17%.

☆ Singapore’s rate pause points to new reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, April 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Singapore’s surprise decision on Friday to keep its monetary policy unchanged leaves one thing unsaid. The Lion City, whose trade volumes dwarf the size of its economy, joins Australia, India and South Korea in standing pat. Singapore has repeatedly warned this would damage the Lion City’s growth outlook. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in 2019 that it should prepare for these consequences and adapt to new global realities. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Buyouts are getting complicated
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The terms say that the buyer cannot be forced to close before Oct. 15 – seven months after the deal’s announcement. A Tuesday proxy filing shows that’s to give Platinum enough time to sort out its debt financing. Qualtrics, meanwhile, sold in March for $12.5 billion – but it turns out it almost got more. An unnamed bidder offered $21 per share, more than the $18.15 that Qualtrics accepted from Silver Lake and CPP Investments. Buyouts are getting done, but they’re also getting complicated.

☆ Italy’s green star has new, uncertain trajectory
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - In 2021, Enel (ENEI.MI) had the world at its feet. The group remains the world’s largest private operator of renewable energy, and its goal for 75 gigawatts of green power capacity by 2025 leaves the targets of parvenus like BP (BP.L) in the dust. Given Scaroni’s background, it may even seem like a good idea to combine Enel with $53 billion Eni and create an inward-focused national champion rather than a global net zero star. That may make Enel less appealing to international investors than once seemed likely. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Inflation beds down, gets comfortable
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Price growth is now fueled more by non-essentials, like air fares and new cars, than food and energy. That’s a problem, since those core prices are historically less volatile and therefore less likely to drop. As costs edge higher, Americans will probably have to endure a longer, and more expensive, inflation battle. Core inflation is now outpacing broader CPI by the widest margin since the pandemic began, signaling those sticky prices that rarely drop are playing a bigger part in keeping inflation high. High core inflation means the Federal Reserve will probably raise rates again next month, making money even more expensive for households and businesses.

☆ Buffet breaks out of Japan’s value trap
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, April 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) has upped its stake in iconic Japanese trading houses, according to an interview boss Warren Buffett gave the Nikkei newspaper on Tuesday. Worries that the nonagenarian was walking into Japan’s infamous “value trap” now look overwrought. The rise in global interest rates and the popping of the tech bubble have pushed funds back into the boring nuts and bolts companies Buffett loves. Given that the trading houses are themselves Berkshire-like investors, Buffett says he is open to doing deals with them, and investing more in Japan. The hedge funds and activist investors who have been banging their heads against Japan Inc might watch what Buffett does next.

☆ Living standards are still falling in Japan. That’s a recipe for more stagnation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Adjusted for inflation, wages slipped 2.6% in February, compared to the same month a year earlier, according to government data released last week. That means it’ll be tough for Ueda to hike interest rates, especially as living standards aren’t rising either. The issue of stagnant wages could improve this year, as companies heed the call to raise salaries in response to inflation. Workers in Japan have been grappling with stagnant wages, leading to a government push for businesses to hike pay. But in Japan, it’s high enough to feel uncomfortable, given stagnant wage growth, according to Angrick.

☆ North Korea Fires Two Short-Range Missiles Ahead of Arrival of U.S. Aircraft Carrier
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week expressed his will to make the U.S. and South Korea ‘plunge into despair’ for holding joint military exercises. SEOUL—North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles Monday, a day before a U.S. aircraft carrier is set to arrive in South Korea for military exercises. The missiles were launched between 7:47 a.m. and 8 a.m. local time from Junghwa County, south of the capital Pyongyang, and traveled about 230 miles before landing in waters between Korea and Japan, Seoul’s military said. The missiles reached an altitude of about 30 miles and landed outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, Japan’s Defense Ministry said.

☆ America Shrugs, and the World Makes Plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Walter Russell Mead | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

War in Europe, tensions rising in the Indo-Pacific, Russia and China deepening ties with Iran: The international political situation continues to darken. In Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s commitment to Ukraine remains steadfast as Kyiv looks toward a spring offensive. American allies continue to rally in Asia. India and Australia committed to negotiating a comprehensive economic agreement even as Sydney, Washington and London agreed on the next steps in the Aukus defense partnership. As Mr. Akita sees it, America’s unquestioned supremacy after the Cold War established a global economic and security system that worked very well for key American allies like Germany and Japan.

☆ Paternity leave: In Japan, it's four weeks, but men are too afraid to take it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Japanese men are entitled to four weeks of flexible paternity leave, on up to 80% of their salary, under a bill passed by the Japanese parliament in 2021. While it is illegal to discriminate against workers who take maternity and paternity leave in Japan, Iwahashi said workers on fixed-term contracts were particularly vulnerable. And anyway, “A little tweak on paternity leave won’t significantly change a declining birth rate,” he added. He also unveiled a plan aimed at boosting the uptake of paternity leave by encouraging firms to disclose their performance. But he saw a silver lining in encouraging paternity leave.

☆ A TikTok Ban May Be Just the Beginning
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Christopher Mims | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

What if, at the dawn of Japan’s entry into the U.S. auto market, the U.S. government had simply banned the import of vehicles from that country? How different would America—and the global economy—be today? Such a scenario isn’t so different from what the U.S. is doing now to tech built by companies in China, first hardware and now software.

☆ Japanese Premier Visits Kyiv as Ukraine War Divides Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Yaroslav Trofimov | Gordon Lubold | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday, in a supportive visit that coincided with Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow and the U.S. rush to provide tanks and missile defense systems to Ukraine. Mr. Kishida’s visit to the Ukrainian capital illustrated how the war in Ukraine is affecting geopolitical alignments in Asia. It was the first by a Japanese leader since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022, and the first by a Japanese premier to a country at war since World War II. While Japan has supported Ukraine diplomatically and with financial aid, it hasn’t provided it with lethal weapons, unlike all the other fellow members of the Group of Seven advanced economies that Tokyo currently leads, because of Japan’s longstanding restrictions on arms sales.

☆ Credit Suisse reinforces Japan’s offshore anxiety
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, March 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The crisis at Credit Suisse has traders wondering who’s next. Japanese lenders, with their staid depositor bases, look like unlikely targets for bank runs. Yet the rising cost of short-term dollar and euro credit, combined with extreme yen volatility, have made hedging much more expensive. Domestic commercial lenders alone held $600 billion of international debt securities at the end of 2022, and some look overexposed. Take Japan Post Bank (7182.T), a $32 billion institution whose parent is partly owned by the Ministry of Finance.

☆ North Korea Fires Off a Short-Range Ballistic Missile
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

People watched the news at a train station in Seoul on Sunday. SEOUL—North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday, as the ruling Kim regime continues to protest ongoing joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. A short range ballistic missile was fired off at around 11:05 a.m. local time from the North’s Tongchang-ri area and traveled about 500 miles before landing in the waters between Korea and Japan, the military in Seoul said. The missile reached an altitude of about 30 miles and landed outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry.

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