Don’t believe the hype! Swine flu & the Japanese Economy

Ken Worsley writes on blog, Japan Economy News, that the Japanese media is putting another spin on their spin on the H1N1 virus and the economy. Check out what he has to say.

“An article published yesterday at the Japan Times opens by telling us that the H1N1 swine flu virus is hurting industries such as tourism and retail, especially in Western Japan. Of course, economists fear that the impact of swine flu will only make a bad situation worse.

Near the top of the article, however, we get this quote:

The outbreak “could pour cold water on the Japanese economy at a time when it just started to bottom out and was about to recover,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc.

Emphasis mine. The writers of the article never comment on whether or not this assertion is true, and no figures are provided to back it up. We’re simply supposed to accept the assertion that the economy has “bottomed out” at face value? While it’s certainly hard to imagine seeing anything resembling the previous quarter’s GDP figures coming up again sometime soon, and exports and production figures are looking better, that doesn’t necessarily mean things have bottomed out.” Read the rest of the story here. For you Tweeters, check Ken Worsely here. 

Good news! Younger farmers blogging their way to success

I enjoyed reading this story on young farmers. I used to grow my own veggies when I lived in Detroit and most recently on my balcony at my current location. For the past two-weeks, I have been eyeing property an hour away that sits on 10 acres of land. It’s priced right, large enough to grow a variety of vegetables and fruits, start a mini-winery (I have wanted to make my own wine since living in wine country) and far enough to get away from the hustle and bustle of work. That is, if I learn not to take my work home with me. The problem is that I hate driving and traffic but after looking at the picture above, something is making me want to live outside the city not only to escape “the city” but to grow premium fruits and vegetables, write books, blog, create videos and drinks lots and lots of wine with friends.

Natsuko Fukue writes: “Hard work, low pay and a gloomy future. That’s the image many young people have had about farming. Figures back this point. In the next 10 years, the majority of farmers in Japan will be 70 or older according to an Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry survey, mainly because the younger generation doesn’t want to take over the family business, many young farmers said.

But a growing number of young, savvy farmers are trying to make the industry more attractive and profitable through the Internet — a modern contraption through which they hope to paint a rosier picture of agriculture.

Shinichi Soga of Niigata Prefecture may be one of the most successful farmers so far. His tomatoes are selling like hot cakes thanks partly to his popular Web log, which he started in 2006.” Click here to read more of the Japan Times article. Photo: Shinichi Soga

Japan Targeting Wealthy Chinese

 

The Mainichi Shimbun reports that Japan will target wealthy Chinese. I see a problem with the requirement since one of the more popular scams back in the day for many Japanese students “studying English” at two schools notorious for falsifying records and some Korean women  on a “short” visit in Hawaii obtained “proper” documentation after borrowing or sharing funds in order to meet the minimum dollar amount set by US Immigration and Naturalization.

The government has announced it will issue individual tourist visas targeting wealthy Chinese visiting Japan from July, hoping to see a boost in tourists from China during the continuing recession.

Japan’s lost and unemployed

 

Did you know at least 30,000 people live on the streets of Japan, most of whom are single, older men. Private developers and corporations run massive work programs which “hire” these same people who have been displaced, to work on job sites where they have to pay for every meal as well as their housing.

CNN’s Kyung Lah reports that Japan’s unemployed are finding few ways out of the cycle of joblessness and homelessness. Lah is the reporter that interviewed some of the BT’ers for her piece on my “Obama is a monkey in Japan” story. Check out her report, Net rooms boom with Japan’s jobless.

Shinjuku to offer dismissed workers accommodation expenses

In an unprecedented move, Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward will pay accommodation expenses to dismissed workers who have lost their housing, a ward representative said.

As part of its emergency countermeasures, the ward will provide those who have lost their jobs and housing an allowance of 5,000 yen per day in cash as expenses for lodging including hotels, inns, or even Internet cafes. Receipts for the expenses won’t be required.

Where have all the foreigners gone?

The latest from Japan, Inc’s Terrie Lloyd: Talking of meltdowns, the problems in the international banking sector is obviously hitting the Tokyo expat community hard. Although there are no statistics, it is not difficult to see evidence of the escalating departure of foreigners as the recession (or is it already a depression?) gathers pace. Restaurants serving expats are more than half empty on Friday nights, Roppongi streets are less crowded, and bars and entertainment establishments are offering generous incentives to get people in.

Other evidence of the emptying of Tokyo’s expats can be found at the various foreign business and social clubs. Most clubs have had unprecedented decreases in membership and one particular major foreign social club is said to have lost hundreds of members, about 2.5% of its membership, in a single month at the end of 2008 alone.

Some laid-off migrant workers turning to crime

The Mainichi reports in the article, Cracks show in ‘coexistence’ dream as laid-off migrant workers no longer seen as ‘saviors’: “On a late December day in Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture, the morning quiet was shattered when a pair of Brazilian sisters assaulted and robbed a local businesswoman. Both sisters had recently been caught in the wave of temporary worker layoffs that has washed through Japan’s manufacturing sector.

Some 17 percent of Oizumi’s 42,300 residents are foreigners, mostly Brazilians, the highest rate of any municipality in the country. Even in a town with such a high foreign residency rate, the ideal of “coexistence” is far from being realized, a truth which forms a dark subtext to the robbery.

The sisters, both wearing black balaclavas that revealed nothing but their eyes, attacked their victim in silence. “I thought I was going to be killed,” said the 58-year-old victim of her terror at that moment.

Japan’s part-timers in full-time trouble

The Los Angeles Times reports that Japan’s part-timers in full-time trouble. It will have impact on both Japanese and non-Japanese residents.

The global economic slump is taking its toll in Japan, where full-time workers have long felt secure. But many employees are now part-timers and temps, and they are being cut.

Kudo lost both his job and his home on the same cursed day. His construction boss told him to pack his things and clear out of the company dorm that very afternoon.

Tokyo losing residents

The Japanese Government reports that for the first time in nine years, more people moved out of Tokyo in December than moved in, suggesting that the ailing economy is beginning to have an affect on population flows, a government report said.

Tokyo saw a net outflow of 73 residents in December as its annual net inflow of residents declined for the first time since 2003, according to the report released by the International Affairs and Communications Ministry on Friday.

Passage of second supplementary budget delayed

The Mainichi Shimbun reports that “the passage of a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 has been delayed. A cash handout plan and a plan to lower expressway tolls that are included in the budget bill cannot be implemented unless the budget-related bills are enacted. If the opposition camp, including the Democratic Party of Japan, does not take a vote on the related bills in the Upper House, the ruling camp would not be able to take a second vote in the Lower House to pass them until March 14 or later. It will take some time for economic measures to create effects.

Cash handout plan

Municipal governments that will pay out cash benefits totaling 2 trillion yen with the passage of the second extra budget will begin creating lists of recipients based on their respective basic resident registers and mailing out request forms. But unless the related bills to finance the cash handout plan are enacted, municipalities would probably not start paying cash benefits.

Most municipalities are likely to wait until after the Golden Week holiday period in May. In order to begin paying out the benefits, each municipal assembly has to approve their supplementary budgets that include necessary expenses, in addition to the Diet approval of the second state supplementary budget. Municipal assemblies hold their meetings between mid-February and early March, so payments will not occur until after that. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry says it is possible for municipalities to mail out request forms before the related bills are enacted and to begin paying out benefits within the current fiscal year as soon as the related bills are enacted. But it is unknown how many municipalities will actually start complicated administrative work to begin disbursing the cash benefits before the end of the current fiscal year.