Word: japanned
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...overall GDP will be very limited," says Nishioka. Says Shirakawa: "People don't want to spend money, even if they get it from the government. Economic reforms are important, but the government needs to make people more comfortable and more confident in efficient government. It's a tough situation." Japan can only hope that its consumers will start to adopt a slightly sunnier outlook, and soon...
...Some predict Japan will fare marginally better in its recession than the U.S. or the Eurozone. The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) projects that 2009 GDP will grow 0.1% in Japan, compared with 0.9% in the U.S. and 0.5% across the Eurozone. "Financial-debt-to-GDP ratio is an advantage, and debt in the private sector has not increased, unlike in the U.S. and European countries," says Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist at Credit Suisse Japan. "The economy is less vulnerable." Nevertheless, he says, Japan is not an island: nothing points to an economic recovery in Japan unless...
...frugality that has gripped Japan in recent months might be part of the problem. Analysts see it as symbolic of a deep-rooted pessimism held by the Japanese public, evidenced by abysmally low consumer confidence and the subsequent shuttering of thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses this year. Even if the recession Japan now faces ends up less bad than those in the U.S. and Europe - as some say it might be - the grim consumer outlook has the potential to put off a full recovery. (Vote for your Person of the Year...
...Japan's minister for economy, trade and industry, Kaoru Yosano, summed it up on Monday when he said, "Japan is in a very serious situation." Last month, as the nation's export-driven economy watched global demand slow down, Japan's Nikkei index fell to a 26-year low. Couple this with the appreciation of the yen - which some economists say could strengthen to an exchange rate of 80 to the dollar by the end of next year - and it's little wonder that corporate powerhouses like Toyota, Honda and Sony have seen profits dive. Royal Bank of Scotland Japan...
...toilet. In China, George meets Wang Ming Ying, a tiny woman from the rural province of Shaanxi who promotes the use of biogas - energy created from the fermentation of human waste - which can be used for electricity and cooking fires, and helps slow the deforestation ravaging her country. In Japan, George recounts the history of Toto, maker of the world's most advanced toilets, which can do everything including check your blood pressure - and wonders why they never caught on in the West...