Washington Post (September 30)
Few nations “have been upended like Japan” by the coronavirus. “Working from home was almost unthinkable before the pandemic but now appears to be gathering some momentum.” Pasona is even moving its headquarters from Tokyo to Awaji Island. “It’s a revolutionary idea in Japan’s rigid corporate culture—and a sign of how the coronavirus pandemic is reimagining where and how people work worldwide.”
Tags: Awaji, Coronavirus, Corporate culture, Headquarters, Home, Japan, Pandemic, Pasona, Revolutionary, Rigid, Tokyo, Upended, Work
The Economist (September 26)
“The pandemic could lead governments to prolong the life of many undeserving firms. Keeping the growth of the undead in check will be vital to the long-term economic recovery…. Marginally profitable firms were central to Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s…. Zombie-infested industries suffered from inert labour markets and lower productivity growth. Since then, the rich world as a whole has begun to look more zombified.”
Tags: Economic recovery, Governments, Growth, Inert, Japan, Labour markets, Lost decade, Pandemic, Productivity, Profitable, Undeserving, Zombie, Zombified
Seeking Alpha (September 21)
“More and more countries/regions have succumbed to Japanification” with “the process of rapid debt accumulation, followed by monetary easing, which shields the government from the normal consequences of overspending.” And now, “the United States is following lockstep down the economic trail blazed by Japan.”
Tags: Consequences, Debt accumulation, Government, Japan, Japanification, Lockstep, Monetary easing, Overspending, Succumbed, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (September 1)
“Five venerable Japanese companies were sitting in the bargain bin in plain sight. It took a 90-year-old Warren Buffett to scoop them up.” His company Berkshire Hathaway bought “stakes in Japanese trading companies shunned by others, seeing low valuation and healthy dividends.” The stakes of about 5%, are in trading companies that “resemble none other than Berkshire Hathaway itself,” with “holdings in energy, mining and consumer goods, sometimes owning companies outright and other times taking smaller stakes.”
Tags: Bargain bin, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett, Consumer goods, Dividends, Energy, Japan, Mining, Shunned, Stakes, Trading companies, Valuation
Investment Week (August 24)
“Global dividends plummeted by $108.1bn to $382bn in Q2 this year… marking an underlying decline of 19.3% – the biggest fall seen…. All regions except the US suffered a drop in pay-outs, with the UK and Europe seeing the biggest falls at 54% and 45% respectively on an underlying basis.” By comparison, Japan fared well with payouts falling just 3.1% and “four-fifths of companies actually increasing or maintaining their dividends.”
Investment Week (July 20)
“The US silver economy is worth $7trn alone, making it more valuable than the economies of Britain, Japan, or India. In the past 18 years, companies whose businesses relate to the ageing population have achieved average revenue and earnings growth that has outperformed the global market. This trend is expected to continue gathering momentum.”
Tags: Ageing, Britain, Earnings growth, Global market, India, Japan, Outperformed, Population, Revenue, Silver economy, Trend, U.S.
LA Times (June 23)
“Los Angeles County health officials reported 2,571 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the third day in the last week that the county has reported more than 2,000 infections.” Authorities suspect a link to mass protests. In addition, the county’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 3,137. By comparison, the combined total for all 47of Japan’s prefectures is less than 1,000, and Tokyo prefecture, with a population roughly 4 million greater than LA county, has logged 321 deaths.
Tags: COVID-19, Deaths, Infections, Japan, Los Angeles, Mass protests, New cases, Tokyo, U.S.
Chicago Tribune (May 4)
“To defeat the coronavirus and prevent future outbreaks, Americans need to reassess some ingrained social customs and lax sanitary practices.” It’s time to adapt the Japanese customs of “bowing instead of handshakes, using face masks and removing shoes before entering homes are deep-rooted and hygienic.”
Tags: Bowing, Coronavirus, Face masks, Handshakes, Ingrained, Japan, Outbreaks, Reassess, Shoes, Social customs, U.S.
New York Times (April 28)
“Delaying the Tokyo Games by a year already poses enormous economic, political and logistical challenges, including whether Japan can hope to recoup its $10 billion investment.” Without a vaccine, however, a 2021 “timeline may be optimistic.”
Tags: Challenges, Delay, Economic, Investment, Japan, Logistical, Optimistic, Political, Recoup, Timeline, Tokyo, Vaccine
New York Times (April 19)
“Tokyo may have been lulled into complacency during the weeks when Japan contained the coronavirus while avoiding economically devastating lockdowns.” Aa the Government urges a 80% reduction in contact, there is too much normalcy. “It seems too many people are trying to squeeze into the 20 percent.”
Tags: Complacency, Contained, Coronavirus, Devastating, Government, Japan, Lockdowns, Normalcy, Tokyo
