The Independent (August 7)
“Soaring temperatures in Japan have killed at least 57 people since late July… highlighting the health threat to athletes and fans that Olympics organisers must tackle before next year’s Tokyo games.”
Tags: Athletes, Fans, Health threat, Japan, July, Killed, Olympics, Soaring, Temperatures, Tokyo
Wall Street Journal (July 19)
“What began as an obscure, tech-supply trade fight between Tokyo and Seoul has now erupted into a boycott mushrooming across South Korea, a backlash targeting Japanese apparel, travel and electronics.” According to a recent poll, “most South Koreans are avoiding Japan-made products.”
Tags: Apparel, Backlash, Boycott, Obscure, South Korea, Tech-supply, Tokyo, Trade fight, Travel
The Guardian (June 12)
“The problem with earthquakes is that they undermine the very things you do to prevent them. And with Tokyo now seeing millions of tourists a year, and expecting millions more for the Rugby World Cup this year and the Olympics in 2020, the city is ripe for panic in the event of a disaster.”
Tags: Disaster, Earthquakes, Olympics, Panic, Prevent, Problem, Rugby World Cup, Tokyo, Tourists, Undermine
The Economist (March 19)
The Economist Intelligence Unit just announced the most expensive cities in the world. Due to inflation, Tokyo doesn’t rank in the top 10. “Singapore marks its sixth straight year at the top of the rankings, and is joined there by Hong Kong and Paris.” Osaka was the only Japanese city to make the top 10 in “the survey, which compares prices across 160 products and services.”
Financial Times (February 12)
“One of the challenges faced by Tokyo as it prepares for the Olympics is living up to the last time it hosted the games, in 1964. The challenge is not practical (the games will in all likelihood run like clockwork) but thematic…. Today’s construction boom in central Tokyo… is being pitched as the renaissance of a city that has been straining for 30 years to pull off a second comeback.”
Tags: 1964, Challenges, Clockwork, Comeback, Construction boom, Olympics, Renaissance, Tokyo
The Economist (November 3)
It’s “sunrise in Tokyo… After three decades out of fashion, the country’s companies are ready for a revival.” At last, “Japan’s stock market is poised for a comeback.” Japan has had and still has its detractors, but “for the first time in years, Japanese companies are playing a tune that investors are able to whistle.”
Bloomberg (March 26)
“Tokyo bulls can’t buy a break. Just as the economy shows signs of life, they’re ensnared in a global equity meltdown that on Friday alone lopped $200 billion from the price of shares.” The threat of a trade war, a sell off by foreign investors and the surging yen are “all starting to dent sentiment for Japan, where bears had previously been hard to find.”
Tags: Bears, Bulls, Economy, Foreign investors, Global equity, Japan, Meltdown, Sell-off, Sentiment, Shares, Surging yen, Tokyo, Trade war
Chicago Tribune (December 23)
“Japanese leaders are now under international pressure to pass a sweeping smoking ban in restaurants and many other public places before Tokyo hosts the 2020 Olympics.” While many politicians are reluctant, “Japanese restaurateurs and entrepreneurs who seek to attract the widest possible international clientele during the Olympics—and after—will ban smoking. Wouldn’t it be terrific if the Tokyo Olympics sparked a Great Japanese Smokeout?”
Tags: 2020 Olympics, Clientele, International pressure, Japan, Politicians, Reluctant, Restaurants, Smoking ban, Tokyo
Financial Times (March 31)
“On one hand, Premium Friday is a gimmicky, well-intended campaign to offset Japan’s overwork culture.” Even though less than 4% of Tokyo’s workers actually clocked out early on the inaugural Premium Friday, the campaign does represent “something fundamentally important to the next few years of Japanese investment: a defining theme of ‘working practice reform’ that will (for better or worse) penetrate all sectors of the economy.”
Tags: Economy, Gimmick, Investment, Japan, Overwork, Premium Friday, Reform, Tokyo
Nikkei Asian Review (December 9)
“Overall, Japan’s preparations for 2020 are in chaos. But memories are short, and it is worth remembering that this is roughly the same thing that happened in the run-up to the previous Tokyo Olympic Games, held in 1964.” But history does not always repeat itself and “if the Olympic effort turns out to be as much of a travesty as the Toyosu venture, the second Tokyo Olympics will not turn out well.”
