South China Morning Post (September 26)
“Foreign investors are returning to Japan’s property market in their droves, attracted by the weak yen and an economic recovery fuelled by the buoyant logistics and hospitality sectors, according to a new report.” Singapore investors are leading the charge with property investments totaling “nearly US$3 billion spent from January to September, eclipsing the around US$2.5 billion from the US, and some US$1 billion from Canada.” Japan’s “mild inflation and favourable financing costs” are also adding to the attraction.
Tags: $3 billion, Canada, Economic recovery, Financing, Foreign investors, Hospitality, Inflation, Japan, Logistics, Property market, Singapore, U.S., Weak yen
Financial Times (June 29)
Hong Kong elite are visiting Japan on posh tours to invest in Tokyo. Property brokers say the tours demonstrate “the appeal of the weak yen” and “the way in which the Tokyo market seemed immune from the recessionary worries swirling around other capitals.”
Tags: Appeal, Brokers, Elite, Hong Kong, Immune, Invest, Japan, Market, Posh, Property, Recessionary, Tokyo, Tours, Weak yen, Worries
New York Times (May 11)
The weak yen, coupled with soaring food and energy costs, “are posing yet another challenge for the world’s third-largest economy as Japan trails other major nations in emerging from the economic blow of the pandemic. The rise in prices has spooked Japanese consumers used to decades of stability, and the weak yen is starting to look as if it will depress demand at home more than stimulate it abroad.”
Tags: Challenge, Consumers, Costs, Economy, Energy, Food, Japan, Pandemic, Prices, Soaring, Spooked, Stability, Weak yen
The Diplomat (May 2)
“Two and half years on and Japan remains an outlier among industrialized G-7 nations, which have re-opened for tourists and eliminated quarantines.” The border restrictions “prevent Japan from benefiting from the weak yen,” which would “encourage inbound tourism and play a considerable role stabilizing the currency and creating jobs.” Nevertheless, “public opinion and the pernicious idea that COVID-19 is brought in by foreigners” seem to be driving debate, with international tourism “unlikely to be given the green light until the second half of the year following the result of the upper house election.”
Tags: Border restrictions, COVID-19, Currency, Election, Foreigners, G-7, Inbound tourism, Industrialized, Japan, Jobs, Outlier, Public opinion, Quarantines, Re-opened, Stabilizing, Tourists, Upper house, Weak yen
