Statistics: Part timers and contractors make up about 40 percent of Japan's workforce

Picture: Japanese enjoying summer fireworks



" In Japan, the focus of equal pay for equal work is on narrowing the gap between permanent employees and low-paid part-timers and contractors, who make up about 40 per cent of the workforce. Japanese firms tend to resist equal pay for equal work because it will mean raising the pay of lower-paid workers, analysts say"



Source: Corporate Japan wary of wage hikes as Abenomics splutters by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Australian Financial Review, 
Wednesday 19th February, 2020, page 14.

Foreign tourists in Japan spend the most in Shinjuku according to survey

Photo: Japanese crossing road in Shinjuku, Japan.

"Twenty-three percent of tourists said they spent the most money in Shinjuku, according to a survey by Life Pepper, a digital marketing firm in Tokyo. The Akihabara area, known for its electronics stores, came in next at 14%, while the upscale Ginza shopping district took third place with 13%."




Source:Shinjuku takes crown as Tokyo's top spending spot for tourists
District's storied nightlife major draw for overseas visitors
YUSUKE SAKURAI, Nikkei 

JANUARY 24, 2020

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel-Leisure/Shinjuku-takes-crown-as-Tokyo-s-top-spending-spot-for-tourists?utm_campaign=RN%20Free%20newsletter&utm_medium=JP%20update%20newsletter%20free&utm_source=NAR%20Newsletter&utm_content=article%20link&del_type=4&pub_date=20200124090000&seq_num=8&si=%%user_id%%

Japanese companies reluctant to share potential risks according to survey

Photo: English Japanese Dictionary

"Only 13% of Japan's listed companies mention climate change in their filings, for instance, compared with 44% of top American companies.....Information leaks and cyberattacks were cited by 56% of Nikkei components, as opposed to 79% of top U.S. companies, though Japanese companies have become more willing to acknowledge risks on this front. Potential impact on brand image was mentioned by about 20% of the Japanese companies, versus 65% of the American top 100."


Source: Survey shows Japan Inc. less proactive in disclosing risks
TOKIO MURAKAMI, 

Nikkei staff writer

JANUARY 23, 2020 

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Survey-shows-Japan-Inc.-less-proactive-in-disclosing-risks?

Food waste in Japan estimated to be around 6.43 million tons per year

Picture: Cold summer noodles

"The quantity of food utilized by food banks is around 4,000 tons a year. But, According to Environment Ministry data, a total of 6.43 million tons of food -- or 51 kilograms per citizen -- went to waste in Japan in fiscal 2016, roughly the same level of annual rice consumption in the country."

Source: Gov't to strengthen functioning of food banks in Japan

19/01/2020

Japan Today

https://japantoday.com/category/national/gov't-to-strengthen-functioning-of-food-banks-in-japan

90 percent of Japanese believe robots will replace humans

"Nearly 90% think robots and computers will be doing much of the work currently done by humans in the next half century. Some 83% see this causing greater inequality, 74% believe people will have trouble finding work and 58% think automation will not generate better jobs."


Source:
Japanese fear automation will take more jobs than foreigners
Pew survey: Only 15% of adults feel youths will be better off than their parents
ANDREW SHARP, Nikkei Asian Review deputy politics and economy news editor

November 13, 2018 

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Japanese-fear-automation-will-take-more-jobs-than-foreigners?utm_campaign=RN%20Free%20newsletter&utm_medium=JP%20update%20newsletter%20free&utm_source=NAR%20Newsletter&utm_content=article%20link

Japanese Customer Internet Survey

survey by

Who are the three largest online retailers in Japan?

" Rakuten, Amazon.co.jp and Yahoo! Japan are the top three online retailers in Japan (Fuji Keizai.co.jp)

Source: Moriuchi, E., & Takahashi, I. (2016). Satisfaction trust and loyalty of repeat online consumer within the Japanese online supermarket trade. Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), 24 (Retailing Around the Pacific Rim), 146-156. doi:10.1016/j.ausmj.2016.02.006

Tokyo worlds largest city by GDP

" Tokyo, Japan (has) the largest GDP of any city in the world at US$1.48 trillion"

Source: "Asia's super power in 2010 wont be China by George Friedman

Feb 7th, 2017, www.businessinder.com

 

japan, japanese customer, www.japanesecustomer.com, #japan #statistics #gdp #trends

Japanese consumers like low calorie chocolate

Japanese consumers like low calorie chocolate

Video: Japanese Milk Chocolate Brand

According to research by Kadence Japanese consumers rate taste in chocolate the number one factor at 54%, followed by health 13% an convenience 13%. Calorie content was of importance to Japanese consumers who are worried about the impact of food on their bodies so lower calories the better.


Source: APAC not a ‘universal market’: Asia’s multifaceted taste and texture preferences for chocolate
By Oliver Nieburg & Patrick Young, insight director at Kadence International, 19-Sep-2016
Market research firm Kadence explores the varying chocolate likability factors in nations across Asia.http://www.confectionerynews.com/Markets/What-are-Asian-consumers-looking-for-in-chocolate-Kadence-research

japan, japanese, customer, consumer, chocolate, market research, kadence international, statistics, food, www.japanesecustomer.com, @jcustomers, #japan, #chocolate, #research

Negative interest rates in Japan made people hoard money

“Negative rates are turning out to be a dirt sandwich, especially for Japan...They thought that that was going to get people out spending. And what happened is they got people to go and buy safes and put money into their safes and hoard money.” 

Voya Financial Inc.’s Karyn Cavanaugh.







Source:
Japan’s ‘dirt sandwich’ of negative rates difficult to swallow: analyst
BLOOMBERG, AFP-JIJI
Japan Times Newspaper
JUL 14, 2016
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/14/business/financial-markets/japans-dirt-sandwich-negative-rates-difficult-swallow-analyst/#.V4hXzvl96Uk

japan, japanese, customer, consumer, finance, zero, hoarding, cash, home safe, interest rate, news, trends, www.japanesecustomer.com, @jcustomers, #japan, #japanesecustomers, #news

Japanese banks have tier one capital of about 12 percent

"Japanese banks have tier one capital ratio levels of about 12 percent, but this includes their cross-shareholdings in Japanese companies. If the unrealized value of these holdings is excluded, the average tier one capital for Japanese banks drops to about 8 or 9 per cent"


Source: Signs of uplift in bond yields is good news for banking stocks by Karen Maley, Australian Financial Review, Thursday 14th July 2016, p28.


japan, japanese, customer, consumer, bank, capital, tier one, percentages, news, statistics, www.japanesecustomer.com, @jcustomers, #japan, #japanese, #customer, #japanesecustomer, #trends
, #statistics

Average age of Japanese mothers in Australia at childbirth 35 years in 2016

"Median age at childbirth for mums in Australia based on their own country of birth

Top Five.

Number 5. Japan 35.1 years Mothers country of birth"


Source: ABS

Source: Migrant's cultural shift slows the birth of a new generation By Rick Morton, The Australian Newspaper, Thursday 14th July 2016, page 3.


japan, japanese, customer, consumer, australia, mother. country, birth, news, statistics, trends, generation, www.japanesecustomer.com, @jcustomers, #japan, #customer, #japanesecustomer

Japanese average monthly wages dropped in May 2016

"The average monthly wage among workers in Japan in May fell 0.2 percent from a year before to ¥267,933, down for the first time in 11 months, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Friday......The drop happened because the proportion of part-time workers in the total workforce rose 0.18 percentage point to 30.17 percent. Wages for part-timers are about one-fourth of those for full-time regular employees."

Source: Wages in Japan down for first time in 11 months
JiJi
The Japan Times
JUL 8, 2016
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/08/business/wages-japan-first-time-11-months/#.V4HROet9671

japan, japanese, customer, consumer, wages, average, monthly, statistics, may, 2016, news, economy, business, trends, www.japanesecustomer.com, @jcustomers, #japan, #japanese, #news, #wages, #trends

Japanese spend 30 percent of their income on food USA only 10 percent

"American households spend around 10 per cent of their income on food, Japanese consumers spend more than 30 per cent. The higher cash outlay is driven by a quest for quality and knowing as much as possible about the source of their food"


Source: Specialty pork finds Japanese audience, Market to Market, July 8, 2016, Iowa Public Television, iptv.org, 
http://site.iptv.org/mtom/story/16214/specialty-pork-finds-japanese-audience



japan, japanese, customer, consumer, income, spending, consumption, trends, news, statistics,food, www.japanesecustomer.com, @jcustomers, #japan, #japanese, #food, # #news, #japanesecustomer

Japanese 20 year bonds go negative for the first time

"Japanese 20 year bond yields dipped into negative territory for the first time yesterday, joining their 10-year brethren as fixed markets are telling you growth is a long way off" 

Source: A warning sign in bonds, By John Durie, The Australian, Thursday 7th July 2016, page 32.

japan, japanese, customer, consumer, bonds, interest, rates, news, trends, economy, statistics, finance, www.japanesecustomer.com, #japanesecustomer

#japanese, #japan, #news 

87 percent of Japanese Government Bonds are now below zero

"Earlier this month, Japanese government bonds with maturities up to almost 20 years went negative. That means almost 87 percent of Japanese government bonds (JGB) are now below zero.....JGB are one of the best performing investments globally. They have returned 8.06 per cent so far this year.....The BOJ now holds almost 30 per cent of its government bonds"

Source: Negative yields jolt Japanese by Anjani Trivedi, 
The Wall Street Journal, The Australian Newspaper,
 Wednesday 6th July, 2016, page 25


japan, japanese, customer, consumer, economy, finance, bonds, yield, news, trend, negative, interest, 2016, july, bank of japan, JGB, www.japanesecustomer.com, @jcustomers, #japan, #japanese, #customer

Blast from the past: Japanese carmakers had six brands in the top ten in Australia in 2014

Title: Nissan GT-R in Tokyo

"Top sellers in June

1. Toyota Corolla 4648
2.Toyota Highlux 4276
3. Mitsubishi Triton 4124
4. Mazda 4059
5. Hyundai i30 3243
6. Ford Ranger 3214
7. Holden Commodore 3156
8. Toyota Camry 2378
9. Nissan Navara 2262
10. Volkswagon Golf 2261"

Source: Toyota, Mazda drive recovery
By Philip King
The Australian Newspaper
Friday the 4th July 2014, page 20

"Last year, only Japan made more steel than China exported"

"Last year, only Japan made more steel than China exported"

Source: Arcelor Mittal sees global steel markets stabilising
By John Miller and Alex MacDonald
The Wall Street Journal
The Australian Newspaper, Monday 9th May, 2016, page 24.


japan, japanese, consumer, customer, statistics, steel, trends, www.japanesecustomer.com, @jcustomers, #japan, #japanese, #consumer, #customer

Japanese economy overview by Mark Burgess

"If you're looking at Japan, you have the Ministry of Finance issuing the debt, you have the Bank of Japan buying it, you can convert the debt into zero-coupon perpetual [bonds] and then gradually write the debt down," he told the conference.




"We're in a low-growth environment, and that's why we keep pulling the levers. "



Mark Burgess, chairman of Jamieson Coote Bond's advisory board



Source: The Age Newspaper, Wednesday 1st june, 2015
Demographics a challenge to global growth, May 31, 2016
Mark Mulligan
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/demographics-a-challenge-to-global-growth-20160531-gp8aoh.html#ixzz4AIJ7gWzQ




japan, japanese, customer, consumer, @jcustomers, www.japanesecustomer.com, economy, deflation, strategies, trends, low growth, #japan #deflation #customer #consumer #japanese

Japan hints at delay of October sales tax increase

"A previous increase in the (sales) tax to 8 per cent in 2014 pushed Japan into a recession, prompting the government to delay the next phase of the increase that had been scheduled for October 2015"


Source: Minister back flips on Japan sales tax increase by James Mayger, Bloomberg, Australian Financial Review, Wednesday 1st JUne, 2016, page 10.




Japan, Japanese, customer, consumer, statistics, trends, economy, foreign, direct investment, 2015, www.japanesecustomer.com, bank of japan, jetro, @jcustomers, #japan, #japanese, #customer, #consumer, #trends, #ASEAN