A severe labor shortage and rising prices are weighing heavily on Japan's nursing care providers, with 81 nursing homes going bankrupt over the past six months, a Tokyo-based research center has said, the Japan Times reported. This is the highest number recorded for the first half of the year since the nursing care insurance system started in 2000. It also marked a 50% increase from the same period of last year, Tokyo Shoko Research said. Previously, the highest number of bankruptcies recorded was 58 in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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A new study has revealed that almost two-thirds of football clubs in the top two divisions of Japan's Professional Football League, also known as the J-League, could be at risk of bankruptcy, Phys.org reported. The work is published in the Journal of Applied Accounting Research. The research, conducted by sports finance and economics experts from the University of Portsmouth and Sheffield Hallam University, found widespread financial issues across both the J1 and J2 leagues, with approximately 50 to 75% of the clubs at risk.
Japan's finance minister said on Tuesday authorities were vigilant to sharp currency market moves, as the yen continued its slump to fresh 38-year lows against the dollar, but stopped short of giving a clear intervention warning, Reuters reported. The change in official daily commentary to reporters, in which an intervention warning has become almost customary, comes as analysts question the effectiveness of such jawboning in stopping sharp yen declines.
The latest financial reports from Bandai Namco Studios and Bandai Namco Online turned out to be a complete disaster, Softonic reported. During the last fiscal year, which ended in March 2024, Bandai Namco Studios recorded a loss of 3,983 million yen, which is about 23 million euros. However, the worst part was taken by Bandai Namco Online, which has declared bankruptcy. Bandai Namco Studios is one of the branches of Bandai Namco Entertainment, which is responsible for developing video games for PC, consoles, mobile devices, and more.
Global policymakers aren’t about to let the Federal Reserve’s delay in cutting interest rates distract them too much from their own easing efforts, Bloomberg reported. Among the 23 of the world’s top central banks featured in Bloomberg’s quarterly guide, only the Bank of Japan won’t end up lowering borrowing costs within the next 18 months. Most are already set to do so this year. In total, 155 basis points will be removed from an aggregate benchmark global rate compiled by Bloomberg Economics by the end of 2025.
The price Japanese companies charge each other for services rose 2.5% in May from a year earlier, data showed on Tuesday, a sign prospects of steady wage increases are prompting more companies to pass on higher labour costs, Reuters reported. The year-on-year increase, however, slowed from the previous month's 2.7% gain, Bank of Japan (BOJ) data showed.
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Bank of Japan board members discussed the case for an interest rate hike as upside risks to inflation become “more noticeable,” according to a summary of opinions from the June policy meeting, Bloomberg News reported. “It is necessary for the bank to continue to closely monitor relevant data in preparation for the next monetary policy meeting,” one of nine board members said, according to the summary released Monday in Tokyo.
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Japan’s consumer inflation picked up in May, adding to market expectations for interest rate increases from the Bank of Japan, the Wall Street Journal reported. Overall consumer prices in May rose 2.8% compared with the same period a year earlier, due mainly to higher electricity bills, compared with the 2.5% increase in April, government data showed Friday. Many analysts and traders expect the Japanese central bank to raise its interest-rate target this year, with inflation staying above the bank’s 2% target for more than two years.
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Japan's exports surged 13.5% in May, faster than expected growth helped by a weak yen and strong demand in the U.S. and Asia, the Associated Press reported. Finance Ministry data reported Wednesday showed that the trade deficit totaled 1.22 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), down nearly 12% from 1.38 trillion yen a year earlier. Imports grew 9.5%, year-on-year, to nearly 9.5 trillion yen ($60 billion). Exports totaled 8.3 trillion yen ($53 billion) and grew at the fastest since November 2022.
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The Bank of Japan said it would reduce government bond purchases in a signal of monetary tightening, as it left its policy interest rate unchanged, the Wall Street Journal reported. Monetary tightening in general should support the yen, but the Japanese currency instead weakened Friday because the central bank didn’t offer specifics on its bond plans. The yen was trading at around 158 to the dollar after the move, compared with around 157 before. Later Friday the yen recovered some of the lost ground.
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