Japan

Japan Airlines Co. expects a worse loss this fiscal year than previously forecast as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on international demand for travel, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s flag carrier is now forecasting a net loss of 300 billion yen ($2.9 billion) for the 12 months ending March 31 and sales of 460 billion yen, according to an exchange filing on Monday. For the third quarter, JAL reported a net loss of 51.5 billion yen, wider than the 36.9 billion yen estimated by analysts. Sales for the period were 161.8 billion yen versus the 170 billion yen forecast.

A tug of war has emerged in Japan between authorities calling on restaurants to close early to stem the spread of the coronavirus, and business owners who say such requests are pushing them past their limits, Bloomberg News reported. With Japan’s virus strategy dependent on voluntary cooperation, the struggle shows the limits of its social compliance model as the pandemic drags on into a second year.

The number of bankruptcies in the hotel industry in Japan in 2020 jumped 57.3% from the previous year to 118, according to Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd, the Japan Times reported. The annual total surpassed 100 for the first time since 2013, mainly due to the impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the credit research firm said Tuesday. Liabilities left by collapsed hotel operators totaled ¥58 billion, with failures of midsize or larger firms increasing.

New rules from a major Japanese financial industry group to encourage transparency in the corporate bond market took effect this year, with the first debt sales under the guidelines set for Friday, Bloomberg News reported. Japan Securities Dealers Association--which comprises about 500 securities firms, banks, and other financial institutions--put the rules into force on Jan. 1. They require banks underwriting bond deals of over 10 billion yen ($97 million) to disclose to issuers the names and order sizes of major buyers and any investors who bought 1 billion yen or more.

The authorities in Tokyo requested on Monday that restaurants and bars close by 8 p.m. to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, an announcement that came after the Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, said that the central government would consider declaring a state of emergency in the capital and in three surrounding prefectures for the first time since April, the New York Times reported.

Japan’s government in December cut its view on consumption for the first time in three months, and said overall economic conditions were still severe due to the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. Authorities said the world’s third-largest economy is facing increased risks from a resurgence in COVID-19 cases at home and abroad, leading to an outlook downgrade though those remained underpinned by hopes for an economic rebound.

Japan should consider creating a safety net for companies that may need help surviving the hit from the coronavirus pandemic, such as airlines and transportation firms, said Heizo Takenaka, a close aide to premier Yoshihide Suga, Reuters reported. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) also may need to support financial institutions if they suffer huge losses from big bailouts, said Takenaka, who as economic minister battled Japan’s domestic banking crisis in the late 1990s.

Japan’s bankers celebrated the end of the 1980s with raucous parties and an all-time high of 38,957 on the Nikkei stock index, the Financial Times reported. It had been a magnificent decade and they all looked forward to another one. The economy had grown by an average of 4 per cent a year and seemed well set to continue on a similar path. By 1995, forecast Nomura Securities, the Nikkei index would hit 63,700. It was a thrilling, golden era. Foreign officials, financiers and journalists rushed to Tokyo. Everyone wanted to learn the lessons of Japan. They still do.

Sixty-year-old Yashiro Haga is folding his Tokyo noodle ramen shop after 15 years in December, unable to overcome the prospect of a lasting customer slump due to the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported. “The flow of people has changed due to the coronavirus,” Haga said, standing behind the counter of his ground-floor shop, Shirohachi.