The EU-Japan Centre is pleased to start a new weekly service by publishing brief press reviews from most important Japanese newspapers such as: Japan Times, Mainichi shinbun, Asahi Shinbun, Nikkei, or NHK.

A couple of minutes reading to be informed about what is happening in Japan's policy, economy, EU-Japan relations, and innovation.

The Japan Times: Japan to further relax crypto rules by easing listings of tokens (20/10)

Japan wants to ease cryptocurrency rules by allowing the body that governs crypto exchanges to list coins without going through a long screening process. It should help startups compete with established players. This way Japan hopes to revitalize the crypto assets market.

The Japan Times: Major Japan tech show returns in person, but focus is on the metaverse (18/10)

A highlight at the tech trade show CEATEC this year was a push to attract more people to enter the metaverse. The event featured a number of companies who promoted the metaverse trend, underlining an expanding interest in business opportunities in the virtual realm.

The Japan Times: Corporate bankruptcies in Japan rise for first time in three years (16/10)

The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan rose 6.9% (in the period from April to September) from a year earlier to 3,141. This is the first increase in three years, the result of the difficulties companies had in paying back the financial aid they received from the government during the pandemic.

The Japan Times: Alcohol hikes add to woes of Japanese bars already hurt by pandemic (13/10)

The recent price increase on alcoholic beverages will make it even more difficult for a business that’s already taking knocks. Prices rose by an average of 4% to 13%. Japan’s 4 major brewers have raised their asking prices due to the rising inflation.

The Japan Times: Japan travel subsidy rollout stunted as firms spend quota prematurely (16/10)

The travel subsidies, allocated to 47 prefectures to boost domestic tourism, have already been used up by some firms. A number of local businesses have been given too much funding, whereas some received too little. They were asked to review their budgets. Increased funding is also being considered.

NHK: Foreign visitors to Japan on the rise (19/10)

Due to eased border controls the number of foreign visitors is rising. In September there were over 200,000 foreign visitors, up 21.6% from August. The numbers are expected to keep on rising as more restrictive regulations were dropped last week.

The Japan Times: With one notable exception, Kishida’s climate policy is similar to his predecessors' (20/10)

In advance of COP27 next month, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration is pursuing a mix of old and new energy sources to meet Japan’s obligations under the 2015 Paris Agreement, with Japan pursuing a 46% cut in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2013 levels by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The Kishida government’s climate change policy is essentially a continuation of the one supported by Suga, with one exception. Kishida is willing to consider the construction of advanced technology nuclear reactors, whose commercialization is many years away.

The Japan Times: Japan’s extended trade gap reinforces pressure on tumbling yen (20/10)

Japan’s trade gap extended its longest streak of red ink since 2015, as the weaker yen pushed up the import bill, an outcome that will weigh on the economy and feed back into further currency weakness. The trade deficit topped 2 trillion yen for a second-straight month, though it narrowed to 2.09 trillion yen ($14 billion) from the previous month’s record 2.82 trillion-yen shortfall. Imports rose 45.9%, a touch stronger than expected by analysts, as the cost of crude, coal and LNG purchases soared from a year earlier. Exports gained 28.9%, led by automobile and chip parts. While an increase in shipments to China, the US and Europe is good news for Japan’s big exporters, the prolonged trade shortfall will weigh on Japan’s recovery from the pandemic.