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Market expectations of a Bank of Japan interest rate hike this month sank after a local media report cast doubt on an increase, and the predictions hardly budged even after one of the policy board’s most dovish members said he isn’t opposed to higher rates. Overnight indexed swaps on Thursday were pricing in a 37% chance of a rate hike at the central bank’s Dec. 18-19 meeting, falling sharply from 66% on Nov. 29. The figure was little changed after BOJ board member Toyoaki Nakamura said he doesn’t object to a rate hike but would have to look at data to decide on policy this month. Still, the yen jumped as much as 0.6% and Japanese government bond futures fell given the switch from Nakamura’s more dovish comments earlier in the day. Source link

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People will set up a forum shortly to coordinate basic policies in areas including the economy, foreign affairs and security, energy and the Constitution, CDP policy chief Kazuhiko Shigetoku said Thursday. The CDP thinks that the discussions will open the way for the two opposition parties to cooperate in an election in summer next year for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament. The forum will bring together CDP and DPFP lawmakers elected from the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, which is a major supporter of the two parties, in addition to their policy chiefs. The CDP aims to reach an agreement on basic policies with the DPFP as early as possible within this fiscal year, which ends next March, Shigetoku said at a press conference. Meanwhile, Rengo, the largest umbrella organization of labor unions in Japan, aims to ensure that the ruling coalition ends up winning less than a majority of 124 seats that are up for grabs in the Upper House election, people familiar with the matter said. Rengo thinks that the CDP and the DPFP need to avoid competition in the election, which it sees as an important step toward a change of government, the people said. It will call on the two parties to reach an agreement on basic policies to smooth the way for campaign cooperation in the election. Source link

Tokyo Gas is considering around five to 10 wind power projects in Southeast Asia, Jiji Press learned Thursday. The move is part of the company’s efforts to develop its overseas renewable energy business into a new growth pillar amid the global decarbonization movement. The gas utility is expected to make final investment decisions on some of the envisaged projects as early as 2025. The wind power projects are expected to be located in the Mekong region, mainly in Vietnam, and to each have a power generation capacity of 50 to 100 megawatts. Tokyo Gas will cooperate with local companies to find sites suitable for wind power generation. The Japanese company plans to boost earnings from overseas operations to ¥50 billion ($333 million) in 2030 by focusing on renewable energy operations in addition to those related to liquefied natural gas. It has so far launched a large solar power plant in the United States and invested in a Danish firm to participate in a wind power project in Europe. “Wind power projects are efficient, because the per-project investment is high,” Takashi Nakao, head of its subsidiary in Singapore, Tokyo Gas Asia, said. Source link

Japanese police have taken protective measures for applicants for “dark” part-time jobs and their family members in 125 cases as of the end of November, it was learned Thursday. According to sources at the National Police Agency, 30% of such people, including those involved in the recent series of violent robberies in the Tokyo metropolitan area, were between the ages of 10 and 19, and 40% were in their 20s. Meanwhile, people in their 30s, 40s and 50s or older each accounted for 10%. The agency also found that in many robbery cases, applicants aged 10 to 19 and those in their 20s were instructed to directly engage in criminal acts such as transporting stolen money and articles, while older people were told to sign mobile phone contracts and open bank accounts. “Please don’t give in to threats, even if criminals are grabbing your personal information,” NPA Commissioner General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki said at a news conference the same day. “Police will protect you.” Since mid-October, the agency has been explaining to the public through online videos how people are hired for dark jobs and calling on applicants for such jobs to seek police advice and protection. Prefectural police, for their part, have been giving advice to those applicants as well as their family members and taking protection measures for them, such as relocating them to safe places or strengthening patrols in related areas. Source link

Early Wednesday morning I woke up for some reason and turned on the television — only to be blindsided by the mind-blowing news out of Seoul. Just the night before, President Yoon Suk Yeol announced a “state of emergency” and declared martial law. As troops attempted to take control of the National Assembly, some 190 lawmakers passed a resolution demanding martial law to be lifted. Watching the grave situation and still in bed, I had to ask myself whether I was dreaming of the 1980s. The area around South Korea’s National Assembly descended into chaos. But early on Wednesday, Yoon abruptly announced he was lifting the state of emergency he had just imposed hours before, citing the parliamentary resolution. Source link

A former lawmaker of Nippon Ishin no Kai pleaded guilty at the Tokyo District Court on Thursday to statutory rape of a 12-year-old girl. Prosecutors said Tamotsu Shiiki, 58, who lost his Lower House seat in a 2021 general election, had sex with the girl at a karaoke parlor on Aug. 20 after he approached her on the streets of the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, well aware that she was underage. Shiiki, who had never met the girl before the incident, paid her ¥10,000 for the act, they said. “There is no mistake about it,” he said at the courtroom, donning a dark gray sweater and striped pants. According to prosecutors, an employee at the karaoke parlor spotted a half-naked Shiiki and the girl through a window and reported them to the police. Shiiki allegedly denied involvement at the time of the incident. “I did not do that. You will know if you ask the girl,” he allegedly said. Shiiki was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012 but lost his seat in a 2014 general election. He regained his seat in 2015 after Hirofumi Yoshimura (now governor of Osaka), resigned from the Lower House to run for that year’s mayoral election in Osaka. Shiiki was next on Nippon Ishin’s list of proportional representation. In 2017 and 2021, he ran again in general elections but failed to secure a seat. Source link

The traditional knowledge and techniques of making Japanese sake with kōji mold will be the newest addition to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, the United Nations’ cultural agency announced on Thursday. The art of traditional sake brewing, which was recommended for the list last month, was recognized by the committee for its high level of technique that has been passed down for centuries, as well as the relevance that it continues to hold in Japan. “Each brewery in Japan has its own history, and over the years has produced sake using brewing techniques that have been refined and developed in each region,” read a statement by Haruhiko Okura, the head of Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (JSS), in response to the news on Thursday. Source link

When the history of this tumultuous week in South Korean politics is written, legislators who demanded the president rescind his declaration of martial law will surely be lauded. It’s also worth standing back to examine the role that economics has played in the country’s transition to democracy and why that least-worst system of government, to quote Winston Churchill, survived. The contribution of capitalism — its constraints and opportunities — has been vital. The rhythms of global commerce have been present at key points in South Korea’s journey. It’s fair to say that without the thrills and spills of money, there wouldn’t have been a mature democracy to protect. That you may not have noticed is a testament to its success and durability. Of all the potential yearend shocks that traders had gamed out, Tuesday night’s brief but alarming events didn’t come close to making the cut. Markets were braced for social media posts on outlandish Cabinet picks by Donald Trump, new tariff threats and the prospect of a French government implosion, not an attempted coup by President Yoon Suk Yeol. Source link

The potential impeachment of South Korea’s president after an aborted attempt to impose martial law may complicate U.S. efforts to increase pressure on China under President-elect Donald Trump by undermining American-led alliances in East Asia. Since taking office in 2022, President Yoon Suk Yeol has steered South Korea away from economic dependence on China and bolstered trade with the U.S., its sole security treaty ally. At the same time, Yoon has broken through historical tensions with Japan to form closer military, diplomatic and economic ties. The strengthening U.S.-South Korea-Japan relationship has been a key component of a broader Washington effort to stitch together partnerships across Asia seen as blunting Beijing’s ambitions. Yoon’s brief and botched attempt to declare martial law — and the president’s possible downfall as a result — is a “potentially huge setback” to those efforts, said Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. Source link

PayPay Bank is offering 2% interest on both dollar and yen deposits, many times the rates advertised by competing banks, as financial institutions in Japan scramble to attract funds in an environment where monetary policy is tightening and savers are starting to shop around. The rate applies to yen deposits of up to ¥5 million, with no limit for dollar deposits. It is effective immediately, the internet-only financial institution announced Wednesday. PayPay Bank’s standard rates are 0.1% for yen deposits and 0.05% for dollar deposits. Source link