Japan's trade deficit falls by 58% in November

“The domestic situation in the U.S. looks good, and if the U.S. is strong, that’s positive for Japan,”

its positive for the companies not the people.

The move offers some good news for Japanese firms doing business in the key US market, analysts said.

who cares about the firms? what about the people?

Do not worry. PM Abe will use "creative accounting" just like the bankrupt Enron in the USA, to change bad news like trade deficit into good news like trade surplus. He is a "financial genius". He wants Japan to borrow more money so he can loan India may be US$20 billion more despite Japan's external debt is already around 250% of GDP, or may be around 200% according to PM Abe's "economists". Do not worry about the bad news. Just whitewash them.

Despite record number of tourists? seems tax-free shops are doing no better than retailers.

As long as the Yen stays weak, I am selfishly happy.

Ummm....Japan does not have an external "debt" of 250% of GDP, it has net foreign assets of over $3 trillion and has been the world's largest creditor nation 24 years in a row. Information easily confirmed with a google.

Correction : I mean Japan's public debt, not Japan's external debt, is about 250% of GDP.

A trade deficit is not always good news. If consumer spending drops due to plummeting household spending power, then you can be sure that the country will have a narrowing of the trade deficit just because people aren't buying anything, foreign or domestic. It by no means indicates a rebounding economy.