CanadianJapan comments

They seem pretty desperate for people to resort to recruitment ads featuring AKB48 singers. Anyone knows if only Japanese nationals are allowed to join or immigrants(PR holders) are eligible too?

Abe's Third Arrow growth strategy seems to me like a dart not an arrow, said Naoki Iizuka, an economist at Citigroup Global Markets Japan. I hope he will come up with bolder plans ahead.

More like a needle. The only thing I see is the corporate tax cut. Raise the number of highly skilled foreign workers, really? It's not hard to get an Engineer's visa in Japan in you have a job, nothing new here. The lifetime employment system is left untouched. As I have said before, unless there is a bond crash, yen goes up to 200 or some other kind of catastrophe, the "real" third arrow won't be fired anytime soon.

Anyone who has worked in a Japanese company knows that the lifetime employment system is a cancer that Japan must get rid off. We've all seen the oji-sans in their 50s, doing nothing but taking part in endless meetings all day. The day they turn 60 they are forced to retire after being useless for years.

Whatever they come up with, don't expect to see the word "immigration" in this growth strategy.

As about the Brazilian experiments, yes that is a wake up call, but not that it doesn't work, but that Japan is not so HOT anymore. Only a few years back people would die for a chance to come and live here but the Japanese market is not so attractive anymore. With few chances to go up the company ladder it is hard to get capable professionals to stay here for long.

I have many south american of Japanese descent friends in Japan. They were also treated as cheap labor, there were few Japanese language programs for them etc. Perhaps the Japanese government just thought that they would miraculously integrate because they have Yamato minzoku blood.

And to the people who are so contrary to immigration but all for the cheap labor program used now, don't expect them to pay for your retirement or your health care. They are only that, cheap labor that will be gone in 3 years, don't expect them to be exemplary citizens either, they won't be.

I fully agree. These are just temporary fixes that won't do anything to solve the long term population problems Japan faces.

As I have mentioned before and as an immigrant myself(I have PR in Japan), unless there is some catastrophe i.e yen to 200/US$, a major bond crash, people are refused at hospital because there is no staff, nothing will ever change.

If you stay five years, you don't have to be a good citizen, you don't have to speak the Japanese language.

I couldn't agree more. My Japanese is actually worse than it was 5 years ago. People keep calling me "foreigner", making me feel I not a member of Japanese society so eventually I ended up hanging out only with other non-Japanese(i.e non Yamato minzoku). Japan needs an immigration policy and make sure these immigrants are integrated into Japanese society. Being called "Gaijin" on a daily basis surely doesn't make me feel at home.

Somehow we've been hearing this for a while. It was said that exports were supposed to rebound in April because companies were selling more goods in Japan before the tax hike thus reducing the potential for exports. We have not seen a major boost to exports in April. I have my own theory on this. The active population(15-64 year old) in Japan is decreasing rapidly while the retirees(65 and over) are increasing rapidly. Retirees are consumers of goods, they don't produce anything while the active population produces good. There are less and less people to produce goods thus less possible exports while more and more consumers of goods(more imports). Japan also has less competitive products than 10 years ago(Sony anyone?) This is not 2002 anymore, exports will never recover. May will confirm my theory with again with a huge trade deficit.

Talk about being between a rock and a hard place! Companies need the tax cut in order to stay competitive(and stay in Japan too!) but the government is broke. My country Canada has already reduced the corporate tax and we are looking at a budget surplus next year. I guess one option is to pump up the sales tax to 15%, in any case, things look grim for Japan...

Labor crunch, really? I go through the Hello Work listings and I see many IT jobs only paying 50-60% of what you would get in Canada/U.S. I also still see a lot of age restrictions, 35 or younger, some even asking 28 or younger. In an aging society with a labor crunch, how can employers still offer wages that are well below other developed countries while refusing anyone above 35 year old? I am sure many companies are still OVER-staffed by the oji-san who do nothing all day. Labor crunch yeah, if you're less than 35 and willing to work for 1000 yen an hour, you're in demand.

Such a farce. Abenomics works for no one except the fat cats. I think most foreigners were well of this BEFORE all the Japanese got on board and figured out how badly they were getting screwed.

Do you remember the good old days when our 75-80 yen was worth one US buck? I don't think a 0.5% raise is going to offset the lost of purchasing power because of the yen devaluation. iPad prices have gone up at least 5000 yen, another 2% more tax on anything we buy. I really long the 2010 days when at least our yen had some buying power.

Do they understand that thousands of farmers in Japan would loose their way of income,this is their way of living , while you in US will just get a bigger wallet .

Do they understand that U.S auto makers have to compete head to head with Japanese automakers in the U.S market, perhaps the Japanese automakers should restrict themselves in selling their products in Japan only. As a Canadian I fully agree with the U.S dairy farmers. Milk is expensive in Canada and I would choose U.S milk over Canadian milk if the price was cheaper. I doubt Canada will cause as many problems as Japan since the Conservatives are pro-TPP and they have no political base in Quebec where a lot of dairy farmers are based.

The original charter off TPP states clearly "that all trade tariffs shall be eliminated by 2015". This was what Japan understood when they joined in

I don't think 2015 was ever mentioned anywhere but you are absolutely right that the goal was to eliminate all tariffs. U.S and Japan should not be negotiating "sacred items" but the schedule for the removal of tariffs. In order to avoid catching Japanese farmers unprepared, Japan should negotiate a progressive removal of tariffs. How about removing 50% per year of the 700% tariffs on rice? That would leave them 14 years to get their act together. How about removing 5% a year on beef/pork tariffs? THAT'S what the negotiations should be about, not sacred items etc. My country Canada has made it clear that ALL tariffs should be removed, Canadians and others can play by these rules, if Japan can't they should leave. Canadian farmers want the same as U.S farmers, let the Japanese have their Canadian beef and bacon.

I guess it all depends on the company's performance. I guess Apple's shareholders don't mind too much having a highly paid CEO as long as the company keeps innovating and bring in the profits. On the other hand, a guy like Hirai who's been driving Sony into the ground for years should get no more than a 1 yen salary.

Hirai is a joke, he sounds like a broken record, every year he says the TV division will be in the black next year... Sony has been losing TV market share for years. Compare him to HP's Whitman, she is firing people and dumping unprofitable businesses while Hirai keeps making the same broken promises without any concrete action. The fact that Sony isn't planning any more layoffs is beyond logic. 4K TVs, right, remember a few years ago when 3D TVs were supposed to save the day? Sony is a wounded dog that needs to be put out of its misery. R.I.P Sony.

I wonder the value and positions of Japanese companies on that list, Sony for 1$ anyone?

The panel estimated that if Japan’s total fertility rate—the average number of children born to a woman—recovers to 2.07 in 2030 from the current 1.41 in 2012 and stays at that level, the country’s population will be about 100 million in 2060.

I agree with Jerseyboy. Although some countries have been successful at raising their fertility rate(i.e France), a 47% raise over 16 years is impossible. We have been hearing this song for years, just like balancing the budget. I remember when I first came to Japan in 2002, Koizumi was supposed to balance the books by 2010! Look forward to another report in 2020 that says Japan must raise its fertility rate to 2.07 by 2040 to keep its population above 90 millions and so on...

This sounds like a great read, anyone knows if it's possible to buy and download this magazine?

The same thing was said more than 3 years ago by Ms. Matsui herself. What has changed since then? Japan old-timers know that it's all talk no action here. Unless there is some kind of catastrophe (bond crash, yen shooting up to 200) things will never change. Where's that 3rd arrow? No women, no foreigners, life time employment, welcome to the good old Japan.

http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/investing-in-women/bios-pdfs/womenomics3_the_time_is_now_pdf.pdf

$24 for 20MB! Pretty much useless for surfing unless someone wants to spend 500$ for Internet access on a 12 hour flight. At these prices it's going to be mostly for emailing and instant messaging... better than nothing I guess.

Not mentioned in this article is that some on the U.S side are suggesting Japan be excluded and that negotiations should continue with other nations. Using words such as "sacred" and expressions like "we won't budge a millimetre" just shows how Japan wants to get everything in exchange for nothing. Every JT reader who has been to Japan knows that the price differences between farm products in Japan and the U.S/Canada is borderline stupid. 10kg of Californian rice is about 10US$ at Costco. The same 10kg of Japanese rice in Tokyo is over 30US$. Not to mention the 1$ Apples, 10$ steaks etc. I just hope the U.S won't let Japan get away with this. Japan should be excluded of the talks.

I find the word "booming" a bit exaggerated. People in Japan aren't having much sex, population is aging so the amount of potential customers is shrinking... Around the Uguisudani area, some love hotels have been closing down while others are offering bargain basement prices (overnight for less than 5000 yen). Again, I can't really see what is "booming" here...

Way to go guys! Japan needs to get its act together and negotiate the removal of ALL tariffs especially rice. If Japan doesn't want to play by the rules, it should be expelled from the TPP negotiations.

Some really good info, thanks JT! I don't know about Tabata and Komagome but one reason Sugamo is cheap is because of the abundance of massage parlours and sex shops near the station. Some Japanese might even consider the area dangerous (still extremely safe compared to some areas in north american cities). I guess having cheap sex available a few minutes away might even be considered a plus for a single guy!

What Abe is trying to do is just plain stupid. It's not a government's business to tell companies what to do. The problem with wages in Japan is simple : companies can't fire people so wages stagnate. Company should increase wages of performing employees and reduce or fire non-performing employees, it's as simple as that. Can't wait to see what's gonna happen in May after the tax increase. 3% tax increase, 0.1% wage increase, way to go Abe.

I'm currently on the verge of getting divorced. Things have spiraled down to the point where my wife and I are discussing whether or not she will take the children back with her to Japan. If we split, the reason will be due to the absence of sex in our marriage. My wife seems to have lost all of her sex drive, although I still have mine. Apart from that, everything in our marriage was going well

After 12 years in Japan, I've heard that one more than enough. One not listed here that was the reason for a friend of mine is that his wife ran away with his daughter, not sure if they got divorced before or after she "stole" his daughter though.

I was told by so many people not to ever marry a Japanese woman, seeing most of my friends either divorced or in a zombie marriage, I can say the advice has served me well.

Other countries don't have "goals" and yet an increasing number of women become managers and even CEOs. Japan should recognize that the problem is cultural. The lifetime employment system is a disease and it prevents many women from having a successful career. If a woman takes 2-3 years off work to raise her kids, once she's back on the job market there aren't any job available because the job market is not as fluid as in most western countries. Japanese companies not only discriminate against women but also based on age and ethnic origin. Instead of those stupid goals, the government should find the root of these problems(read lifetime employment system) and solve these problems instead.

It's already been 4 years since I've switched to Mac and I'm not planning to go back to Windows anytime soon. I hear people complaining about Windows 8, Mavericks is free and it works fine for me. Happy birthday mac!

I really hope they give us permanent residents the right to vote in municipal elections soon! I want to vote for this guy, no more nukes! Don't care if it means paying 10-20% more on my electricity bill.

As other posters mentioned, the majority of international marriages are between Japanese men and foreign women. Even for Japanese women, not all of the foreign spouses are westerners. I worked in a 400+ employees Tokyo company, as the only western person, I don't have a Japanese wife and except for a few exceptions I don't date Japanese women. The are so many amazing asian ladies(read Chinese/Korean) in Tokyo that Japanese women aren't just any match. Back to my company, one colleague in my department has a Chinese wife. I have also heard of at least two other guys having a foreign wife. One westerner not interested in Japanese women and 3 Japanese guys with foreign wives. Nothing scientific but nevertheless shows by how much this article is off!

When I get married, I want to quit my job and be a housewife. I think women who have those kinds of domestic ambitions are better off with a Japanese guy, since that pattern's been the norm for Japanese couples for so long.

At least they got this right, this is the reason me and one of the few Japanese GFs I had broke up, she just wanted to become a housewife and collect my pay check!

Anyone here remembers a few years back during the Koizumi days the deficit was supposed to be halved by 2011! Of course, the 2008 crisis hit hard and deficits rose through the roof. Can't wait to see history repeat itself...