Japan Retail Sales September 2007

As in August, Japan retail sales in September 2007 managed to eke out a small (0.5%) year on year increase - according to data released by METI today - but as in August this was largely due to a low base effect, since sales in August and September of 2006 were not exactly spectacular (see chart below). Quarter on quarter sales in July-September were down 0.5% on sales in April-June, an outcome

Japan Industrial Output September 2007

Japan's industrial production fell in slightly September from the record August level, as makers of cars and general machinery cut manufacturing following a slowdown in overseas demand. Production was down a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent from a month earlier, when it surged 3.5 percent, according to data from the Trade Ministry in Tokyo today.Claus will probably have a fuller comment on the

Japan Exports September 2007

Japan's exports grew at the slowest pace in two years in September as shipments to the U.S. dropped back. In total exports rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Japanese Finance Ministry released earlier today. At the same time imports declined for the first time in more than three years, helping the trade surplus widen to yet another record.Shipments to China, the

David Pilling on Koizumi and Reform

Financial Times journalist David Pilling - who is a very able Japan watcher - has a most interesting piece in the FT today. Since he makes some very simple points in a very clear fashion, I will take the unusual step - for this blog at least - of quoting at some length.David Pilling makes several points which are very well taken. In the first place, he points out that Japan's recent "recovery" is

Japan August 2007 Consumer Confidence Index

Japanese household sentiment stayed stuck hoevering around a three-year low in September, and there is little indication in the latest consumer confidence index that Japanese consumer spending is likely to accelerate any time soon. The sentiment index that measures confidence among households with two or more people edged up to 44.1 points last month from 44 in August, arresting what had been a

Not Much News from the BOJ

Today's meeting in the BOJ did not bring much news from the eastern shores of Asia as the overnight rate was kept at 0.5%. Relative to the mixed signals from the economic readings on August there is not much new data available apart from Ken Worsley's note that one of the leading economic sentiment indices (Economy watchers) fell for a sixth consecutive month. As for the meeting itself

Japan August 2007 Machinery Orders

Just a brief note on future orders in the key machinery sector. Machine orders declined by a more-than-expected 7.7 percent in August, after gaining 17 percent the month before, according to data from the Cabinet Office in Tokyo today. This is not quite as bleak a picture as it appears, since in fact overseas orders rose 23% over what had been a rather low level in July. To get some idea of where