Japan 01 (May 08 - Dec 09)

[winston]

Just heard on Bloomberg.

The Nikkei is now trading at expected earnings of 100 times

????

[kennynah]

maybe becos it will be their flourishing porn industry that will save their day... kimochi

[Aspellian]

maybe becos it will be their flourishing porn industry that will save their day... kimochi

I have read an article before that actually the Porn industry is one that highly innovative (and recession-proof). Do you know that porn is the first internet website in the world that makes real $$?? way before all the amazon, yahoo etc coming onstream and learning from the hard-core industry experts. but its greed and lust that makes a man to the top but destroy him at the very top!

better dun touch.

[kennynah]

better dun touch.

like dat become eunuch liao

[Aspellian]

better dun touch.

like dat become eunuch liao

hahaha!! you mean like Wei Xiao Bao??

[winston]

Biggest quarterly hike in 5 decades

Japan's factory output rose for the fourth straight month in June as hopeful manufacturers boosted production to meet an uptick in global demand from depressed levels.

Industrial production in the world's second-biggest economy climbed 2.4 percent from the previous month and "continues to show an upward movement," the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said yesterday.

For the April-June period, factory output surged 8.3 percent - the biggest quarterly increase in more than five decades - though production was nearly one quarter lower than a year earlier, reflecting the severity of the slump in previous months.

The figures suggest the recession is loosening its hold on Japanese manufacturers like Toyota and Sony, which rely heavily on consumers overseas to buy their cars and gadgets. The unprecedented drop in world demand triggered by last year's global financial crisis dragged the country into its steepest economic downturn since World War II.

Shinsei Bank, meanwhile, returned to profit after three straight quarterly losses as interest income rose and writedowns on investments declined.

Net income was 5.2 billion yen (HK$421 million) in the three months ended June 30, from 10.9 billion yen a year earlier. The company had a loss of 110.9 billion yen in the quarter ended March 31.

AGENCIES

[winston]

Japan’s Jobless Rate Rises to 5.4%, Damping Recovery (Update1) By Toru Fujioka

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s unemployment rate rose to a six-year high in June, damping hopes that consumers in the world’s second-largest economy will start to reap the benefits of a rebound in exports and production.

The jobless rate advanced to 5.4 percent from 5.2 percent in May, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo, higher than the 5.3 percent median forecast of economists surveyed. The number of positions available to each job applicant rose stood at 0.43, a record low, the Labor Ministry said.

Manufacturers have fired thousands of workers to cope with the fallout in world demand from the most severe global recession since Great Depression. A rising unemployment rate is likely to weaken consumer spending, delaying a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

“There’s a risk Japan’s economy will deteriorate next year,” said Yoshiki Shinke, a senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. “It’s hard to envision a solid recovery in employment and business investment.”

Household spending rose 0.2 percent for a second month, a separate report showed today. Economists expected outlays to increase 0.5 percent.

Given Japan’s current production levels, companies have 6 million extra workers, the highest ever, the Cabinet Office said last week. Economists expect the jobless rate to rise to an unprecedented 5.9 percent next year, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

Temporary Relief

Consumers have received temporary relief from the downturn from Prime Minister Taro Aso’s 25 trillion yen in stimulus spending that included measures ranging from cash handouts to tax breaks on fuel-efficient vehicles. The packages helped bolster consumer confidence to an 18-month high in June.

Households may start to cut back because of the bleak prospects for wages and employment, according to Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo.

The U.S. unemployment rate rose to a quarter-century high of 9.5 percent in June and in the euro zone it reached a decade high of 9.5 percent in May.

At home, consumers are starting to save more, prompting retailers to offer cheaper products to lure consumers, according to Nagatoshi Nii, spokesman at the Millenium Retailing Inc. The department-store operator last week said its outlets will start selling cheaper, generic products in September because consumers are becoming more sensitive about prices, he said.

Summer bonuses at Japan’s largest companies will slide a record 18.3 percent this year, according to a survey published last month by the Keidanren, the country’s biggest business lobby. The average budget for this summer vacation for each individual dropped 18 percent to 88,000 yen ($925) from last year, the lowest in four years, Dentsu Research Inc. reported this week.

[winston]

It's Good to Know: Robot Unemployment

With 370,000 industrial workers, Japan has the most robots in the world. But even these tireless workers are not immune to the recession. A 40 percent decline in production in Japanese factories means many robots are dormant, while orders for new robots have fallen by almost 60 percent.

The upside (at least if you're not a robot)? Employers are eliminating robot positions before laying off human workers.

(Source: Popular Science and The New York Times)

[winston]

Recession reality bites Japan's anime industry

Association of Japanese Animators says industry rocked by recession
Group also says free Internet downloading is having a deadly effect
Japanese animation is roughly a $2 billion a year industry
Revenues peaked in 2006; lower advertising revenues lead to fewer new programs


By Morgan Neill CNN

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Given the magnitude of Japan's recession, it should perhaps come as little surprise that the fantasy-obsessed animation industry has received a hard dose of reality.

Nobuki Mitani is an "in-between" animator -- one of the lowest paid positions in animation.

Yasuo Yamaguchi, executive director of the Association of Japanese Animators, said the industry has been rocked by the country's deepest recession since World War II.

"The spread of free Internet downloading is having a deadly effect," he said.

Japanese animation is roughly a $2 billion-a-year industry. Revenues peaked in 2006 but have since fallen off, as lower advertising revenues lead to fewer new programs.

Yamaguchi said the animation industry is important to Japan's economy and that the government should be helping it through these tough times with subsidies.

Unlike some big screen animated features from the United States that rely almost completely on computer animation, in Japan, almost all features are drawn by hand -- a labor-intensive craft practiced by thousands of young artists each year.

For the last six years, Nobuki Mitani, has been working as an "in-between" animator -- filling in the cells between "key" animations. It is one of the lowest paid positions in the animation hierarchy.

Many of these entry-level jobs have been outsourced to the Philippines and South Korea in recent years.

Mitani, 27, said the hours are long, and the pay is low -- about $800 a month.

"Every day I work about 10 to 12 hours," he said. "Often, we work on Saturday, and if it's busy, we work Sunday, too."

In Tokyo, the world's most expensive city, that means living in cramped conditions. Mitani lives in a tiny one-room apartment with no air conditioning.

In summer, the room is sweltering.

"I try not to drink water," he said, "to control the sweating." He has a shared sink at the end of the hall where he can wash his hands and face, but to bathe he has to go to a public bath.

At the Tokyo Animation Institute, the classrooms are filled with students honing the craft, faces close to their sheets of paper, the only sound a hum from the electric pencil sharpener.

The school's director, Yosuke Shimizu, said he knows many of his graduates will quit their first jobs after just months.

"Within half a year, some will take freelance jobs, some will take a key drawing job, and some will become sketch directors. Those who are good enough never complain about how hard the job is," he said.

At Toei Animation Studios, conditions are better for the animators than in smaller studios. Toei has produced countless successes over the years, including the "Dragonball" series and the ongoing favorite "One Piece."

But even here animation is an intense, demanding job. Naotoshi Shida has been working at Toei for 25 years. He said it takes much more than just a love of drawing to succeed.

"If someone is thinking of doing this just because they love drawing, that's called a hobby. They'd better think of doing something else."

[winston]

Japan’s Machinery Orders Rebound More Than Expected (Update1) By Jason Clenfield and Tatsuo Ito

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese machinery orders rose more than economists estimated in June, the first gain in four months and the latest sign that the nation’s worst postwar recession is easing.

Bookings, an indicator of capital investment in the next three to six months, rose 9.7 percent from May, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 2.6 percent increase.

The current-account surplus, the nation’s broadest measure of trade, widened for the first time since February 2008 as exports improved, a separate report showed. Economists say the rebound in demand is unlikely to be enough to prompt companies including Toyota Motor Corp. to increase spending on factories and equipment.

“The worst is definitely over in terms of earnings, but the incentive to invest is very limited in a world in which production levels are so low,” said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo.

The yen traded at 97.27 per dollar at 9:08 a.m. in Tokyo from 97.39 before the report was published. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.5 percent.

The current-account surplus more than doubled to 1.153 trillion yen ($11.8 billion) in June from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said. Exports fell 37 percent from a year ago and imports slid 43.8 percent. Shipments climbed 6.3 percent from May.

Spending Cuts

A survey published last week by the Development Bank of Japan showed Japanese companies will cut capital spending 9.2 percent this fiscal year. Reductions by manufacturers will be the steepest since 1993.

Still, more than $2 trillion in spending by governments worldwide has stabilized global demand, supporting manufacturers such as Kubota Corp., which is selling more farming equipment in China. Japan’s factory production rose 8.3 percent last quarter, rebounding from a record 22.1 percent plunge in the previous period.

Profit estimates for Japanese companies have been better than expected, helping lift the Nikkei 17 percent since July 13. Some 15 percent of firms listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange have raised first-half earnings estimates since June, according to Tokyo-based Shinko Research, while 10 percent have lowered projections.

‘Improving Gradually’

“Earnings will probably keep improving gradually, but cash flows are very low,” said RBS’s Nishioka. “When companies are making the decision about whether to invest, what’s important isn’t how much sales or production are increasing, it’s the level that matters.”

Toyota last week narrowed its loss forecast for the current business year, citing government incentives introduced in Japan, the U.S. and Europe to encourage car-buying. Even with an improved outlook, the company estimates it will sell 3 million fewer cars than it has the capacity to build. The automaker plans to cut capital spending 36 percent this year.

Declining business spending, which made up 15 percent of gross domestic product last year, is one of the reasons Japan’s recovery is forecast to lose momentum later this year. The world’s second-largest economy probably grew last quarter for the first time in a year, expanding at an annualized 3.8 percent pace after a record 14.2 percent contraction in the first quarter, according to the median estimate of 20 analysts.