According to The Nikkei Asian Review, Japan ran its largest current account surplus in a decade in fiscal 2017 on the back of increasing overseas earnings, government data showed Thursday.
The country logged a surplus of 21.74 trillion yen (US$ 198 billion), up 3.4 percent from a year earlier, despite the rising cost of oil imports.
The figure is the third highest since the Finance Ministry began gathering comparable data in fiscal 1985, trailing fiscal 2007's record high 24.34 trillion yen surplus.
The current account is one of the widest gauges of international trade. Among key components, the primary income account, which reflects how much Japan earns from foreign investments, logged a surplus of 19.91 trillion yen, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year.
A smaller deficit in services trade also helped push up the headline figure, reflecting a surge in tourism from abroad.
The travel surplus jumped 47.5 percent from a year ago to 1.93 trillion yen, the largest since comparable data became available in fiscal 1996. In fiscal 2017, the number of foreign visitors to Japan soared 19.9 percent from a year earlier to 29.77 million.
Meanwhile, Japan's goods trade surplus shrank 20.8 percent to 4.58 trillion yen as the rise in imports outpaced growth in exports.
A rise in the price of commodities such as crude oil and natural gas pushed up imports by 13.4 percent to 73.72 trillion yen, while exports gained 10.6 percent to 78.31 trillion as demand for cars and manufacturing equipment expanded, particularly in the rest of Asia.
In March alone, Japan posted a current account surplus of 3.12 trillion yen, up 4.2 percent from a year earlier and marking the 45th straight month of black ink.
The primary income account registered a surplus of 2.11 trillion yen, while goods trade logged a 1.19 trillion yen surplus.

Ref:​ https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Japan-logs-largest-current-account-surplus-in-decade-in-fiscal-2017

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/10-17​ 
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According to The Australian Financial Review, losers of Australian federal budget 2018 are as follows:

• Super funds - From July 1, 2019, ban on exit fees on all super accounts and a 3 per cent annual cap on passive fees on super accounts with balances below $6000. The Australian Taxation Office will also proactively find people's lost super and have it sent to their active superannuation account, which means potential loss of ongoing fees.
• Life insurers - From July 1, 2019, insurance linked to superannuation will move from an opt-out model to an opt-in model for members with balances of less than $6000, members under the age of 25 and members who have not received a contribution in the past 13 months.
• New migrants - From July 1, 2018, new migrants will have to wait four years instead of three before they can access certain welfare benefits. It is estimated new migrants will miss out on more than $200 million worth of welfare benefits for five years until 2021-22, as a result of this measure.
• Tax dodgers - A new $10,000 limit for cash payments for goods and services from July 1, 2019. The government also aims to raise $3 billion over the next four years by funding new mobile strike teams, increasing audit presence to crack down on tax avoidance and money laundering.The government also aims to raise $1.9 billion by better combating the black economy. It will also crack down on illegitimate use of research and development (R&D) tax incentives, raising $2.4 billion over the next four years.
• Renewable energy - Emissions reduction target will remain at 26 to 28 per cent, not 45 per cent demanded by Labor. The current subsidy scheme for renewable energy will be phased out from 2020.
• Chop chop smokers and smugglers - Smokers may have to pay more for legal tobacco, after the government announced it will crack down on illicit tobacco smuggling to raise additional $3.6 billion over the next four years.
• Big pharma - The government will encourage use of generic and biosimilar medicines, to raise $336 million over five years from 2017-18.
• Centrelink fraudsters - The government will save nearly $300 million by 2019-20 by amping up its Centrelink fraud detection and debt recovery activities.
• Online hotel booking sites - Online aggregators such as Wotif, Expedia and Booking.com will be worse off as offshore sellers of hotel accommodation in Australia will have to pay GST to hotel accommodation sales made from July 1, 2019. This is estimated to raise $15 million over four years.

http://www.afr.com/news/policy/budget/federal-budget-2018-winners-and-losers-20180504-h0znvj

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/20187352074 

According to The Australian Financial Review, the winners of Australian federal budget 2018 are as follows:

• Future generations - Forecast return to surplus by 2019-20, one year ahead of schedule.
• Middle and low-income earners - From the 2019 financial year until the 2022 financial year, middle and low-income tax earners will get a tax offset of up to $530 a year. From July 1, 2018 the top threshold for the 37 per cent tax bracket will increase to $90,000. In the 2020s the income tax threshold will be further raised to combat bracket creep for middle and high-income earners. The government will also keep the Medicare levy at 2 per cent, instead of increasing it to 2.5 per cent from July 1, 2019 as previously planned.
• Older Australians - $1.6 billion over the next four years to increase the number of home care places by 14,000 to support older Australians who want to stay at home rather than going into residential aged care.
• Infrastructure - $3.5 billion for roads including $1.5 billion for Northern Australia, $400 million for Tasmania, $100 million for NSW and ACT Barton Highway Corridor and $1.5 billion for "future national priorities". An additional $1 billion "Urban Congestion Fund" to fix pinch points and improve traffic flow.
• Patients - Extra $1.4 billion over five years from 2017-18 for new Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme listings, including medicines to treat spinal muscular atrophy, breast cancer, refractory multiple myeloma, relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and a new medicine to prevent HIV.
• Indigenous Australians - $550 million over five years from 2018-19 to address remote housing needs in the Northern Territory.
• Great Barrier Reef - $536 million over five years from 2017-18 to crack down on coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish and improve the quality of water entering the Reef.
• Craft beer drinkers - From July 1, 2019, concessioanl draught beef excise rates will apply to smaller kegs typically used by craft brewers, making craft beer cheaper.

Ref: http://www.afr.com/news/policy/budget/federal-budget-2018-winners-and-losers-20180504-h0znvj

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/2018 
​

According to The Nikkei Asian Review, prices for domestic rice are rising in Japan, driving consumers to cheaper foreign-grown varieties, the imports of which are still strictly regulated. But as more supermarkets and restaurants offer low-cost foreign rice, straining import caps, foreign rice producers are expected to call on the country to open its rice market wider.
In late March, supermarket operator Seiyu began selling Australian rice for the first time in five years, touting its low price. A 4kg-bag goes for 1,180 yen (US$10.79), 20% cheaper than Japan's popular Nanatsuboshi variety. Seiyu is offering the Australian grain at all of its 144 stores in the Kanto region and other parts of the country.
Japan has long protected its rice farmers by restricting imports. But after policies that reduced rice acreage for nearly 50 years through 2017 and encouraged the growing of feed rice, annual production of domestic rice for direct consumption has dropped 11% over the past five years to 7.3 million tons. This has pushed up prices for the third straight year, with retail prices about 10% higher than last year.
Seiyu worked with trading house Sumitomo Corp. and rice wholesaler Yamatane on pricing for the Australian import. "There were no brands of Japanese rice for 300 yen or less per kilogram, and Australian rice satisfied Seiyu's demand," said Yamatane President Motohiro Yamazaki.
Foreign rice producers view the price surge as an opening to lobby Japan to accept more imports. In early April, Australia's ambassador to Japan, Richard Court talked to Japanese rice distributors, outlining the history of Australian rice and saying some of it is similar in taste to Japanese varieties.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership signed in March allows Australia to export up to 8,400 tons of rice to Japan annually. The imported rice is expected to go directly to market.
Meanwhile, the U.S. decision to withdraw from the TPP under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump disappointed American rice farmers. The trade pact would have allowed them to export up to 70,000 tons to Japan. In 2016, the U.S. Trade Representative said that TPP benefits to the U.S. grain market would come mainly from Japan.
In 1993, Japan was forced to open its rice market and now imports up to 770,000 tons annually under a minimum-access quota system, with rice for direct consumption limited to 100,000 tons. The remaining imports are earmarked for processed foods or animal feed.
Overall, 60% of imported table rice comes from the U.S., 30% from Australia and the remainder from other countries.
Imported rice for direct consumption accounts for only about 1% of Japan's total consumption. But the recent price hikes caused demand for imports to hit the 100,000-ton limit for the first time in five years during the fiscal 2017 rice auction.
Fast-food operator Yoshinoya Holdings started using U.S. rice at its beef-bowl restaurants about a year ago. Restaurant chains Kourakuen Holdings and Saint Marc Holdings have also begun serving U.S. rice, and the USA Rice Federation is trying to have sushi restaurant operators do the same.
"Japan should not be content growing brand-name rice alone," said Makoto Hirayama, president of rice wholesaler Kitoku Shinryo. Several types of high-grade rice costing about 3,000 yen per 5kg have been on the market for years, but with real wages in Japan marking their first on-year decline in two years in 2017, consumers are becoming more price-conscious. Many households apparently prefer to spend less than 2,000 yen for the same amount.
Prices for domestic rice are also rising as more production is diverted to feed markets, and the amount available for direct consumption is falling. The production of feed rice now nearly equals 10% of that for table rice. With increasing amounts of domestic rice destined for the high-grade and feed sectors, the low-price category is opening up to foreign rice growers.

Ref: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-Trends/Japan-s-price-conscious-consumers-turn-to-foreign-rice
 
If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/6127976
​

According to The Australian Financial Review, Crowley and co-founder Valentin Muenzel at Relectrify think they can reduce the upfront cost by about 30 per cent by recycling the best cells of spent electric vehicle batteries and connecting them via smart technology that draws power from the cells in a way that extends their lives and increases their efficiency.
If they can offer recycled cell batteries that last almost as long as new ones and cost a lot less, that will boost takeup, Crowley says. It would also reduce demand for greenhouse polluting grid power and battery waste.
They've previously raised $2 million and recycled a 12 volt battery for a caravan and driven it around Australia. The next step is field trials of a 48V home storage battery –  recycled from a spent Nissan leaf battery – with IBM and Selectronic, a maker of current inverters for solar systems. A 400V industrial and small utility scale battery is the next goal.

http://www.afr.com/news/battery-doctor-relectrify-heads-to-free-electron-boot-camp-20180503-h0zm5x

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/1348211 
​

According to The Australian Financial Review, Amazon will open its second distribution centre in Sydney's southwest after leasing a 43,000sq m industrial facility in Moorebank.
Sources had indicated the mega online retailer was scoping the Sydney market for a new facility via leasing agent CBRE. The group has now agreed on terms on the lease at the Goodman Centenary Distribution Centre, due to start operations in the second half of the year.
"Sydney represents another important development for our growth strategy in Australia, following a steady and progressive increase in customer demand," Amazon Australia operations director Robert Bruce said.
Amazon made its much anticipated Australian debut last year in Melbourne's Dandenong South, securing a 24,387sq m former Bunnings distribution centre from Melbourne's Pellicano family.
It commenced sales in December with 23 categories including consumer electronics, books, sporting goods, fashion and Amazon devices.
The new Sydney warehouse would allow the company to speed up delivery to customers, Amazon said.

http://www.afr.com/real-estate/amazon-to-open-sydney-warehouse-kicks-off-recruitment-drive-20180503-h0zkp2

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/8559643 

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, corporate Japan is at a crossroads over domestic production as exchange rates, labor costs, automation and consumer tastes pull companies in opposing directions.
Japanese manufacturers had been steadily moving production of appliances and everyday goods back to Japan over the past few years, but the appreciation of the yen is making domestic production relatively more expensive.
"We have no plan to increase domestic production," said a manager at a Japanese daily goods maker that produces most of its goods in China, citing the gap between production costs at home and those in other countries.
The average cost of production in 20 Asia-Pacific economies last year was 78.6% that of Japan, compared with 80.6% in 2015 and 74% in 2012, a study from Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities shows.
Foreign exchange rates are a driving factor. The yen was stronger than 80 per dollar in 2012 but began to weaken after the Bank of Japan rolled out its monetary easing policy the next year. The yen softened to around 125 per dollar in June 2015, raising Japanese companies' export competitiveness and the cost of reverse imports from overseas subsidiaries.
Higher labor costs throughout Asia have also pushed Japanese companies to repatriate production. JVC Kenwood partially moved production of its car navigation systems for Japanese vehicles to Nagano Prefecture from Indonesia and China at the end of 2015. Japan's manufacturing ranks returned to the 10 million mark in fiscal 2017 thanks to similar moves by other companies.
But the business environment began to change around 2016 as the yen gradually gained strength amid China's economic slowdown and Britain's decision to leave the European Union. This year, the yen appreciated as far as 104 per dollar in March, compared with about 112 at the start of 2018.
Rising domestic labor costs also factor into executives' decisions to bring production home. Japanese wages in 2018 are set to rise at the fastest pace in 20 years. Higher wages are essential for economic recovery, but it will be difficult to bring more manufacturing home if doing so erodes profitability.
Companies are once again starting to look overseas for production. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that reverse import sales by Japanese companies' foreign subsidiaries totaled $27 billion in the October-December quarter, the highest level since $28.2 billion in the July-September quarter of 2011, a few months after the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated the domestic supply chain and strengthened the yen. The tally had not exceeded $25 billion for the most part since 2015.
"The cost difference with Asia will expand further should the yen continue to gain strength," said Hiroshi Miyazaki of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. "Companies may scale back investment in domestic production as factory utilization rates fall."
But automation through innovations like artificial intelligence may reverse the trend once again. Casio Computer is automating a Yamagata Prefecture factory that turns out $20 wristwatches, a move that will allow a domestic manufacturing operation to remain competitive in a low-price area. Production costs will be on a par with Thailand, which is a quarter as expensive as Japan.
A January survey by Japan's Cabinet Office showed that listed companies plan to produce 25% of their goods abroad in five years, the highest level since 26.2% in January 2015.
Another factor keeping production at home has been the high number of visitors to Japan. Almost 30 million tourists came to the country in fiscal 2017. Cosmetics maker Shiseido recently decided to build its first domestic factory in 36 years as foreign interest in made-in-Japan goods grows. Some Japanese companies have decided to boost domestic production in response to popularity abroad.
The yen's strength also appears to be waning for now. "Labors costs are growing in Asia. The current exchange rate will not cause companies to move more production abroad," said Hitoshi Sasaki of the Japan Center for Economic Research. "Domestic productivity can rise further if production lines are improved."

Ref:​https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Japan-Inc.-s-shift-to-domestic-production-interrupted-by-strong-yen
 
If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/4431768 

According to The Australian Financial Review, member-based venture capital firm Investible is halfway through raising its first VC fund of $20 million, which will be used to back early stage start-ups, as it claimed its existing portfolio was delivering market-leading growth.
Investible's co-founder Creel Price told The Australian Financial Review the four-year-old operation had so far achieved an unrealised compound return of 66.2 per cent per annum, based on its investments in start-ups such as Canva, Ipsy and Car Next Door, which he said made it one of the best in the industry.
The launch of its first fund, which has already raised more than $10 million, comes six months after it expanded to Asia, setting up an office in Singapore and recruiting talent scouts in Thailand, China and Malaysia.
​
http://www.afr.com/technology/angel-investor-group-investible-raising-20m-to-back-early-stage-startups-20180426-h0z9cz

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9379124 

According to The Nikkei Asian Review, with Japan aiming to become a premier tourist destination and welcome 40 million foreign visitors per year by 2020, the nighttime economy of its capital and largest city, Tokyo, has tremendous potential to play a role.
Encouraging spending on after-hours activities has largely been neglected so far but could help the government reach its goal of increasing the outlay by foreign tourists to 8 trillion yen a year by 2020.
It could also create new business opportunities. In one part of the city, for example, nighttime river kayaking tours have taken off.
According to the Japan Tourism Agency, 28.69 million people visited the country in 2017, spending a total of 4.41 trillion yen, the highest figures ever. Spending on pleasure activities accounted for about 3%, but spending per person fell 1.3% from a year before to about 154,000 yen.
"Japan can offer special night experiences such as hanami (flower viewing) and fireworks that cannot be experienced elsewhere," said Junichi Kumada, chief research officer at JTB Tourism Research & Consulting.
He said Tokyo city needs a broad discussion on how best to maximize its attractions, but one of the easiest features to take advantage of is its spectacular rooftop night views. He also recommends that regulations be eased to allow outside tables to be set up on public roadsides.
In 2016, the Shibuya City Tourism Association named its first "night ambassador," following the example of European cities that have appointed "night mayors." The night ambassador's job is to promote Shibuya's nighttime culture, such as its dance clubs and bars. On April 1, the association launched a tour of lesser-known, but high-quality restaurants in the area.
The association's spokesperson, Kyoko Hori, said many foreign tourists visit Shibuya for a fun night out, but don't know where to go or what to do. Despite their growing numbers, foreign visitors do not contribute much to the local economy. To change this, the association has created an English map to the area's nightlife, and hopes night tour participants will spread the word on social media. It also wants to cooperate with museums and other public facilities to have them extend their opening hours and organize collaborative events.
But can a city like Tokyo, which has a culture and customs that are very different from big western cities like London and New York, really become a major draw of the same magnitude for international tourism? Among the challenges it faces are a shortage of nighttime labor, a growing preference for morning activities due to an aging population, and concerns about noise and security in some districts.
Yet there is much to recommend the city as well.
On the Kyunakagawa river in Tokyo's Sumida Ward, foreign visitors are enthusiastically signing up for nighttime kayaking tours run by an outdoor company. Paddling the Tokyo waterways at night shows a different side of the city, with its night views reflected on the river surface. The participation of foreign tourists really took off after the tour was registered on a website run by Airbnb, the popular home-sharing service.
The tour costs 7,000 yen per person, and more foreign tourists than locals are now taking part. As foreign visitors discover the full range of nighttime activities that Tokyo has to offer, the nightlife for locals might just improve as well.

Ref: ​https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Life/Japan-looks-to-Tokyo-s-nighttime-economy-to-hit-tourism-goals
 
If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
​https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/4921590
​