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Dr. Llewelyn Hughes on Japan's Energy Conundrum

Dr. Llewelyn Hughes, Research Director at GR Japan and Senior Lecturer at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University, writes on Japan's energy conundrum and Abe's policies in the East Asia Forum.

Jakob Edberg's interview for Svenska Dagbladet

GR Japan's Managing Director, Jakob Edberg, gave an interview for one of the major Swedish newspapers, Svenska Dagbladet.

The interview was published in the 6 January edition and could be viewed on the following link.

TEPCO and Chubu Electric in Joint LNG Procurement

In a first such initiative in Japan, two of Japan’s major electric power companies, TEPCO and Chubu Electric, are holding a joint tender for the supply of LNG, inviting about 60 major LNG suppliers to bid. Bids are due by 19 December and a supplier will be chosen in January 2015.

The Abe Account of Abenomics

The Prime Minister’s Office has published an interesting and thorough presentation in English (available here) on the progress and achievements of Abenomics to date.

Discussions on wage growth with the business and labor unions

Immediately after the elections, PM Abe met business and union representatives to discuss wages. The lack of wage growth, combined with the impact of yen depreciation, is seen as one of the major obstacles to lifting private consumption, an essential part of Abe’s growth strategy. Rengo, Japan's largest labor union federation, has decided to seek an increase in annual wages of at least 2%, with the Abe administration supporting that goal.

Abenomics - Continuity for Change

As the media name for the dissolution that preceded it would suggest, the last election was about one thing and one thing only – Abenomics. Economic policies were the centerpiece of both the ruling coalition and the opposition’s campaigns and also the focus of the media debates and surveys in the runoff to the elections.

Busy schedule ahead of the re-elected coalition

After a resounding victory in the House of Representatives election on 14 December, the winning coalition moves swiftly to resume work.

GR Japan 2014 Election Special Report

With two days left to the 2014 General Election, we are pleased to present our Election Special report, which includes a prediction based on the latest polls, explains both the existing and the emerging electoral trends and, most importantly, explores the political and policy implications of the expected results.

Initial polls point to landslide victory for LDP

Initial polls conducted on 2 and 3 December by the Yomiuri Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun and Nikkei Shimbun suggest a landslide victory for the LDP. Yomiuri Shimbun predicts that the ruling coalition may secure more than 300 of the 475 seats in the upcoming lower house election, while the polls from Asahi and Nikkei indicates LDP alone could win over 300 seats.

The Nikkei trades high despite downgrade of Japanese debt and banks

Moody's Investors Service have downgraded the Japanese sovereign debt over the decision of the Japanese government to postpone the planned increase of the consumption tax until April 2017. The Nikkei Asian Review reports that Moody’s decision is based on doubts whether the country can reach primary balance fiscal surplus by 2020, which was one of the main goals of the current administration.

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