Direct yen-yuan trading began in June 2012 on foreign exchange markets in Japan and China. Tsuyuguchi Yōsuke, a former Bank of Japan official now serving as senior advisory officer of Shinkin Central Bank, explains why this trading began, how it works, and where it is headed.
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In today’s dramatically changing international environment, Japan needs full-fledged foreign policy and national security think tanks more than ever before. Nakayama Toshihiro, an expert in this field, introduces the proposals of a recent advisory panel and sums up the issues involved.
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The London Olympics came to an end on August 12. Japan’s athletes won a record 38 medals in 13 different events. Sports journalist Ninomiya Seijun analyses the results and the implications for Tokyo’s bid for the 2020 Olympics.
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Japanese families are spending more on bread than rice for the first time ever, according to recent government findings. Iwamura Nobuko draws on the survey her own team has administered for the past 15 years to explain the historical and cultural factors underlying this shift.
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Confidence in Japan’s judiciary system has been shaken in recent years as false convictions come to light. One recent example is the 15-year imprisonment of a Nepalese man for a murder he did not commit. Sano Shin’ichi, a journalist who investigated the case, explains how an unjust verdict was reached and what the case reveals about Japan’s judiciary crisis.
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The package of bills that will raise the consumption tax was passed by the House of Representatives at the end of June. Political parties that had opposed each other came together to pass the bills. Political scientist Takenaka Harukata discusses some of the reasons for this sequence of events.
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