With consumer spending in a slump, many izakaya operators are slashing labor to cut prices.
Watami Co. is planning to open a chain of 10 budget izakaya pubs by the end of the year, with 70-80 percent of the menu priced at 250 yen.
"Since last summer, customers have been quickly tightening their purse strings," said Yutaka Kuwahara, the company's president. "The market is going to continue shrinking, slowly but surely."
At the budget Watami, customers use a digital menu to place orders at their table before picking up the orders at the kitchen themselves.
By adopting this system, Watami will cut labor costs, thereby making the cheaper menu a reality. At the regularly priced Watami izakaya, the average patron spends 2,600 yen. The company predicts that figure will be as little as 1,800 yen for customers at the budget izakaya.
In May, Colowide Co., which operates the Amataro izakaya chain, cut prices on 40 percent of its menu to under 400 yen, with many dishes costing as little as 299 yen. The company reduced its prices by preparing its food at its factory to lessen the burden on each kitchen.
"We also want to attract customers who don't spend much," said Shinichiro Hayakawa, head of operations.
Sanko Marketing Foods Co. has been leading this low-price competition since May 2009 by pricing all items at its izakaya pubs--such as Toho-kenbun-roku and Tsuki-no-Shizuku--at 270 yen.
Izakaya sales dropped 6.6 percent in April from the same month last year, marking the 16th straight month of decline.
With fewer people visiting izakaya after work and many people opting to eat-in--plus to the fact that fewer younger people drink--this price battle seems to have just begun.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/T100603004657.htm
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
May - Bankruptcies fell 15%, off for 10th month
Corporate bankruptcies fell in May for the 10th straight month, extending the longest streak of declines in five years as the economic recovery helped more firms stay afloat.
Business failures slid 15.1 percent from a year earlier to 1,021 cases, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said Tuesday.
A resurgence in overseas demand helped the economy sustain its rebound in the first quarter. While government lending programs have been helping, the decline in bankruptcies is increasingly reflecting better business prospects for Japanese companies, economist Yoshimasa Maruyama said.
"The economy itself is improving," Maruyama, a senior economist at Itochu Corp., said before the report was released. "It's been a year since the rebound began. It's typical for the number of bankruptcies to fall by now."
Even so, three listed companies collapsed in May
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20100609n3.html
Business failures slid 15.1 percent from a year earlier to 1,021 cases, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said Tuesday.
A resurgence in overseas demand helped the economy sustain its rebound in the first quarter. While government lending programs have been helping, the decline in bankruptcies is increasingly reflecting better business prospects for Japanese companies, economist Yoshimasa Maruyama said.
"The economy itself is improving," Maruyama, a senior economist at Itochu Corp., said before the report was released. "It's been a year since the rebound began. It's typical for the number of bankruptcies to fall by now."
Even so, three listed companies collapsed in May
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20100609n3.html
Economy began recovery after hitting bottom in March 2009
The economy began to recover after bottoming out in March 2009, ending an economic contraction that lasted for about 17 months since November 2007, the Cabinet Office said Monday.
A panel of economists and experts for the Cabinet Office determined that the period of the latest recession is almost an average for the past 13 economic cycles, which comes in at 16 months.
The recession deepened due to a financial crisis stemming from the failure in 2008 of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
The previous recession continued 14 months from December 2000 to January 2002.
The economy then started expanding in February 2002 and hit the peak in October 2007, which means the expansion lasted for the longest 69 months in the postwar period.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9G69A100&show_article=1
A panel of economists and experts for the Cabinet Office determined that the period of the latest recession is almost an average for the past 13 economic cycles, which comes in at 16 months.
The recession deepened due to a financial crisis stemming from the failure in 2008 of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
The previous recession continued 14 months from December 2000 to January 2002.
The economy then started expanding in February 2002 and hit the peak in October 2007, which means the expansion lasted for the longest 69 months in the postwar period.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9G69A100&show_article=1
2010 Q1 - Economy Grows by 4.9%
Japan's real GDP grew 1.2 percent in Q1 2010, or an annualized 4.9 percent, from the previous quarter, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of growth. Nominal GDP also grew 1.2 percent (annualized 4.9 percent), the second straight quarterly rise.
External demand pushed up real GDP 0.7 percent and domestic demand 0.6 percent. Exports increased 6.9 percent, more than the 5.8 percent posted the previous quarter, driven by exports to Asian markets including China. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 60 percent of GDP, rose 0.3 percent — for the fourth straight quarterly rise.
Public works investment slipped 1.7 percent, the third straight quarterly decline. But capital investment grew 1 percent, up for the second consecutive quarter. Housing investment rose 0.3 percent, the first rise in 15 months.
Growth in consumer spending has been helped by government measures to subsidize consumers who purchase eco-friendly products. Since the measures are due to expire by the end of fiscal 2010, consumer spending might tumble. Unemployment is still relatively high (5.1 percent in April) and basic salaries of workers have been decreasing. There is also the risk that exports will stall as the governments of emerging economies try to slow down overheated economies.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20100605a2.html
External demand pushed up real GDP 0.7 percent and domestic demand 0.6 percent. Exports increased 6.9 percent, more than the 5.8 percent posted the previous quarter, driven by exports to Asian markets including China. Consumer spending, which accounts for about 60 percent of GDP, rose 0.3 percent — for the fourth straight quarterly rise.
Public works investment slipped 1.7 percent, the third straight quarterly decline. But capital investment grew 1 percent, up for the second consecutive quarter. Housing investment rose 0.3 percent, the first rise in 15 months.
Growth in consumer spending has been helped by government measures to subsidize consumers who purchase eco-friendly products. Since the measures are due to expire by the end of fiscal 2010, consumer spending might tumble. Unemployment is still relatively high (5.1 percent in April) and basic salaries of workers have been decreasing. There is also the risk that exports will stall as the governments of emerging economies try to slow down overheated economies.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20100605a2.html
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Usury Laws into Full Effect
From June 18, a revised law controlling moneylenders, which has been applied incrementally up to now, goes into full force.
A salient feature of the law, reports Nikkan Gendai (May 19), will be a limit on the loan amount to less than one-third of the borrower’s annual income. At the same time, nearly all consumer loan companies are ceasing to extend loans to housewives.
According to the national census of 2005, Japan had 16.4 million full-time housewives, of whom an estimated 4.75 million, or 29 percent, had taken out consumer loans.
A salient feature of the law, reports Nikkan Gendai (May 19), will be a limit on the loan amount to less than one-third of the borrower’s annual income. At the same time, nearly all consumer loan companies are ceasing to extend loans to housewives.
According to the national census of 2005, Japan had 16.4 million full-time housewives, of whom an estimated 4.75 million, or 29 percent, had taken out consumer loans.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Yakuza Explore New Businesses
As police strengthen their efforts to crack down on fund-raising activities by organized crime groups, they are seeing a rising trend in groups trying to push overpriced products such as Viagra tablets on convenience store owners.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) suspects that organized crime groups are now trying to tap into community-based businesses as they find it more difficult to collect money through the old-fashioned way -- "protection money" from restaurants and bars -- amid the lingering economic recession.
According to investigators, a 51-year-old gangster affiliated with the Inagawa-kai crime syndicate visited a total of 11 convenience stores, beauty salons and drug stores in Tokyo's Setagaya and Shibuya wards in February this year. The man reportedly showed a business card with the name of his yakuza clan printed on it in front of shop assistants, and then showed a flyer which read: "We accept telephone orders for Viagra, available for 12,000 yen for five tablets; 20,000 yen for 10 tablets and 38,000 yen for 20 tablets."
When one of the shop clerks rejected his offer, the man insisted, saying "Customers will appreciate it if you give them the tablets secretly, and more people will come to visit your shop through word-of-mouth. We have underground porn videos too." But no one at the 11 stores bought anything from the man, police said.
After receiving a series of similar complaints, the MPD's Organized Crime Control Section in April ordered the man to halt his soliciting under authority of the Act on Prevention of Unjust Acts by Organized Crime Group Members (Anti-Organized Crime Act).
The Viagra he offered to the shops was about 40 percent more expensive than products out on the market, and police suspect that the price difference was meant to function as protection money.
According to the organized crime control section, in addition to established fund-raising practices such as forcing restaurants and bars in their territory to buy commodities such as New Year's decorations and air fresheners and demanding protection money, gangs have recently begun inviting shop clerks to join events such as expensive dinner cruises on private houseboats. Crime organizations seem to be adopting a strategy of collecting smaller amounts of money, but from a broader range of businesses.
In 2009, the MPD issued a record 532 orders to gang members who demanded protection money from food service operators and other businesses in Tokyo to halt such activities -- an increase of 62 cases from 2008. It was the highest number among all prefectures. Without the orders, an estimated 340 million yen could have filtered through to crime groups.
A 2008 revision to the Anti-Organized Crime Act stipulates that if a gang member tries to extort money under the name of a crime syndicate, its leader will also be held responsible for the act and ordered to pay damages. Several crime groups have reportedly invited lawyers and other experts to hold study sessions about the revised law.
One organized crime group created a list of shops they have been ordered by police not to visit again and instructed its members to stay away from the shops on the list. Another organization has reportedly drawn up guidelines for its members, telling them to "avoid wearing yakuza-like clothing" and that "mistakes by members will be settled financially rather than by cutting off fingers."
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20100529p2a00m0na010000c.html
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) suspects that organized crime groups are now trying to tap into community-based businesses as they find it more difficult to collect money through the old-fashioned way -- "protection money" from restaurants and bars -- amid the lingering economic recession.
According to investigators, a 51-year-old gangster affiliated with the Inagawa-kai crime syndicate visited a total of 11 convenience stores, beauty salons and drug stores in Tokyo's Setagaya and Shibuya wards in February this year. The man reportedly showed a business card with the name of his yakuza clan printed on it in front of shop assistants, and then showed a flyer which read: "We accept telephone orders for Viagra, available for 12,000 yen for five tablets; 20,000 yen for 10 tablets and 38,000 yen for 20 tablets."
When one of the shop clerks rejected his offer, the man insisted, saying "Customers will appreciate it if you give them the tablets secretly, and more people will come to visit your shop through word-of-mouth. We have underground porn videos too." But no one at the 11 stores bought anything from the man, police said.
After receiving a series of similar complaints, the MPD's Organized Crime Control Section in April ordered the man to halt his soliciting under authority of the Act on Prevention of Unjust Acts by Organized Crime Group Members (Anti-Organized Crime Act).
The Viagra he offered to the shops was about 40 percent more expensive than products out on the market, and police suspect that the price difference was meant to function as protection money.
According to the organized crime control section, in addition to established fund-raising practices such as forcing restaurants and bars in their territory to buy commodities such as New Year's decorations and air fresheners and demanding protection money, gangs have recently begun inviting shop clerks to join events such as expensive dinner cruises on private houseboats. Crime organizations seem to be adopting a strategy of collecting smaller amounts of money, but from a broader range of businesses.
In 2009, the MPD issued a record 532 orders to gang members who demanded protection money from food service operators and other businesses in Tokyo to halt such activities -- an increase of 62 cases from 2008. It was the highest number among all prefectures. Without the orders, an estimated 340 million yen could have filtered through to crime groups.
A 2008 revision to the Anti-Organized Crime Act stipulates that if a gang member tries to extort money under the name of a crime syndicate, its leader will also be held responsible for the act and ordered to pay damages. Several crime groups have reportedly invited lawyers and other experts to hold study sessions about the revised law.
One organized crime group created a list of shops they have been ordered by police not to visit again and instructed its members to stay away from the shops on the list. Another organization has reportedly drawn up guidelines for its members, telling them to "avoid wearing yakuza-like clothing" and that "mistakes by members will be settled financially rather than by cutting off fingers."
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20100529p2a00m0na010000c.html
April - Housing starts up for 1st time in 17 months
Japan's housing starts in April edged up 0.6 percent from a year earlier to 66,568 units for the first increase in 17 months, the government said Monday.
The rise is attributable to increased starts on large-scale condominiums for sale in Tokyo as well as a rebound from the year before's 32.4 percent plunge amid the global recession, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The ministry said the housing market has shown signs of recovery as a whole but it is continuing to seesaw.
Starts on condos for sale by property developers jumped 35.8 percent to 9,668 units for the first rise in 16 months, while those on single- family houses for sale rose 19.0 percent to 8,363 units for the fourth straight month of rise.
By region, housing starts rose 7.2 percent in the Tokyo metropolitan area, 1.0 percent in the Chubu region centering on Nagoya and 4.6 percent in the Kinki region including Osaka.
However, the rest of Japan saw a decline of 8.0 percent.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9G1ME8G1&show_article=1
The rise is attributable to increased starts on large-scale condominiums for sale in Tokyo as well as a rebound from the year before's 32.4 percent plunge amid the global recession, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The ministry said the housing market has shown signs of recovery as a whole but it is continuing to seesaw.
Starts on condos for sale by property developers jumped 35.8 percent to 9,668 units for the first rise in 16 months, while those on single- family houses for sale rose 19.0 percent to 8,363 units for the fourth straight month of rise.
By region, housing starts rose 7.2 percent in the Tokyo metropolitan area, 1.0 percent in the Chubu region centering on Nagoya and 4.6 percent in the Kinki region including Osaka.
However, the rest of Japan saw a decline of 8.0 percent.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9G1ME8G1&show_article=1
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