Consumer Prices Fall for Third Month as Deflation Lingers

Japan’s consumer prices fell for the eighth time in nine months, highlighting the challenges facing the Bank of Japan (8301) in reaching a 2 percent inflation target.

Consumer prices excluding fresh food fell 0.2 percent in January from a year earlier, the third-straight decline, the statistics bureau said in Tokyo today. The result matched the median estimate in a survey of 26 economists by Bloomberg News.

While a weaker yen improves the outlook for exporters and pushes up the prices of imported energy and commodities, continued price falls show the scale of the BOJ’s challenge in achieving 2 percent inflation. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday nominated Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda to lead the BOJ, with the prospective governor saying last month that more easing is justified for 2013.


Japan’s economy will grow 1.8% this quarter according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, after contracting in April-to-December last year. Goldman Sachs Inc. in January raised its GDP forecast for the fiscal year starting in April to 2 percent.



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-28/japan-consumer-prices-fall-for-third-month-as-deflation-lingers.html

Q4 - Economy Still Contracting

Japan's economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, failing to escape a mild recession and playing into the hands of a government pushing for more aggressive monetary expansion that's drawn international criticism.

While a 0.1 percent drop in output defied expectations of a slight uptick after two quarters of contraction, economists expect the economy will slowly recover this year with the help of bolder monetary and fiscal stimulus and an improving global economy.

The Bank of Japan also struck a more positive note on the economy while keeping its policy on hold after it boosted its monetary stimulus and doubled its inflation target to 2 percent a month ago.

Markets, however, have no doubt that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will keep pushing the central bank for more, given the still fragile state of the economy. A return to rising prices also appears far off after nearly two decades of low-grade deflation.

Those expectations for further easing have sent the yen into retreat, driving it down nearly 20 percent against the dollar since November and stirring an international debate over whether Japan was effectively using aggressive money printing to steer the yen lower.

Tokyo has defended its action, saying its policies are aimed at pulling the country out of deflation, not at nudging down the yen, and Governor Masaaki Shirakawa is expected to reinforce that argument when he will attend his last Group of 20 finance leaders' meeting in Moscow this weekend.

Japan has said the Group of Seven rich nations accepted Tokyo's view when it declared in a statement on Tuesday that fiscal and monetary policies would not be directed at devaluing currencies.

But remarks from former BOJ governor Kazumasa Iwata on Thursday are likely to rekindle the international debate on Tokyo's true motives.

The yen is still overvalued from a trade perspective and the reversal of the currency's strength is essential for the Bank of Japan to achieve its 2-percent inflation target, Iwata was quoted as saying by a Japanese ruling party official.

Iwata, considered one of the leading candidates to replace Shirakawa when he leaves his post in March, said the dollar at 95 yen was appropriate. Iwata heads a private economics think-tank and now has no policymaking role.

Abe and his cabinet have the right to fill three top BOJ posts when Shirakawa and his two deputies leave on March 19 and is widely expected to pick advocates of more aggressive central bank action than the cautious outgoing chief, keeping downward pressure on the yen.

The dollar traded around 93.50 yen on Thursday after hitting a 33-month high of about 94.47 yen on Monday.

South Korea's central bank warned on Thursday that Japan's expansionary monetary policy could affect that country's future growth as a weak yen could undercut Korean exporters' competitiveness.

ECONOMY BOTTOMING?

As widely expected, the central bank maintained its overnight call rate target at a range of zero to 0.1 percent by a unanimous vote, and held off expanding its asset buying and lending program, while offering a rosier view of the economy than just a month ago.

"Japan's economy appears to be bottoming out," it said. In January the BOJ said the economy was weakening.

The world's third-largest economy contracted for the third consecutive quarter in October-December, showing Japan was taking longer to escape from a mild recession. Economists had expected a very modest expansion of 0.1 percent from the previous quarter.

However, more recent sentiment surveys and leading indicators such as machinery orders point to a gradual recovery.

"The economy is still on the recovery track, and there is a stimulus package that will help from the spring. The Bank of Japan is also likely to continue monetary easing," said Shuji Tonouchi, senior fixed income strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

Economics Minister Akira Amari said that while the economy was still showing some weakness, it was likely to resume moderate recovery, helped by monetary easing, stimulus spending and an expected pick-up in global growth.

On an annualized basis, the economy contracted 0.4 percent, Cabinet Office data showed on Thursday. Economists had expected a 0.5 percent annualized increase.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/14/us-japan-economy-gdp-idUSBRE91D00Z20130214

April - Japanese Real Estate Prices Surge

The below chart shows the surge of Japanese real estate prices (at least for REITs) in the last month; with a 30% surge in prices since March 2013

Seems to be a combination of the weakening Yen and "Abenomics" leading to real estate prices surging

http://quote.tse.or.jp/tse/quote.cgi?F=histidx/EHistIndex&basequote=352_2013&begin=2013/1/22&end=2013/04/22&mode=D&histtype=CSV

Japan's top three automakers post record 2012 sales

Japan's three biggest automakers -- Toyota, Nissan and Honda -- on Monday posted record sales for 2012, as the results confirmed that Toyota recaptured the world's biggest automaker crown.

The rosy results underscored the trio's recovery after Japan's quake-tsunami disaster in 2011 devastated sales and production, and highlighted strong demand in the key Asian and US markets.

That helped offset weakness in debt-hit Europe and a downturn in China stemming from a diplomatic row that sparked a consumer boycott of Japanese goods in China, the world's biggest vehicle market.

On Monday, Toyota said sales last year soared 22.6 percent to 9.75 million vehicles, while Nissan saw a 5.8 percent on-year rise to 4.94 million units with record numbers in the US market.

Honda, Japan's number-three automaker, logged sales of 3.81 million vehicles, up from 3.09 million a year earlier.

The latest figures confirmed that Toyota regained the global sales title which it lost in 2011 to US-based General Motors, largely due to the natural disasters.

The crisis and flooding in Thailand -- where Japanese automakers have production plants -- during 2011 marked a "particularly harsh year", said Nomura auto analyst Masataka Kunugimoto.

"2012 is the year we saw things becoming normal again," he said.

However, Nissan, part-owned by France's Renault, warned in November that its net profit for the fiscal year through March would be down 20 percent to 320 billion yen ($3.52 billion), citing its heavy exposure to China.

Honda has blamed the territorial row with Beijing over an East China Sea island chain -- and a strong yen -- for a 20 percent cut to its annual profit forecast.

Less affected by the dispute, Toyota hiked its profit forecast to 780 billion yen for the same period, up from 760 billion yen, although it trimmed its annual sales forecast to 21.3 trillion yen and credited much of its improved earnings outlook to cost cuts.

The long-standing row flared again in September when Tokyo nationalised some of the tiny archipelago that is also claimed by Beijing, setting off huge demonstrations across China and the consumer boycott.

Japanese factories and businesses across China temporarily closed or scaled back operations over fears of being targeted by angry mobs.

Nissan's chief executive Carlos Ghosn has warned that the firm would think twice about making new investments in China, where it has several production plants with a new factory in the northeastern city of Dalian planned for 2014.

On the production side, Toyota said Monday that it made 9.90 million vehicles last year, up 26.1 percent, while Nissan posted a 5.5 percent production increase to 4.88 million units in 2012.

The automakers have been forced to recall millions of vehicles over safety and quality concerns in recent years, while being hit by the strong yen which makes their products less competitive overseas and shrinks repatriated foreign income.

The unit hit record highs around 75 against the dollar in late 2011 and remained strong through most of last year until Japan's new conservative government swept to power in December.

Its promises to pressure the Bank of Japan for aggressive easing to boost the world's third-largest economy has sent the yen into a steep dive to below the 90-level on the dollar.

"Foreign exchange remains the major factor that can change the tone of the industry," Nomura's Kunugimoto said.

"A lower yen is positive for earnings. If that continues, it would allow for more research and development spending which should then strengthen automakers' competitiveness."

Toyota shares were down 0.57 percent to 4,315 yen and Honda was off 0.58 percent at 3,400 yen while Nissan bucked a fall in the broader market on Monday by closing up 2.40 percent at 895 yen.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iEK75VICG8RN1iFZX4Gda5MIh9oQ?docId=CNG.aa9d51b6bc05023676c951da3045f307.251

Foreign visitors flock back to post-disaster Japan

The number of foreign visitors to Japan in 2012 surged 34.6 percent from the previous year as the tourism sector rebounded after the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster, the government said Friday.

Overseas arrivals totaled more than 8.3 million, just short of the record 8.6 million seen in 2010, the Japan National Tourism Organization said.

"The inauguration of new services by low-cost carriers and the easing of visa-issuance conditions by the Japanese government have also contributed to the increase," an official from the organisation said.

The number of visitors in 2011 plunged to 6.2 million, hit by the massive earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Japan's northeast and sparked a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima power plant in March that year.

The number of visitors from mainland China slipped by more than a third in December from a year earlier following a flare-up in a territorial row between Tokyo and Beijing, however for the full year, numbers were up 37.1 percent.

Annual arrivals from Taiwan were up 47.6 percent to a record 1.4 million.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/foreign-visitors-flock-post-disaster-japan-article-1.1247547

US Treasury Freezes Assets of Top Gangsters Around the World

Earlier today, the Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against the members of three international crime syndicates in an effort to crack down on organized crime.

President Obama had previously named the Camorra, Yakuza, and Brothers’ Circle as TCOs, or transnational criminal organizations, in July 2011, and instructed the Treasury to follow up with sanctions.

The release is that it actually identifies and provides brief background information on eight gangsters from the Yakuza, Camorra, and Brothers’ Circle, as well as an overview of each syndicate.

The Treasury has frozen these gangsters’ assets and prohibited any U.S. citizen from engaging in business with them.

Read the full release from the Treasury Department below. The gangsters are listed at the bottom:

Treasury Targets Leading Figures of Transnational Criminal Organizations

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today took action against three transnational criminal organizations (TCO), the Camorra, the Yakuza, and the Brothers’ Circle. Today’s designations include four members of the Camorra, one of Europe's largest criminal organizations; the Inagawa-kai, the third-largest clan within the Japanese Yakuza criminal network; and an individual providing support to a key member of the Brothers’ Circle, a large multi-ethnic Eurasian criminal network. These designations were imposed under Treasury’s authority targeting transnational organized crime.

President Obama identified the Camorra, the Yakuza, and the Brothers’ Circle along with the Zetas, as significant TCOs in the Annex to Executive Order 13581 (Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations) on July 24, 2011, and charged the Treasury Department with pursuing additional sanctions against its members and supporters to undermine and interdict their global criminal operations.

Today’s action freezes any assets these persons may have within the jurisdiction of the United States and generally prohibits any transactions with them by U.S. persons.

“The individuals designated today are key members of criminal organizations who engage in serious crimes around the world,” said David S. Cohen, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “Treasury will continue to target additional members and supporters of these groups, as well as other significant TCOs, as we systematically expose their criminal operations and protect the U.S. financial system from their illicit activity.

The Camorra

The Camorra operates internationally and is involved in serious criminal activity, such as money laundering, extortion, alien smuggling, robbery, blackmail, kidnapping, political corruption, and counterfeiting. In 2012 Italian law enforcement conducted multiple operations to seize Camorra assets, including 800 million euro seized from the Casalesi clan in July. To date, Treasury has identified five individuals affiliated with the Camorra under E.O. 13581, including their most prominent leaders Michele Zagaria and Antonio Iovine.

In August 2012 the Treasury Department designated Michele Zagaria, a leader of the Camorra Casalesi clan, who is serving a life sentence for conspiracy, murder, extortion, and robbery. The Camorra members designated today are all members of the immediate family of Michele Zagaria: his brothers Pasquale Zagaria, Carmine Zagaria, Antonio Zagaria, and his father Nicola Zagaria. Each of these four individuals is designated for acting for or on behalf of, or providing support to, Michele Zagaria and/or the Camorra. All the brothers have led the Caselasi clan at one point while other siblings were serving jail sentences. All are involved in the family’s criminal enterprises. This network has been involved in extortion, kidnapping, money laundering, and bribery.

The Yakuza

The Yakuza, reputedly the world’s largest criminal organization with over 70,000 members, is involved in serious criminal activities, including weapons trafficking, prostitution, human trafficking, drug trafficking, fraud, and money laundering. The Treasury Department designated the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Sumiyoshi-kai, in February and September 2012, respectively. The Inagawa-kai, designated today, is the third-largest of the Yakuza organizations, and the Department of the Treasury is targeting it today for acting for or on behalf of the Yakuza. The top three clans account for approximately 72.4 percent of the Yakuza membership. To date, Treasury has identified four individuals and two entities affiliated with the Yakuza under E.O. 13581, including their most prominent leaders Kenichi Shinoda and Shigeo Nishiguchi.

Today’s action also imposes sanctions on Jiro Kiyota, the top Inagawa-kai leader, as well as the Inagawa-kai’s second-in-command, Kazuo Uchibori, for acting for or on behalf of the Inagawa-kai. As leaders of Inagawa-kai, Kiyota and Uchibori play key roles in directing the syndicate’s policies and settling disputes with other Yakuza syndicates. Under the leadership of Kiyota and Uchibori, the Inagawa-kai has become increasingly aligned with the Yamaguchi-gumi.

The Brothers’ Circle

The Brothers’ Circle is a multi-ethnic criminal group composed of leaders and senior members of several Eurasian criminal groups largely based in countries of the former Soviet Union but extending to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. To date, Treasury has identified 15 individuals affiliated with the Brothers’ Circle and their associates under E.O. 13581, including their most prominent members Gafur Rakhimov and Zakhariy Kalashov. The Brothers’ Circle serves as a coordinating body for several national level criminal networks, mediating disputes between the individual criminal networks and directing global criminal activity.

On December 20, 2012, the Treasury Department designated Zakhariy Kalashov, a key member of the Brothers’ Circle and a prominent Eurasian organized crime figure with extensive connections to criminal groups in Russia and countries throughout Eurasia. His criminal activities include money laundering, extortion, criminal protection, and drug trafficking. He is currently incarcerated, serving a nine year sentence for money laundering in Spain. Marina Kalashova, who has been designated today, is a key part of Zakhariy Kalashov’s network. Kalashov communicates with Kalashova to pass messages on his behalf to his organization.

Identifying Information:
Name: Zagaria, Carmine
DOB: 27 May 1968
POB: San Cipriano D’Aversa, Italy

Name: Zagaria, Antonio
DOB: 29 June 1962
POB: San Cipriano D’Aversa, Italy

Name: Zagaria, Pasquale
DOB: 5 January 1960
POB: San Cipriano D’Aversa, Italy

Name: Zagaria, Nicola
DOB: 10 October 1927
POB: San Cipriano D’Aversa, Italy

Entity: Inagawa-kai
Address: 7-8-4 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan          
Name: Kiyota, Jiro

AKA: Sin, Byon-Gyu
DOB: 1940              
POB: Japan

Name: Uchibori, Kazuo
AKA: Uchibori, Kazuya
DOB: 1952  
POB: Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Name: Goldberg, Marina Samuilovna
AKA: Kalashov, Marina
AKA: Kalashova, Marina
Address: Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
DOB: 15 September 1979
ID: Passport 514763020 (Russia)

http://www.businessinsider.com/treasury-identifies-eight-gangsters-2013-1#ixzz2Ix0G6dSq

Yakuza arrested in Nagoya for Threatening Police

Aichi prefectural police on Saturday arrested the manager of a chain of Nagoya sex clubs and two others for threatening an investigator of the Kodo-kai organized crime group, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 5).

Between July and August of 2010, the president of the Blue chain of sex clubs, Yoshinori Sato, 55, former employee Osamu Yamaguchi, 37, and investigative company president Koji Aoki, 42, are alleged to have participated in making threatening phone calls to the home of the investigator on five occasions.

The threats included violence and a mention of the name of the officer’s second daughter. “Your daughter is cute,” the caller reportedly said. “I don’t know what is going to happen to her.”

Sato and his former co-worker have denied the allegations, while the third has admitted involvement.

According to the Nikkei Shimbun (Jan. 5), the officer was investigating whether the Kodo-kai, an affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi, was utilizing the Blue group as a source of funds.

Sato was previously arrested in 2011 for assisting in concealing the identity of the number-two boss of the Kodo-kai during a round of golf. Sato received a prison term of two years and six months, which was suspended for four years.

On Sunday, according to the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 6), prefectural police raided the offices of an affiliate company of the Blue group in Nagoya’s Higashi Ward.


http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2013/01/05/former-sex-club-manager-busted-for-threatening-aichi-organized-crime-cop/