2014 Q1 Japan GDP Growth 6.7% Annualized

Japan's economy grew at a quicker pace than estimated in the first quarter, as business spending increased more than previously reported.

GDP grew an annualized 6.7% in the Q1, the Cabinet Office said in Tokyo today, faster than a preliminary 5.9 percent and the median forecast of 5.6 percent by economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The nation’s current account surplus narrowed in April from a year earlier, separate data showed.

Increasing strength in business investment would help the economy rebound from a forecast contraction this quarter after a sales tax increase in April. A rebound in consumer confidence last month signals Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may be able to sustain the recovery’s momentum to weather a planned further rise in the levy.

“Expectations for fiscal and monetary stimulus this year are fading,” said Izumi Devalier, a Japan economist at HSBC Holdings Plc. “The slowdown in the second quarter doesn’t look catastrophic, and the question now is how fast the pick up will be after then.”

Business investment rose 7.6 percent from the previous quarter, revised up from a preliminary 4.9 percent increase.

Consumer spending climbed 2.2 percent, more than an initial estimate of a 2.1 percent gain. Separate data today show consumer confidence rose in May for the first time in six months.

Sales Tax

Consumer confidence rose to 39.3 in May, the highest since January, according to separate data today. Expectations for two-to-three months in the future among workers such as taxi drivers, supermarket managers and restaurant workers rose to the highest level since December, after jumping last month by the most since the survey began in 2000, a different poll today showed.

Economic Contraction

The economy will contract 3.5 percent in the April-June period before expanding 2 percent next quarter, according to a separate Bloomberg News survey conducted prior to today’s release.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will base a decision on raising the sales tax to 10 percent from 8 percent on July-September data.

Bloomberg

Konami Puts it hand up to partner with overseas Casino Operators in Japan

Japanese gaming company Konami Corp said it was planning to invest in casinos in anticipation of legislation to legalise gambling and help create an entertainment and resort market some estimate to be worth over $40 billion.

Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers are trying to pass legislation allowing the development of casino resorts in Japan, although time is running out for a bill to be approved in the current parliamentary session ending next month.

Konami said it would set up a subsidiary, once a casino bill is passed, through which it would take a minority stake in casinos in partnership with operators.
Companies like Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Resorts International and Las Vegas Sands Corp have expressed interest in investing in Japanese casinos.
The country is one of the world's last untapped gaming markets and broker CLSA says it could become a leading gambling destination with annual revenue over $40 billion.

Supporters of the casino bill want the first resorts to open by 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games.

Konami sells game software and "pachinko" pinball machines in Japan, but also distributes slot machines overseas, experience that Konami executive Noriaki Yamaguchi said would help it partner with casino operators looking to enter the Japanese market

Reuters

Japanese Corporate Taxes to go below 30%

Japanese Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Akira Amari indicated Monday that the government will consider stating a cut of the effective corporate tax rate to below 30 pct in new policy guidelines to be drawn up possibly in June.

Regarding a proposed corporate tax cut, Amari told reporters that he wants the new economic and fiscal policy guidelines to state its timing and size as concretely as possible. He met reporters at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda before leaving Japan on a tour to France and Britain.

Lowering the tax rate from the current level above 35 pct to less than 30 pct would have an impact on the market, Amari said.

Japan plans to allow longer stays for wealthy tourists

Japan is working on a plan to extend the maximum stay for foreign visitors who meet certain income and asset requirements to one year, aiming to encourage spending and real estate investment.
     Under the current system, foreigners who come to Japan for tourism may stay up to 90 days. By raising this cap for well-off visitors, the government hopes to attract investment in real estate such as vacation homes and condominiums, as well as make it easier to visit scenic spots in areas outside Tokyo and Kyoto.
     The requirements have not yet been determined. Australia, which has a similar system, limits applicants to those 55 or older with at least 65,000 Australian dollars ($59,956) in annual income and assets of at least 750,000 Australian dollars.
     The government aims to determine age, income and asset requirements by summer, using examples from other countries as a reference, and set up the program as early as this year.
     Japan hopes to double the number of foreign tourists to 20 million a year by 2020. This proposal will be incorporated in a revised plan for encouraging tourism to be completed in June.
     Another measure to be included is setting up a priority lane at Narita and Kansai airports next fiscal year, for foreign VIPs such as government officials and businessmen traveling first class. Such arrangements, which allow arrivals and departures to proceed faster, are common overseas, but none have yet been put in place in Japanese airports.

Nikkei

Tokyo OKs $1.6bn or $3bn New Stadium for Olympics

Tokyo (AFP) - Japanese sports chiefs on Wednesday gave the greenlight to a new $1.6 billion stadium for the 2020 Olympics, all but dashing the hopes of campaigners who say the building and its price tag, are too big.

The government-affiliated Japan Sport Council, which will run the 160 billion yen new National Stadium, decided to trim the height of the structure to 70 metres (230 feet) from the original 75 metres to appease concerns it would be a blight on the Tokyo skyline.

The basic design of the 80,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof, originally conceived by prize-winning Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid and shaped like a bike helmet, was rubber-stamped by the council and a panel of advisers.

The structure is set to be built on the site of the 56-year-old, 54,000-seat National Stadium, which will be dismantled over 15 months beginning in July.
The new stadium is set to be completed in time for the rugby World Cup, which Japan hosts in 2019, a year ahead of the Summer Games.

The Tokyo stadium will be built in an area with numerous parks and a grand Shinto shrine, and will tower over most of the structures around it, with building heights historically limited to 15 metres. That limit was raised by Tokyo Metropolitan Government to 75 metres in June last year.

Criticism grew when Japan's minister in charge of the Olympics estimated the stadium would cost about 300 billion yen ($3 billion), more than double the 130 billion yen that was originally stipulated in the design competition.
The estimated cost has since been reduced to 160 billion yen, including by scaling down the stadium's floor space.
Critics have scoffed at the sudden price cut, and suggest the final bill will be much higher.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/world/a/23932643/japan-sport-chiefs-greenlight-huge-stadium/

Alchemy Japan Sues Carval Investors for US$3million for improper sale of Hotels

Alchemy Japan commenced legal proceedings in the Tokyo District Court against Carval Investors, and its shell companies, seeking to recover almost JPY300 million (US$3million) in damages resulting from Carval's sale of Cargill's Love Hotels to entities and persons suspected by Kroll Advisory Solutions of ties to Japanese organized crime, the yakuza.

An English translation of the Japanese Statement of Claim can be found at -
Alchemy Japan vs Carval Investors - English Translation of Japanese Law Suit

For the background to this dispute see - 

What Happened at Carval Investors Japan?  

アルケミージャパンは2.78億円の損害を主張カーバル・インベスターズに対する訴訟を開始

アルケミージャパンは2.78億円の損害を主張カーバル・インベスターズに対する訴訟を開始
訴訟はカーバルのレジャーホテルで2012年9月の出来事から生じる

訴訟文書: アルケミージャパン vs カーバル・インベスターズ