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Japan to reopen to independent travelers and lift daily arrival cap, Kishida says

Japan will allow visa-free, independent tourism and abolish its daily arrival cap as of Oct. 11, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday, marking a major policy shift after nearly 2½ years of strict COVID-19 restrictions. The government will also launch a nationwide travel discount program, which had been shelved due to the spread of COVID-19 infections. The moves will be welcomed by the nation’s tourism sector, which has been hit hard by the pandemic.

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Japan signals readiness to act in FX market if sharp yen volatility persists

Japan’s Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday he would not rule out any options in taking action in the foreign exchange market if sharp weakening in the yen persisted. Suzuki said a weak yen has both merits and demerits, and he could not label it as right or wrong. Market attention is focused on a slew of monetary policy meetings by the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of England next week.

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Japanese yen collapse forces nation to reopen for travelers

Japan’s sluggish economy, already weakened before the pandemic, faces the possible collapse of its national currency. The Japanese government is walking back years of harsh travel restrictions as the yen collapses in value due to a stagnant economy and weak trade. Japan until recently has all but completely rejected foreigners seeking entry or re-entry into the country. What can it do to get back on its feet? “Amid the weakening yen, [incoming tourism] will have the greatest effect,” Kihara said, according to the Japan Times. “And there are the autumn leaves and powder snow. There are many foreign visitors who want to come visit Japan.”

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Japan opens borders to foreign travelers on ‘self-guided tours’

Japan on Wednesday opened its borders to foreign travelers on unguided tours, or what travel agencies are calling self-guided tours, which can be booked by registered travel agencies - a move that may be welcomed by some foreign visitors since the nation opened its doors to escorted tours in June. The country also raised the daily arrival cap, or the number of all arrivals to Japan per day, to 50,000 and dropped a pre-arrival test requirement for those who have been vaccinated with three shots of a coronavirus vaccine. Despite the moves, Japan’s border measures are still conservative compared with other major economies, including the U.K. and France, where restrictions on international travel have been lifted entirely.

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It’s raining yen

Just as the yen’s eye-popping plunge against the dollar grabs the world’s financial market spotlight, investors will get a closer look on Thursday into the underlying state of the Japanese economy. Revised second quarter GDP data, and trade and current account figures for July, will give an insight into the yen’s economic fundamentals, and offer clues to whether the level and pace of the currency’s depreciation are justified.

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A race against time to save Japan’s traditional homes

These homes are packed with charm, full of history and quickly disappearing. Over the last 30 years, Alex Kerr has given 574 presentations on the cultural importance of Japan’s minka (traditional village homes). For the first 573, his audiences were filled with nothing but local bureaucrats skeptical about lifting a finger to preserve these striking properties. “They all had to be convinced that minka are not worthless but wonderful,” Kerr told the audience at the Minka Summit, the site of the noted Japanologist’s 574th such presentation. “The people who are coming to this conference are really doing (things with) minka. You don’t need to be convinced that minka are wonderful.”

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Japan property lures private equity with solid yields, prospective deals

A new wave of big private equity players is moving in on Japan’s property market, drawn by attractive yield spreads with Japan’s low interest rates and by prospective deals with companies that hold under-utilized assets. “The Japanese market presents a huge opportunity,” David Cheong, managing director at KKR, told Reuters. He noted wide scope to help corporations bolster their property-related operations and boost returns on property assets. “Investment demand is strong but the number of properties for sale is relatively limited…”

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Japan Considers Easing Strict Covid Tests for Entry, Nikkei Says

Japan is set to more than double the number of people it will allow into the country and may scrap the need for a negative Covid-19 test to enter, as the last rich economy with stringent entry requirements still in place looks to join the rest of the world in easing pandemic curbs.

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Japan’s Economy Recovers Pre-Pandemic Size on Consumption Gain

The end of pandemic restrictions on businesses in late March helped spur the economy. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than half of Japan’s economic output, led the growth, as did capital expenditure. The relaxing of Covid rules resulted in increased spending at restaurants and hotels, as well as on clothes, according to the Cabinet Office.

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Making a Japanese Property Investment Strategy

You want to profit from the weaker yen and invest in Japan, but don’t know where to start? Before diving into the market here, you’ll need a general investment strategy, something that will help you decide on where, how, and what to invest in! For those that have never stepped foot into the country, it may seem like an extra challenge with finding the best locations and criteria. Let’s break it down to make better sense of it… Follow these rules!

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Japan runs first current account deficit in 5 months

The world’s third-largest economy ran a current account deficit of 132.4 billion yen ($980 million) in June, government data showed, reversing 872 billion yen from the same month a year earlier. The current account surplus has declined for four fiscal years in a row through March 2022. While yen weakness has inflated the cost of imports, its boost to the value of exports has not been as great as it once was due to an ongoing shift of exporters’ production abroad.

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Due Diligence Series Part 1: Investment Properties

So you’re ready to buy your first property in Japan? Or maybe you’ve already been down that rabbit hole and are wondering if you’ve done something wrong? One commonly overlooked concept in purchasing real estate around the world is due diligence. By definition, due diligence in terms of real estate is care taken by research and analysis of a property and its affiliations in preparation for a transaction. One of the quirks about the Japanese real estate market, however, is that the due diligence is only conducted once your offer is accepted.

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