Japan’s Nikkei Index was actually looking pretty good in the summer of 2008, with modest gains due to developing country’s demand for Japanese stocks. Then came what is called in Japan as the “Lehman Shock” in September, which sent stock prices on an unending downward spiral. Compared to March of 2008, the Nikkei has fallen 35%, in 2000 after the tech bubble it had fallen 36.5%
Category Archives: Cultural Resources
Diet Votes Unanimously to Condemn North Korean Actions
On North Korea’s plans to launch missiles over the Sea of Japan, the Diet voted unanimously (252 For, 0 Against) to condemn North Korea’s actions, and called for North Korea to refrain from launching.
Prime Minister Aso Pushes for Speedy Adoption of Budget
Prime Minister Aso came out with a strong statement last night calling for reconciliation on any budget differences by the middle of April. He submitted his budget proposal for 2009 to the Diet yesterday. He stated a necessity for economic stimulus, and the opposing party’s will to agree or not agree with be judged by a snap election.
Representative Ozawa, the leader of the opposition party The Democratic Party of Japan, stated it wasn’t such a good idea to push through a budget where the exact amounts of spending had not yet been decided.
Discount on Highway Tolls Increases Highway Usage, in Some Cases 60%
If any of you have driven in Japan you’ll know it costs about 40 dollars to drive the distance of the state of New York. That all changed on March 28 + 29th, where the Japanese authorities decreased their artificially high toll system to 1,000 yen (with some exceptions).
In most cases the traffic increased around 50%, on the busiest roads of Okayama interchange, and the Tokkaido roads. However the roads around Nagoya and the “central” road (Hachijyoji Junction) only increased their usage by a mere 3-5%.
How many more traffic jams does Japan now have? It has 30% more in some areas, but according to the authorities that is less than what they expected. “Please look at this from the perspective of in the long run, this will be good for our economy” a transportation ministry official said.