1. Kishida Administration Drafted Basic Policy Of Economic & Fiscal Reform
The Kishida Administration presented a draft of “Basic Policy of Economic and Fiscal Reform” at the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on June 11, the media reported.
The basic policy is intended to make the Japanese economy completely getting out of the deflation spiral by spurring the present trend of salary and income growth to be sustainable and to set a new economic stage to make its annual GDP reach the 1,000 trillion yen level by 2040 from the present level, i.e. a little less than 600 trillion yen.
In the meantime, the administration also stated in the basic plan to make the Primary Balance of the nation (both national and local governments) to be surplus by the end of Japan Fiscal 2025.
2 Japan And Korea Keep A “Good” Relationship
Yomiuri and Korea Times jointly conducted a survey from May 24 through 26 with regard to the Japan-Korea relationship.
Major findings are as follows:
Japanese respondents Korean respondents
The bilateral relationship is good: 50% (45% in 2023) 42% (43%)
Not good: 44% (50%) 52% (52%)
Do you have friendly feeling towards the other? Yes 48% (highest ever) 33% (highest ever)
Do you agree to strengthen Japan-Korea-U.S.
cooperation for security? Yes 86% 79%
Which is more important for your country, U.S. or China?
U.S. 73% 68%
China 19% 28%
3. Japan To Strengthen The Tie With Global South
The Japanese government held what it calls “Roundtable to promote cooperation with Global South nations on June 11 and came up with a draft policy to strengthen the tie with the Global South nations.
Yomiuri reported that the draft policy positions the Global South as Japan’s co-creation partner that co-creates a future economic society with Japan.
The draft policy shows some specific areas of cooperation with the Global South nations as follows:
l The Japanese government to support Japanese private industries to cooperate with Global South in the field of AI, GX, critical minerals and semiconductors.
l Promote “Offer-type Cooperation” to the Global Sluth nations showing a menu of the options of assistance where Japan has some competitive edge.
l Deepen human resource development and exchange and secure high performers, who would induce innovations.
l Further propel Japan’s overseas security assistance by providing Japan’s defense equipment to partner nations of Global South for free.
This policy is intended to charge China who has been strengthening its presence and influence over the Global South nations.
4. New Bills To Circulate On July 3
Japan’s 10,000-yen bill, 5,000-yen bill and 1,000-yen bill had been newly designed and are to be circulated starting on July 3.
The below link shows the new designs:
https://www.npb.go.jp/ja/n_banknote/
The new 10,000-yen bill is featured by Mr. Eiichi Shibusawa, who is known as the father of Japan’s capitalism contributing to founding hundreds of well-known major companies in Japan.
The 5,000-yen bill’s new face is Ms. Umeko Tsuda, a pedagogy and the founder of Tsuda College, a prestigious women’s college in Japan.
The new 1,000-yen bill shows Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato, the father of Japan’s modern medicine, who found the cause of tetanus and invented serum of it.
5. JAXA And NASA To Share The Specimen Of Asteroids
JAXA and NASA agreed this week to exchange the mutual specimens of two asteroids, Yomiuri reported.
JAXA’s explorer “Hayabusa 2” brought back some specimens of an asteroid called “Ryugu” in 2020, while NASA’s explorer “OSIRIS-Rex” succeeded in returning 121 grams of sands and rocks from an asteroid named “Bennu” in September last year.
JAXA and NASA’s researchers will cooperate with each other to conduct comparative analyses so that the genesis of the solar system and of biosis.