Tourism and Investment in Japan

Menicon secured profit growth amid COVID-19 disruptions Menicon Co., Ltd. is a leading contact lens manufacturer in Japan founded in 1951, headquartered in Nagoya. It consistently develops, manufactures and sells contact lenses and related products in-house. To date, Menicon has developed various types of contact lenses such as hard lenses, soft lenses, disposables (disposable), lenses for astigmatism and bifocal lenses. It has the No. 1 market share for hard lenses and the No. 2 market for soft lenses in Japan.  As for the recent consolidated financial results, Menicon announced that net income for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020 was 4 billion yen, up 14% from the previous year. While the sales and profits of most Japanese companies fell sharply due to the spread of new coronavirus infections, Menicon increased its sales by 4.5% from the previous year to 84.5 billion yen, a record high for the fifth consecutive year since listing of its stock. On the other hand, the earnings fo

The Nikkei Stock Average surpassed 23,000 yen in mid June, but the upside has been  limited since then. Until June, the Nikkei 225 stock price has continued to rise sharply from the bottom of March, as economic activities which had been suspended due to the spread of the new coronavirus resumed and macroeconomic indicators improved. The bouncing back has not continued through the end of June because investors could not predict the second-quarter financial results of companies affected by the infection. In addition, people are getting more cautious about the second wave of infection with daily new cases spiking recently in large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. Japanese investors are left in limbo with Tokyo stock market at nearly standstill around 22,000 – 23,000 yen in July. However, most investors who invested in stocks dampened heavily in the March sell off are enjoying handsome returns by now. The stock price changes (%) from March 1 to July 17 of the Japanese largest companies by m

COVID- 19 hurt heavily consumers’ sentiment and corporate activities On July 7, the Japanese cabinet office announced preliminary figures of Indexes of Business Conditions (CI) for May 2020. The coincident index, which shows the current state of the economy, deteriorated significantly to 74.6, down 5.5 points from the previous month for the fourth consecutive month of decline.  The index has dropped to the lowest level in 10 years and 10 months since July 2009, the aftermath of the global financial crisis. People refrained from going out and corporate activities were stagnant hampered by a nationwide state of emergency over the coronavirus infection.  Decline in economic activities and worsening employment in addition to depressed industrial goods shipment amid production adjustments were affected the index significantly.  The cabinet office maintained its assessment that the Japanese economy is "worsening," using the most pessimistic expression for the 10th straight month.

ORIX is engaged in wide range of businesses from financial services to running a professional baseball team to operating an International Airport. ORIX Corporation was founded in Osaka in 1964 as Orient Leasing Co., Ltd. In 1989, it changed its name to current ORIX Corporation and now is engaged in a wide range of fields   such as financial services for corporations, automobile leasing, rental car service, used car sales, car sharing, energy business, housing development business, real estate investment business, facility operation business.  The company provides diversified financial services in Japan, the Americas, Asia, Europe, Australasia and the Middle East etc. Among Japanese, it is well known company for running a professional baseball team, ORIX Buffaloes.  It is also known to invest in the operating company of Kansai International Airport. In the Chubu region too, it provides car renting service at many rental sites in the region. ORIX manages the second largest fleet of ren

Sales pushed down by COVID-19 but demand for printers may grow Seiko Epson Corporation provides products and related services for printing solutions, visual communications and wearable products etc. They include home printers, business printers, scanners, industrial inkjet printing systems, projectors and wearable products for sports and personal healthcare.  The company was founded in 1942 and is headquartered in Suwa, Nagano prefecture. It is the largest company in the prefecture with more than 75,000 employees within its group and a well known company among Japanese for its excellent home printers.   Seiko Epson is facing economic downturn caused by COVID-19 as other Japanese companies. Its consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ended in March 2020 showed that net sales were down 4% to 1,043.6 billion yen and net income incurred significant decrease of 86% to 7.7 billion yen. The forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2021 was not disclosed because the effects of COV

COVID-19 delivered final blow to the Japanese economy The Bank of Japan's latest Tankan quarterly survey in June showed the business condition index (DI) for large manufacturers which indicates the business sentiment of large manufacturing companies was minus 34, the worst in 11 years since 2009 when the Japan’s economy plummeted as a result of the global financial crisis.  As for future outlook, the DI also suggests it will take some time before the economy to recover. The deterioration of DI for large manufacturers was the second largest in the past, falling 26 points from the March survey. It is the second consecutive quarter of minus DI and the sixth consecutive quarter of deterioration.  The global pandemic of the new coronavirus may have delivered final blow to the business’ sentiment in Japan already hurt by the US-China trade friction. DI for large nonmanufacturers also deteriorated by 25 points to minus 17, the worst ever.  In the past prolonged depressions in Japan, DI