Tourism and Investment in Japan

The third wave of the new coronavirus hit Japan with daily new cases exceeding 3,000. Since November, Japan is struggling to contain the third wave of the new coronavirus infection with daily new cases exceeding 3,000 confirmed a day and the number of deaths continuing to break record highs. The cumulative number of infected people has doubled in less than two months since it reached 100,000 on October 29.  The spread of coronavirus infection changed people's consumption behavior. After the pandemic, tourism industry cannot make both ends meet even with government support programs and food industry lost customers who used to often visit restaurants for expensive dinner.  On the other hand, reservations for Christmas cakes have increased 1.3 times compared to last year with high-priced cakes of around 10,000 yen being sold well. People who are forced to refrain from eating out and traveling spend more money on expenses at home such as takeout meal, deliveries and online shopp...

  The Bank of Japan’s “ Tankan” quarterly survey suggests business sentiment has rebounded across the board According to the Bank of Japan's latest “Tankan” quarterly survey released in December which shows a short-term economic outlook of enterprises in Japan, business sentiment has improved sharply with expectations that Japanese economy is recovering from a year-long recession.  The Tankan reported rebounds in all categories, both manufacturing and nonmanufacturing companies, large and small. The index of business conditions among large manufacturers rose to minus 10 from minus 27, while business sentiment among large non-manufacturers such as service industries rose to minus 5 from minus 12.  The index for large manufacturers has improved for the second consecutive term and the extent of improvement was the largest since the June 2002 survey. The recovery in exports and production such as automobiles drove the improvement in business sentiment amid resumption of eco...

ICHIBANYA boasts incredible profitability although tarnished by COVID-19 infection ICHIBANYA CO., LTD. has been operating and franchising curry specialty restaurants "Curry House CoCo Ichibanya", known as "CoCoICHI" which is a chain restaurant specializing in Japanese-style curry rice. ICHIBANYA has continue to expand its business not only in Japan but also in Asian countries, the United States, the United Kingdom and others for more than 40 years since its establishment in 1978.  Headquartered in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture, it operates 1,484 restaurants as of September 2020. ICHIBANYA started its business with a small coffee shop opened in Nagoya by its founder and has grown dramatically in a short period of time, becoming a curry specialty store that everyone knows in Japan.  Furthermore, it has expanded its business scale so remarkable that was certified by the Guinness World Records as the largest curry restaurant in the world in 2013.   The fact that...