Can Wage Growth Return Japan to a Growth Economy?
A 5.01% wage settlement, real incomes, AI, productivity and investment by smaller firms: the white paper series that began in 1947 asks what Japan needs for its next economic turn.
Four Stories to Read First
Wages, AI, water and the research nation
Four Selections From August 7
Hiroshima, local infrastructure, Asakusa craft and a Niigata summer
Today’s News: 19 Stories
15 new stories + four selections from August 7
Can Wage Growth Return Japan to a Growth Economy?
Japan’s 80th Economic and Fiscal White Paper connects wage gains, real income, AI investment and smaller-company productivity to the search for a durable growth cycle.
Japan’s AI Use Doubled to 58.8%
Adoption is not transformation. The white paper reveals generational gaps, unfinished business redesign, digital dependence and the challenge of trustworthy AI.
Why the Taps of a “Water-Rich” Japan Are Becoming Fragile
From Edo aqueducts to the Noto earthquake and Yashio road collapse, Japan’s water history exposes the converging risks of drought, age and earthquakes.
Why Tokyo Keeps Pulling Japan In
Earthquake, war, rapid growth, suburbanization, the bubble and the return to the center: the history behind Tokyo’s durable concentration and its national risks.
Full Rooms, Empty Shifts
Record visitor numbers meet a hotel labor crisis. With 72.2% of surveyed lodging facilities reporting shortages, Japan must connect demand to wages, investment and productivity.
When Dependence Becomes a Weapon
From treaty ports, GATT and oil shocks to the Plaza Accord, WTO and economic coercion, Japan confronts the return of power politics to trade.
Can AI Save the Memory in Japan’s Hands?
From Tomioka Silk Mill and the Toyota Production System to robots and Manufacturing AX, Japan searches for a new way to preserve skill and raise investment.
Why Japan Still Wants to Close the Nuclear Circle
Tokai, Rokkasho, Monju, Fukushima, plutonium, spent fuel and geological disposal reveal seven decades of ambition—and an unfinished circle.
The Longer Reach of Japan’s Shield
Article 9, the U.S. alliance, PKO, security legislation, counterstrike missiles, drones and joint operations chart 80 years of changing defense doctrine.
Discovery Takes Time
From RIKEN and postwar rebuilding to Nobel discoveries, weakening research performance, AI and the university fund: can Japan restart its research nation?
Turning the Immune System’s Brake Into Medicine
From Shimon Sakaguchi’s regulatory T-cell research to RegCell’s antigen-specific therapy, AMED support and preparations for U.S. clinical testing.
Rooms Inside a Crystal, a Pipeline Without Pipes
From Susumu Kitagawa’s gas-storage science to CubiTan and a Thai clean-energy pact, a Kyoto startup tries to turn MOFs into distributed infrastructure.
One Open Driving Stack, Three Very Different Streets
AI-based Level 4 tests in Tokyo, Pittsburgh and Munich ask whether an open driving foundation can adapt across vehicles, road rules and urban environments.
Millions of Invisible Experiments
What happens when an AI atomic simulator meets NVIDIA GPUs? Matlantis’s speed, accuracy and practical limits matter to the future of materials research.
The Second Harvest: Cattle Waste Becomes Vehicle Fuel
Suzuki connects compressed biogas to rural income, cleaner cooking, organic fertilizer and India’s CNG fleet, beginning with two operating plants in Gujarat.
Hiroshima’s Lost Witness: Kiyoshi Tanimoto’s Memoir
The pastor who rushed to help after the atomic bombing speaks through words long left unpublished, returning the nuclear age to one person’s field of vision.
Hokkaido Turns Citizens Into Eyes for Infrastructure Inspections
Across a vast region with aging equipment and too few workers, residents’ photographs and location data can help maintenance teams find trouble sooner.
Asakusa Shoemakers Take Upcycled Kimono Footwear to Taiwan
Each retired kimono becomes a different pair of shoes as Asakusa craft searches for a new market where traditional cloth meets circular design.
Hatsune Miku Links Fireworks, AR and Mixed Reality in Niigata
Fireworks overhead, AR on smartphones and music at the venue turn a summer festival into a layered performance led by a virtual singer.
20. Today’s Art Choice
Utagawa Kunitoshi · Meiji Modernity
Today’s Art Choice: Utagawa Kunitoshi and the Machinery of Meiji Modernity
Railways, exhibitions, iron bridges, horse-drawn streetcars, bicycles and the Constitution: Kunitoshi’s vivid prints show how modern Japan learned to see modernization.
