Choutney Louizaire
Global Business Practices
IBS: Japan
3/8/2015
Japan is an island nation of East Asia. It is located in the Pacific and borders several countries including Russia, China, North and South Korea. The territorial size of the population is an estimated 364,560 sq. km with a population reaching as much as 126,434,964 last year. Japan is a constitutional monarchy in which the power of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko is extremely limited. The current Prime Minister of Japan is Shinzo Abe. He is the head of government and is appointed by Emperor Akihito himself. The political party in power is the liberal-democratic party. According to nominal GDP, Japan has the world’s largest economy and has the fourth largest economy by purchasing parity. It has several natural resources including fish and negligible mineral resources. Japan is also the world’s fifth largest importer and exporter. The major imports are oil, electronic equipment, machines, engines, and pumps. The top countries that Japan imports from are China, United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom, and Spain. The major exports are vehicles, machines, engines, pumps, electronic equipment, and medical/technical equipment. Japan exports to several countries including China, United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom, and Spain. To import and export these items, the Japanese use a currency known as the Japanese yen. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market following the euro and the United States dollar. One Japanese yen is equal to about .83% of a US dollar. That is less than one percent! The yen is freely exchanged amongst the citizens of Japan and they use it in a very similar way to how Americans use the US dollar. It is a great opportunity for the United States to invest in Japan because the Japanese economy is back on a recovery track after two lost decades, it has a large intellectual capacity for creating unique and innovative products, and it has reliable and steady infrastructure that is rapidly growing. After two long decades, the Japanese economy is finally back on a recovery track. The Japanese market has been steadily increasing through the economic growth of Abenomics. Abenomics refers to the economic policies put in place by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Japanese government is using its tax reform, large scale monetary easing, and deregulation to aid its economic growth. The Japanese government is aiming to reduce the effective corporate tax rate down to the 20% range (http://www.heritage.org/index/country/japan). The government also drove new entries by conducting bold deregulation in fields such as energy, agriculture, and health care. Abenomics is also used to strengthen its efforts to attract foreign companies and visitors. The National Strategic Special Zone is a panel of six areas, including Tokyo, put in place to establish new economic zones with business friendly conditions by means of promoting bold deregulations. The design of National Strategic Special Zones and tax reform has helped the government plan to double Japan’s investment balance. It is expected to rise from 17.8 trillion to 35 trillion yen by 2020. This process shows the efforts that the Japanese government is enduring to open the market for further business expansions. Japan has also eased the requirements for research achievements, annual income, and accompanying parents/domestic servants. Through its efforts, the number or foreign visitors to Japan exceeded 10 million in 2013 (http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/invest/whyjapan/pdf/5reasons-en1201.pdf). This is a direct result of easing the requirements of issuing visas. Japan is aiming to increase this number to 20 million by the year 2020. Another major factor is the decision made to hold Tokyo Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2020. Following this huge decision, an economic ripple effect will tower over Japan. It is approximated a revenue of 3 trillion yen and will create an