Apr 24, 2021
For the second year in a row, parts of Japan are heading into the Golden Week holiday season under the cloud of a coronavirus state of emergency, with shoppers and travelers again facing tough quasi-restrictions on their movements.
The country’s third state of emergency, scheduled to last at least 17 days from Sunday to May 11, is expected to dramatically impact industries that were hopeful ahead of the usually bountiful Golden Week holidays.
The four prefectures under the emergency declaration Tokyo, Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto make up a large chunk of Japan’s population and are also known as popular tourist destinations. But travel demand to the four will likely remain low, dealing yet another blow to the tourism industry.
No holiday mood as Japan virus emergency set to hit tourism and shopping hard japantimes.co.jp - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from japantimes.co.jp Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
TOKYO, March 30 (Reuters) - Japan’s Topix ended lower on Tuesday, dragged down by stocks that went ex-dividend, while the Nikkei inched up as investors bought back the benchmark after its underperformance against Topix following the Bank of Japan’s decision to only buy Topix-linked exchange traded funds.
The Topix lost 0.78% to close at 1,977.86, while the Nikkei index snapped early losses to inch up 0.16% to end at 29,432.70.
“Overall the market was affected by the shares that went ex-dividend,” said Koichi Kurose, chief strategist, Resona Asset Management.
“Investors who have bought the Topix since the Bank of Japan’s announcement earlier this month to only buy the Topix-linked ETFs are now selling those and buying back the Nikkei.”
Japan s Topix falls as shares go ex-dividend; Nikkei gains reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In bid for survival, Japan department stores accelerate digital push Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If you re not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/
A sales clerk at the Isetan department store in Tokyo s Shinjuku district talks about a product during a demonstration of an app that enables customers to buy items online with the assistance of store clerks. | KYODO
Jiji Apr 4, 2021
Department store operators in Japan are speeding up their efforts to take their sales operations and other services digital, with the coronavirus pandemic dealing an additional blow to a sector already suffering in a shrinking market.