You Wanted Inflation Japan? You Got It! Utility Prices to Rise Up to 20%

Like I wrote last year, this planned inflation by Shinzo Abe and the LDP is going to be the death of Japan's economy.  A few weeks ago, a spike in oil and gasoline prices was announced (You Wanted Inflation, You Got It: Japanese Gasoline Price Rises To Eight Month High) then about ten days ago a 9.75% increase in wheat prices was announced. Please refer to my satirical blog post entitled: Shinzo Abe Resigns as Japanese Prime Minister:

The headlines read, "Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Resigns!"

... Well, sorry to get your hopes up, but not yet he hasn't... But he will in a few months... Food prices are about to soar over 10% on many items! Shinzo Abe hasn't resigned yet, but let me state it here: Shinzo Abe will not last out 2013. I predict that his tenure could end as early as August 2013. Why?

They wanted inflation; they now have it. Idiots! Food prices in Japan are about to soar. Zero Hedge reports in Japan Food Prices Set To Soar As Government Hikes Wholesale Wheat Prices By 10%.

Well, of course it was all predictable. Really, I mean this isn't rocket science; it's third grade mathematics. I don't know what world these politicians are living in, but in the real world, two plus two equals four. Need I explain more? So, if math doesn't lie then when you devalue your currency by 20%, then your costs are going to go up by 20%... Especially in a country that imports nearly all of her energy needs (and just a few of her nuclear power plants running)!

A weakened yen would help exports, as I pointed out, IF the export business were robust. But it is not. And it's not wholly in the dumpster because of a high yen. Don't look now but the entire world in in recession and that, my friends, is probably the biggest reason the export business is tanking. 

For proof that the export business is near-death worldwide, please refer to Wikipedia and The Baltic Dry Index: 

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is a number issued daily by the London-based Baltic Exchange. Not restricted to Baltic Sea countries, the index provides "an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials by sea.

And....Now that you know what the stick used for measuring the export business is, here is a recent article about that definitive report concerning the health of the export business. From Investment Watch, this article from Dec. 12, 2012 entitled, Standstill: The Charts That Prove The Global Economy Is In Serious Trouble:

Amid growing concern that the global economy is teetering on the edge of a total collapse, governments in Europe, China and the United States continue to manipulate statistics in an effort to paint a picture of recovery and a return to normalcy.

But despite their best efforts to fabricate positive employment numbers, GDP growth, currency stability and stock market health, the stark reality is that the global economy is at a standstill, and has been since before the crash of 2008...

...In essence, the price of transporting goods collapsed – to its lowest levels ever. That old theory of supply and demand was the culprit. You see, when there is no money to buy goods, there is no demand for said goods. This puts pressure on transportation companies who make a living moving products from port to port around the world. But because no one was able to consume, there was no need to ship anything. This forced transportation companies to reduce their freight rates in an effort to stay competitive.

In Here's Why A Weak Yen Will Destroy Japan, I wrote:

The clowns in the LDP think a weak yen will rescue Japan's faltering economy by making exports cheaper... Sounds good... That is, if there anyone to buy Japanese goods.

I fear that the weaker yen will be the last straw in breaking the Japanese Economy. Here's my reasoning why... 

China and Japan are in a row over islands. Boom! Down goes exports to Japan's biggest trading partner. Please refer to the NY Times article, "Japan Trade Suffers as China Ties Deteriorate":

"Shipments to China, which is Japan's biggest trading partner, tumbled 14.1 per cent as demand dropped for Japan-branded products..."

Also refer to Japanese Car Sales Plunge Amid China Rage.

Europe is in no condition to be big spenders on anything as Euro states are already in deep recession.

The USA isn't in good shape either as it is in recession too and Japanese cars aren't selling well due to Fukushima and other issues.

Gee? So what will a weak yen certainly buy for Japan? Answer: How about a 10% increase across the board on energy imports?

OK. I was wrong. It's more than 10%! I was in error. Sue me! 

Now, lucky reader, the other shoe has dropped: Japan has announced a 14% ~ 19% across the board increase in energy and utility prices. Please refer to: Market Watch: Japan's utilities to hike rates amid weak yen

TOKYO--Japanese utilities, forced to idle their nuclear power plants over the past two years and facing higher fuel costs due to a weak yen, are now looking to push through double-digit rate hikes for their commercial customers.

The action comes at a bad time for some Japanese companies that were hoping the fall in the yen and much-trumpeted efforts by the government to turn round the economy would help improve their prospects.

While the government has raised some concerns about the raising of power rates, the move seems inevitable given the prior deregulation of electricity prices. 

--Weak yen pushing up imported fuel costs for Japanese utilities

--Rate rises of 14%-19% expected to come into force

--Higher electricity prices likely to hit smaller corporations most severely

Some people will say, "But Mike, these increases are only for commercial customers!" Yeah, right. As if they won't pass the costs onto the consumer... Once again, I think that mathematics are pretty simple here. If they get hit with a 14% increase in costs, they will pass that onto the consumer. I'll also bet that a 14% increase in costs will cause them to increase the costs of the goods that they are trying to ship overseas thereby damaging exports.

Nah!

Thank you Shinzo Abe and your planned inflation and 18% depreciation of the yen. I reckon we can expect more of the same. 

With things going this well with the yen at 95 to the dollar, imagine how great things will be when the yen hits 120 to the dollar!

Woo-hoo! A 40% across the board increase in energy and food prices! We'll be rich!

Don't Submit to Illegal Searches: Narita Airport Security Boondoogle "Your Papers Please!"

The police in Japan do not have any right to search you or your car without justifiable cause or reasonable suspicion that you are committing a crime. Meaning that just because they's stopped all cars driving along to check everyone with a breathalyzer, to see if they've been drinking, you are not required to consent nor do they have any right to force you to consent to this test or any search.

That goes for all illegal searches and idiotic things like entering Narita airport when those clowns ask you for your drivers license and to open your car trunk or luggage to search for whatever it is they are searching for.

If people in Japan don't start putting their foot down, then this country is going to keep becoming more and more like the police state the United States has become.

I've been preaching and preaching to all the Japanese people I know to begin to stand up for their rights. Too many Japanese people submit to illegal and unconstitutional searches, I think it's time to start saying politely, "No!"

Several months ago, I took my family to Guam (I am never going to Guam again because of the TSA, but that's another story). At Narita, I witnesses a female security agent fondling searching what looked to be a 8 or 9-year-old girl. Her dimwit parents stood there and were laughing and taking photos!

As the father of a child who has been molested by a stranger, I grew furious. I stopped and walked over to the security agent who was molesting searching the little girl and said,

"That's completely illegal and a crime for an adult to fondle a child like that. This is a crime!"

I then demanded that the security agent call her supervisor. The search stopped immediately. When the supervisor arrived I gave him a piece of my mind and reiterated the charges of child molestation. He meekly responded,

"She didn't use the detection wand on the child?"

"No!" I protested. I again reiterated that it is a crime under Japanese law for any adult to touch the body of any child like that, under any circumstances, and that I would report it to the police. I looked at the parents of that poor girl and said, 

"Don't let this happen to your kids again!"

Once again, folks, Japanese law is the same as US law in this case; the police have no right to conduct a search on your or your possessions without reasonable cause. Just because you are driving a car into the airport is not reasonable cause.

A week or so ago, I was driving into Narita to pick up my friend Shea (please refer to: The REAL Reason Japan Lost the War! Let the Truth Finally Be Known!) I was early as I entered the airport. I sighed that I had to endure the circus show again at the entrance of Narita again. As usual, they asked me to show my driver's license and to open my trunk so that they could look into it. 

Chuckle.

The security guard was a young overweight guy who looked like this could be his first day on the job. He was visibly nervous, almost shaking, as he tried his darndest to recall his lines, "May I see your driver's license and please open the trunk for an inspection," he stuttered.

I very politely replied, "No, thank you." 

He looked shocked. He repeated and so did I. This went on for a while; him asking that I show him my papers and allow a search and me saying "No thank you." He seemed a nice guy. I could tell that this wasn't computing in his pea-sized brain. 

I felt my devil horns growing larger out the sides of my head.

After a few minutes and dozens of cars lined up and honking their horns behind me, the guy called over his supervisor, a woman who was another rent-a-cop... This lady wasn't in a happy mood and she, I'm sure, wanted to show Young Trainee that she could be as tough as the male supervisors. She began vigorously demanding that I comply.

"No, thank you," I said. I added, "I haven't done anything wrong so you have no reason, nor do you have the right, under Japanese law, to stop and search me. I don't have to submit to a search when I enter Haneda airport. I don't see why I have to submit to a search at Narita airport." I wanted to add a nice salutation like, "Sugar tits!" but I figured that I should lay off the niceties.

Oh, my gosh. This lady started to get really huffy and started ordering me to do all sorts of things to comply with her authority. Again, I stayed very calm and cool, and extremely polite, and asked, "Do you have any reason to think I am doing something wrong?" She answered in the negative. But demanded that I open my trunk to let them inspect it. I told her that there were 2 bottles of water, a soccer ball and a football in my trunk. That was all. She still said that she needed to see what was in the trunk. 

I asked her why she didn't believe me and asked her if she had any reason to not believe me when I told her what was in my trunk... Heck, I'm a nice guy! At least I told her! She still demanded that I open the trunk.

Well, this went on in circles with this lady. Her insisting that she has the right to demand my papers and search my car; me telling her that the law is the law and she doesn't have that right.... Me staying calm and polite while she was starting to squeeze out sparks from her head as time went on. 

It was obvious that this conversation wasn't leading to romance.

Finally, after a few minutes, a real policeman came over and asked what the problem was. I told him;

"These folks insist that they have the right to search my car. I told them that they don't have that right under Japanese law. I told them that unless they have a reason to think I am breaking the law, then they cannot search my car. They insist that they do have that right."

The policeman then kneeled down next to my car, looked me in the eyes, and very politely said, "Yes. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. I know we do not have the right to search your car, but we ask everyone for their cooperation. May we please ask for your cooperation, too!"

I looked at the guy. He was pleading with me and not being a jerk so I said to him, "OK, please tell these two that they have no right to search my car." Right in front of me, the policeman turned around and told them this. Then he turned and looked at me for approval... Heck, I didn't have much time left over anymore so I said to him, "OK. Like I told them, I got two bottles of water and two sports balls in the trunk. Now, I'm going to open the trunk for you this time, but remember that I am not going to let you folks do this again. Please tell your supervisor."

I popped open the trunk and they looked in. The policeman smiled at me and saluted... I drove off.

Yeah... Whatever...

Those same clowns, that lady and that fat kid at Narita, had better hope that I don't get into their line next time I visit. Because next time I plan on getting to the airport at least an hour early... 

Anyhow... That's what happened. Folks, don't allow the police to do illegal searches on you or your property. If you get stopped by the police at night on a sobriety check point, don't get angry. Be very polite and tell the police that you do not consent to a search and also tell them that they have no right to be randomly stopping cars.

It's the law of the land.

NOTE: I have confirmed this information with two Japanese professional lawyer friends, so you can take this advice to the bank; in Japan, even the police do not have the right to search you without reasonable suspicion that you have committed a crime. Just because you are driving your car or walking along the street, they do not have the authority to stop and search you. If they try, just remain respectful and polite and say, "No thank you." Use common sense to determine how to handle the situation that is best for you. 

Springtime Plums and Other Japanese Flowers at Okamoto Park

There's an old restored Japanese home near Seta that has been there since the Edo period (1603 ~ 1868) and it has been standing at Okamoto park in Setagaya-Ku. It is a beautiful area. Today I went on a distance walk so I decided to visit and take some springtime in Japan photos. 

The old house is well over 200 years old. It has the thatched roof that was common and earthen floors. I wrote about the earthen floors and how the Japanese still, even in those days, didn't allow shoes inside the house here in: The Japanese Have No Holes in Their Socks

These are the plum blossoms in the top right of the photo of the old house above.

The old Okamoto house was the home of a wealthy farmer. Outside there are many ancient tools and old machinery. In the house, you can see the way people lived in those days. Entrance is free and there is an entire forest and mountain area surrounding. 

Looks like a wagon wheel from the Old West

Alongside the road, there is a stream and a pond with scores of carp. Today I saw many minnows as a sign of the rebirth of spring. You can see a minnow at the top right of the photo.

These bluish white flowers were growing in the grass

I'm not a florist so I am not familiar with the names of these flowers. But the red beauties were growing on a tree also, like the plums.

Once again, growing on a large tree

A bamboo grove stands at the foot of a large hill that leads to a museum and a forest at the top of the hill.

Rows of plum trees with their blossoms brightly blooming... But still, not yet, full bloom!

Fantastic pink colored plum blossoms

Another close up view

Beautiful white plums 

To see more beautiful Japanese flowers, see: Japan Hanami Season is Almost Here! Hanami Party! 

All photos taken with an iPhone 4!