BUSINESS IN... Tokyo
area, Tokyo spreads far across 2,000 sq km of densely populated land. On a clear day you can see Mount Fuji, but the metropolis looks best at night, when the streets are illuminated with signs stretching up the sides of buildings, and the tops of towers are picked out in red by gently pulsing aircraft warning lights. It’s against this backdrop that the capital of the world’s third- largest economy is forging its future. Unemployment has fallen to 3.1 per cent, but gross public debt in Japan is still around 245 per cent of its GDP (more than double that of the US). The ageing population also
presents problems. Managing the necessary reforms is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. After two decades of deflation, his tri-part plan to boost the economy combines aggressive monetary easing, concerted fiscal stimulus and structural reforms to increase productivity. He has also stressed the importance of innovation, especially in the realm of big data and the internet. Philippe Roux-Dessarps, general manager of the Park Hyatt hotel, says: “Japan’s economy is still soft and it is unsure if ‘Abenomics’ has been successful, [but it has] devalued the yen versus other major currencies.” This means travellers will likely find it more affordable.
OLYMPIAN QUEST Last August, Abe led commemorations for the 70th
anniversary of World
War II. It was also a time to reflect on how, in 1964, Tokyo hosted the Summer Olympics – the first chance Japan had after the war to present itself to the world as a stable nation on the road to recovery. About US$10 billion (at today’s
rate of exchange) was spent on the Games – equivalent to the nation’s entire budget at the time – while the country’s first shinkansen bullet trains, between Tokyo and Osaka, went into service just before the event. Fittingly, the Olympics and Paralympics will be returning to Tokyo in 2020, 75 years after the
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war; and there are plans to introduce the world’s fastest Maglev train – capable of travelling at 603km/h – between Tokyo and Nagoya by 2027. Hidetoshi Fujisawa, executive
director of Tokyo 2020’s communication and engagement bureau, says: “The 2020 Games will enable Japan, now a mature economy, to promote future changes throughout the world and
leave a positive legacy for future generations.” Its net contribution to the economy is predicted to be ¥3 trillion (US$24 billion). However, preparations have got off to a shaky start. Kasumigaoka National Stadium, which was used in the 1964 Olympics, has been torn down ready for a new construction. This was originally going to be a 70-metre-high stadium designed by
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ROBERT HARDING/ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS/JENNY SOUTHAN
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