一週間、WSJに触れることができませんでした。月曜は母親の墓参。火曜日からは山籠りをしていました。もっとも近い店（コンビニです。全国で均一のサービスを提供している。素晴らしい！）まで徒歩１５分。日経がやっとで英字新聞はありませんでした。 月曜から木曜までのWSJの記事で、おもに日本関係を中心に取り上げます。
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August 13, 2012
Korea-Japan ties are tense over islets (竹島関連)
Mr. Lee’s visit to the Liancourt Rocks, known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, raised the temparature on a long-simmering territorial dispute over a barely inhabitable place place of unproved economic value- but that both Korean and Japanese consider a symbol of their sovereign rights.
Liancourt Rocks: 1849年にフランス人が付けたリアンクール岩礁というのが
中立的な呼び名だそうです。知りませんでした。
Japan increases national sales tax to tackle debt （消費増税関連）
Japan, burdened with the highest debt load of any developed nation, on Friday took its biggest step in years to contain the problem, approving a plan to double the national sales tax by 2015 to 10% from 5%.
Investors piling into corporate bonds (社債市場に資金集まる)
In July, TransCanada PipeLines sold $500 million of 10-year bonds to investors. The interest rate: just 2.5%, down sharply from the yield of more than 3% that investors demanded on the energy company’s bonds as recently as December.
August 14, 2012
Southeast Asia flexes deal-making muscle （力を示し始めた東南アジアの投資家）
The multibillion-dollar tussle between Heineken NV and Thai investors for control of one of Southeast Asia’s biggest beer empires is showcasing the latest shift in Asia’s balance of power…
Southeast Asian companies were considered the junior varsity players of Asia…
flex one’s muscle: 力こぶを作る、力を見せつける
tussle: 激しい戦い、取っ組み合い
varsity: 代表チーム、 junior varsity: 二軍
この記事の中に、ロンドンのBattersea Powerstationをマレーシアの投資家が買収という説明あり。今は使われていない発電所の印象的な写真あり、この案件を率いているのはPNBです。
Japan GDP points to a shaky recovery （日本第二四半期GDPは急減速）
Japanese economic growth slowed more sharply than expected in April-June quarter as exports and consumer spending lost steam, raising the further deceleration for the rest of the year.
Europe banks’ capital booster （欧州銀行の自己資本増強策）
A handful of European banks have figured out a way to boost their profit and capital ahead of new regulations: grab back their bonds.
これは以前Citiや米銀がやった手ですね。自社発行債券を時価（簿価より大幅安）で買い戻し、差額を利益として計上する手法。債務が減り、利益が上がり、自己資本比率も向上すると言う一石二鳥。
August 15, 2012
How Japan lost electronics crown （日本の家電はどうして王座を陥落したか）
Dethroned. Sony, Panasonic and Sharp are no longer the kings of electronics. After decades of profit, they combined to lose about $20 billion in the last fiscal year.
be dethroned: 座を奪われる
Loophole could thwart Japan tax rise （消費増税の付帯条件について）
The provision in the law says the government should consider the overall economic situation before implementing the increase and calls for policies to achieve annual average economic growth of about 3% in nominal terms, or about 2% in real terms…
Buyers beware: Goodwill games （有名米企業も高値掴みの買収に伴うのれん償却大）
Multibillion-dollars write-offs by Microsoft Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co., and Boston Scientific Corp. for poorly performing acquisitions prompt the question: Who’s next?
August 16, 2012
Tensions rise in spat over islands
Strains in Japan’s relations with neighbors were on full display Wednesday as it sought to commemorate the end of World War II: China said it would protest the detention of 14 Hong Kong activists who embarrassed Tokyo with a high-profile landing on a disputed island, and both South Korea and China issued fresh criticism of its wartime past.
spat: 喧嘩、ささいなこと
Japan cuts out in smartphones
No longer pioneers: Japan was early leader in music, games and video but has since been eclipsed by newer technologies.
読むのが嫌になる、良くある記事。日本は最初に技術を見つけたが、国内志向、ガラパゴス化で、世界に通用せず。という内容。
問題は日本企業の新陳代謝が進んでいない点ではないのかと思う。日本は、ソニー、パナソニック、シャープ、ＮＥＣ、富士通と旧来の名前。競合は、アップル、Rovio,
Netflexと言う新参企業が多い。
Mobile payments go retail
More than a dozen big retailers announced plans Wednesday to jointly develop a mobile-payments network that will battle similar services from Google Inc. and other companies.
これってお財布携帯だよね。日本の会社はどこかでしっかり儲けているのですかね。。。
以上