New Year’s Day blessed with the fine weather which was all clear this year. Early morning of biting coldness. 2 clapping hands after 2 bows shakes the clear air of the Shinto shrine. I usually go and worship a neighboring Shinto shrine. The New Year resolution under the cold wind feeling in both hands becoming numb for cold made me feel that the body is more tightened. EF international celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. It looks like 10 years passing in the blink of an eye. It is my actual feeling that EFI has gradually grown up to the company called a true company at last. I realize that I am blessed with people to meet and I have had many great chances and as a result, somebody is pushing my back to go forward and I am standing here.
On the other hand, I think that the experience of my past failure, success has never been wasted when I think about what I am now. There was the admiration to the foreign countries vaguely since I was small. However, I deeply attached to English for some reason while recognizing myself who was not suitable for language study. There was myself who gave it up many times. I chose the occupation to use English after all. If somebody know me I look so optimistic or a person who is thoughtlessness. However, I want to thank to my life of what I am now that has been made by the way of my life I chose regardless of any reason and I did the best at that time.
The exchange rate of the Japanese yen against US dollar recorded $1.00=104 yen on Jan. 3. It is strong yen since March, 2018. A fund goes to Japanese yen of the safe currency by global falling stock prices. Japanese yen rises for a currency of the whole world. The economy expansion of Japan enters for 74 months in January of this year and records the longest after the war. According to Ministry of Finance corporation statistics of 2017 the internal reserves of all industrial (except the finance business, the insurance) increases 9.9% and it recorded the highest of 446 trillion yen in the history. If all industry believes the economic cycle of the business and return any percent of their internal reserves for a salary to an employee with courage every year, I think that the Japanese economy improves more. Of course, I think that a big company occupying 0.3% out of 4,300,000 throughout the country must secures most internal reserves. On the other hand, the number of all industrial employees are 54,590,000 people. The non-regular employee occupies 37.3% of the whole. It increase 7.9% more than 29.4% of 2002. The economy in Japan improves if they raise the salary of the non-regular employee up to the level of a regular employee. It is certain that the employee works hard if a company is profitable and some of profit may be returned the employee for a salary. Furthermore, the results of the company improve. The yield of taxes rises, too.
In the case of Japan, strong yen is better as possible. Import goods become cheaper by strong yen, and the consumption increases, too. The company can enjoy a plus spiral growth under slow inflation. The labor shortage can be dissolved, too. A lot of overseas workers hope to work in Japan. The strong yen is power of Japan. It makes an export company hard to export. You should make the thing of the high quality to be able to be sold abroad even if high. An innovative challenge is necessary in this sense. In addition, they should pursue that they go into the foreign countries more and make money by overseas investing.
According to U.S. government’s statistics, the number of the non-agriculture section employees of December 2018 rises 312,000 from the last month. The unemployment rate is 3.9%. This is almost perfect employment in the view of USA situation. It becomes the 99 months consecutive increase from October, 2010 to December, 2018. The mean hourly wage rises by 3.2% of year-to-year basis, too. The individual consumption of USA is brisk. In a U.S. and China trade war, U.S. postponed the tariff increase to 25% for import goods worth 200 billion dollars from China until the end of March. In the world incorporated in globalization a country could not be allowed to stay with the economy that is given priority to an own country or in a closed economic block. Nobody could earn anything from the trade war between U.S. and China in regard to benefit of country and nation. I think the two countries would come to find a solution immediately. In that respect, I am optimistic. China is amazing because their eyes are always turned overseas. Their quick action always taken is to get our eyes wide opened.I admire their attitude of taking an immediate action whatever they think it good.
Nobody could not stop the world economic growth under any situation. The growth of the country is necessary in the human activity. It is necessary for us to sincerely face economic growth and to come up with ideas how to cooperate with other countries from learning the past failure for own country’s prosperity.
by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
| country | 2019 | 2020 |
| Japan | 0.9% | 0.7% |
| USA | 2.7% | 2.1% |
| EU zone | 1.8% | 1.6% |
| China | 6.3% | 6.0% |
| World | 3.5% | 3.5% |
New container price of the end of 2018 is $1,750 per 20f. The total number of new container stock in factories in China is 787,000 TEU ((Dry: 752,000 TEU+ Reefer :35,000 TEU). New container price falls from $2,350 per 20f of December, 2017 one year ago to $600 per 20f, approximately 26%. It is said that Chinese container maker will stop the production or perform production adjustment from January. However, the wave of containerization causes distribution revolution since it has been introduced into the end of 1960s and the movement does not know the place to stop. It is said that the number of the containers used throughout the world is beyond 40 million TEU. I think that the container goes more into every place of the whole world. It is said that a shipping line and a leasing company own half-and-half, but the number of the possession of the shipping line decreases from now on and it is thought that the number of the possession of the leasing company increases.
I am proud that EF International can relate to the container industry in the world. EFI wants to promise this year of the 10th anniversary year that we will make more rapid progress by the next turning point of year, 2025. All staff will do our best to perform our next accomplishment.