Down south for so long, business is looking up:
Japan's industrial output rose strongly in the final quarter of last year, spurred by demand for electronics goods, with a slight drop in December unlikely to knock the country's economic recovery off track.Output rose 3.6 per cent in October-December over the previous three months, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said on Thursday, though it fell one per cent in December from November, below a Reuters poll forecast of a 0.6 per cent fall.
...Strong demand for Japanese electronics and other goods in recovering world markets has helped lift the economy out of a 10-year slump, boosting production and spurring companies to increase investment in their businesses.
..."We don't have the impression that the foundation is less firm," a METI official said. "Most companies remain optimistic."
That the second largest national economy is regaining its feet, so do we. Now, Mr. Koizumi, how about those reforms?