Weekend Edition: Japan's High Flying Trapeze Act

About this episode

Phil Dobbie discusses Japan's economic strategies with Tetsuo "Harry" Ishihara amidst a challenging fiscal landscape.

Friday 12th June 2026 Please note this communication is not a research report and has not been prepared by NAB Research analysts. Read the full disclaimer here . Japan finds itself performing a high-stakes economic balancing act as the nation navigates its most aggressive structural pivot in decades. In this weekend edition of the NAB Morning Call, Phil Dobbie welcomes Tokyo-based independent macro strategist Tetsuo "Harry" Ishihara to unpack how Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration is fiercely driving growth via an interventionist, multi-year fiscal strategy—employing heavy gas subsidies and targeted funding across 17 growth sectors to absorb the massive shock of the Middle East energy crisis. Yet, this state-sponsored growth push directly collides with the Bank of Japan's urgent agenda. With the yen weakening back past the precarious 160-per-dollar mark, the central bank is looking clean through artificial headline numbers to an "ex-institutional" inflation metric that is creeping toward 3%. Can the government maintain its growth-at-all-costs mandate while the BOJ prepares to bite the bullet with a historic interest rate hike to 1% next week to defend the currency and…

People in this episode

Host: Phil Dobbie

Guest: Tetsuo "Harry" Ishihara

Topics covered

• Japan economy
• fiscal strategy
• Bank of Japan
• yen
• energy crisis
• interest rates

Keywords

• Japan
• economic balancing act
• fiscal strategy
• yen
• interest rate hike
• energy crisis
• Tetsuo Ishihara

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bank of Japan

Places: Japan, Tokyo

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