Key View

• There will be a growing demand for insomnia therapeutics.
• An increasing prevalence and awareness of insomnia, plus unmet needs in its treatment, present a commercial opportunity for drugmakers.
• Orexin sleep aids have the potential to cause fewer side effects and Eisai/Purdue Pharma's lemborexant is a future growth driver in the

Key View

• Japan is ranked 26th in our Global Power Risk/Reward Index and 12th in the Asia regional rankings.
• The country has one of the largest power markets in the world, coupled with a low risk investment environment.
• That said, hurdles to restarting nuclear reactors and the resulting high dependence on imported LNG and coal for power

Key View

• Use of AI in hospitals will drive medical device innovation in Japan.
• Japanese medical device manufacturers will become more competitive as they develop more advanced equipment.
• Sophisticated production will benefit Japanese medical device exports.

The Latest

The Japanese government is teaming up with businesses and academia to set

Key View: We are lowering our forecast for Japan's real GDP growth to 1.0% in 2018 (from 1.2% previously), despite the growth rebound in q-o-q seasonally adjusted terms in Q218. We see rising challenges for the economy due to waning consumer confidence and an uncertain global trade environment, which will weigh on growth in exports and investment.

The pace of asset purchases by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has continued to slow sharply in 2018 to an annual rate of around JPY45 trillion (USD410 billion) despite the official commitment to annual purchases of around JPY80 trillion. 

While BOJ monetary policy remains extremely accommodative and the scale of asset purchases is still large, this

Underwriting results for Japan's top-four non-life insurers remained strong but overseas weather-related losses (including US hurricanes) affected their results in the financial year ended March 2018 (FYE18).

The three non-life groups (Tokio Marine Group, SOMPO Group and MS&AD Insurance Group) plan to boost the contribution from overseas business

Fitch Ratings predicts Japan could generate gross gaming revenues of between $6 billion-$9 billion depending on the number of integrated casinos approved and their physical footprint, according to the fifth edition of the agency's "All In: Global Gaming Handbook." 

Japan's parliament is preparing to vote on a gaming implementation bill, which

Strong corporate profit momentum in Japan will be the main factor shaping our brighter outlook for the CV segment in 2017 as capital expenditure by businesses translates into spending on new LCV fleets in particular. Growth in heavy truck sales will remain subdued as weak construction sector activity tempers demand for these heavy duty vehicles.

W

Buoyed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's proactive economic policies, the outlook for Japan's soft drinks sector appears bright. BMI recently revised its forecast for the country's 2013 real GDP growth to 1.8%, up from previous projections of 1.4%. With this in mind, we believe that the soft drinks sector will deliver a compound annual growth rate of