Egyptian-Austrian filmmaker Abu Bakr Shawky (Yommedine, Hajjan) is back. After debuting movies at Cannes and Toronto, he world premiered his latest, The Stories, at the 29th edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) in…
Japan’s tourism shares slump as diplomatic rift with China deepens
As well as news that its economy shrank in the last quarter, Japan has also been hit by an escalating dispute with China over Taiwan.
Shares in Japanese tourism and retail companies have fallen today, after China advised its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan.
This move by Beijing escalated a diplomatic feud sparked by comments from Tokyo’s new prime minister, SanaeTakaichi, on the possibility of deploying forces in the event of a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan.
This triggered a wave of selling across Japanese leisure stocks.
Shares in OrientalLand, which operates Tokyo Disneyland, have fallen by 5.7% today. Department store chain IsetanMitsukoshi, which makes substantial sales to Chinese visitors, has tumbled by 11.3%.
Travel stocks were hit too, with JapanAirlines falling 3.75%.
MasahikoLoo, a senior fixed income strategist at StateStreetInvestmentManagement in Tokyo, explains:
“The China–Japan dispute over Taiwan and Beijing’s advisory discouraging travel to Japan introduces near-term headwinds for consumer-facing sectors.
“Chinese visitors account for roughly 25% of Japan’s inbound traffic, making department stores, luxury retail, and hospitality particularly vulnerable.”
Introduction: Japan’s economy contracts as exports are hit by US tariffs
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
Donald Trump’s trade wars continue to bruise the global economy, dampening demand and weakening trade links.
Japan is the latest country to show the effects – its economy has shrunk for the first time in six quarters.
Japanese GDP fell by 0.4% in the July-September quarter, new official data shows, as its manufacturers’ exports were hit by the tariffs imposed by the US this year.
Exports were a key driver of the contraction; they fell by 1.2% compared with the April-June quarter, and were 4.5% lower than a year ago.
Back in April, Trump threatened Japan with a new 25% tariff on its goods at the US border, which was cut to 15% in July when the two countries reached a trade deal.
Private demand also fell, by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter.
On an annualised basis, Japan’s real gross domestic product shrank by 1.8% on an annualized basis in the three months through September. Although that’s better than the 2.4% fall which economists had expected, it could bolster new prime minister Sanae Takaichi’s case to compile an ambitious stimulus programme.
YoshimasaMaruyama, chief market economist at SMBCNikkoSecurities says (via Bloomberg):
“Japan’s economy was solid in the first half of this year and today’s GDP showed that momentum is halted temporarily.
I expect Japan’s economy to be back on a moderate recovery trend going forward.”
The White House has belatedly woken up to the impact of tariffs on Americans (who pay the levies) too – late last week, Trump lowered the tariffs on food imports, including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, amid growing concerns about rising costs.
Queensland retired rugby league player and Seven News rugby league analyst Trevor Gillmeister has been charged after an alleged incident at a Brisbane venue.
Queensland police were called to a licensed premises in Brisbane City on Friday after…
Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has been handed full responsibility by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for overseeing the Pakistan Shaheens and Under-19 teams, marking a major restructuring within the board’s development pathway.
Mature soybeans remain unharvested near North Maple Grove Road after a rain shower on October 28, 2025, in Ellettsville, Indiana.
Jeremy Hogan | Getty Images
After a few weeks of intense focus on whether there is an AI bubble in the markets or not, a recurrent character of 2025 has emerged to the fore: tariffs.
On Friday stateside, tech stocks recovered slightly after the Nasdaq hit its lowest level in about 3 weeks, perhaps indicating that the AI-fueled volatility could be nearing an end.
However, just as AI steps away from the spotlight, tariffs enter the stage, like the next act in a Shakespearean play.
The Trump administration reached a deal with Switzerland Friday stateside to lower duties on Swiss exports to 15% from 39%, in return for a $200 billion investment in the U.S. by the end of 2028.
On the homefront, Trump also started to roll back tariffs on goods such as coffee, fruits and certain beef products after acknowledging that prices, specifically coffee, "were a little bit high."
These rollbacks mark a sharp reversal in stance for the U.S. President and his officials, which said that tariffs will not raise prices.
In a way, the U.S. President may try to change the laws of politics with his sweeping tariff moves, but even he cannot change the laws of economics.
What you need to know today
Epstein files release. U.S. President Donald Trump called on Republicans in Congress to vote to release files related to deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a sharp reversal from previous resistance within his inner circle.
Alibaba reportedly helping China military. Alibaba is helping the Chinese military to target the U.S., according to a White House memo, the Financial Times reported Friday. "The assertions and innuendoes in the article are completely false," Alibaba said in a statement to CNBC on the FT report.
Japan GDP falls. Japan's economy contracted by a smaller-than-expected 1.8% in the third quarter on an annualized basis, with growth in private and government consumption limiting the decline. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP in the three months to September contracted for the first time in six quarters, falling 0.4%.
Nasdaq recovers. The tech heavy index rebounded on Friday as investors bought up shares of key technology stocks, a day after the group led Wall Street to its worst day in more than a month.Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Monday as investors assessed rising friction between Japan and China.
[PRO] AI and EM for the next decade. Artificial intelligence and emerging markets are set to define the next decade, according to Goldman Sachs' 10 year investment outlook report.
And finally...
Two Chinese tourists wear kimonos as they visit the Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa district of Tokyo on Nov. 15, 2025.
Boland looked likely to be a reserve to the first-choice Australia pace attack in this series, but will now be in the Australia XI for the opening Test following injuries to captain Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood.
