Even after a massive stimulus package was proposed and launched by the new Japanese government, the country says it is not completely ready to stop the spending just yet. If you do not remember or know little about what happened, their exports basically collapsed in 2008 due to their very weak financial market. Japan is now claiming they really have no exit plan for the stimulus deal, which is a sign that things may continue on the same for some time. Like many economies right now, including the US, they are struggling to get their heads above water. The government continues to see the need to interfere and has thrown tons of money into their economy. This has now caused their national debt to skyrocket, as well as put fear into many of the residents there. At some point the government cannot spend what they literally do not have. They hope soon to have an exit plan as their economy shows signs of strengthening. It is amazing to see how their economy is like ours. Although they export much more than they import, we seem to struggle in many of the same areas that they do as well.

Now that the 2010 Winter Olympics are closing up, Japan has struggled to win gold. Their big hope, Mao Asada fell very short when Kim Yuna put up a record breaking long program to ensure her of the gold medal. It can be tough for some athletes in some countries to go home with less than the gold. Many people expect them to win gold, and if they do not, it can be as if they did not win a medal at all. Nonetheless, Kim Yuna was the heavy favorite to win and she virtually skated two nearly error free programs. Her long program is already being dubbed as the best long program in the history of the Winter Olympics. Japan will more than likely end these Olympic Games with a huge disappointment when it comes to the overall medal count. Japan, with only a day or two left in the games have won two silver medals and two bronze. They have had no gold medals in these games. This can be tough in a country that prides themselves on putting their top athletes in the games and through tough training schedules. It seems like they will have to wait four more years for their gold medal.

If you pay any attention to the news at all, you may have seen that Japan has really been struggling with anti-whaling activists at their presence in the waters near Antarctica and beyond. Under agreement from the international community and governing bodies, Japan is apparently allowing 6 whaling vessels to bring in whales caught and killed at sea. This type of fishing is big for the Japan economy and has been a part of their culture for some time. But anti-whaling ships do not like their presence and are always trying to divert their ships from killing a single whale. They make claims that Japan does some illegal whaling as well. Recently one anti-whaling ship was allegedly rammed and sunk by a Japanese whaling ship. Both parties denied being the one responsible, but at the same time, neither side seemed to get along one bit.

Clashes between the two sides have been going on for a long time and do not seem to be letting up one bit. Both sides feel that they are in the right, causing bitter clashes at times. It seems that they are a long way away from figuring out a mutual agreement to keep the two sides at peace as well. Only time will tell how this one will play out.

Japan relies heavily on how well the manufacturers in their country perform. Just like many places, if they fail to meet quality standards expected around the world, then there would be very few who would trust them to produce goods for them. With Toyota struggling to answer the call in getting the gas pedals fixed on millions of vehicles, the economy in Japan could see the ripple effects of this major issue soon. If it was not for Honda’s strong numbers this month, the effect may have already had been felt.

Just like the US where auto makers struggled to stay in business, Japan is dealing with their auto issues. These are nowhere near as bad as what is going on here, yet they are strong issues and unless Toyota rises to the occasion, it could hurt their business for many years. This could however steer car buyers in the direction of US auto makers, you just never know. Only time will tell how this issue will affect the US and Toyota auto industries as a whole.

So if you were going to buy a new vehicle today, do you think that you could trust Toyota, considering what has just occurred?

What is consumer confidence? Well basically it is that buyers of goods are confident that if they purchase certain items from certain companies that they will be confident that the product they are receiving will be a good one. It means you trust certain brands and feel more comfortable buying them if you can.

Most Japanese companies and the government want these levels to be huge. They pride themselves it seems on making sure that people love the quality of the products that come from and originate in this country. Toyota has recently had a huge set back with a massive recall on millions of newer vehicles with the gas pedal sticking.

The government in Japan has also gotten involved telling them to make sure they are putting the customer first here and winning their confidence back. Does this mean that they produce poor cars? No, history has shown they are top in quality. It could however shake some people’s confidence in them, but if handled properly they can achieve success.

So what does this mean to you, the new issues with a Japanese auto maker? Only time will tell how this latest flop will shake the consumer confidence indexes studies by the auto industry.

It has been 50 years now in 2010 since the U.S. and Japan first reached their security alliance. This alliance was a huge deal considering the two were at war during World War II. On that anniversary both sides might want to look into ways that they can strengthen the alliance. Certainly both sides do not always agree on how to handle things together, but the key here is that they try and realize that they both should want each others interests to be important.

Strengthening that alliance could be really important as well considering both countries face tough times as each others economies stay troubled. Sure, in both the US and Japan things are starting to look up, but both countries are struggling with jobs. It’s been difficult to put the people that want to work to work that have been out of a job for quite some time, for example.

So you must understand that these alliances can be a very important to not only the nation’s security but to our economy as well. If we were to break apart from the relationship, our country could possibly struggle more economically. And at this point most people would probably agree that they do not want that.

Japan has high hopes in the year 2010. First they hope to do well in the Winter Olympic Games coming up. They have a huge presence there and expect a lot out of their athletes. They have many top athletes in several events like women’s figure skating. It will be a tough go for them as teams from all over the world send their best to compete in the games at Vancouver. These athletes from Japan can sometimes have more pressure put on them by their country due to the celebrity like status they receive from the residents there. These pressures can often fuel athletes and at other times can cause them to choke during an event.

Like many countries, another hot topic will be the economy. Japan’s economy has struggled greatly the last few years. Sometimes these events can be tied to other countries and their struggling economies like the US. A top trade official in Japan just recently said that he expects the economy there to recover fully in 2010, yet things like unemployment and deflation may still be big problems.

So expect to see some big changes in Japan for the year 2010. Will they shine or will it be a lack luster year for this great nation.