Japan's May trade deficit jumps on soaring energy costs

This is the direct effect of not having nuclear reactors up and running the economy. People should consider this when protesting about their use.

Until VIABLE alternative sources of energy are available and ON LINE the overall Japanese economy is going to continue to suffer because of it.

Now where are all those voices calling for the weakening of the Yen?

Them's the facts. The increased oil and gas imports to maintain electricity supply as replacement for nuclear generation are sinking the economy.

VIABLE alternative sources of energy are available and waiting to be used. They have been around for decades. There is just not the political will to forge ahead with them. They have just sat on their hands waiting to see what happens for the past 15 months. Once the reactors are up and running again, alternative energy sources will be put on the back burner (as always). The politicians simply see that there is just too much money to be made from chumming with the nuke industry. The Japanese economy is going to continue to suffer forever because of THIS narrowmindedness and short sightedness.

Yubaru- This is a direct result of Japan being ignorant to how easily everything can turn to mud when you place all your eggs into a paper bag. The Japanese should never have relied on nuclear energy nor should they have ignored all the safety warnings and this is the result of such ignorance. Furthermore, Japan can expect this trend to continue and to get worse over the coming months with higher demands for energy through the summer months. Nuclear energy is like the little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When it is good it is very good, but when it is bad it is horrid!

go ahead keep listening to the ameicans and ull soon follow their doom. o u can just print more yen

Sorry, but I don't buy energy prices as the sole reason (or even the main reason). The discrepancy is simply too large, 900 billion vs. 500 billion. This is just another "not Japan's fault" excuse.

When is Japan going to face the facts that the world is starting to find other products to buy besides Japanese? When Europe (a huge customer) crumbles in the not too distant future, it's only going to get worse. Making excuses doesn't help anybody.

The future for Japan is just as bleak as the rest of the world. Stop kidding yourselves.

just out of curiosity, does Japan buy its oil using US dollars?

Disillusioned - "The Japanese should never have relied on nuclear energy..."

So what do you think they should have relied on?

Realistically.

I'm not sure that anyone could reasonably argue, after 3/11, that nuclear energy is a prudent choice for Japan in the long-term. However, they NEED at least some power generated from the idled reactors to sustain the industries that in turn power the economy and drive the movement toward alternative energy sources.

People should try to understand that if you have leukemia, you don't stop your heart to fix the problem. You keep the blood flowing, because your body needs it, while you look for a cure.

FarmboyJun. 20, 2012 - 12:42PM JST

The trade deficit is not caused by high oil prices. The trade deficit is occurring because the yen is strong,

Stick to farming.

It's not the price of oil that has caused the deficit, but the quantity of oil that has to be imported since the nuclear reactors, which used to supply 30% of japan;s energy needs, have been turned off. If the Yen were weaker to the dollar, the deficit would be larger because the oil would be more expensive to buy.

12 months ago the Yen was weaker, but exports were lower. The Yen has strengthed and exports have increased. You do the science, but what it is stating is that the value of the Yen is a weak variable on Japanese exports.

So what do you think they should have relied on?

They should have stayed with fossil fuels until they developed the technology for alternative energy sources.If they had spent half as much time and money developing geothermal energy their economy would not be in the crapper. They chose nuclear energy over geothermal because most of the easily accessed geothermal sources are in national parks. However, the nuclear disaster has laid a vast swath of land unusable for possibly eternity and has displaced over 100,000 people. Losing a bit of national park land is a lot less expensive, don't you think? The technology for sustainable geothermal energy has existed for over 50 years. Just imagine how much better it would be now if they had invested in it way back when they decided to use nuclear energy.

Japan was warned many times about the safety of their nuclear power plants and many recommendations were made, including waterproof switches and getting their back-up generators off the ground, but they ignored these recommendations and now we are paying the price for their belligerent ignorance.

Japan is now a new leader in a safe solar , geo thermal future.

Tried Atomic power, didn't work out so good? Ignored other energy sources, the kick backs not so good anyway. Guess we have to pay more, and companies have to charge more..kick backs are ok. Turn on a light and someone gets mail.