A simple example is the fact that, when I moved to Frankfurt eight years ago, the shops were shut by late afternoon – and shut all afternoon on Saturdays! Now, some are still open at 10 p.m., which my wife particularly appreciates. This is a small thing, but it shows that the country is changing extremely quickly.
In the financial market, the overnight call rate is currently moving at about 0.01 percent, reflecting the guideline for money market operations to maintain the current-account balance at the Bank of Japan at around 5 trillion yen. Interest rates on term instruments are declining further. The Japan premium remains negligible. Yields on long-term government bonds recently decreased to around 1.3 percent.