The World’s Third-Largest Economy Is Facing A Looming Energy Crisis

Japan is facing an energy crisis that can severely hurt the world's third-largest economy as it is forced to tackle a combination of a weak local currency, the fallout from the Ukraine war, and a heatwave. Japan already had a significant energy import bill as it depends on foreign oil and gas for 90 percent of its needs.

But as the yen fell to the lowest in 20 years, Japan's bill became even bigger, with the price rise in crude oil, which has been some 40 percent in dollar terms since the start of 2022, reaching a whopping 70 percent in yen terms.…