Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts

Saturday, September 12, 2026

The trouble some issues encountered while modelling the economic growh together with a new exponential modelling

 

The following text is AI (ChatGPT plus) generated with reference to my current issue in mathematical modelling of the macroeconomic growth theory. 

---  

This week I had an interesting little incident at the boundary between economics and mathematics.

I was checking an exponential model for an economic growth / Total Factor Productivity (TFP) problem. After going back to the mathematical formulation and implementing it carefully in MATLAB, the objective function Q(ϕ)Q(\phi) showed a clear minimum.

At first sight, that sounds encouraging: the optimisation problem has a well-defined solution.

However, when I reconstructed the corresponding TFP trajectory using the parameters associated with that minimum, the result did not reproduce the observed trajectory satisfactorily.

So I found myself in an interesting situation:

the mathematics said, “Here is the optimum,” while the economic data replied, “Not so fast.” 😅

This does not necessarily mean that the exponential approach is mathematically wrong. Rather, it raises a more interesting question: is this particular model structure appropriate for representing the empirical behaviour of TFP?

At the moment, I am therefore also comparing the result with a penalised smoothing spline, which appears to represent the trajectory more naturally.

For me, this has been a useful reminder that finding a mathematically neat optimum is not the same thing as finding a good empirical model. Optimisation, model specification, and interpretation all have to work together.

The investigation is still ongoing, so this is not a final conclusion — just one of those small research episodes where economics and mathematics refuse to cooperate quite as politely as expected.

 

Sunday, July 26, 2026

My codes of financial time series analysis and the AI art used in my Yukkuri Commentary movie posted on YouTube


This video presents our recent research on financial volatility forecasting, comparing classical econometric models, signal-processing techniques, and modern machine-learning approaches.

The study evaluates the forecasting performance, volatility prediction accuracy, computational efficiency, and interpretability of five different methods:

• GARCH
• SARIMA
• Matrix Pencil (MP)
• XGBoost
• Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM)

Using Bitcoin returns as a high-volatility financial asset, we investigate whether modern AI-based methods consistently outperform traditional forecasting techniques when accuracy, explainability, and computational cost are considered simultaneously.

Our results show that:

✓ SARIMA achieves the lowest return forecasting error.
✓ Matrix Pencil delivers comparable forecasting accuracy with extremely low computational cost.
✓ XGBoost provides a strong balance between accuracy and efficiency.
✓ LSTM exhibits relatively strong performance in tracking volatility patterns and market regime changes, despite higher forecasting errors and computational requirements.
✓ No single model dominates across all evaluation criteria.

The findings suggest that the Matrix Pencil method remains a competitive and highly interpretable alternative to black-box machine-learning models for financial forecasting applications. 

NicoNico: https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm46580360 

Sakuya, Youmu, and Marisa challenge a unique cooking competition!
Using Bitcoin market data as ingredients, five dishes — GARCH, SARIMA, Matrix Pencil, XGBoost, and LSTM — to compete to predict future market movements ♬
This video explains the strengths and characteristics of traditional econometric models, signal-processing approaches, and modern AI techniques through a fun Yukkuri-style commentary.
Which model will create the best “forecasting recipe” for the future market?

Artwork including original character illustrations:
https://www.pixiv.net/en/tags/%E5%A6%...

Music, sound effects, and background materials used in this video are credited in the end credits.
#TouhouProject #Touhou #YukkuriCommentary #reimu #marisa #sakuya #youmu #remilia #yuyuko #Finance #Bitcoin #Cryptocurrency #QuantitativeFinance #FinancialEngineering #FinancialForecasting #VolatilityForecasting #Econometrics #ARIMA #SARIMA #GARCH #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #DeepLearning #DataScience #TimeSeriesAnalysis #ExplainableAI #XGBoost #LSTM #SignalProcessing #MatrixPencil #Prony #PronyMethod #Python #Research


This image is posted on my pixiv page: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/147674029
My attempt is to generate an AI art with free of charge using ChatGPT. Many AI illustration tools charge fee and are not so flexible yet. I have experimented with generating an image based on my rough drawing together with the input script into ChatGPT.
This is an AI-synthetic illustration output by ChatGPT based on my rough drawing. The following is the input script. It is like asking the contemporary popular character designer to illustrate Touhou Project characters in his style. ☆彡



Redraw this illustration in a 1990s Japanese fantasy RPG illustration style with the scene shows three cooks working side by side in a cozy kitchen:
• on the left, a refined silver-haired maid in a blue-and-white uniform with a green ribbon, skillfully slicing vegetables with a kitchen knife
• in the center, a white-haired swordswoman in a green outfit, attentively stirring a pot of simmering food on the stove
• on the right, a blonde witch-like girl wearing an oversized black pointed hat and a black-and-white outfit, energetically stir-frying ingredients in a frying pan.
Please improve the line quality, proportions, and shading while preserving the original composition.
 
 I have got to prepare for a cover image for a video I am currently creating to post YouTube. Furthermore, over here, it is too hot to be concentrated with my usual art works. .... seriously, it's tough enough to make me sleep quite a few hours! In an accommodation where I am currently living, there is no AC! My energy has recently been drained without noticing. Therefore, I just decided to spend my experiment in the AI output while my concentration and energy for my own artwork is sizably limited 

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

The idea of Japan joining the EU, why not.

"Japan will join the EU!", I would like to shout on the 1st April. 

Added on 31st March 2026

There is a possibility that the great circle distance of the sea route between the European Union (EU) and Japan will be significantly shortened under this global warming. The new arctic sea route is emerging due to the ice meltdown. Although there are still various challenges to explore this route, it is demanded all the more than before now. 

The recent Middle Eastern incidence and the unstable political situation in South Asia may alert Japan and Europe to explore the alternative trade route. North American countries are focusing on the possibly high market potential in this Arctic route. On the top of the trade route between the EU and Japan, this area is essential for shipping the natural energy resources such as petrol oil and natural gas in this region. It is the common geopolitical interest for both the EU and Japan to secure the exploration of this trade route is necessary rather than expectation nowadays. 

Furthermore, we must not forget that the legal code of Japan has been based on the legal positivism of the continental Europe since the 19th century! The legal code of Japan is one of the examples backing up the proverb saying "All roads lead to Rome". Yes, the continental European legal code is originated from that of the Roman law. 

Japan also kept the exclusive trade tie with the Netherlands from the 17th to the 19th century. When Americans landed on Japan in the 19th century, Dutch was used as the intermediary language between American and Japanese individuals at their first encounters.  It might sound plausible Japan could closer to the EU than the USA in terms of this regard especially since the first arrival of Jesuits in the 17th century, 

Added on 1st April 2026

Of course, I know there are non-negligible drawbacks in this case scenario. First of all, the EU is heavily bureaucratic which frustrates individual habitants in their daily life as well as their economic and scientific activities. Secondly, their macroeconomic policy still faces the challenge which even the first governor of the European Central Bank (ECB) has pointed out. They have not fixed the problem of the fiscal policy under the European common monetary (EMU) policy while the characteristics of fiscal policy agents in the member states are still not harmonised enough. The aforementioned heavy frustrating bureaucracy tends to keep this kind of required reforms being slower than expected.

Originally written on 4-5th February 2023 

The followings are considered to be the conditions to join the European Union (EU) or any other possible economic and political union of countries/states. 

- Microeconomics:
  1. The high cross border trade (export and import) frequency
  2. The labour and capital mobility across the border

- Macroeconomics:
  3. The synchronised business cycle (boom and recession) among the member states
  4. The balanced fiscal policy neither disrupting the fiscal and monetary policy conducts nor depreciating the economic credibility of the entire union.

- The other aspects:
  5. Cultural and historic tie among the member states
  6. Geopolitical diplomatic interest

Japan fulfils these conditions except for the forth one because of the massive national debt of Japan. The second and third conditions might be questionable but they are not insignificant at all.

Remember that the foreign tourism is accounted as export&import!  The EU members and Japan trade not only physical items but also tourists a lot with each other. 

Also remember that Japan had had the international trade with Europeans more than the others since 17th century till the end of Shogunate era! In particular, during Tokugawa dynasty, lasting for approximately 300 years, the Netherlands was only the country which was permitted to trade with Japan implementing the national isolation. Before then, Spanish and Portuguese were the major diplomatic partners until they were banned from it. 

Both the EU and Japan very often share the remarkable foreign diplomatic and geopolitical interest. For example, both frequently suffer from Russian aggressions and the geopolitical interests of containing Russia. Both the EU and Japan are required to maintain their sea-lane for both economic and political stabilities so that they had better share their sea-lane and its security.

Thus, I have actually posted on a social network page of European Federalist to request Japan to join the EU to fill the membership position of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). 


PS. This is just a simulation which is not feasible in real so that please do not take this issue seriously.

 


 

 

 

 

Monday, March 09, 2026

250th Anniversary of the publication of Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith!

Congratulations! Because of Adam Smith, I started knowing Scotland and got interested in economics as well as the modern philosophy including the enlightenment philosophy of his senior fellow David Hume!


Adam Smith is my hero who has attracted me to Scotland...! Since I read his Wealth of Nations, I have become so passionate about Scotland that I decided to study in Scotland! The individual property right is a fundamental of the economic liberalism! The big government undermining the general will of individuals eventually diverts our economy from the natural economic equilibrium which is the most feasible condition, and then misguides to the state of economic disturbance...! I really praise Adam Smith's theory which always points out what is right for economy when our economic freedom and general will are invaded by any sort of oppressors at any time period of our history...! 

* Images from Adam Smith Institute: https://www.adamsmith.org/books/preview-adam-smiths-the-wealth-of-nations-a-graphic-novel 


 


 

Tuesday, April 08, 2025

Financial time series analysis with Matrix Pencil, the modern Prony's method - Python, Future prediction, Yahoo finance

 Originally Saturday, November 30, 2024

 The misprints of the elements in unitary-matrices in the recipe corrected on Tuesday 8th April 2025





The misprints  the elements in unitary-matrices in the recipe corrected on Tuesday 8th April 2025

 

 


 

Friday, March 28, 2025

Engle's ARCH motion prediction model with the simulation data with Python

 This is introduced in my cartoon video of Yukkuri Kaisetsu (Touhou Project fan-art):




Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (ARCH)

ARCH was developed by an economist Robert F. Engle III having won the 2003 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for its achievement.

Dependent variable: the variance error terms of the first regression:
The explanatory variable X can be the lagged dependent variables and/or the other variables: 
Then, it find the coefficient γ of the lagged squared error terms with reference to the log-likelihood: 
 

Generalised Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH)

GARCH assumes the variance of the error term symmetrically varies depending the average size of the error terms in pervious time steps. It adds the lagged variance on the explanatory variable of the second regression with reference to the log-likelihood for finding the coefficients γ and δ:

 

 Simulation Data with Python

The following exhibits display the simulation data evaluated using ARCH to illustrate how ARCH functions.

To facilitate the visual representation of this simulation, the most basic form of Engle's ARCH, as introduced in the Wikipedia entry below, has been implemented.

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoregressive_conditional_heteroskedasticity

This simplified simulation demonstrates motion prediction for intercepting incoming flying projectiles with erratic movements, resembling the fluctuations of a stock price.

Following is my Python codes: 

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Python, matplotlib.animation: Test showing changing values of Index Vs Stock

I am testing "matplotlib.animation" using the stock market index (NASDAQ in this case example) and the stock market price (Amazon in this case example)

# Parameter Adjustment

# Set Ticker Symbol
# e.g. Ticker="^GSPC" for S&P 500, Ticker="NDAQ" for NASDAQ, Ticker="TOPX" for TOPIX
Ticker_index="NDAQ" # Ticker sympol for the index
# Ticker="AMZN" for Amazon, Ticker="NTDOY" for NINTENDO
Ticker_stock="AMZN" # Ticker symbok for a stock

# Set the number of years to download data
No_Years_Data=1;

# Set the numbers of days for the future forecast
No_Days_FutureForecast=250*1


# For mathematics
import numpy as np
import math
import statistics

# For plotting
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.animation import FuncAnimation
import matplotlib.animation as animation
import itertools # for joining lists inside a list
from itertools import count

# Setting Plot Size
plt.rcParams["figure.figsize"] = (10,7)

# Calling stock values from Yahoo finance API
# Ref. https://www.kaggle.com/code/alessandrozanette/s-p500-analysis-using-yfinance-data
import yfinance as yf
%config InlineBackend.figure_format='retina'
import warnings
warnings.filterwarnings("ignore")

# Now, let's retrieve the data of the past x years using yfinance
Years="".join([str(No_Years_Data),'y']) # Set the number of years ! Adjust
Index = yf.Ticker(Ticker_index).history(period=Years)  # Ticker Symbokl ! Adjust !
Stock = yf.Ticker(Ticker_stock).history(period=Years)  # Ticker Symbokl ! Adjust !
# Let's take a look at the data
display(Index.tail())
display(Stock.tail())

# Change to list
# https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39597553/from-datetimeindex-to-list-of-times
Dates=Stock.index.tolist()
Dates=[Dates[t].strftime("%Y-%m-%d") for t in range(len(Dates))]
Values_Index=Index["Close"].tolist()
Values_Stock=Stock["Close"].tolist()

# Taking a difference of natural log of these values
y_1=np.diff(np.log(Index["Close"])).tolist()
y_2=np.diff(np.log(Stock["Close"])).tolist()



# Inline animations in Jupyter
# https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43445103/inline-animations-in-jupyter
epsilon=[] # storing errors
Window=30; # business days in 1.5 months
for b in range(math.floor(len(y_1)/Window)-1):
    st=0+Window*b; ed=st+Window; print(st,ed)

    plt.rcParams["animation.html"] = "jshtml"
    plt.rcParams['figure.dpi'] = 150

    fig, ax = plt.subplots()
    x_value = []
    y1_value = []
    y2_value = []
    epsilon_value=[]

    count_ = count();
    def animate(a):
        counts=next(count_)
        x_value=Dates[st+counts:ed+counts].copy()
        y1_value=y_1[st+counts:ed+counts].copy()
        y2_value=y_2[st+counts:ed+counts].copy()
        #epsilon_value=[abs((y1_value[w]-y2_value[w])/y2_value[w]) for w in range(len(y1_value))] # Relative
        epsilon_value=[abs((y1_value[w]-y2_value[w])) for w in range(len(y1_value))] # Absolute
        ax.cla()
        ax.plot(x_value,y1_value, label=Ticker_index, color='slategrey')
        ax.plot(x_value,y2_value, label=Ticker_stock, color='darkseagreen')
        plt.legend(loc="upper right")
        plt.xticks(rotation=90)
        plt.title(f'From {Dates[st]} to {Dates[ed+Window]}')
        ax.set_xlim(0,Window)
        epsilon.append(epsilon_value)
    Animation=animation.FuncAnimation(fig, animate, frames=Window, interval = 500)
    display(Animation)

# Separating figures
plt.show(block=False)

# Analysing errors
# joininig lists inside a list
epsilon=list(itertools.chain.from_iterable(epsilon))

print(statistics.mean(epsilon))
plt.figure(); plt.hist(epsilon); plt.show(block=False)



 

Monday, August 26, 2024

The quote from Milton Friendman about how the market economy can serve for good in politics

 


This is why I still strongly support the market economy (some call Capitalism) for not only political economics but also ethical reasoning! This is a spontaneous order inducing individuals' interests even with their evil intension trading off to providing needs and wants of the others! This is why I strongly support individuals' property right as their reward of fulfilling their motivation to survive as well as serving good for the public!!

Even comparing the authoritarian countries, those with the proper market economy, i.e. freer economy, seem to have a higher degree of social freedom than the other counterparts. Those political and socially free countries which have introduced a more collective form, i.e. less freer economy, tend to lose their overall freedom. We also have to be warned of the corporatism, the new form of totalitarianism, where a market is monopolised by few hands of corporate elites.

Tuesday, August 06, 2024

Leontief Model Simulation with Python Part 2: Experimental Attempt of Eigenvalue Problem when a matrix is singular i.e. non-invertible

 


This piece of my experimental attempt is based on the paper Singularity in the Discrete Dynamic Leontief Model by István Ábel1, Imre Dobos https://pp.bme.hu/so/article/view/8432/7719 .  This paper was accidentally found while searching for "Matrix Pencil for financial analysis".  Yet, this method is different from the Matrix Pencil (MP) method used in my current researching topic.  Nonetheless, this mathematical modelling applying the eigenvalue problem for the cross sectional econometric model is interesting enough to entice me. 

Honestly speaking, I have not fully understood their method behind because it is really off-topic from my current time series modelling. At the same time, I would like to keep this topic for my near future reference as I will be able to use my Linear Algebra application gained from my current research project. At least, I have attempted solving their mathematical modelling while learning by imitation. Therefore, it is likely to contain some error which I have to spend a sufficient amount of time for investigating and learning this realm of research. 

In terms of this example, the capital coefficient matrix C_i,i is singular containing a row containing zeros i.e. non-inversible. Therefore, the method of the eigenvalue problem is applied instead of using C_i,i^(-1).  Lambda (Greek letter) denotes the eigenvalue of the following equation. The error margin is kept below 1% or 5% at most.

My Python codes are displayed below:

 

# importing necessary tools
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import networkx as nx
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
import random
import math
import statistics
import networkx as nx
import scipy.linalg
from scipy.stats import qmc

RefList=[
' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input%E2%80%93output_model'
,
' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmVfmISjayA&t=134s'
,
' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_9HwKet8G0&t=301s'
,
' https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895717710001093'
,
' https://pp.bme.hu/so/article/view/8432 https://pp.bme.hu/so/article/view/8432/7719'
]
print('Referring to the following articles and YouTube videos: \n')
for k in range(len(RefList)):
    print(RefList[k])
print(' \n')

print('x_i,t: the vector of output levels \n')
print('d_i,t: the vector of final demands (excluding investment) \n')
print('L: the Leontief input–output matrix \n')
print('C: the capital coefficient matrix \n')

print('C: The following equation is used when these matrices are non-singular i.e. inversible. \n')



# The following follows the example shown in the paper

# Index: Industrial Sectors
Sctrs=['Sec1','Sec2','Sec3']
print(f'There are {len(Sctrs)} industrial sectors. \n')

L = np.array([[0.3,0.3,0.3],[0.4,0.1,0.5],[0.3,0.5,0.2]])
Pdf_L = pd.DataFrame(data = L,index = Sctrs,columns = Sctrs)
display('The input–output matrix: L =',Pdf_L)

C = np.array([[0.3,0.4,0.45],[0,0,0],[0.6,0.8,0.9]])
Pdf_C = pd.DataFrame(data = C,index = Sctrs,columns = Sctrs)
display('The capital coefficient matrix: C =',Pdf_C)

# Identity Matrix
I=np.identity(len(C))
Pdf_I = pd.DataFrame(data = I,index = Sctrs,columns = Sctrs)
display(f'I: {len(C)} by {len(C[0])} identity matrix',Pdf_I)

print(' \n')

print('Leontief formula: x_i,t = L x_i,t + C _i,i (x_i,t+1 - x_i,t) \n')
print('Then, it is converted to:  x_i,t+1 = C_i,i^-1 {(I_i - L_i,i + C_i,i) x_i,t}    \n')

print('On the other hand, the capital coefficient matrix C_i,i is singular containing a row containing zeros i.e. non-inversible. \n ')
print('Therefore, the method of the eigenvalue problem is applied instead of using C_i,i^(-1) as follows. \n ')
print(f"Lambda (Greek letter) denotes the eigenvalue of the following equation (Ref. {RefList[4]} : ")
print('1. x_i,t+1 C_i,i = (I_i - L_i,i + C_i,i) x_i,t } \n')
print('2. Lambda x_i,t C_i,i = (I_i - L_i,i + C_i,i) x_i,t } \n')
print('3. Lambda C_i,i = (I_i - L_i,i + C_i,i) } \n')

# Eigenvalue finding
E= scipy.linalg.eig(C, (I - L + C))
for k in range(len(E[0])):
    print(round(E[0][k].real,18))
# Using the positive real number eigenvalue
EigVal=E[0].real
Where=(np.where(EigVal==max(EigVal)))[0][0]
Lambda=EigVal[Where]
print(f"The maximum eigenvalue used is Lambda= {Lambda} .")
# Corresponding Engenvector denoted as Rho (Greek letter)
ind=np.where(E[0] == Lambda)
ind[0][0]
Rho=E[1][:,ind[0][0]]

print(' \n')

# Let's denote the initial values of production of 3 sectors
x_0=np.array([392999.32,422999.27,446999.23])
Pdf_x_0 = pd.DataFrame(data = x_0,index = Sctrs)
display("Let's denote the initial values of production of 3 sectors: x_i,0 =",Pdf_x_0)

x_1=x_0/Lambda
Pdf_x_1 = pd.DataFrame(data = x_1,index = Sctrs)
display("Then, x_i,1 = x_i,0 / Lambda  =",Pdf_x_1)

Right=np.dot(L,x_0)+np.dot(C,x_1-x_0)
print(f"Then, the right hand side (I_i - L_i,i + C_i,i) x_i,t is {Right} , \n")
Left=x_0
print(f"and the left hand side (I_i - L_i,i + C_i,i) x_i,t is {Left}. \n")

print(f"The percentage difference between the left-hand side and the right-hand side is {(Left-Right)/Right}. \n")


 

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Serious cyber incidence: Nico Nico Douga system down

 

The whole system down of Dwango Co,. Ltd. & Kadokawa group is a serious incidence especially in Japanese network. All the websites and the whole network server of Japanese video posting sites Nico Nico Douga (the potential competitor of YouTube) is completely down, and the recovery will take at least 1 month plus. This cyber incidence should be considered as a national cricis of Japan as Nobuhiro Tsuzi, the outsourced agent of the cyber security department of Japanese police, and Hiroyuki Nishimura, one of the initial founders, say. The vulnerability of Japanese server centre and the cyber security is questioned. Also, the shut-down of Nico Nico Douga causes the significant loss of the opportunity for the market competition and the entertainment creators. There are also various resources of BGM and pictures shared among many creators including YouTubers are stored in Nico Nico sites. Mr Tsuzi and Mr Nishimura, one of the initial founders, suspect it will take more and this cyber incidence is considerably serious.

 

Friday, April 26, 2024

Example of a badly performing stock exchange price in TOPIX


This stock exchange price is one of those which are registered in Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) market.

The TOPIX stands for the Tokyo Price Index of this market.

While exchanging the stocks, investors refer to the index of the average stock exchange price of a particular market they belong to such as the TOPIX for this company. 

The passive trading aims at modestly keeping the profit by buying and selling those stocks more or less following the index by referring to the index price.

The active trading aims at aggressively increasing the profit by buying and selling those stocks outperforming the index. 

Those stocks registered in the prime market usually follows the price movement of the index. 

However, since this month, this company's stock price has started deviating from the counterpart of the TOPIX, and it is substantially underperforming. 

The majority passive traders will be very likely to omit this company's stock from their fund portfolio.

It is an opposite phenomenon from what active traders usually expect for unless they expect for the stock price returning to the index. 

 

In addition, we must also focus on the international market. 

The aforementioned price is based on the value based on Japanese Yen (JPY).

This means that the price plunge is much steeper in terms of the international market where they are traded with other than JPY.

 


This is the JPY price index compared to the major other currencies all together.

In this half year, JPY has already been substantially plunging. 

Some high-profile investors have purchased a massive amount of Japanese company stocks while the price dropped as though it were a bargain-sale for them.

In contrast, this particular company stock mentioned here does not seemed to be favoured by these investors.

These high-profile investors' action is so influential that it usually reflects the index performance too. 

Moreover, these investors also carefully refer to the fundamental of companies such as their executives' management skill, the potential of these companies' products, and the expected return of their profit. 

This price depreciation seems to imply the deteriorating fundamentals overall. 

This is why it is important to compare with the market index a particular firm belongs to.

 

Tuesday, March 05, 2024

The mysterious Japanese macroeconomic factor: The national debt per GDP is 251.93%!

 

... well, Japanese national debt percentage of GDP is over 200%! This is one of the mysterious Japanese macroeconomic factors.
One of the reason is that approximately 90% or more of Japanese national bond holders are Japanese nationals. This is why the government can keep these bond holders even with a substantially low interest rate. The hidden cost of this policy is incurred upon Japanese economy because the government is hardly able to raise the interest rate even during the inflationary period.
 
Furthermore, the value of Japanese national bond is so stable that the capital loss risk is low. Because there is still a regular coupon payment (the income gain) with the low capital loss risk at the moment, the majority private banks in Japan keep holding the national bond as the secure asset. The majority Japanese citizens are so risk-averse that they hardly split their saving to private investment: Then, the private bank simply shift their saving account money to the national bond purchase. Although the coupon payment is not so high, the risk premium is still lower than any private bond for the moment. Their risk-averse personality is one of the strong drive of stabilising the national bond price. 
Nevertheless, it is sceptical to assume this mechanism can keep going on. Japanese economy has been stagnated for multiple decades since the last economic bubble burst in 1990s. Nowadays, Japanese economic indices show that Japanese economic strength is even weaker than before. In addition, the entire macroeconomic strength will keep going down due to the ongoing ageing population combined with the constant substantial population decline.