Japanese and Australian shares fell while Hong Kong stocks ended flat after a choppy trading session Thursday, as an unexpected increase in Chinese inflation rate and uncertainty over Greek debt negotiations kept investor sentiment subdued.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average /quotes/zigman/5986735 JP:100000018 -0.14% fell 0.2% to 9,002.24, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index /quotes/zigman/1653884 AU:XJO -0.18% finished 0.2% lower at 4,282.90 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index /quotes/zigman/2622475 HK:HSI -0.04% ended little changed at 21,010.01.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's Kospi /quotes/zigman/1652118 KR:0100 +0.54% rose 0.5% to 2,014.62 and Taiwan's Taiex /quotes/zigman/1565586 XX:Y9999 +0.52% gained 0.5% to 7,910.78. (MarketWatch)
China data, Greece uncertainty weigh Asia stocks
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Panasonic prices its flagship plasma TVs in Japan
Panasonic will be launching its flagship VT-series plasma TVs in Japan come April 20. Priced from US$4,700 to US$6,500, all models will feature the company's proprietary "Infinite Black Ultra" panel, as well as other major upgrades. These include active shutter 3D glasses utilizing Bluetooth connectivity and free remote apps that allow users to play back content from their mobile devices.
Supported file formats for the remote apps' streaming function are AAC, WAV, JPEG and MPO. MPO-compatibility is particularly useful allowing users to display 3D images taken via 3D-capable smartphones such as the HTC Evo 3D.
(CNET)
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Toyota moves Highlander SUV production to US
The United States automobile manufacturing exported more than 1.5 million new vehicles in 2010. How long has this trend been continuing?
Quoting Department of Commerce figures, "Exports of new light vehicles from the United States are up 52% since 2002," said Thomas Kitter of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, "and exports of used vehicles are up almost four fold."
Perhaps taking a clue from Kitter's comments, Toyota announced on Feb. 9 that it was moving yet more production from Japan to the United States. Toyota will be investing $400 million to expand its Princeton, Indiana, plant to start building the Highlander Sports Utility Vehicle. Two of Toyota's models - the Sequoia and the Sienna minivan - are already built there. (majirox news)
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Japan's Tepco to suspend all nuclear operations
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday it will suspend operations of the No. 6 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture on March 26 for a periodic check, a plan that will take all of its 17 reactors out of service, Kyodo News reported.
The No. 6 reactor with a power output of 1.356 million kilowatts is the last to be suspended out of the plant's seven reactors.
It will be the first time all 17 units have been halted since the April 15-May 6 period of 2002, when they were suspended after a public outcry over revelations that TEPCO had hidden problems at its nuclear plants.
Out of the seven at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 as well as the No. 7 reactors have been suspended as a result of periodic checkups and a 2007 earthquake that badly damaged the prefecture and its vicinity. (MarketWatch)
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How Japan, US may break 18-year deadlock over Okinawa base
This week's US-Japanese agreement removing thousands of Marines from Okinawa breaks an 18-year deadlock over the realignment of US forces in Japan by a simple expedient: sidestepping the key obstacle that has bedeviled the issue. Okinawa plays reluctant host to nearly half of the 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan, including 18,000 Marines.
But though the agreement marks "movement in some direction," it represents "only symbolic progress," says Masaru Kohno, a politics professor at Waseda University in Tokyo.
The deal does not close the Futenma Marine airbase in the middle of Ginowa City, which residents complain is noisy and dangerous, and which successive Japanese governments have promised - and failed - to shutter. (csmonitor.com)
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Japan lines up national chip champion
Three Japanese semiconductor manufacturers including Panasonic and Fujitsu are in talks to merge their operations to create a national champion chipmaker that would be backed by the government, according to people familiar with the matter.
The discussions, which are still preliminary, could result in the second state-sponsored consolidation in Japan's struggling electronics sector in recent months. The industry is facing tens of billions of dollars of losses this year and a number of well-known companies have announced plans to restructure.
People briefed on the talks said the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, a government-controlled investment fund that backed a similar three-way merger of touchscreen display makers last August, is negotiating to invest in the proposed new business. (FT.com)
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Tim Wilson, jailed in Japan for Cheeba Chews, reportedly to be released
Tim Wilson, a 25-year-old Colorado man arrested last year after Japanese authorities say he conspired to have marijuana candies sent to the weed-intolerant island nation will finally be coming home, according to 9News.
The station quotes Wilson's family as saying he received a "suspended sentence" and should be back on American soil soon.
We brought you Wilson's story last November. The honors student was studying abroad and helping out with earthquake relief efforts when a friend sent him a care package containing Cheeba Chews, a popular, THC-laced treats. Wilson never received the package, but still faced up to ten years in Japanese prison, as officials said he requested that his friend send him the edibles. (westword.com)
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Tennis: Nishikori leads Japan into Davis Cup
Kei Nishikori will be aiming to build on his success at the Australian Open when Japan takes on Croatia in this weekends Davis Cup World Group tie.
Nishikori, who became the first Japanese man to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open since the Open Era began in 1968, will face Croatias Ivo Karlovic on Friday. Japans Go Soeda takes on Croatia's top player Ivan Dodig in Fridays other singles match.
Saturdays doubles match will feature Karlovic and Lovro Zovko against Tatsuma Ito and Yuichi Sugita, while Sundays reverse singles will see Nishikori face Dodig and Soeda against Karlovic. (Japan Times)
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Long courting of Myanmar may finally pay off
Japanese government and business officials have flocked to Myanmar in recent months with a keen interest in the untapped investment opportunities in the country, which is embarking on democratic and economic reforms after decades of seclusion.
Japanese entities that have been nurturing ties with Myanmar are encouraged that the time has finally come for various cooperative projects to resume operations after years of being in limbo under the country's military regime, while Myanmar welcomes Japan's assistance.
"With Myanmar's government starting to open up to the international community, what we have been working on for all these years may finally bear fruit," said Shigeto Kashiwazaki, managing director of the Asian business research department at Daiwa Institute of Research. (Japan Times)
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Scandal may affect space launch: JAXA
A scandal involving Mitsubishi Electric Corp. concerning inflated defense contracts could affect the scheduled launch this summer of a logistics vehicle to transport food and other supplies to the International Space Station, the Japanese space agency said Thursday.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency suspended Mitsubishi Electric from submitting competitive bids related to satellite development following the revelation late last month that the company had padded bills in connection with contracts for the Defense Ministry and the space agency.
(Japan Times)
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Despite Fukushima disaster, anti-nuclear activists fight uphill battle in Japan
The triple meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant last March unleashed the largest wave of public protest the country, not known for its activism, has seen in decades. Parents' groups sprang up all over the country. Mothers make up the majority of new participants. The groups are demanding school boards test school lunches, pushing city councils to reject shipments of contaminated soil from Fukushima, and petitioning the central government to give families the right to evacuate from a wider area around the nuclear plant. They have had some success, including a government commitment to pay for devices to measure radiation levels in school lunches in 17 prefectures. (csmonitor.com)
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Actress Meisa, pop singer tie knot
Actress Meisa Kuroki, 23, and pop singer Jin Akanishi, 27, have wed, submitting their marriage registration certificate Feb. 2 to a Tokyo ward, the agencies representing them announced separately Thursday.
"I'd like to keep trying my best both in my work and my private life," Kuroki said in a comment released by her office Thursday.
Kuroki debuted in a drama directed by Tsuka Kohei in 2004. She has featured in a number of movies and TV commercials, and is currently one of Japan's most popular actresses.
Akanishi is a former member of pop idol group Kat-Tun and is signed to major agency Johnny's. (Japan Times)
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U.S. likely to scale down plans for bases in Japan and Guam
The U.S. military will probably scale back plans to build key bases in Japan and Guam because of political obstacles and budget pressures, according to U.S. and Japanese officials, complicating the Obama administration's efforts to strengthen the presence of U.S. forces in Asia.
Under a deal announced Wednesday with Japanese officials, the U.S. government said it will accelerate plans to withdraw 8,000 marines from Okinawa. The decision came after several years of stalled talks to find a site for a new marine base nearby.
Washington's inability to resolve its basing arrangements in Okinawa, as well as the rising price tag of a related plan for a $23 billion military buildup on Guam, underscore the challenges facing the Obama administration as it seeks to make a strategic "pivot" toward the Pacific after a decade of fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Japan Times)
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Core machinery orders plunge 7.1%
Key machinery orders dropped a sharper than expected 7.1 percent in December to ¥733.2 billion, the first decline in two months, affected by weakness in some technology sectors, government data showed.
Core private-sector orders, excluding those for ships and from utilities, marked a downturn following a strong 14.8 percent expansion of in November, the data showed Thursday.
The seasonally adjusted figure for orders, an indicator of future capital spending by companies, logged a 5 percent fall, also weaker than market forecasts. (Japan Times)
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Japan enlists foreign bloggers to revive tsunami-hit tourist biz
The Japanese government is trying to get foreign bloggers to do PR for it by inviting them to earthquake- and tsunami-hit areas to write compassionately about the progress being made in reconstructing the ravaged north-east of the country.
The Foreign Ministry thought up the idea in a bid to revive the disaster-hit nation's ailing tourist industry, which has been understandably affected by the events of last March, according to the Mainichi Daily News.
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Perhaps more optimistically, it also wants the bloggers to let their readers know that the tsunami- and quake-affected areas around Sendai are still appealing holiday destinations.
The report reveals that the foreign bloggers have been arriving thick and fast, with a total of 10 invited to the Land of the Rising Sun. (The Register)
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Shorter detention of asylum seekers set
The government has signed a memorandum with the nation's main lawyers association and a nonprofit organization to work together on improving the treatment of asylum seekers while they await a decision on their refugee status, Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa said Friday.
By having lawyers act as guarantors for asylum seekers and Forum for Refugees Japan, a Tokyo-based NPO, provide them with housing, immigration authorities aim to give more applicants permission for provisional stays and shorten their detention. The immigration authorities, long criticized internationally for the lengthy process of determining refugee status and prolonged detention of asylum seekers, acknowledge such problems in the memorandum and pledge to join hands with the private sector to bring about improvements. (Japan Times)
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Japan priest fights invisible demon: radiation
On the snowy fringes of Japan's Fukushima city, now notorious as a byword for nuclear crisis, Zen monk Koyu Abe offers prayers for the souls of thousands left dead or missing after the earthquake and tsunami nearly one year ago.
But away from the ceremonial drums and the incense swirling around the Joenji temple altar, Abe has undertaken another task, no less harrowing -- to search out radioactive "hot spots" and clean them up, storing irradiated earth on temple grounds.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, some 50 km (31 miles) away, suffered a series of explosions and meltdowns after the massive earthquake and tsunami last March 11, setting off the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986 and forcing 80,000 people from their homes. (Reuters)
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Japan finmin makes rare remark on intervention level
Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said on Friday that he had decided to intervene to weaken the yen last year when it hit 75.63 yen against the dollar, making a rare reference to a currency level that prompted authorities to take action.
His remarks before parliament stunned market players as policymakers usually refrain from discussing specific levels to avoid giving markets levels that they can test and to keep them guessing about triggers for intervention.
The minister said he had instructed his staff in October to intervene when the dollar hit 75.63 yen as the level was judged "perilous" to the Japanese economy and stopped the intervention at 78.20 yen early in November. (Reuters)
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Japan Stock Futures Rise on Greece Agreement, U.S. Job Claims
Japanese stock futures rose after Greek policy makers said they reached an agreement on austerity measures required to receive a bailout and U.S. jobless claims dropped, boosting demand for riskier assets.
American depositary receipts of Canon Inc., a Japanese camera maker that gets 58 percent of its revenue in Europe and the Americas, rose 0.6 percent from the closing share price in Tokyo. Those of Komatsu Ltd., Japan's largest construction machinery maker that generates 23 percent of its sales in China, rose 0.3 percent before a report today that economists forecast will show China's exports and imports fell in January. Santos Ltd., an Australian oil and gas producer, added 0.4 percent after oil prices gained. (BusinessWeek)
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11 months on, Reconstruction Agency makes official debut
The Reconstruction Agency finally made its official debut Friday, 11 months since the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake, and its mission is to speed up the process of rebuilding the Tohoku region.
Tatsuo Hirano has been appointed as the minister of the agency, which is headquartered in Tokyo but has three bureaus and six branches in the disaster area - Morioka, Iwate Prefecture; Sendai; and the city of Fukushima - to quickly address the needs of people in the disaster zone.
The agency, which has Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda as the ultimate head to strengthen its leadership, will coordinate with other ministries and implement policies related to reconstruction, approving "special reconstruction zones" with tax exemptions and allocating subsidies to local governments. (Japan Times)
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