Sharp Corp., whose domestic liquid-crystal-display factories once made the company a symbol of pride for Japan's electronics sector, now has taken on a less impressive mantle: that of a sector struggling to compete globally.
"Severe" is how Sharp's incoming president described the situation to reporters on Monday.
Sharp expects this fiscal year to record the biggest annual loss in the company's 99-year history. The company suffered from weak demand across most of its largest product lines-television sets, LCD screens and solar panels-with a strong yen hurting cost-competitiveness.
(ibnlive)
How Sharp has lost its edge
↧
↧
A century later, Washington's cherry blossoms are a coup for Japan
A century before cultural diplomacy became a buzzword for governments around the world, Japan scored a spectacular success - Washington's cherry blossoms, which have become one of the U.S. capital's top tourist attractions.
First planted in 1912 on central Washington's then barren Tidal Basin, the gifts from Japan each year now draw more than one million visitors who revel in the famously short-lived beauty of the blooming pink and white cherry petals.
(canada.com)
↧
Noda tells Maehara to gain DPJ nod for tax hike
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Monday allowed Democratic Party of Japan executives to revise part of a bill to hike the sales tax, aiming to draw an intraparty consensus on the issue, lawmakers said.
During a meeting with DPJ Policy Research Committee Chairman Seiji Maehara, Noda asked him to make a decision after thorough discussions with the government side, giving the chief DPJ policymaker a free hand on how to form an opinion within the ruling party, the lawmakers said.
(Japan Times)
↧
Rugby: New coach Jones picks team
New Japan rugby coach Eddie Jones picked his first team on Monday, naming a 30-strong squad for next month's Asian Five Nations match at Kazakhstan.
A night after leading Top League champions Suntory Sungoliath to their second consecutive national championship, Jones unveiled a group that included 14 uncapped players for his first game in charge of the Brave Blossoms on April 28.
(Japan Times)
↧
Easily winded Emperor to have more fluid extracted from chest
Emperor Akihito, who had open heart surgery in February and is rehabilitating at the Imperial Palace, will have fluid extracted from his chest for a second time Tuesday, the Imperial Household Agency said Monday.
The procedure will be performed at the Imperial Household Hospital on the palace grounds in the morning.
The Emperor underwent a similar procedure on March 7, when fluid was extracted from the right side of his chest. The procedure is being repeated because of shortness of breath during exercise that is likely being caused by fluid on the left side, the agency said.
(Japan Times)
↧
↧
Toyota raises North American managers' roles
Toyota Motor Corp. is expanding the roles of four executives in North America, including three non-Japanese, as Asia's largest automaker seeks tighter coordination in its biggest market.
Steve St. Angelo, executive vice president for North American engineering and manufacturing, will oversee all regional production. Ray Tanguay, chairman of Toyota's Canadian unit, is to oversee quality issues, and Jim Lentz, who will become chief executive officer of Toyota's U.S. sales arm on April 1, will oversee sales, marketing and product planning for the region.
(Japan Times)
↧
Yamanote line in Tokyo features AKB48 train
AKB48 have taken over one train on the JR Yamanote line in Tokyo. Photos of the popular all-girl group adorn the outside and inside of all the cars of one train on the famous loop.
Not only that, singer Minami Takahashi, 20, has recorded announcements for each of the 29 stations. She announces in a dignified voice that "The next station is Osaki. Change here for the Saikyo Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line and Tokyo-Rinkai Line."
(Japan Today)
↧
Osaka to cease paying subsidies for Korean schools
Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui said Monday the prefectural government will cease paying about 81 million yen in subsidies to eight Korean schools in the prefecture for fiscal 2011 ending this month.
The decision followed the lack of confirmation that the schools have no relations with a North Korean-affiliated organization in Japan, a condition for the subsidies, prefectural government officials said.
(Mainichi)
↧
U.S. man admits insider trading on Japan drug companies
A former human resources consultant pleaded guilty on Monday to illegally sharing confidential information with a friend about deals involving Japanese drugmakers.
Scott Allen, 45, of Atlanta, told Manhattan federal court Judge Deborah Batts that he had shared information about acquisitions by two Japanese drugmakers, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd and Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co Ltd, with a friend.
(chicagotribune.com)
↧
↧
Japan's growing military confidence
The Japanese Self-Defense Forces performed admirably after last year's tsunami. Expect a more confident force to play a growing role in disaster response.
Militaries rarely earn their spurs in peacetime, but the Japan Self-Defense Force's performance in the aftermath of last year's tsunami and earthquake in Tohoku could be described as a coming of age for a force that has traditionally had a complex relationship with itself and the Japanese public.
(The Diplomat)
↧
Analysis: The AIJ scandal and Japan's pension time bomb
Tarumi Taxi in western Japan's port city of Kobe is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, offering a glimpse of the crisis facing tens of thousands of small and mid-sized companies across Japan with little hope of meeting their pension obligations.
Owner Satoshi Nagata, 59, has been pressing banks for a loan before a deadline in September when a contractual trigger will quadruple the hole in the firm's pension account. Without it, Tarumi Taxi and its fleet of 40 cars and 80 drivers will likely fold.
(Reuters)
↧
K-pop groups nominated in MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2012
The list of nominees for the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2012 is out and six K-pop groups are included.
2NE1, KARA, Girls Generation, 2PM, CNBlue and SHINee got nominated along with music heavyweights like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Bruno Mars.
In the Best Album of the Year, KARA is nominated for "Super Girl" and Girls Generation for "Girls Generation" along with Lady Gaga for "Born This Way," Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto," and Juju for "You."
(Manila Bulletin)
↧
17th anniversary of Aum's subway gas attack marked
Tokyo subway officials commemorated the 17th anniversary of Aum Shinrikyo's deadly 1995 sarin gas attack Tuesday at Kasumigaseki Station.
Twenty-four Tokyo Metro Co. employees observed a moment of silence at the station, one of the subway stations where members of the cult released the deadly nerve agent on March 20, 1995, killing 13 people and sickening more than 6,000 others.
(Japan Times)
↧
↧
Sumo: Kakuryu still tied for Spring Basho top spot
Kakuryu rose to the challenge to remain in a share of the lead and yokozuna Hakuho rebounded from his defeat to the sekiwake the previous day, discarding of Aminishiki on the 10th day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday.
Ozeki hopeful Kakuryu, Hakuho, Estonian ozeki Baruto and rank-and-filer Shotenro retained a tie for the lead with 9-1 marks, going into the last five days of the 15-day Osaka meet. Ozeki Harumafuji sits at 8-2.
(Japan Times)
↧
Kyushu pileup kills three, hurts nine
Three people were killed and nine were injured Tuesday in an expressway collision involving five vehicles in Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture, police said.
The collision occurred at around 2:10 a.m. about 1 km south of the Yame interchange on the Kyushu Expressway. The police said the pileup began when a car hit a side wall before a truck and three other vehicles became involved. (Japan Times)
↧
Patriot missiles may be deployed in Okinawa to counter North Korean rocket
The Defense Ministry is considering deploying the Patriot-3 antiballistic missile defense system on Ishigaki Island and Okinawa Island to possibly shoot down the rocket North Korea says it will launch next month with a satellite onboard, a senior vice minister said Tuesday.
Shu Watanabe revealed the idea during a graduation speech at the Maritime Self-Defense Force cadet school in Etajima, Hiroshima Prefecture.
The ministry is also considering deploying an Aegis destroyer in the Sea of Japan to defend Tokyo in case the North Korean rocket veers off course, the government sources said.
(Japan Times)
↧
U.S. exempts Japan and 10 other countries from sanctions over Iran oil
The Obama administration on Tuesday exempted Japan and 10 European nations from the prospect of biting sanctions intended to punish countries that continue to buy oil from Iran, but it left open the fate of other major importers, including China, India and South Korea.
The sanctions, ordered by Congress late last year to intensify diplomatic and economic pressure over Iran's nuclear activities, have put the administration in the difficult position of threatening to punish some of the United States' closest allies while it seeks to squeeze Iran's main source of hard currency.
(New York Times)
↧
↧
Basketball: Washington to fight charges in drug case
Osaka Evessa power forward Lynn Washington's legal defense has begun, The Japan Times has learned.
Evessa spokesman Makoto Yamada told The Japan Times that Washington informed the team he plans to hire a lawyer for his ongoing case.
The 33-year-old star was arrested March 13 for suspicion of importing approximately 1 kg of marijuana into Japan.
(Japan Times)
↧
Nissan reviving Datsun brand for emerging markets
Nissan is bringing back the Datsun three decades after shelving the brand that helped build its U.S. business. This time, Nissan hopes the name synonymous with affordable and reliable small cars will power its growth in emerging markets.
Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn made the announcement Tuesday while in Indonesia, one of three markets besides India and Russia, where the Datsun will go on sale from 2014.
(sfgate.com)
↧
Fibre optics to connect Japan to the UK - via the Arctic
The retreat of sea ice is bringing 21st-century communications to the Arctic. In mid-August, construction should start on the first submarine fibre-optic cables to cross the Arctic Ocean, providing digital shortcuts between London and Tokyo, Japan.
Two cables are planned through the fabled North-West Passage above North America, while a third is planned along the Russian coast. The longest of these links will become the world's longest single stretch of optical fibre.
(New Scientist)
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
