Moody's lowers rating on Japan's Sony, Panasonic
Ratings agency Moody's on Friday downgraded Japanese electronics titans Sony and Panasonic, giving both companies a negative outlook. The agency lowered its assessment on debt issued by Sony to Baa1...
View ArticleBOJ struggles to feed cash, fails to meet bill buy target
The Bank of Japan failed to meet its target for purchases of short-term government securities on Friday, the first time since its asset-buying plan was put in place and raising questions about the...
View ArticleJapan police 'mull suicide' in severed penis case
Police believe a Japanese man found dead with multiple stab wounds and his severed genitals under his bed may have committed suicide, reports said Friday. An autopsy showed the body of the 49-year-old...
View ArticleHow a Japanese paper rose to the occasion in tsunami disaster
Japan continues to defy the downward trend of newspapers evident in other advanced economies. Newsprint circulations remain enormous in high-tech Japan - and one publisher has even resorted to medieval...
View ArticleRadiation, rusty metal in Japanese reactor
Radiation-blurred images taken inside one of Japan's tsunami-hit nuclear reactors show steam, unidentified parts and rusty metal surfaces scarred by 10 months' exposure to heat and humidity. The photos...
View ArticleEmbattled Olympus to remain on Tokyo stock market
Olympus Corp. will not be kicked off the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but the camera and medical device maker must pay a fine for covering up massive losses with false accounting, exchange officials said...
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Japan's damaged rice culture
The 3.11 tsunami and radiation may have changed a system for good The effects of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan have wrought havoc on the long-term prospects...
View ArticleVirtual idol Hatsune Miku topping 2012 Olympics poll
In a recent poll, Japan's virtual idol currently has the crown with thousands of votes for the 2012 London Olympics. You may or may not be aware of Hatsune Miku, Japan's foremost digital idol, but she...
View ArticleOnly in Japan - Cloud-based, Wi-Fi enabled LED lights
Convergence is a brutal mistress, lovingly embraced by Samsung and hurriedly implemented by others in less-than successful gadgets. In Japan though, where "weird" is seemingly the norm, a company...
View ArticleTokyo shares hit 10-week high as weaker yen sparks exporters
Tokyo stocks posted strong gains Friday, as a sharply higher euro on the back of easing tension over euro-zone financial issues, helped exporters such as Honda Motor Co., Canon Inc. and TDK Corp. to...
View ArticleNoda not on Obama's buddy list in Time magazine
In an interview with Time, U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned several world leaders with whom he has forged good relations, among them German Chancellor Angela Merkel and South Korean President Lee...
View ArticleJapan asks Washington to grant waiver on latest Iran oil sanctions
Japan has requested that the United States grant it a waiver from new sanctions it is leveling on Iran, pointing to the risk of another economic setback and its already extant plans to reduce oil...
View ArticleTepco may be run by outside directors
Tokyo Electric Power Co. may have to let outside directors oversee its management if the beleaguered utility is effectively nationalized, sources said. Discussions are also under way to set the size of...
View ArticleForeign tourists to get fixed-rate expressway pass
Central Nippon Expressway Co. says it will offer a fixed-rate toll pass for foreign drivers to promote tourism in central Japan. The all-you-can-ride pass is good for seven days and will be available...
View Article3/11 memorial to be held in Tokyo
The government will hold a memorial ceremony on March 11 in Tokyo to mark the first anniversary of the quake and tsunami that devastated parts of the Tohoku region and triggered the world's worst...
View ArticleBattered headless male body found
A battered headless body of an adult male was found Friday morning in a factory parking lot in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, police said. They suspect it was dragged there from an accident site around...
View ArticleJapan cult member charged after years on run
A senior member of the doomsday cult behind the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo subways has been charged in a kidnapping case, one of dozens of cult-related crimes in the 1990s. Tokyo prosecutors...
View ArticleWoman, father held for dumping, burning body of 1-year-old baby
A 23-year-old part-time worker was arrested Friday on the technical charge of abandoning her baby's corpse, while her father was arrested on suspicion of burning the body in a park in the city of...
View ArticleCherry blossoms to stick to script
The cherry blossom viewing season is likely to start at around the same time as usual in many parts of the nation this year because temperatures are expected to rise around late February, Weather Map...
View Article1.8 trillion yen in govt surplus funds unused
About 1.8 trillion yen worth of surplus funds in the government's special accounts for fiscal 2009 remained unused even after the money was made available the following fiscal year, the Board of Audit...
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