U.K. hopes to increase defense exports to Japan
British Prime Minister David Cameron has expressed his strong desire to bring "greater exports from Britain into the Japanese economy" in the defense field, ahead of a Japan visit during which the two...
View ArticleUnprofitable Mazda may be forced to sell assets, sever community ties
Should Mazda Motor Corp. dump the Hiroshima Carp? Two weeks after selling $1.8 billion in new stock to replenish its depleted capital, the nation's only unprofitable automaker said last month that it...
View ArticleSurge in fuel imports may come with dire side effect
To make up for its dwindling supply of nuclear power, Japan is on a frenzied but costly hunt for fossil fuels. As part of that hunt, tankers from as many as 12 countries are pulling up weekly to...
View ArticleRadioactive particles from Japan detected in California kelp
Radioactive particles released in the nuclear reactor meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami were detected in giant kelp along the California coast, according to...
View ArticleCalls for nuclear compensation grow in Japan
The discovery of radioactive contamination in "shiitake" mushrooms grown in Manazuru town, Kanagawa prefecture, some 300 km away from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, has raised...
View ArticleHospitals admit scores of 'hanami' revelers
While thousands of Tokyoites safely enjoyed "hanami" (cherry blossom viewing) parties last weekend, 74 people in the metropolis ended up in the hospital over the weekend after abusing alcohol, the...
View ArticleSony to lay off 10,000 worldwide
Sony Corp., the once high-flying electronics giant, plans to lay off 10,000 employees worldwide, or 6 percent of its workforce, by the end of the year in a bid to regain global competitiveness, it was...
View ArticleEmperor might return to work on Tuesday
Emperor Akihito is expected to resume his official duties as early as Tuesday after making steady progress recovering from heart bypass surgery, the Imperial Household Agency said. The Emperor's duties...
View ArticleThe suicide forest of Japan
The Aokigahara Forest is a lonely place to die. So dense is the vegetation at the foot of Japan's Mount Fuji, it is all too easy to disappear among the evergreens and never be seen again. Each year the...
View ArticleTohoku disaster motivates new teacher
The new school year started Monday at many primary and middle schools in disaster-hit Miyagi Prefecture. The month of April is also the start of a teaching career for some teachers in the prefecture....
View ArticleChina calls on Japan not to host Uighur assembly in May
China on Tuesday asked Japan not to host an annual meeting organized by an exile group championing the rights of ethnic Uighurs. The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) represents the mostly Muslim ethnic...
View ArticleJapan's foreign policy and avoiding the unthinkable
Building a stable international order in Asia and the Pacific, in which a major international conflict remains unthinkable, requires a number of elements. Understandably much of the focus on thinking...
View ArticleBank of Japan keeps key rate on hold
Japan's central bank, the Bank of Japan, said Tuesday in its statement on monetary policy that it will encourage the uncollateralized call rate to remain at around 0.0% to 0.1% and didn't announce new...
View ArticleHorse racing: Fukushima horse track opens for first time since 3/11 earthquake
The Japan Racing Association (JRA) welcomed a large turnout over the weekend as it reopened its horse track in Fukushima Prefecture for the first time since the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11,...
View ArticleStocks down for 6th day after BOJ decides no further monetary easing
Tokyo stocks came off their morning highs to end slightly lower Tuesday, extending their losing streak to six trading days, after the Bank of Japan's decision not to take additional monetary easing...
View ArticleJapan, Britain agree on joint arms development
Japan and Britain agreed Tuesday to develop defense weapons together in Tokyo's first such arrangement outside of its security alliance with the United States. Japan has cooperated exclusively with the...
View ArticleSony sees record $6.4 billion loss on tax hit
Japan's Sony Corp flagged a record $6.4 billion annual net loss, double an earlier forecast and a fourth straight year of red ink, as it writes off deferred tax credits, heaping more pressure on its...
View ArticleMan on Honolulu-bound flight from Japan dies
Delta Air Lines Inc. says a passenger on one of its Honolulu-bound flights from Japan has died. Delta spokeswoman Gina Laughlin says Flight 612 from Nagoya was about two hours from Honolulu when the...
View ArticleTwo pulled from boat in no-go zone
Two men were rescued from a vessel Tuesday in off-limits waters less than 20 km from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Japan Coast Guard said. The coast guard said it rescued the men, aged...
View ArticleSalvagers return with ghost ship souvenirs
The B.C. crew that sailed to the Gulf of Alaska to try and salvage the Japanese "ghost ship" cast adrift by last year's devastating earthquake tsunami in Japan returned to Steveston in Richmond on...
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