Japan

Japan, Canada investors to buy U.S. power plant for $2 billion: Nikkei

TOKYO - A consortium including Mitsubishi Corp and Japanese and Canadian pension funds will buy a U.S. gas-fired power plant in Michigan this month for nearly 200 billion yen ($2.01 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

Recent Japan News

Wall Street Week Ahead: Fed fears may be gone but brace for volatility

NEW YORK - Panic selling on fears of an early exit of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus efforts may be over, but the stock market may still face wild intraday swings as investors scramble to position themselves for Friday's payrolls report. | Video

28 Jun 2013

Volatile quarter takes global shares down, gold plunges

NEW YORK - World equity markets rose for a fourth day on Friday, but a gauge of world stocks and other assets still ended in the red for the month of June and for the second quarter as fears that U.S. monetary stimulus could soon be pared back drove volatility and weighed on sentiment.

28 Jun 2013

Japan business mood seen turning positive: BOJ tankan

TOKYO - Japanese manufacturers' sentiment turned positive in the three months to June for the first time in nearly two years, a closely-watched central bank survey is likely to show on Monday in a sign recent market turbulence has yet to hurt the feel-good mood created by the government's reflationary policies. | Video

28 Jun 2013

Japan's Hamada - don't worry about market volatility

NEW YORK - Recent volatility in financial markets is no cause for concern and does not threaten Japan's aggressive efforts to revive the economy after decades of deflation, an advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday.

28 Jun 2013

Singapore 'Hello Kitty' fanciers bare claws in quest for toy

SINGAPORE - Singapore residents braved hazardous air, bid hundreds of dollars and queued for hours to lay their hands on a special Hello Kitty stuffed toy, swept up in a craze for the mouthless Japanese cat that peaked this week in the city-state.

Oddly Enough, Lifestyle, 28 Jun 2013

Special reports

Anti-nuclear protesters hold signs at a rally organized by Greenpeace to demand the government immediately stop the expansion of nuclear power offered by mainland China in Hong Kong April 24, 2011. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

The nuclear industry's trillion dollar question

Before Fukushima, more than 300 nuclear reactors were planned worldwide, mostly in developing economies. While parts of the developed world may reduce their use of nuclear, China, India, the Middle East and Eastern Europe look set continue their nuclear drive.  Full Article 

A member of the Japan Self Defense Force stands on a house at an area that was damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, in Yamada, Iwate prefecture April 5, 2011. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Quake reveals cracks in insurance system

The sophisticated modeling systems the insurance industry uses to predict where disasters will happen and how much they will cost never factored in an earthquake the size of the one that hit northeast Japan.  Full Article 

Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. (TEPCO) Vice President Sakae Muto (C) bows at a news conference at the company head office in Tokyo March 28, 2011. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Japan engineers knew tsunami could overrun plant

A review of Tokyo Electric Power and regulatory records shows that Japan and its largest utility repeatedly downplayed dangers and ignored warnings -- including a 2007 tsunami study from TEPCO's senior safety engineer.  Full Article 

A staff member of a radiation check-up point points out a location of the tsunami-crippled nuclear plant on a map, on which a radiation gauge is placed, during a photo opportunity in an evacuation center in Fukushima, northern Japan, April 4, 2011. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Fuel storage, safety issues vexed Japan plant

Tokyo Electric and regulators are certain to face scrutiny on the decision to store most of the Fukushima plant's spent fuel rods inside the reactor buildings rather than invest in other potentially safer storage options.  Full Article 

A Honda logo on a car is seen at Sendai airport which was damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture April 1, 2011. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Disasters show flaws in just-in-time production

In a globalized economy where manufacturers have moved ever more toward lean inventories, the weakest link in the supply chain is what Japan is best known for: high-end, highly technical parts.  Full Article 

Members of the Indonesia Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (BAPETEN) scan passengers arriving from Japan for radiation exposure at the Sukarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta March 18, 2011.

Radiation fears may be greatly exaggerated

As workers struggle to contain the fallout from a crippled Japanese nuclear plant, people as far away as Illinois are calling public health officials in a state of panic. But the truth is anxiety is largely disproportionate to the actual danger.  Full Article 

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Mistakes, misfortune, meltdown: Japan's quake

An examination of Japan's effort to contain its escalating nuclear disaster reveals a series of missteps, bad luck and desperate improvisation. What also emerges is a country that has begun to question some of its oldest values.   Full Article 

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Why Japan will avert a fiscal meltdown

In these dark hours, Japan would do well to heed former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's memorable maxim that you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.  Full Article 

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Can Japan find "New Deal" after triple whammy?

The nuclear crisis was a triple whammy for Japan, coming on top of the earthquake -- the fifth strongest ever recorded -- and one of the most powerful tsunami in history, which caused scenes of unimaginable destruction in northeast Japan.  Full Article | Related Story 

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In Chernobyl, a disaster persists

As Japan battles to prevent a meltdown at its earthquake-hit Fukushima Daini nuclear plant, the people of Ukraine are preparing to mark the 25th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident.  Full Article | Related Story 

An evacuee eats his meal in front of a banner of support from Sweden at an evacuation shelter in Rikuzentakata after the area was devastated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami March 29, 2011. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

An interactive guide to how the disaster unfolded.  Timeline