Japan
Toyota closes in on record profit as rivals face expansion pain
TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp is closing in on a record profit set before the Lehman crisis after topping up its annual net profit forecast by nearly $2 billion and outperforming Japanese rivals as its expansion plans bear fruit.
Recent Japan News
Nissan says Oct China auto sales up 128 percent
SHANGHAI - Nissan Motor Co Ltd and its local joint-venture sold 114,700 automobiles in China in October, up 127.8 percent from a year earlier, the Japanese automaker said on Monday.
Magnitude 5.0 quake jolts eastern Japan, no tsunami warning
TOKYO - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5 jolted eastern Japan including the capital, Tokyo, on Sunday, the NHK public broadcaster and witnesses said.
Japan ruling party questions plan to let Fukushima evacuees go home: media
TOKYO - A Japanese ruling party official has called into question a government plan to let people who fled from the Fukushima nuclear disaster go home, saying the government should identify areas that will never be habitable.
Bristol seeks Japan approval of all-oral hepatitis C treatment
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co has filed with Japanese health regulators seeking approval of its experimental all-oral combination of hepatitis C treatments, the U.S. drugmaker said on Saturday.
Japan, Russia agree to cooperate on security as China rises
TOKYO - Japan and Russia held their first joint defense and foreign ministers' meeting on Saturday and agreed to boost security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific as they both warily watch neighboring China's rising influence.
Special reports
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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