The Japan Times: News & Business

What an Obama or Romney win means

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:10:00 PST

Successful political candidates try to implement the proposals on which they ran. In the United States, President Barack Obama and the Democrats, controlling the House of Representatives and (a filibuster-proof) Senate, had the power to do virtually anything they wanted in 2009 — and so they did.
Obama and his congressional allies enacted an $800 billion "stimulus" bill that was loaded with programs geared to key Democratic constituencies, such as environmentalists and public employees; adopted a sweeping and highly unpopular health care reform (whose constitutionality will be determined by the Supreme Court this year); imposed vast new regulations on wide swaths of the economy; embraced an industrial policy that selects certain companies for special treatment; engaged in borrowing and spending at levels exceeded only in World War II; and centralized power in Washington (and, within the federal government, in the executive branch and regulatory agencies).

Fukushima Hawaiian-themed resort fully reopens

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:11:00 PST

A Hawaiian-style spa leisure complex in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, known for its team of hula dancers, fully reopened Wednesday, 11 months after the March disaster damaged the facility.
Spa Resort Hawaiians has renovated its key indoor dome facility, where the Hula Girls' stage and a big swimming pool are located, after installing three pillars to shore up the dome ceiling.

¥5 billion set for rare earth projects

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:12:00 PST

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Wednesday it will offer around ¥5 billion in subsidies for the development of technologies and other activities aimed at reducing the use of rare earths.
METI selected 49 projects at companies, universities and other institutions as eligible to receive the subsidies, in its bid to reduce the use of dysprosium, used for motors in hybrid vehicles and other products, by 30 percent in two years.

Myanmar investment talks set

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:13:00 PST

Japan and Myanmar will launch preliminary talks next week aimed at signing a bilateral investment accord, officials in Tokyo said Wednesday.
The meeting Tuesday in Myanmar's capital of Naypyitaw between senior officials is intended to sort out major issues before they enter official negotiations, the officials said.

Search for five workers continues in flooded tunnel

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:14:00 PST

Five workers remained missing Wednesday after seawater flooded an undersea tunnel being built at JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp.'s Mizushima oil refinery in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, on Tuesday, local police said.
Police divers resumed their search for the five Wednesday morning but decided later to give priority to removing large quantities of rubble found in a shaft of the tunnel.

Diet OKs fourth extra '11 budget

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:15:00 PST

The Diet on Wednesday approved a fourth extra budget for the current fiscal year that will assist companies struggling as a result of the March 2011 disasters and the sharp appreciation of the yen, which has weighed on the country's exports.
The Upper House passed the ¥2.53 trillion supplementary budget for fiscal 2011, which ends next month, and the measure will finance the reinstitution of tax breaks for the purchase of environmentally friendly vehicles, in support of carmakers, a major casualty of the stronger yen.

Seoul axes intel agent for spilling beans in Tokyo

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:16:00 PST

A South Korean intelligence officer posted to Seoul's embassy in Tokyo was fired for allegedly leaking "secret" information to the Japan Coast Guard and Japanese reporters, according to South Korean media reports.
The officer, who allegedly leaked eight items of confidential information during his 2009-2011 posting, has denied wrongdoing and filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, saying the information didn't meet the threshold of a state secret, the Chosun Ilbo paper and other media reported.

U.S. Marines to move; base row will drag on

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:17:00 PST

Tokyo and Washington said Wednesday they have agreed to revise a 2006 bilateral accord aimed at transferring U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, effectively no longer making the redeployment contingent upon construction of a replacement airfield by 2014.
The two sides said they have already started formal negotiations on moving some of the marines to Guam before the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa. The plan, based on a 2006 bilateral accord, called for moving 8,000 marines and their dependents to Guam from the Futenma base upon the 2014 completion of the replacement airfield on the Henoko coast of Nago farther north on Okinawa Island.

Turkey's AKP is no role model for Arab countries

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:18:00 PST

Many in Washington have been debating whether Turkey's governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) could be a model for the Arab Spring, as our neighbors in the Middle East aspire to get rid of totalitarian regimes and become true democracies. But the reality in Turkey makes clear that the AKP model does not hold.
On Nov. 9, I visited the Silivri prison where hundreds of journalists, publishers, military officers, academics and politicians are being held. Trials were opened in 2007 on charges that an ultranationalist underground organization had plotted for years to overthrow the government. Many of those indicted have been detained for years without trial. There has not been a single conviction to date. Justice is at stake — and, so far, has been flagrantly denied.

Nissan sales rise but profits decline

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:19:00 PST

Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday its group operating profit for April to December fell 4.7 percent to ¥427.8 billion, with the strong yen eating into overseas earnings.
It also reported a ¥266.1 billion group net profit for the nine months, down 7.7 percent from the same period the previous year.

Biomass plants to burn quake debris

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:20:00 PST

The Forestry Agency will provide financial support for the construction of four biomass power plants to burn wood debris from the March 11 disasters, officials said.
The plants to be built in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures are expected to burn a total of 200,000 tons of debris a year, generating 16,000 kw and covering the consumption needs of 30,000 households.

Foreign visitor target set at 18 million by 2016

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:21:00 PST

Japan hopes to boost the annual number of foreign visitors to 18 million by 2016 by repairing the country's damaged reputation as a safe travel destination in its next five-year tourism plan.
The Cabinet is expected to endorse the plan to be implemented from fiscal 2012 possibly in March, according to a draft obtained by Kyodo on Tuesday.

Electronics giants start chip integration talks

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:22:00 PST

Panasonic Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. have begun talks with major chip-maker Renesas Electronics Corp. on integrating their system chip operations, sources said Wednesday.
At a time when the country's semiconductor industry has struggled in the face of the historically strong yen and stiff competition from rivals in South Korea, the companies aim to revamp their system-chip business by expanding the scale of their operations through integration.

1 in 3 women living alone are in poverty, as are 1 in 4 men

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:23:00 PST

About 1 in 3 women between the ages of 20 and 64 who live alone are living in poverty, compared with 1 in 4 men in the same category, a study showed Wednesday.
"Women's status in the workplace is low, and they are more likely to live in poverty (than men)," said Aya Abe, a senior official with the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, which conducted the study.

Emails bare NRC's Fukushima chaos

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:24:00 PST

In the confusion following the earthquake and tsunami that damaged the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex last March, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it was standing by to help.
But a trove of emails posted on the NRC's website shows an agency struggling to figure out how to respond and how to deal with the American public while cutting through what one official called "the fog of information" coming out of Japan.

Dubious reasons to attack Iran

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:25:00 PST

It is hard not to be impressed by the one-dimensional reasons the United States gives for its various animosities.
U.S. antagonism to Tehran began in 1979 when some revolution-minded Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy there and held 55 staff members as hostages for 444 days. Washington said the raid broke diplomatic protocol. But had not the embassy lost any claim to immunity by helping the 1953 overthrow of the democratically elected Mosaddegh government, and its replacement by a Shah-led dictatorship that had suppressed all opposition?

Yen-yuan exchange market touted

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:26:00 PST

Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Kiyohiko Nishimura said Wednesday that developing a market where the yen and China's yuan could be directly exchanged would contribute to regional stability.
"One benefit will be a reduction in transaction costs, as the price will be set directly without the dollar as an intermediary. Moreover, without settlements in dollars, it would also lead to a reduction in currency settlement risks for financial institutions," Nishimura said in a speech in Tokyo.

The Iran-Israel dynamic

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:27:00 PST

Israel's leaders are making increasingly loud and worrisome comments about Iran's nuclear program. Israel sees Tehran's nuclear ambitions as an existential threat — a view that is not surprising given repeated remarks by Iranian leaders that Israel should be wiped from the map.
Iran's leaders may be borrowing a page from the "madman's guide to international relations," ratcheting up tension to gain leverage in negotiations; all evidence suggests that the government and elites in Tehran are as self-interested as any other and they have no desire to commit suicide. Exaggerations notwithstanding, the dangers are very real. Iran's suspected determination to acquire a weapon would unravel the security and political order in the Middle East. Just as dangerous are the possibilities of a crisis as a result of misperception or over-reaction.

U.S. Treasurys foiling intervention

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:28:00 PST

Finance Minister Jun Azumi's efforts to weaken the yen are being foiled, in part, by U.S. Treasurys.
Finance Ministry data released Tuesday showed Japan conducted an unannounced intervention worth ¥1.02 trillion during the first four days of November, as part of ¥14.3 trillion worth of sales in 2011. Still, the currency traded within 1.8 percent of its postwar record, clouding the outlook for he economy's export-led recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Environmental panel rejects Futenma move

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:29:00 PST

An Okinawa Prefectural Government panel has concluded it would be impossible to conserve the living and natural environment if an airfield is constructed on the Henoko coast of Nago for the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, sources said Tuesday.
The panel, which examined an environmental impact assessment by the central government for the relocation of the base, which is now in crowded Ginowan, within the prefecture, was scheduled to present its findings to the prefectural government Wednesday afternoon. The presence of the base and plans to move it elsewhere in the prefecture have been the source of years of local ire.

Current account surplus hits lowest level in 15 years

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:30:00 PST

The current account surplus shrank to its smallest level in 15 years in 2011, largely affected by slowing exports on the stronger yen and global economic downturn amid the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, the government said Wednesday.
The balance, the widest gauge of international payments by a country covering goods and services trade as well as capital investment, dropped 43.9 percent from the previous year to ¥9.63 trillion, staging the sharpest fall since records began in 1985, including the decline at the height of the global financial turmoil in 2008.

Reactor 2 temperatures said trending lower

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:31:00 PST

The temperature at the bottom of the reactor 2 pressure vessel at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant appears to be lowering but still needs close monitoring, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday.
Tepco said Wednesday a temperature of 68 degrees was logged at 10 a.m. and 65.4 an hour later.

NISA to OK report on Oi reactors' stress tests

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:32:00 PST

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Wednesday it will soon finalize a draft report endorsing the results of stress tests on two idled reactors at Kansai Electric's Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture — the first time such tests will be approved.
NISA made the decision after presenting and hearing opinions on the draft report at a meeting the same day with experts. The final version will then be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan for checking.

Plan for new marketplace on Tsukiji site gets mixed reviews

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:33:00 PST

Moves by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to build a new marketplace on the site of the Tsukiji market have drawn mixed reactions, with some critics saying it is an attempt to bulldoze through the controversial relocation of the famed fish market to a new site.
According to plans revealed Tuesday, the new market will be built on the site of the Kachidokimon parking garage next to Tsukiji's outer market. The facility will have approximately 100 shops selling fish and fresh vegetables to professional chefs and ordinary customers alike.