Economy
Fed to start tapering bond purchases this year: Bernanke
by No Author
The Federal Reserve maintains its $85 billion-a-month asset purchase program, but says it could begin scaling back later this year.
Business Mar 14, 2012
BOJ to beef up loan supply for prospective growth sectors
The Bank of Japan said Tuesday it will maintain its zero interest rate policy while enhancing its loan scheme for prospective growth industries to ¥5.5 trillion, up from ¥3.5 trillion. The BOJ also said it will extend the deadline for applications for the program, ...
National Mar 12, 2012
Thousands rally at Hibiya Park
Thousands converged on Tokyo’s Hibiya Park over the weekend to hold candlelight services, play music and offer prayers to commemorate the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, one of the largest of many such rallies and gatherings across the capital. Nonprofit groups ...
National Mar 11, 2012
Reconstruction a golden opportunity for eco-communities
While rebuilding the Tohoku coast progresses at a snail’s pace, experts say hints for re-creating the region into a leading area that relies on reusable energy can already be found in many communities across the globe. “Fukushima has the potential to lead the world” ...
National | QUEST FOR RECOVERY Mar 11, 2012
A year on, Tohoku stuck in limbo
Located roughly 23 km from Fukushima’s crippled nuclear plant, Hirono Station today is the northernmost stop on the JR Joban Line for passengers traveling up Tohoku’s coast from Tokyo. The exclusion zone around the Fukushima No. 1 plant begins just 3 km farther up ...
National Mar 8, 2012
Calls mount for restrictions on foreign lawyers to be eased
A statute on foreign lawyers in Japan should be amended to allow them to practice law on an equal footing with Japanese attorneys, a legal expert said Wednesday. The Cabinet on Tuesday agreed to revise the Special Measures Law Concerning the Handling of Legal ...
National Mar 2, 2012
Colombian foreign minister voices optimism over inking bilateral EPA
Following a meeting last September with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda referred to the South American country as “a neighbor” of Japan only separated by the Pacific. Now the countries are working to further shrink the distance by strengthening bilateral ...
National Mar 2, 2012
Evacuated town prepares for residents' return
The town of Hirono resumed services Thursday at City Hall, the first of nine evacuated municipal offices in Fukushima Prefecture to reopen since the March 11 disaster struck and nuclear crisis started. Located 23 km south of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, Hirono’s ...
National Feb 29, 2012
Panel lays bare Fukushima recipe for disaster
The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant crisis was caused by Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s lack of preparation for huge tsunami and exacerbated by conflicting levels of authority and downright “distrust and meddling” by high-ranking officials, an independent investigative panel reported Tuesday. “There were cases ...
Business Feb 28, 2012
Berlitz loses suit over union teacher strikes
The Tokyo District Court on Monday rejected a lawsuit filed by Berlitz Japan Inc. that sought damages from union executives and its teachers for waging strikes and causing substantial damage to the company. Presiding Judge Hiroshi Watanabe sided with the labor union and its ...
National Feb 23, 2012
Nagoya mayor won't budge on Nanjing remark
Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura on Wednesday refused to retract his contentious comments about the veracity of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre and said he is ready to visit the city to explain his views. Speaking Monday to a group of Chinese Communist Party members from ...
Business Feb 21, 2012
January trade deficit hits new high
Japan logged a record ¥1.48 trillion trade deficit in January as an overseas slump, appreciating yen and a growing reliance on foreign energy slashed exporters’ profits and boosted imports, the Finance Ministry said Monday. The deficit ballooned 207.7 percent from January 2011 — the ...
Business | ANALYSIS Feb 18, 2012
Fiscal ills not DPJ's doing but it's holding the bag
The tax and social security reform outline adopted by the Cabinet on Friday indicate the government has run out of options and must finally address welfare costs and public finances that have been spiralling out of control for years. Many members of the ruling ...