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Researchers hurt at Ibaraki nuclear facility
At least four researchers suffer internal radiation exposure after an experiment on elementary particles goes awry at a Japan Atomic Energy Agency facility.
Business Topics
Economy May 11, 2013
Japan monetary policy may spark debate at G-7 as dollar surges over yen
by Yasushi Azuma
Japan’s aggressive monetary easing policy may spark debate at a two-day meeting of the Group of Seven financial chiefs from Friday as the dollar surged to ¥101 in Tokyo for the first time in more than four years. During the gathering in Aylesbury in ...
Economy May 11, 2013
Current account surplus hit ¥4.29 trillion last year
The current account surplus marked a record low in fiscal 2012 as exports to China and Europe fell and fossil fuel imports rose, the government said Friday. A record deficit in the global trade of goods and services of ¥9.48 trillion brought the annual ...
Economy May 10, 2013
Asia-Pacific nations hold trade talks
Sixteen Asia-Pacific nations including Japan and China held their first round of talks Thursday toward forming one of the world’s largest free-trade blocs. At the five-day meeting on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership through Monday in Brunei, the 10 members of the Association of ...
Economy May 10, 2013
G-7 eyes economic policy cooperation for global growth
The finance chiefs of the Group of Seven industrialized economies are likely to confirm this weekend that they will cooperate in steering fiscal and monetary policies for global economic growth, despite criticism by some emerging nations about their drastic credit easing tactics. Finance ministers ...
Economy May 9, 2013
Abe wants to determine impact of BOJ easing on people's livelihoods
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the administration’s key economic panel will hold a meeting to carefully examine whether the Bank of Japan’s drastic monetary easing has begun to improve people’s livelihoods. Abe made the remark Tuesday amid growing concern that the central bank’s easing ...
Economy May 4, 2013
Abe team to craft bill to galvanize industry
The Abe administration plans to draw up a bill to help Japanese industry compete globally as a pillar of its growth strategy to fight deflation, according to sources. The bill, to be submitted to the Diet this autumn, will aim to streamline sluggish businesses ...
Economy May 4, 2013
Chinese, Korean finance chiefs skip out on ASEAN Plus Three
China and South Korea skipped a meeting of finance chiefs from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China and South Korea on Friday in India, their officials said. The ASEAN Plus Three meeting was to be the only opportunity for the finance ...
Economy May 4, 2013
Japan, ASEAN finance and banking chiefs plan talks at ADB meeting
Finance ministers and central bank governors from Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were set to agree on enhancing financial cooperation when they met Friday on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting. With Japan looking to deepen economic ties ...
Economy May 1, 2013
March jobless rate falls to four-year low
The unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent in March, its lowest level since November 2008, the government said Tuesday, as some companies increased female employment in the hopes of an economic recovery boosting business confidence. The figure was in line with expectations by economists ...
Economy May 1, 2013
Electronics demand pushes industrial output up for fourth straight month
Industrial production edged up 0.2 percent in March from February for the fourth consecutive monthly rise, partly backed by firm demand for electronic parts and other items in Asia, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report Tuesday. Although the ...
Economy | JAPAN-CHINA SYMPOSIUM Apr 30, 2013
Eurozone fiscal union will only exacerbate political crisis: critic
Any moves toward a fiscal union among the eurozone countries as a solution to the region’s ongoing debt crisis will only create an even worse political crisis, a veteran British journalist said at a recent seminar in Tokyo. “A European fiscal union that many ...
Economy Apr 27, 2013
BOJ stands pat on new monetary easing steps
by Jun Hongo
The Bank of Japan on Friday put off additional monetary easing while providing optimistic predictions in its Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices report by boosting inflation forecasts. The outlook, released every six months, predicts that the BOJ and government’s goal of achieving 2 ...