Japan Online

Darvish wins all-Japan baseball pitching duel

musiclover — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:21:17 +0000

Yu Darvish won the battle of Japanese hurlers, striking out 10 batters and allowing no runs as the Texas Rangers blanked Hiroki Kuroda’s New York Yankees 2-0. Darvish improved to 3-0 on the season, pitching 8 1/3 innings and walking just two as he held the high-powered Yankees in check on Tuesday.

Kuroda, who fell to 1-3, allowed five hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings for the Yankees who won seven of their nine contests against the Rangers last year.

Japan trade deficit hits record; fuel imports rose

musiclover — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:02:11 +0000

Disaster-battered Japan has posted its biggest fiscal year trade deficit ever — a contrast from decades of surpluses on booming exports. The Finance Ministry’s preliminary trade data released Thursday showed Japan racked up a record 4.41 trillion yen ($54 billion) trade deficit for fiscal 2011, which ended March 31, as the nation imported oil and gas to make up for a power shortfall.

All but one of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors are now offline since a nuclear crisis set off last March by the tsunami in northeastern Japan.

The ministry said comparable electronic trade data go back to fiscal 1979, but the latest number was bigger than those dating back to the Meiji period, starting in 1868.

Japan puts wind in sails of UK projects

musiclover — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:43:14 +0000

Japan has agreed to funnel billions of pounds into British infrastructure, including wind power, in a fillip for government efforts to attract more foreign investment into big strategic projects. The deal with the state-backed Japanese Bank for International Cooperation came during a visit to Tokyo by David Cameron, prime minister, on the first day of More >

Japan policy seen as key for stock gains

musiclover — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:16:50 +0000

Japanese stocks rocketed to some of the strongest gains in recent memory over the first three months of this year, but a further advance for the market will likely depend in large part on where government policy goes.

Japan’s benchmark blue-chip index, the Nikkei Stock Average JP:100000018 -2.29% , climbed 19.3% in the first quarter of 2012. That was the first quarterly gain for the Nikkei Average in three quarters and its best first-quarter performance in percentage terms since the boom-times of 1988. The advance has been attributed to valuation catch-up moves, monetary-policy easing in Japan, and economic improvement for some of Japan’s key trading partners, including the U.S.

Ichiro returns to Japan as conquering hero

musiclover — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:01:51 +0000

This batting-third thing looks like it suits Ichiro Suzuki pretty well. Or maybe it’s the fact that he’s back playing in his home country of Japan for the first time since he began his legendary Major League career 11 years ago. Or maybe it’s possible that after one statistically-substandard-to-Ichiro-standards season, he’s back to the brilliance More >

Japan urges China, India to cut Iran oil import

musiclover — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:57:18 +0000

Japan on Wednesday said China and India should reverse course and cut their Iranian oil imports as part of international efforts to press Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme. Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba’s comments come on the day resource-poor Japan said it will continue to cut its imports of crude from Teheran ‘considerably’.

They also follow a decision by the United States (US) to exempt some European Union members and Japan from tough sanctions on Iran, praising them for reducing dependency on the Islamic republic’s oil.

Japan defence chief ‘may cancel’ F-35 deal

musiclover — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:09:39 +0000

Japan’s defence chief said Wednesday the country may cancel its $4.7 billion order for the US-built F-35 stealth jet if Washington fails to stick to the proposed price and deadlines. Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka said a formal contract for the initial four units which Japan wants by March 2017, out of a total of 42 jets, was expected to be signed before this summer.

But, he told parliament: “If the situation comes to the point where (the US) cannot work out the proposal by that time, we will have concerns for Japan’s defence capability.

Japan cuts in Iran crude imports could be over 20 percent

musiclover — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:46:01 +0000

Japan is in final talks with Washington on an agreement on cuts in Iranian crude oil imports that could amount to more than 20 percent a year, the Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday, as Tokyo seeks to win waivers from U.S. sanctions. Japan and the United States will reach a basic agreement by the end of February, sparing Japan’s three main banks that currently handle payments to Iran from penalties, the Washington-datelined report said, without citing sources.

Japan Air Orders 10 More Boeing 787 Dreamliners

musiclover — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:13:57 +0000

Japan Airlines Co. (9205) will order 10 more Boeing Co. (BA) 787s, boosting a backlog to 45, as it expands international operations following a state-backed turnaround.

The airline will also convert 10 existing 787 orders to the larger -9 version from the smaller -8, according to a statement today.

Japan electronic giants eye chip merger

musiclover — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:29:35 +0000

Three of Japan’s biggest electronics companies are to join forces in a chip-making venture, reports said Wednesday, days after a swathe of dire results from a sector struggling to compete globally. Panasonic, which earlier said it expected to lose more than $10 billion this year, is set to hook up with Renesas Electronics and Fujitsu More >