Japan

Japan government: North Korea rocket launch "extremely regrettable"

TOKYO - Japan's top government spokesman voiced protest over North Korea's rocket launch on Wednesday, saying it was "extremely regrettable."

Latest Japan News

North Korea launches rocket, seems to pass over Okinawa: Japan
8:13pm EST
Suntory to list food and soft drinks unit in $6 billion IPO: sources
6:25pm EST
Analysis: Japan election points to return of "construction state"
5:09pm EST
Chinese group in talks to buy AIG air lease arm
3:56am EST

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Recent Japan News

Anti-whaling activists unveil latest ship, bought from Japan

CANBERRA - Anti-whaling activists unveiled on Tuesday their latest weapon against Japanese whalers in the frigid Southern Ocean, a $2 million ship funded by the producer of The Simpsons television series and purchased in secret from the Japanese government. | Video

Lifestyle, Environment, 3:37am EST

Analysis: Japan's Abe gets second chance at loosening limits on military

TOKYO - A likely win by Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democrats in this weekend's election will give the ex-Japanese premier a second chance to achieve his goal of easing the limits of a pacifist constitution on the military to let Tokyo play a bigger global security role.

World, 2:14am EST

U.S. approves upgrades of Japan's Aegis missile systems

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Defense Department on Monday notified Congress that it had approved an arms sale valued at $421 million to Japan for upgrades to its Aegis missile defense system built by Lockheed Martin Corp, and related equipment.

U.S., Politics, 10 Dec 2012

Japan Atomic may have to decommission plant as active fault found

TOKYO - Japan Atomic Power Co. may have to decommission one of its reactors after seismologists concluded the plant is sitting over an active faultline, potentially the first permanent shutdown of a nuclear unit in Japan since the Fukushima disaster last year.

World, 10 Dec 2012

Philippines sees Japan as balance to China ambitions

MANILA - A stronger Japan would act as a counterbalance to the military rise of China, something that is worrying smaller Asian nations as tensions grow over conflicting territorial claims in the region, the Philippines said on Monday.

China, World, 10 Dec 2012

Special reports

Anti-nuclear protesters hold signs at a rally organized by Greenpeace to demand the government immediately stop the expansion of nuclear power offered by mainland China in Hong Kong April 24, 2011. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

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

A member of the Japan Self Defense Force stands on a house at an area that was damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, in Yamada, Iwate prefecture April 5, 2011. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

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

Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. (TEPCO) Vice President Sakae Muto (C) bows at a news conference at the company head office in Tokyo March 28, 2011. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

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

A staff member of a radiation check-up point points out a location of the tsunami-crippled nuclear plant on a map, on which a radiation gauge is placed, during a photo opportunity in an evacuation center in Fukushima, northern Japan, April 4, 2011. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

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

Members of the Indonesia Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (BAPETEN) scan passengers arriving from Japan for radiation exposure at the Sukarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta March 18, 2011.

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