Japanese auto suppliers Yazaki, Denso admit to U.S. price-fixing, execs agree to prison terms, Detroit Free Press says
January 31, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – Four Japanese executives for Yazaki Corp. are going to prison and the company has agreed to pay one of the largest anti-trust fines in U.S. history after the auto-parts company along with Denso Corp. plead guilty to price-fixing, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Yazaki Corp. and Denso Corp. executives plead guilty to conspiring to fix and inflate the price of automotive components they sold to U.S. companies. Yazaki agreed to pay a $470 million fine, the second largest ever for violating anti-trust laws in the U.S.; Denso agreed to pay $78 million. Read more
Japan’s population forecast to decline by two thirds over next century, AFP says
January 31, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – The population of Japan is forecast to shrink by two thirds over the next century as the number of births falls below the replacement rate, Agence France-Presse said, citing projections from a report by the health and welfare ministry.
The Japanese population currently stands at 127.7 million; that number is expected to decline to 42.9 million by 2110, the government report said. The population has been declining as more Japanese young people see starting a family as a burden on their careers and lifestyles, AFP reported. Read more
Japan unemployment rate up unexpectedly in December, Bloomberg says
January 31, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – Japan’s unemployment rate edged up unexpectedly in December to 4.6% from 4.5% a month earlier, Bloomberg News said, citing Japan’s statistics bureau.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the rate to remain at 4.5 percent. “Manufacturers have become cautious about hiring people in the context of global growth, the yen’s appreciation and uncertainty surrounding electricity supply” due to the impact of the March 11, earthquake and tsunami has had on Japan’s nuclear sector, Kiichi Murashima, chief economist at Citigroup Global Markets Japan Inc. said, according to the news agency. Read more
Tokyo cops seize uncensored 3D porn DVDs in Internet-sale crackdown
January 30, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police officers on Saturday raided an apartment building in Nerima Ward being used for the sale of uncensored adult video DVDs, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 30). Read more
Japan nuclear reactor goes offline leaving only 3 in operation nationwide, Reuters says
January 28, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – Only three of Japan’s nuclear reactors remain in operation after Chugoku Electric Power Co. shut its No. 2 reactor at its Shimane nuclear plant for scheduled maintenance Friday, Reuters said.
Just 6.4 percent of the nation’s total nuclear power capacity is now in use after the 820-megawatt reactor went offline, according to Reuters. Japan, which is the world’s third biggest nuclear power user, has a total of 54 commercial nuclear reactors nationwide. Read more
Chinese man who petrol-bombed Japan’s South Korean embassy formally charged, AFP says
January 27, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – A Chinese man who fire-bombed the Japanese embassy in Seoul, South Korea because his grandmother was forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese Imperial Army has been formally charged by prosecutors, Agence France-Presse said.
South Korean prosecutors charged the 38-year-old man, with the surname Liu, for attempted arson in the January 8, attack that damaged the outer wall of the embassy. Liu also claimed responsibility for an attack on Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead, including some accused of war crimes, AFP reported. Read more
Chinese hooker club busted in Shibuya
January 27, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Tuesday arrested the manager and three employees of a club in the Shibuya entertainment area for violating the Anti-Prostitution Law, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 27). Read more
Nishi Azabu celebrity playpen target of Tokyo police gang probe
January 27, 2012
Coinciding with the enactment of anti-organized crime legislation last year, Tokyo Metropolitan Police have been focusing multiple investigations on a lavish club in upscale Nishi Azabu frequented by show biz personalities, reports Shukan Post (Feb. 3).
The club is owned by the former president of a real estate company that went bankrupt with liabilities of 10 billion yen. He has been arrested for tax evasion, and the club seized. The Tokyo District Court ruled that the property is to be put up for auction.
“The club as well as the owner’s residence are inside the same apartment building,” a person involved in the investigation tells the tabloid. “There are nine apartments in the building, and eight are intended for auction. After the ruling, a friend of the owner filed a preliminary claim for ownership of the other unit. So it has become impossible to auction the whole building.”
(Shukan Post does not give the name of the club, but a Google search reveals it to be Geihinkan Nishi Azabu. The owner is Daisuke Shioda, whose former real estate company is called ABC Home.) Read more
North Korean defectors say 571 South Koreans abducted, Chosun Ilbo reports
January 26, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – North Korea has kidnapped 571 South Koreans since the end of the Korean War, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported, citing a document obtained by a North Korean defectors group.
The document, which appears to have been prepared by the North Korean Red Cross and dates from 2008, says 554 South Koreans were abducted from the South, while 17 were kidnapped abroad. According to the Chosun Ilbo, the document also details who out of the 17 abducted abroad are still alive or whether they can be accounted for. Read more
Japanese government hid a warning millions may need to flee Tokyo after nuclear disaster, AP Says
January 26, 2012
TOKYO (TR) – The Japanese government kept secret a worst-case scenario report by experts that warned there was the possibility the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may require the forced evacuation of tens of millions from Tokyo, the Associated Press said, citing documents it obtained.
Government officials kept the report secret out of fear it would cause widespread panic, according to the AP. The meltdown forced 80,000 people living near the Tokyo Electric Power Company plant to flee the area. Read more
