Japan Today

China, which is locked in a dispute with major trading partners over its control of rare earth minerals, has announced additional export quotas for this year. The Ministry of Commerce said it would allow companies to potentially export an additional 10,680 tons of rare earths, bringing the total for this…

Toyota Motor Corp says that Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama, Inc plans to increase engine production capacity and begin production of the 3.5-liter V6 2GRengine in March 2014 to meet growing demand. TMMAL is to boost annual production capacity by 216,000 units solely for the 2GR, resulting in an increase of…

Japanese shares could for a rocky ride this week after losing nearly 3% Friday as ratings downgrades on Greece and Spanish banks spooked investors, piling pressure on the euro, analysts said. In the week to May 18, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 3.82%, or…

Japan's biggest potential investment in U.S. agriculture can be summed up in a single word: China. Marubeni's interest in buying U.S. grains merchant Gavilon to help provide grain to its hungry Asian neighbor would be a quantum leap from the 1970s and 1980s. Back then, Japanese trading houses tried to…

The interest rate that Japan pays on its government-issued bonds fell to its lowest level since 2003 on Friday, as public borrowing costs surged in Europe on worries over its fiscal woes. The yield on the 10-year Japan Government Bond (JGB) hit 0.815% with investors seeking a safe haven amid…

Asian energy giant PetroChina plans to join with Shell Canada and major energy companies in Japan and South Korea in developing a liquefied natural gas export project in British Columbia. Shell will hold a 40% stake in the project, with Korea Gas Corp, Mitsubishi Corp and PetroChina Co each holding…

Japanese shares tumbled 2.99% on Friday, following a sell-off on Wall Street as a credit rating downgrade for Greece and 16 Spanish banks spooked investors and piled pressure on the euro. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 265.28 points to close at 8,611.31. The benchmark index…

Japan on Friday upgraded its view of the economy for the first time in nine months, a day after better-than-expected growth figures and thanks to a pickup in exports and consumer spending. But the Cabinet Office's monthly economic report also warned that increasing uncertainty over Europe's financial picture, a strong…

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, which handles most of Japan's payments for oil imports from Iran, said on Thursday it had frozen transactions with Iranian banks after being ordered to do so by the New York District Court earlier this month. The head of the Japan's banking lobby group said…

Toyota Motor Corp President Akio Toyoda took the helm at Japan's auto industry group Thursday with a promise to keep production and jobs at home to help along the country's recovery from last year's disaster. Toyoda also sharply criticized government plans to raise Japan's sale tax as a "moral hazard"…

Honda's luxury brand Acura will recall nearly 53,000 vehicles in the United States to fix a problem with the power steering, the Japanese automaker said Thursday. "Over time, the power steering hose may deteriorate and develop a fluid leak," Honda said in a statement. "Leaking power steering fluid could lead…

JCB, the only international credit card brand based in Japan, and its international subsidiary JCB International (JCBI) on Thursday announced that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) will start issuing JCB cards on Friday. ICBC is one ofthe largest public banks in the world in terms of total…

Japan's economy grew by a faster-than-expected 1% in the latest quarter, figures showed Thursday, as rising domestic demand and a boost in exports kept it on the recovery path. Economy Minister Motohisa Furukawa said the world's third-biggest economy, hit hard by last year's quake-tsunami and a surging yen, was likely…

Toshiba said Thursday it has stopped making televisions in Japan, citing slow domestic demand as falling prices, fierce global competition and a strong yen pressure the country's electronics makers. The IT-and-engineering conglomerate shuttered production lines at its last remaining domestic TV plant in Fukaya, near Tokyo, at the end of…

Japan's government and several major firms are to buy a 10% stake in an Australian natural gas field as the country seeks alternatives to atomic power, a spokeswoman for one of the companies said Wednesday. The consortium, including the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant Tokyo Electric Power and…

Workers whose jobs require them to interact with people in foreign countries say that English is the dominant language of business, according to a new poll. More than one quarter of employees in 26 countries around the world told an Ipsos poll that their jobs involve dealing with people in…

The Asian Development Bank said Wednesday it had sold $339 million worth of bonds to help fund investment in more environmentally-friendly power projects in the region. The three- to four-year bonds, which are denominated in Australian dollar, Brazilian real, and Turkish lira, were sold to Japanese retail investors, the Manila-based…

Tokyo stocks lost 1.12% on Wednesday, closing at their lowest level since late January amid worries that political turmoil in debt-hit Greece will further fuel the eurozone's fiscal woes. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 99.57 points to 8,801.17, its worst finish since Jan 30, as…

Japan's biggest lenders on Tuesday reported across-the-board surges in annual profits, with megabank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group posting a 68% spike on trading and one-time gains. Mitsubishi UFJ, the nation's largest bank, said its net profit came in at a hefty 981.33 billion yen in the fiscal year through March,…

Look, no hands. Scooting about on what looks like a floating car seat is no sweat for anyone with Honda's new hands-free robotics technology. Swaying your body from side to side is all you need to do to turn, rotate full circle and zip around on the Uni-Cub. The Uni-Cub…