Toyota moves Highlander SUV production to US
The United States automobile manufacturing exported more than 1.5 million new vehicles in 2010. How long has this trend been continuing? Quoting Department of Commerce figures, "Exports of new light vehicles from the United States are up 52% since 2002," said Thomas Kitter of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, "and exports of used vehicles are up almost four fold." Perhaps taking a clue from Kitter's comments, Toyota announced on Feb. 9 that it was moving yet more production from Japan to the United States. Toyota will be investing $400 million to expand its Princeton, Indiana, plant to start building the Highlander Sports Utility Vehicle. Two of Toyota's models - the Sequoia and the Sienna minivan - are already built there. (majirox news)

China data, Greece uncertainty weigh Asia stocks
Japanese and Australian shares fell while Hong Kong stocks ended flat after a choppy trading session Thursday, as an unexpected increase in Chinese inflation rate and uncertainty over Greek debt negotiations kept investor sentiment subdued. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average /quotes/zigman/5986735 JP:100000018 -0.14% fell 0.2% to 9,002.24, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index /quotes/zigman/1653884 AU:XJO -0.18% finished 0.2% lower at 4,282.90 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index /quotes/zigman/2622475 HK:HSI -0.04% ended little changed at 21,010.01. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's Kospi /quotes/zigman/1652118 KR:0100 +0.54% rose 0.5% to 2,014.62 and Taiwan's Taiex /quotes/zigman/1565586 XX:Y9999 +0.52% gained 0.5% to 7,910.78. (MarketWatch)

Panasonic prices its flagship plasma TVs in Japan
Panasonic will be launching its flagship VT-series plasma TVs in Japan come April 20. Priced from US$4,700 to US$6,500, all models will feature the company's proprietary "Infinite Black Ultra" panel, as well as other major upgrades. These include active shutter 3D glasses utilizing Bluetooth connectivity and free remote apps that allow users to play back content from their mobile devices. Supported file formats for the remote apps' streaming function are AAC, WAV, JPEG and MPO. MPO-compatibility is particularly useful allowing users to display 3D images taken via 3D-capable smartphones such as the HTC Evo 3D. (CNET)

Japan's amazing snow monsters on the prowl
When Hilary Wendel, a Tokyo-based photographer and good friend, asked me to tag along as she photographed "Japan's scariest monsters," I was apprehensive at first. Fortunately for us both, the Snow Monsters of Zao in Yamagata Prefecture are more impressive than terrifying. They are actually Aomori fir trees that have been coated with extremely wet snow and ice carried by a cold Siberian Jetstream that also freezes them almost solid in some of the most peculiar shapes I've ever seen. And they're easy to reach from Kanto too -- tickets from Tokyo Station to Yamagata by Shinkansen cost ¥21,800 round-trip and the train takes 150 minutes to get there. If you're skiing and not just snapping, you might want to consider sending your equipment and luggage ahead by Japan's extremely convenient takkyubin service so as not to start the trip off with a sardine-can experience on the subway. (CNN)

Maid to measure in Tokyo
"Welcome home, Master," is the greeting at the door. But this is as far from home as it gets. It's not clear why the small, tackily decorated room is stiflingly hot. Or why the overpriced menu contains - among other whipped cream-heavy options - a dessert resembling a cutesy panda face. But most baffling is the young girl in a French maid's outfit who sits with a balding man, quietly colouring in a picture book. Welcome to Tokyo's maid cafes, where nerdy men pay top yen to be pampered by girls dressed like the heroes of the anime/manga culture so prevalent in modern Japan. Customers come to think of particular maids as akin to girlfriends and, the day of our visit, a group brought in birthday gifts for their favourite waitress. Photographs and touching the dozen maids who flit about the cafe is strictly prohibited. With the lights on and fizzy drink served in place of alcohol, the cafe has a harmless air - like a children's tea party infused with the sadness of a strip club. (New Zealand Herald)

Getting married in Japan
Some couples are content to tie the knot at the courthouse down the road. But for those who are more adventurous, a destination wedding -- and an international marriage -- are a must. Nonresidents of Japan can marry in the country. There is no waiting period. Couples do not have to post intents to marry in Japan. In fact, they are married the same day they apply for a marriage license. Acquiring a marriage certificate through the municipal government means the couple is legally married. A wedding ceremony does not have to take place in Japan in order for the marriage to be legal. Once a couple obtains a marriage certificate at the municipal government office, they are legally married. (huffingtonpost.com)

Japan testing traffic lights for colour-blind drivers
The signals have been developed by Taro Ochiai, a professor at Kyushu Sangyo University, with the first set of traffic lights installed in the southern city of Fukuoka. A second month-long test is to be started in Tokyo before the end of February. Prof Ochiai began researching the use of light-emitting diodes in 2003, when they first began to be used in traffic lights in preference to regular light bulbs. Drivers with colour-blindness quickly reported that the LED signals were more difficult for them to discern based only on brightness as the visual indicator. Working with lighting manufacturer Koito Electric Industries Ltd., Prof Ochiai incorporated blue LEDs with four times the brightness of the other diodes in the shape of a cross through the red lamp. (telegraph.co.uk)

Jetstar Japan to start domestic flights in July
Budget airline Jetstar Japan, part-owned by Australia's Qantas, said Wednesday it will launch domestic flights serving five major destinations as Japan's aviation industry enters a period of change. The new service, slated to begin July 3, is the latest chapter in a bid to open up a market that has traditionally suffered from high prices because of dominance by two major carriers, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways (ANA). "The launch network of Tokyo (Narita), Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Okinawa will be serviced by an initial fleet of three new A320 aircraft," said Jetstar, a joint venture between Qantas, Japan Airlines (JAL) and Mitsubishi Corp. Japan's major airlines were behind global rivals in terms of entry into the low-cost sector, but ANA last year set up budget airline Peach Aviation with a Hong Kong investment fund. Flights are scheduled to start in March. (AFP)

Tsunami was up to 21 meters in Fukushima
The tsunami that hit Fukushima Prefecture on March 11 was particularly high--possibly up to 21 meters--along the coast in the center of the prefecture where the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is located, a survey has found. The height of the tsunami was previously assumed to have been about 15 meters at the nuclear plant, but this could not be confirmed because the area within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant is designated a no-entry zone. Researchers including Shinji Sato, a professor at the University of Tokyo, obtained permission from local governments to enter this zone, and for the first time since the tsunami, were able to survey coastal areas Monday and Tuesday. (Yomiuri)

Japan tells U.S. it will keep nothing off the table in TPP negotiations
Japan on Tuesday explained to the United States its basic stance regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, saying it will put all items on the table once it joins the multilateral trade framework, a senior Japanese government official said. Japan revealed its stance during the first preliminary talks with the United States in Washington on its bid for full participation in TPP negotiations. According to Takeshi Yagi, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Economic Affairs Bureau, politically sensitive items, such as rice, will not be excluded from negotiations. However, in future negotiations, Japan will likely explore the possibility of treating these items as exceptions to tariff eliminations, observers said. (Yomiuri)

U.S. Marines to move; base row will drag on
Tokyo and Washington said Wednesday they have agreed to revise a 2006 bilateral accord aimed at transferring U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, effectively no longer making the redeployment contingent upon construction of a replacement airfield by 2014. The two sides said they have already started formal negotiations on moving some of the marines to Guam before the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa. The plan, based on a 2006 bilateral accord, called for moving 8,000 marines and their dependents to Guam from the Futenma base upon the 2014 completion of the replacement airfield on the Henoko coast of Nago farther north on Okinawa Island. (Japan Times)

Foreign visitor target set at 18 million by 2016
Japan hopes to boost the annual number of foreign visitors to 18 million by 2016 by repairing the country's damaged reputation as a safe travel destination in its next five-year tourism plan. The Cabinet is expected to endorse the plan to be implemented from fiscal 2012 possibly in March, according to a draft obtained by Kyodo on Tuesday. The number of foreign visitors to the country, which hit a record high 8.61 million in 2010, is estimated to have dropped to 6.22 million last year following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and the ensuing nuclear crisis. The nation had previously set a target of 10 million foreign tourists annually by 2010. (Japan Times)

Biomass plants to burn quake debris
The Forestry Agency will provide financial support for the construction of four biomass power plants to burn wood debris from the March 11 disasters, officials said. The plants to be built in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures are expected to burn a total of 200,000 tons of debris a year, generating 16,000 kw and covering the consumption needs of 30,000 households. Their operation to accelerate the disposal of debris while promoting renewable energy is expected to start by March 2014, the officials said Tuesday. (Japan Times)

Seoul axes intel agent for spilling beans in Tokyo
A South Korean intelligence officer posted to Seoul's embassy in Tokyo was fired for allegedly leaking "secret" information to the Japan Coast Guard and Japanese reporters, according to South Korean media reports. The officer, who allegedly leaked eight items of confidential information during his 2009-2011 posting, has denied wrongdoing and filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, saying the information didn't meet the threshold of a state secret, the Chosun Ilbo paper and other media reported. They said that among the areas under the intelligence officer's responsibility at the embassy was keeping an eye on the activities of the pro-Pyongyang group Chongryon (General Association of Korean Residents in Japan). (Japan Times)

Japan's older generation turns gamers
Close your eyes, and you know where you are: The unmistakable sound of anime voices and the jingle of a completed lap around the electronic track ring through the hall. This is a classic video game arcade in Japan, filled with the sounds long associated with this gaming nation. But open your eyes, and the players are not exactly the teenagers you'd expect to find. In the center of the Sega Corporation game arcade in a Yokohama mall, about a dozen graying heads bobbed in front of video consoles, dropping tokens into the machines. The median age was no where near pre-teen, but much closer to post-retirement. The arcade industry, while still dominated by younger players, is shifting to an unexpected population reality in the rapidly aging nation of Japan. Japan's government projects the population will shrink by a staggering 30% by 2060. By that year, the government says people age 65 and older will account for 39.9 percent of the total population. Crunch the numbers further, and seniors will outnumber children by 4 to 1. (CNN)

Nikkei Closes Above 9,000 After Toyota Raises Forecast
Japanese shares rose, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average closing above 9,000 for the first time since October, as Toyota Motor Corp. raised its earnings forecast and a drop in the yen boosted the outlook for exporters. Toyota, Japan's biggest company by revenue, jumped 5 percent. Renesas Electronics Corp. surged 10 percent after a report it's in talks to merge chip units with Panasonic Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. JFE Holdings Inc. led steelmakers higher after ArcelorMittal, the world's top maker of the material, forecast improvement in the first half. (BusinessWeek)

Japanese vending machines to offer free WiFi
Asahi Soft Drinks is setting up 1,000 new vending machines in five regions around Japan this month, with a goal of expanding the number to 10,000 within five years. The vending machines are fitted with technology enabling smartphone users who are standing within a 50m radius to enjoy free access to the internet. Users will not need passwords or payment to access the WiFi and will be able to enjoy uninterrupted internet access for 30 minutes sessions at a time. Japan is home to the world's highest concentration of vending machines, with as many as one for every 24 people across the country, according to the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers' Association. (telegraph.co.uk)

Japanese brands hesitant on Twitter
Some 40% of Japan's biggest brands are still not active on Twitter, just one indication of the extent to which they lag behind their US counterparts in exploiting the microblog's potential. Adam Acar, associate professor of communication at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, analysed the engagement levels of the 100 largest Japanese brands on Twitter. Uptake among this group, which features the auto marques Toyota and Honda, electronics specialists Sony and Panasonic, beverage maker Suntory and telecoms giant NTT DoCoMo, hit only 60%. This compared with a 95% reach for the 100 largest intangible assets in the US. Similarly, whereas 86% of active American brands tweeted in the week before the study, this figure stood at 41% for their Japanese peers. (warc.com)

Japan continues reaching out to tourists
Almost a year after the March 11 disasters struck Japan and hit its tourism sector, authorities are still finding ways to draw tourists back. Koreans and Singaporeans have consistently ranked among the top 10 inbound tourists to Japan before the March 11 disasters, when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami, which knocked out the cooling systems of the Fukushima plant's reactors. Almost a year after the disasters hit, fears of a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant still linger in the minds of would-be tourists, making travel to Japan a less attractive option. That's a concern tourism authorities are trying to tackle. (Channel NewsAsia)

Japan the new front in Jetstar, AirAsia battle
Qantas's budget offshoot, Jetstar, has brought forward the launch of its Japanese subsidiary by several months, in an attempt to pip its Malaysian rival, AirAsia, in setting up domestic services there. Jetstar Japan had originally intended to begin flights on domestic routes late this year but today slated July 3 as the launch date. It also confirmed that the joint venture between the Qantas Group, Japan Airlines and Mitsubishi will begin with a network linking Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Okinawa. The Japanese budget airline will begin with a fleet of just three new A320 aircraft - each seating 180 passengers - before increasing it to 24 within several years. Jetstar and AirAsia are engaged in a two-horse race to set up subsidiary airlines around Asia. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Architect's 'sky villages' to protect Japan from tsunamis.
It's been nearly a year after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan. Now a Japanese architect is proposing a novel solution to the ongoing problem of how and where to rebuild villages destroyed by the disaster. Keiichiro Sako says the answer lies in what he calls "sky villages". Architect's "sky villages" to protect Japan from tsunamis. It's an idyllic scene set years into the future. The coastal plains of northern Japan, decimated by a tsunami in 2011, safely repopulated with communities sitting 20 metres above the ground. It may look like fantasy, but for Japanese architect Keiichiro Sako, it's a very real plan to protect the towns of northern Japan from tsunamis. He calls them sky villages. (china.org.cn)

Japan to slash use of a heavy rare earth as China tightens grip
Japan aims to cut domestic consumption of a heavy rare earth used widely in hybrid cars and electronics by 30 percent over the next two years as China keeps a tight grip on exports of the material, known as dysprosium. China ratcheted up export controls on the rare earth, mainly used in high-powered magnets, early last year, sending prices 10 times higher to around 3,000 yen per tonne by the middle of 2011, though it is now trading at about 2,000 yen. China produces about 95 percent of global rare earth supplies, but says that excessive production is depleting its reserves and damaging its environment. (Reuters)

Japan finds a key to unlock philanthropy
Japan's universities and research institutes have long had to make do with few philanthropic donations. Strict laws governing university finances, and the lack of a philanthropic tradition, have discouraged the gifts that serve Western institutions so well. But change is coming. This week, the University of Tokyo unveils the country's first institute named after a foreign donor: the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe. The announcement adds Norwegian philanthropist Fred Kavli's name, along with a US$7.5-million endowment, to one of Japan's most successful institutes. (nature.com)

Japan 2011 current account surplus smallest in 15 years
Japan's current account surplus shrank sharply last year to its smallest in 15 years as weak exports and surging fuel imports resulted in a rare trade deficit, raising worries about the country's declining ability to fund its huge public debt with domestic savings. The current account balance -- a broad measure of trade and other flows--logged a surplus of 9.6289 trillion yen ($125 billion) in 2011, down 44 percent from the previous year, marking its biggest fall on record, although income from overseas investment still more than offset the trade deficit. The decline in inflows has been heralded by earlier data that showed Japan posted its first trade deficit since 1980 last year as a devastating earthquake in March hurt exports and increased its reliance on fuel imports due to nuclear plant shutdowns. (Reuters)

Apple offers clues to where Sony needs to go: William Pesek
Kazuo Hirai, charged with halting Sony Corp. (6758)'s downward spiral, could be excused for asking: Do I really want this job? Last week, the consumer-electronics giant said it expects a $2.9 billion loss in the year ending March 31, putting it on course for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year in the red. It's a stunning reminder of the depths to which the onetime pride of Japan Inc. has plunged in the Apple Inc. age. Thirty-three years after unleashing the Walkman revolution, Sony is playing catch-up to the upheaval wrought by Steve Jobs's iPod, iPhone and iPad. When Hirai, 51, takes control in April, he must succeed where Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer, 69, failed. To restore Sony to anything approaching its past glory, Hirai needs a new offering of products that consumers view as game changers. (Bloomberg)

Pair indicted over murder of Nepalese man in Osaka
Prosecutors in Osaka on Tuesday indicted a man and a woman over the murder of a Nepali man in Osaka on Jan 16. Hiroki Shiraishi, 21, a tattoo artist, and Miyoko Shiraishi, 22, are charged with being part of a gang of four that beat a 42-year-old Nepalese Bishnu Prasad Dhamala to death while he was walking home after work in Osaka's Abeno Ward early in the morning on Jan 16. He died later in hospital. Two other assailants, Hiromasa Ie, 21, and Kuniko Tsukamoto, 21, fled the scene and were traced to Tokyo where they were arrested a week later. (Japan Today)

Lollipop Chainsaw gets censored edition in Japan
Looking for the full gory experience of Lollipop Chainsaw? You'll have to buy the premium edition. Reports have emerged that the regular SKU of the next title from Japanese developer Grasshopper Manufacture will be censored in Japan. This will tone down the blood and violence, and be rated CERO D, according to Siliconera. However, the premium version has the option to play both censored and uncensored modes, earning it the CERO Z rating - Japan's equivalent of the 'adults only' classification. The title comes from the studio behind Suda 51 titles such as No More Heroes. Consumers play a cheerleader who takes up a chainsaw to combat the zombie apocalypse. (mcvuk.com)

Otaku band AKB48 morphs into $200M business
What if the vice president of your university were a genius producer who had put together an insanely successful pop group of 90 singers and then approved the creation of identical doll versions of them?

Weird? Not for Kyoto University of Art and Design and Yasushi Akimoto, the Steve Jobs of otaku (supergeeks) in Japan. The school just hosted a hit exhibition of dolls based on the gals in the band he produces, AKB48.

At 90 members, AKB48 is the Guinness-certified world's largest pop band. Its members are all females in their teens and early twenties, and all its bubble-gum singles top the charts on the day of their release.

The music is, shall we say, an aquired taste; it sounds like arcade game tunes drenched in a massive one-part vocal harmony. Yet intense otaku fandom has lifted the hydra-headed, miniskirted band to the highest levels of Japanese acceptability. It's even acting as Japan's unofficial representative in China.

The original idea behind the group, which was founded in 2005 with 20 girls, is "idols you can meet." (CNET)

Thailand a miracle cure for Japanese drug makers
More than a dozen Japanese pharmaceutical and healthcare companies are exploring business opportunities in Thailand as a way of increasing their Asian presence, a seminar heard yesterday. Pharmaceutical and healthcare companies need to expand outside Japan as the number of elderly in Asia rises while newborn rates drop, said Yasuhiko Shioi, a vice-president of the Toyama Pharmaceutical Association (TPA) and the chief executive of Kokando Co. Several healthcare firms count on Thailand as a production hub for exporting their products to neighbouring countries due to its geographical advantage. (Bangkok Post)

Japan's perverse message; just tax the corporate cash mountains even more
Everyone thinks of Japan as a nation of savers. Stop the blighters from saving and get them to spend instead, it is often said, and the country's economic woes would be over. In reality, it's a bit more complicated than that. In fact Mrs Watanabe no longer saves that much. The last time I looked, she was down to the sort of pitiful savings ratio we see in the UK and the US. At the vanguard of the ageing process, in fact Japan is moving into that phase of demographics where in aggregate, households may soon be in savings drawdown, rather than further adding to them. But the same is not true of companies. Poor levels of domestic demand means that in aggregate, there is not enough to invest in, even though Japanese companies are big investors in the future. The consequent surplus is recycled into J-bonds instead, where it finances the deficit. (telegraph.co.uk)

Toyota lifts profit forecast as disaster woes fade
Toyota's quarterly profit slid 13.5 percent on production setbacks caused by last year's tsunami disaster and the flooding in Thailand, but Japan's top automaker raised its annual earnings forecast, saying a recovery is on track. Toyota Motor Corp. reported Tuesday an 80.9 billion yen ($1.05 billion) profit for the October-December third quarter, down from 93.6 billion yen a year earlier. Showing confidence in its ability to bounce back, the manufacturer of the Prius gas-electric hybrid, Lexus luxury models and the Camry sedan raised its annual profit forecast to 200 billion yen ($2.6 billion) from 180 billion yen ($2.3 billion). (AP)

New fish markets planned for Tsukiji
The Tokyo metropolitan government and the Chuo Ward Office came to a broad agreement Tuesday to open a fresh-fish market in the current Tsukiji wholesale market--scheduled to be relocated--it was learned Tuesday. The new fish market will be partially open to the general public, according to Tokyo officials. This is the first time a concrete use for the site has been decided prior to its relocation. The superannuated Tsukiji wholesale market is scheduled to move to the Toyosu district in neighboring Koto Ward by the end of fiscal 2014. (Yomiuri)

Cat cafes bare fangs over 'curfew'
Operators of so-called cat cafes, where visitors can play with cats in a relaxing atmosphere, are upset over a revision of the enforcement regulations of the Animal Protection Law that would prohibit the display of cats late at night starting June 1. The aim of the revision is to keep pet stores in busy shopping districts from displaying puppies and kittens for sale later than 8 p.m. Cat cafe operators are protesting the government's plan to prohibit all forms of "display" irrespective of the type of business. "Cats are nocturnal animals. [They] are adults and already get enough rest [during the day]," the operator of one cat cafe said. I recently visited Neko no Iru Kyukeijo 299, a cat cafe in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, at about 8 p.m. There were about 10 customers, some taking pictures of cats with their cell phones and others playing with cats. (Yomiuri)

Bullying rose 6.7% in 2010 school year
The number of bullying cases recognized by public and private elementary, junior high and high schools nationwide in the 2010 academic year rose 6.7 percent from a year earlier to 77,630, according to an education ministry survey. It was the first increase in five years. The number of such cases had been falling since the 2006 school year, when the ministry began collecting such data. An education official said the number rose as teachers became better at recognizing bullying. (Japan Times)

Hashimoto group claims union tried to tip election
Osaka Municipal Assembly members from Mayor Toru Hashimoto's Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) group are pursuing allegations that a city labor union attempted to gather votes for Hashimoto's opponent in last November's election in possible violation of campaign laws. The allegations surfaced Monday when Osaka Ishin no Kai announced it had obtained a 36-page list of 1,800 names of municipal transport workers from a city employee, who told the group the list had been drawn up by the city transport worker union in an effort to support former Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu in the November mayoral race. (Japan Times)

Nation's bullet train blues
The central government has decided to start construction work on three sections of three planned Shinkansen bullet train lines - the Shin Hakodate-Sapporo section of the Hokkaido Shinkansen Line, the Kanazawa-Tsuruga section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line and the Isahaya-Nagasaki section of the Kyushu-Nagasaki Shinkansen Line. The construction of the new Shinkansen sections, whose total cost is estimated at ¥3.01 trillion, could cause problems for the central government, local governments concerned and local residents. Since the central government and local governments along the planned Shinkansen lines cannot attain tax revenues large enough to cover the construction costs, the government decided to siphon the fees Japan Railway companies pay to the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency for use of Shinkansen tracks owned by the agency. (Japan Times)

High cesium found in earthworms
Earthworms collected in Kawauchi, a village near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, have cesium levels averaging some 20,000 becquerels per kilogram, government researchers said. The finding indicates the radioactive substance "may accumulate in other animals through the food chain," Motohiro Hasegawa, senior researcher at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, said Monday, noting earthworms are eaten by birds, boars and other wild animals. Last August and September, Hasegawa and other researchers collected earthworms in Kawauchi, 20 km from the crippled power plant; Otama, 60 km from the plant; and Tadami, 150 km away. (Japan Times)

Matsui remains option for Yanks
The New York Yankees may add one of the three most prominent remaining free agents - Raul Ibanez, Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui - within a week, according to an ESPN report. "The Yankees are considering adding a left-handed bat, and Ibanez, Damon or Matsui could be on the team within a week," ESPN said Monday in its online edition. The sports network quoted a major league source as saying, "The prices still need to come down a little before the Yankees will make a deal with any of the three free agents they are interested in." (Japan Times)

Skating: Mao's push for third world title starts at Four Continents
Mao Asada ended last year with a month of triumph and tragedy that are hard to imagine. Just two weeks after her mother Kyoko passed away at 48 on Dec. 9, Mao laced up the boots again and showed the heart of a true champion in winning her fifth national title with an inspiring effort in Osaka. The season restarts this week with the Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It will mark Mao's last competition before next month's world championships in Nice, France. With European skaters not taking part in the Four Continents, the women's field is thin. Mao's main competition will come from compatriot Kanako Murakami and newly crowned U.S. champion Ashley Wagner. (Japan Times)

Outline approved for Hague treaty bills
A Justice Ministry panel on Tuesday gave the green light for the ministry to write bills for new domestic laws in preparation for signing the Hague Convention, which would theoretically promise other countries that Japan will try its utmost to return abducted children. Critics, however, are not too optimistic because whether children will be returned to their original countries will depend largely on how Japan's family court judges interpret any new laws. The United States and countries in Europe have urged Japan to sign the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspect of International Child Abduction, and have criticized Tokyo for letting a Japanese parent get away with abducting his or her children from a spouse in failed international marriages. (Japan Times)

Shops selling dried herbs spiked with stimulant chemicals on the increase
Dried herbs mixed with stimulant chemicals carefully packaged to dodge drug laws are gaining in popularity among young Japanese, leading in turn to a drastic increase in the shops selling such products. These "dappo habu" (law-evading herbs) contain stimulant materials whose chemical components are slightly different from those prohibited by drug laws. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government identified two shops selling such products in fiscal 2009. As of last Friday, 89 such shops were in existence, many of them in Shinjuku and Shibuya, areas popular with young people. (Japan Times)

Renault-Nissan to buy Russian firm in stages
Renault SA and affiliate Nissan Motor Co. may pay for their planned 50 percent stake in OAO AvtoVAZ over two years as goals are met, according to an executive at the Russian carmaker's second-biggest local owner. A memorandum of understanding may be signed as soon as the end of February or at the Geneva auto show starting March 8, with the transaction completed three months later, Sergey Skvortsov, deputy chairman of Troika Dialog, said in Moscow. (Japan Times)

Taiwanese-Japanese star implicated in beating
Prosecutors say Taiwanese-Japanese starlet Makiyo has been barred from leaving Taiwan pending an investigation into her alleged involvement in the beating of a taxi driver in Taipei. The Taipei Prosecutors Office said Tuesday the 27-year-old singer is accused of kicking a taxi door after her companion, who allegedly was drunk, dragged the driver out and beat him. Makiyo has apologized and pledged to stop drinking after the Thursday night incident. Prosecutors say Takateru Tomoyori of Japan was released on bail pending formal charges, possibly attempted homicide. (AP)

Japan's forex reserves hit record high at $1.307 trillion
Japan's foreign exchange reserves hit a new record of USD 1.307 trillion at the end of January, up 0.8 percent from the previous month, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday. The previous record was USD 1.305 trillion posted in November. The reserves marked the first increase in two months and remained the world's second-largest after China, according to the ministry. The increase was also attributed to valuation gains in the government's holdings of the US Treasuries, as lower interest rates in the US drove bond prices higher, the ministry said. Other factors included a rise in gold prices. (kuna.net.kw)

Nikkei slips from 3-month high; Japan Tobacco, shippers climb
Japan's Nikkei average slipped from a three-month high on Tuesday after Greek leaders delayed a decision yet again on the unpopular terms of a new $170 billion bailout, tempering optimism over the health of United States' economy. "This is mostly profit-taking and not panicked selling on the Greek default concerns. There is a strong sense of belief that the Greek bailout will be decided at the last minute," said Ryota Sakagami, chief strategist of equity research at SMBC Nikko Securities. Gains in Japan Tobacco (2914.T) and shippers offered support to the Nikkei .N225, which eased 0.1 percent to 8,917.52 after hitting a three-month closing high on Monday following U.S. jobs data that beat market expectations. (Reuters)

Pit found over site of tunnel flood / Depression on port floor may be linked to disaster that left 5 missing
A 20-meter-wide, 3.5-meter-deep hollow has been found on the floor of Mizushima Port in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, at a site where five workers went missing when an underwater tunnel they were digging flooded with seawater, Japan Coast Guard officials said Wednesday. Using sonar, the 6th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters discovered the hollow at a depth of 11.5 meters at the Mizushima Refinery of JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp., where the underwater tunnel had been dug for a pipeline to connect the refinery's two factories. Police suspect the hollow might have been created due to the tunnel caving in because it was discovered just above a section of the tunnel that was being dug using a shield tunneling method when the accident occurred at about 12:35 p.m. Tuesday. (Yomiuri)

Hula girls revive quake-hit Fukushima town
A Hawaiian theme park that propped up the economy of a rural Japanese town in Fukushima prefecture for 45 years was forced to close after the March 11 earthquake. Almost a year later, the hula girls have returned. The Spa Resort Hawaiians in Iwaki will open its indoor pools and host wedding parties and Hawaiian luaus in a new hotel from Feb. 8. Structural damage from the magnitude-9 temblor and concerns about radiation leaking from the Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the north closed the resort, a semi-roofed complex six times the size of Tokyo Dome and surrounded by rice fields and hot springs. The spa, featured in the award-winning 2006 film "Hula Girls," offers a rare example of a community bouncing back from a catastrophe that left almost 20,000 dead or missing in the Tohoku region of northeast Japan, and forced about 160,000 to evacuate areas within 30 kilometers of the plant. The disaster accelerated a trend toward shrinking and aging populations in the countryside even as big cities grow. (Bloomberg)

GKB47 suicide prevention slogan inspired by AKB48 criticized
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has come under fire for using a catchphrase in an anti-suicide campaign that evokes images of popular all-girl group AKB48. During discussions in the Diet on Monday, a DPJ member called the anti-suicide slogan "deeply inappropriate," TBS reported. The catchphrase, which was unveiled last month, has already been criticized by mental health professionals, as well as members of both the DPJ and opposition parties for the way in which it apparently handles the issue of suicide, while simultaneously leveraging the popularity of AKB48. (Japan Today)

Japanese food: use your noodle
Few countries are as passionate and proud of their food as Japan. Each of its 47 prefectures is fiercely tribalistic about one dish or another, and noodles are particularly contentious. In Shikoku they argue about who produces the best udon (fat, chewy wheat-flour noodles), while on Kyushu ramen (slobbery Chinese-style wheat noodles) is the most popular. When it comes to soba (slippery, often cold, buckwheat noodles) almost every prefecture in northern Honshu claims to be its authoritative home. As an uninitiated gaijin (foreigner), it's impossible for me to say which is the best, but this much I know: eating soba is never more fun than in Iwate - specifically, when ordering the unfortunately named wanko soba. There are several theories about the origins of wanko soba, but one of the most likely is that a gluttonous feudal lord dropped in unexpectedly on some local peasants. Without much in the pantry, they sheepishly offered cold, plain soba noodles, fully expecting the lord to fly into a rage. But he loved them, asking for more and more and piling up small bowls as he wolfed the food down. (guardian.co.uk)

As Japan's tech sector struggles, the winner is... Hitachi?
Sony Corp., Panasonic Corp. and Sharp Corp. all said last week that they now forecast hundreds of billions of yen in net losses for the current fiscal year through March. Toshiba Corp.'s outlook was much brighter: It only expects net profit to tumble 53%. But Hitachi Ltd. stood out from its peers: In an industry wracked by overcapacity, the strong yen and cheaper competition it didn't cut its net profit outlook, sticking to a forecast of Y200 billion this fiscal year, which would be a 16% drop from a year earlier. It wasn't always like this. In the wake of the global financial crisis, Hitachi, whose operations span everything from consumer electronics to electric power infrastructure, posted an eye-popping Y787.34 billion net loss for the fiscal year through March 2009 - over $10 billion at current exchange rates and the biggest loss ever reported by a Japanese manufacturer. (If Panasonic's loss forecast of Y780 billion for this fiscal year proves accurate, it would be the second biggest after Hitachi's 2009 figure.) (Wall Street Journal)

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What an Obama or Romney win means
Successful political candidates try to implement the proposals on which they ran. In the United States, President Barack Obama and the Democrats, controlling the House of Representatives and (a filibuster-proof) Senate, had the power to do virtually anything they wanted in 2009 — and so they did.
Obama and his congressional allies enacted an $800 billion "stimulus" bill that was loaded with programs geared to key Democratic constituencies, such as environmentalists and public employees; adopted a sweeping and highly unpopular health care reform (whose constitutionality will be determined by the Supreme Court this year); imposed vast new regulations on wide swaths of the economy; embraced an industrial policy that selects certain companies for special treatment; engaged in borrowing and spending at levels exceeded only in World War II; and centralized power in Washington (and, within the federal government, in the executive branch and regulatory agencies).

Toyota shifts Highlander output to U.S.
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to shift production of Highlander sport utility vehicles to Indiana from Japan in late 2013 in a move to turn North America into its global production base amid the yen's record-high levels.
Production of the Highlander at the automaker's plant in Princeton, Indiana, is expected to increase by 50,000 units to about 330,000 vehicles, it said Wednesday. Around 30,000 vehicles were manufactured at Toyota's facility in Fukuoka Prefecture last year.

Fukushima Hawaiian-themed resort fully reopens
A Hawaiian-style spa leisure complex in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, known for its team of hula dancers, fully reopened Wednesday, 11 months after the March disaster damaged the facility.
Spa Resort Hawaiians has renovated its key indoor dome facility, where the Hula Girls' stage and a big swimming pool are located, after installing three pillars to shore up the dome ceiling.

Hirano gets nod to lead agency for rebuilding
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Thursday appointed Tatsuo Hirano, minister in charge of quake and tsunami reconstruction in the Tohoku region, as head of the agency that will be launched Friday to oversee the rebuilding, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said.
Noda also tapped former education minister Masaharu Nakagawa to take over another of Hirano's responsibilities, disaster prevention, and oversee issues relating to the falling birthrate and gender equality, Fujimura said. The latter two positions have been handled by Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada.

¥5 billion set for rare earth projects
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Wednesday it will offer around ¥5 billion in subsidies for the development of technologies and other activities aimed at reducing the use of rare earths.
METI selected 49 projects at companies, universities and other institutions as eligible to receive the subsidies, in its bid to reduce the use of dysprosium, used for motors in hybrid vehicles and other products, by 30 percent in two years.

Myanmar investment talks set
Japan and Myanmar will launch preliminary talks next week aimed at signing a bilateral investment accord, officials in Tokyo said Wednesday.
The meeting Tuesday in Myanmar's capital of Naypyitaw between senior officials is intended to sort out major issues before they enter official negotiations, the officials said.

Search for five workers continues in flooded tunnel
Five workers remained missing Wednesday after seawater flooded an undersea tunnel being built at JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp.'s Mizushima oil refinery in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, on Tuesday, local police said.
Police divers resumed their search for the five Wednesday morning but decided later to give priority to removing large quantities of rubble found in a shaft of the tunnel.

Diet OKs fourth extra '11 budget
The Diet on Wednesday approved a fourth extra budget for the current fiscal year that will assist companies struggling as a result of the March 2011 disasters and the sharp appreciation of the yen, which has weighed on the country's exports.
The Upper House passed the ¥2.53 trillion supplementary budget for fiscal 2011, which ends next month, and the measure will finance the reinstitution of tax breaks for the purchase of environmentally friendly vehicles, in support of carmakers, a major casualty of the stronger yen.

Despite new plan, Okinawans fear Futenma will remain in Ginowan
Wednesday's agreement between Tokyo and Washington to delink the transfer of U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam from the relocation of the Futenma air base in the prefecture was greeted by politicians and pundits in both countries as an acknowledgement that the original plan was obviously no longer viable.
But in Okinawa, hope that Japan and the United States have taken the first steps toward canceling the 2006 agreement to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma's flight operations to the Henoko coast of Nago, farther north on Okinawa Island, was tempered by concern that no mention of specific numerical reductions in the agreement means Futenma will simply remain in operation, in Ginowan, for years to come.

Seoul axes intel agent for spilling beans in Tokyo
A South Korean intelligence officer posted to Seoul's embassy in Tokyo was fired for allegedly leaking "secret" information to the Japan Coast Guard and Japanese reporters, according to South Korean media reports.
The officer, who allegedly leaked eight items of confidential information during his 2009-2011 posting, has denied wrongdoing and filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, saying the information didn't meet the threshold of a state secret, the Chosun Ilbo paper and other media reported.

U.S. Marines to move; base row will drag on
Tokyo and Washington said Wednesday they have agreed to revise a 2006 bilateral accord aimed at transferring U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, effectively no longer making the redeployment contingent upon construction of a replacement airfield by 2014.
The two sides said they have already started formal negotiations on moving some of the marines to Guam before the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa. The plan, based on a 2006 bilateral accord, called for moving 8,000 marines and their dependents to Guam from the Futenma base upon the 2014 completion of the replacement airfield on the Henoko coast of Nago farther north on Okinawa Island.

Turkey's AKP is no role model for Arab countries
Many in Washington have been debating whether Turkey's governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) could be a model for the Arab Spring, as our neighbors in the Middle East aspire to get rid of totalitarian regimes and become true democracies. But the reality in Turkey makes clear that the AKP model does not hold.
On Nov. 9, I visited the Silivri prison where hundreds of journalists, publishers, military officers, academics and politicians are being held. Trials were opened in 2007 on charges that an ultranationalist underground organization had plotted for years to overthrow the government. Many of those indicted have been detained for years without trial. There has not been a single conviction to date. Justice is at stake — and, so far, has been flagrantly denied.

Nissan sales rise but profits decline
Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday its group operating profit for April to December fell 4.7 percent to ¥427.8 billion, with the strong yen eating into overseas earnings.
It also reported a ¥266.1 billion group net profit for the nine months, down 7.7 percent from the same period the previous year.

Biomass plants to burn quake debris
The Forestry Agency will provide financial support for the construction of four biomass power plants to burn wood debris from the March 11 disasters, officials said.
The plants to be built in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures are expected to burn a total of 200,000 tons of debris a year, generating 16,000 kw and covering the consumption needs of 30,000 households.

Foreign visitor target set at 18 million by 2016
Japan hopes to boost the annual number of foreign visitors to 18 million by 2016 by repairing the country's damaged reputation as a safe travel destination in its next five-year tourism plan.
The Cabinet is expected to endorse the plan to be implemented from fiscal 2012 possibly in March, according to a draft obtained by Kyodo on Tuesday.

Electronics giants start chip integration talks
Panasonic Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. have begun talks with major chip-maker Renesas Electronics Corp. on integrating their system chip operations, sources said Wednesday.
At a time when the country's semiconductor industry has struggled in the face of the historically strong yen and stiff competition from rivals in South Korea, the companies aim to revamp their system-chip business by expanding the scale of their operations through integration.

1 in 3 women living alone are in poverty, as are 1 in 4 men
About 1 in 3 women between the ages of 20 and 64 who live alone are living in poverty, compared with 1 in 4 men in the same category, a study showed Wednesday.
"Women's status in the workplace is low, and they are more likely to live in poverty (than men)," said Aya Abe, a senior official with the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, which conducted the study.

Emails bare NRC's Fukushima chaos
In the confusion following the earthquake and tsunami that damaged the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex last March, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it was standing by to help.
But a trove of emails posted on the NRC's website shows an agency struggling to figure out how to respond and how to deal with the American public while cutting through what one official called "the fog of information" coming out of Japan.

Dubious reasons to attack Iran
It is hard not to be impressed by the one-dimensional reasons the United States gives for its various animosities.
U.S. antagonism to Tehran began in 1979 when some revolution-minded Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy there and held 55 staff members as hostages for 444 days. Washington said the raid broke diplomatic protocol. But had not the embassy lost any claim to immunity by helping the 1953 overthrow of the democratically elected Mosaddegh government, and its replacement by a Shah-led dictatorship that had suppressed all opposition?

Yen-yuan exchange market touted
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Kiyohiko Nishimura said Wednesday that developing a market where the yen and China's yuan could be directly exchanged would contribute to regional stability.
"One benefit will be a reduction in transaction costs, as the price will be set directly without the dollar as an intermediary. Moreover, without settlements in dollars, it would also lead to a reduction in currency settlement risks for financial institutions," Nishimura said in a speech in Tokyo.

The Iran-Israel dynamic
Israel's leaders are making increasingly loud and worrisome comments about Iran's nuclear program. Israel sees Tehran's nuclear ambitions as an existential threat — a view that is not surprising given repeated remarks by Iranian leaders that Israel should be wiped from the map.
Iran's leaders may be borrowing a page from the "madman's guide to international relations," ratcheting up tension to gain leverage in negotiations; all evidence suggests that the government and elites in Tehran are as self-interested as any other and they have no desire to commit suicide. Exaggerations notwithstanding, the dangers are very real. Iran's suspected determination to acquire a weapon would unravel the security and political order in the Middle East. Just as dangerous are the possibilities of a crisis as a result of misperception or over-reaction.

U.S. Treasurys foiling intervention
Finance Minister Jun Azumi's efforts to weaken the yen are being foiled, in part, by U.S. Treasurys.
Finance Ministry data released Tuesday showed Japan conducted an unannounced intervention worth ¥1.02 trillion during the first four days of November, as part of ¥14.3 trillion worth of sales in 2011. Still, the currency traded within 1.8 percent of its postwar record, clouding the outlook for he economy's export-led recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Environmental panel rejects Futenma move
An Okinawa Prefectural Government panel has concluded it would be impossible to conserve the living and natural environment if an airfield is constructed on the Henoko coast of Nago for the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, sources said Tuesday.
The panel, which examined an environmental impact assessment by the central government for the relocation of the base, which is now in crowded Ginowan, within the prefecture, was scheduled to present its findings to the prefectural government Wednesday afternoon. The presence of the base and plans to move it elsewhere in the prefecture have been the source of years of local ire.

Current account surplus hits lowest level in 15 years
The current account surplus shrank to its smallest level in 15 years in 2011, largely affected by slowing exports on the stronger yen and global economic downturn amid the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, the government said Wednesday.
The balance, the widest gauge of international payments by a country covering goods and services trade as well as capital investment, dropped 43.9 percent from the previous year to ¥9.63 trillion, staging the sharpest fall since records began in 1985, including the decline at the height of the global financial turmoil in 2008.

Reactor 2 temperatures said trending lower
The temperature at the bottom of the reactor 2 pressure vessel at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant appears to be lowering but still needs close monitoring, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday.
Tepco said Wednesday a temperature of 68 degrees was logged at 10 a.m. and 65.4 an hour later.

NISA to OK report on Oi reactors' stress tests
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Wednesday it will soon finalize a draft report endorsing the results of stress tests on two idled reactors at Kansai Electric's Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture — the first time such tests will be approved.
NISA made the decision after presenting and hearing opinions on the draft report at a meeting the same day with experts. The final version will then be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan for checking.

Plan for new marketplace on Tsukiji site gets mixed reviews
Moves by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to build a new marketplace on the site of the Tsukiji market have drawn mixed reactions, with some critics saying it is an attempt to bulldoze through the controversial relocation of the famed fish market to a new site.
According to plans revealed Tuesday, the new market will be built on the site of the Kachidokimon parking garage next to Tsukiji's outer market. The facility will have approximately 100 shops selling fish and fresh vegetables to professional chefs and ordinary customers alike.

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