Latest Japan Headlines
All the headlines from our Japan Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Kobe Steel CEO to Resign Over Data Fraud Scandal as Report Finds More Cases
Mar 6 2018 // Kobe Steel Ltd said on Tuesday its CEO will step down to take responsibility for a widespread data fraud scandal, although doubts remain over a corporate culture mired in malfeasance and the possibility of future...
Nippon Life Agrees to Buy 85% Stake in MassMutual’s Japan Unit for $980M
Mar 2 2018 // Nippon Life Insurance Co said on Friday it had agreed to buy an 85 percent stake in the domestic unit of U.S.-based MassMutual Financial Group for about 104.2 billion yen ($980 million) as it aims to boost its...
Japan’s SoftBank in Talks to Buy Stake in Swiss Re
Feb 7 2018 // Swiss Re said it is in preliminary talks to sell a minority stake to SoftBank Group – a deal that reportedly could be worth $10 billion or more, in what would be the Japanese firm’s biggest financial services...
Japan’s Peer-to-Peer Vouch Insurtech Raises Seed Funding
Feb 5 2018 // Taiwan venture capital firm Nogle Capital Management, Singapore venture capital firm GREE Ventures and several angel investors have participated in the seed funding round of SGD$1 million for Singapore startup Vouch...
Japan’s SoftBank Eyes Taking Stake in India Insurance Startup: Sources
Jan 25 2018 // SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to back leading online insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar at a valuation of at least $800 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The two sides are examining how the Japanese...
Update: Sunken Iranian Oil Tanker Causes Large Oil Slick in East China Sea
Jan 15 2018 // A stricken Iranian tanker that sank in the East China Sea on Sunday in the worst oil ship disaster in decades has produced a large oil slick, Chinese media and Japanese authorities said on Monday, as worries grew over...
Explosions Continue on Iranian Oil Tanker, Hampering Rescue Efforts
Jan 12 2018 // A stricken Iranian oil tanker continued exploding on Friday, hampering rescue efforts, Chinese state media reported, as Japan’s Coast Guard said the ship drifted away from the Chinese coast and into Japan’s...
Green Bonds Booming Despite Washington’s Animus, Report Shows
Jan 11 2018 // In spite of the U.S. withdrawal from the global climate change accord hammered out in Paris a year earlier, green bond issuance around the world reached $155.5 billion in 2017, a new report shows. That figure surpassed the...
Allianz’ Property Unit Plans to Double Asian Investments in Next 3 Years
Jan 4 2018 // Allianz SE’s property unit plans to double investments in Asia over three years as the German firm is drawing in more money from its insurance operations in the region. Property investments may swell to 3.75 billion...
Japan Data-Tampering Scandals Show Dangers of ‘Sacrificing Quality’ to Save Costs
Dec 28 2017 // A string of data-tampering scandals at Japanese manufacturers has not tarnished Japan’s image, though it has been a powerful reminder to avoid sacrificing quality when under cost or delivery pressure, a senior...
Kobe Steel Admits 3 Senior Executives Knew About Data Falsification
Dec 28 2017 // Kobe Steel Ltd, at the center of a data-falsification scandal that has shaken Japan’s manufacturing industry, admitted for the first time that executives were aware of the cheating, and reassigned three senior...
Factbox: Growing List of Insurers Make Brexit Plans for EU Subsidiaries
Dec 20 2017 // Below are insurers’ plans for EU subsidiaries (in alphabetical order) in case Britain does not have access to the single market after Brexit: ADMIRAL. British motor insurer Admiral Group said last year that it could...
Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials Reveals More Products with Falsified Specifications
Dec 19 2017 // Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials Corp. said it has found more cases of products shipped with possible falsified specifications as it investigates a widening data-fabrication scandal that has affected more than 300 of its...
Factbox: More Insurers Make Decisions About Post-Brexit Headquarters
Dec 13 2017 // Liberty Specialty Markets said it planned to redomicile its UK insurance company to Luxembourg, as a result of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. Below are insurers’ plans for EU subsidiaries (in...
Kobe Steel Hit with Lawsuits Over Data Tampering Scandal
Dec 8 2017 // Kobe Steel Ltd. said on Friday it has been hit with lawsuits over its data tampering scandal and has had two more badges of industrial quality removed, the latest setbacks for the Japanese steelmaker as it seeks to restore...
Factbox: Growing List of Insurers Decide on Post-Brexit EU Headquarters
Nov 21 2017 // Sompo International Holdings, a Bermuda-based unit of Japanese insurer Sompo, said it will set up a subsidiary in Luxembourg, in case Britain does not have access to the single market after Brexit. Below are...
Willis Towers Watson Taps Yeung from AIG as Head of P/C, North Asia
Nov 6 2017 // Willis Towers Watson announced the appointment of Evariste Yeung as head of Property and Casualty, North Asia. Yeung’s appointment took effect on Sept. 25, 2017. He is based in Shanghai and reports to Richard Collis,...
Cost-Cutting Japanese Factories Struggle to Maintain Safety
Oct 31 2017 // A series of safety scandals at Japanese companies have put the country’s lionized factory floor under scrutiny as manufacturers struggle with increased pressure on costs, stricter enforcement of standards and growing...
AIR Worldwide Introduces Inland Flood Model for Japan
Oct 23 2017 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide has introduced a new inland flood model for Japan along with enhancements to its Japan typhoon model. These models are part of Version 5.1 of AIR’s catastrophe modeling...
Kobe Steel Assesses Extent of Costly, Habitual Data Product Tampering
Oct 17 2017 // When cheating becomes habitual, the consequences could be costly. Embattled Kobe Steel Ltd said on Tuesday the U.S. Justice Department is asking the steelmaker to provide documents related to its data falsification...
