Latest Japan Headlines

All the headlines from our Japan Topic Page, ordered by recency.

At least 8 Killed as Typhoon Wipha Sideswipes Tokyo; Moves on

Oct 16 2013 // Eight people were killed and over 30 missing, with nearly 20,000 people ordered to evacuate and hundreds of flights cancelled as Typhoon Wipha pummeled the Tokyo region on Wednesday, leaving piles of wreckage on one small...

Typhoon WiphaThreatens Japan; Precautions at Fukushima Nuclear Plant

Oct 15 2013 // A once-in-a-decade typhoon threatened Japan on Tuesday, disrupting travel and shipping and forcing precautions to be taken at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant. Typhoon Wipha is moving across the Pacific straight...

JC Flowers, Apollo to Bid on Hartford’s Japan Unit: Reuters

Oct 10 2013 // Private equity firms J.C. Flowers & Co and Apollo Global Management are among a handful of companies expected to bid for Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. ‘s Japanese annuity business, three people familiar...

Weakened Typhoon Danas in Korea Strait, Sea of Japan: AIR Worldwide

Oct 9 2013 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, after pounding Okinawa with the outer reaches of its 184 km/h [114 mph] winds Monday evening local time, Typhoon Danas has weakened to tropical storm strength and it is...

Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake Hits Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture-Kyodo

Sep 20 2013 // An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 struck Fukushima Prefecture in Japan early Friday morning, Kyodo reported, quoting the Japan Meteorological Agency. No tsunami warning has been issued, the news agency...

Powerful Typhoon Man-yi Downgraded after Lashing Japan

Sep 18 2013 // Crews were cleaning up wrecked houses and assessing damage Tuesday in the wake of a powerful typhoon that lashed Japan with torrential rains, leaving at least two people dead. Typhoon Man-yi weakened into a tropical storm...

Thousands Evacuated in Japan as Typhoon Man-Yi Brings Floods

Sep 16 2013 // Hundreds of thousands of people were advised or ordered to evacuate in Japan as Typhoon Man-Yi brought flooding, power blackouts and flight cancellations to the western and central parts of the country. At least one person...

High Radiation Spreads at Ruined Fukushima Plant

Sep 3 2013 // High radiation levels are spreading at the ruined Fukushima nuclear plant, its operator said on Monday, and the Japanese government prepared to offer more funding and oversight to try to contain the crisis. Japanese...

ING Sells South Korean Insurance Unit to Asian Buyout Firm MBK

Aug 26 2013 // ING Groep NV sold its South Korean insurance unit on its second attempt within a year, raising about 1.84 trillion won ($1.7 billion) from MBK Partners Ltd., the Asian buyout firm formed by ex-Carlyle Group executives. MBK...

U.S. Presses Japan to Open Insurance, Auto Markets

Aug 19 2013 // The United States urged Japan on Monday to open its auto and insurance markets more to foreign companies as the two countries pursue bilateral talks linked to a broader free-trade agreement that covers two-fifths of the...

Japanese Airline Finds Faulty Wiring on Dreamliner Fire Extinguishers

Aug 14 2013 // Japanese airline ANA Holdings said it had found an electrical wiring problem in the fire extinguishers of the engines of three of its Boeing Co Dreamliner jets. The problem was first discovered during pre-flight...

Greenberg’s C.V. Starr in Group Buying Tokyo Building for $1B

Aug 7 2013 // A group including former U.S. insurance magnate Maurice “Hank” Greenberg and an Abu Dhabi sovereign fund have agreed to buy a prominent Tokyo office building for $1 billion, the biggest property deal in Japan...

Tokio Marine Targets Asean for Expansion Abroad: Southeast Asia

Jul 29 2013 // Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., Japan’s second-largest non-life insurer, is seeking to expand in Southeast Asia as Japan’s shrinking population erodes its domestic market. The insurer plans to expand in life...

U.S.-Led Trade Talks Gain Heft, Complexity, as Japan Joins

Jul 24 2013 // Japan joined U.S.-led trade talks on Tuesday, adding its weight to a pact that covers two-fifths of the world economy but raising further doubt over whether negotiators can prise open sensitive sectors such as farm goods...

Security Analysts Warn About Terrorism Risk After Fukushima Meltdown

Jul 2 2013 // Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, whose 2011 meltdowns dislocated 160,000 people, may provide a new blueprint for terrorists seeking to inflict mass disruption, security analysts said at a United Nations...

Best Affirms Mitsui Sumitomo’s U.S. Subs Ratings; Upgrades Aioi Nissay U.S.

Jun 3 2013 // In conjunction with its affirmation of the parent company, A.M. Best Co. has also affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa” of...

Best Affirms Mitsui Sumitomo Ratings; Upgrades Aioi Nissay Dowa

Jun 3 2013 // A.M. Best Asia-Pacific Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “aa” of Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company...

China to Study Possibility of Joining U.S-Led Trade Talks

Jun 3 2013 // China will study the possibility of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday, signaling its openness to the U.S.-led trade pact. “We will analyze the pros and...

Tokyo Prepares for a 1-in-200-Year Flood to Top Sandy

Jun 3 2013 // Tokyo, the world’s most populated metropolis, is building defenses for the possibility of a flood in the next 200 years that could dwarf the damage superstorm Sandy wrought on the U.S. East Coast. Japan’s...

Insurers, Banks Leveraging Trade Talks to Change Dodd-Frank

May 23 2013 // U.S. bankers and insurers are trying to use trade deals, which can trump existing legislation, to weaken parts of the Dodd-Frank Act designed to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. While the companies say they...