Latest Japan Headlines

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

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 insurers’...

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 scandal....

Kobe Steel Scandal Hits Global Supply Chains as Financial, Legal Fallout Grows

Oct 16 2017 // Just over a week out from revelations of a cheating scandal that plunged Kobe Steel Ltd. in crisis and ensnared hundreds of firms, the embattled steelmaker’s shares skidded to five-year lows on Monday as investors...

Kobe Steel Supply Chain Scandal Spreads; 500 Customers Used Affected Products

Oct 13 2017 // The cheating crisis engulfing Kobe Steel Ltd just got bigger.Chief Executive Hiroya Kawasaki on Friday revealed that about 500 companies had received its falsely certified products, more than double its earlier count,...

Gov’t, TEPCO Held Accountable by Japan Court for Fukushima Nuclear Accident

Oct 12 2017 // A Japanese court on Tuesday [Oct. 10] ordered the government and the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant to pay 500 million yen ($4.5 million) to thousands of area residents and evacuees who were demanding compensation...

Kobe Steel Can Expect Spate of Lawsuits for Its 10 Years of False Data

Oct 12 2017 // Kobe Steel Ltd.’s legal problems are just beginning in wake of the company’s disclosure that it falsified data for years about the durability of aluminum and copper used in airplanes, trains and vehicles.The...

Kobe Steel’s Data Fabrication Scandal Grows; Customers Eye Safety Impact

Oct 11 2017 // The scandal engulfing Kobe Steel Ltd. deepened on Wednesday as the Japanese steelmaker said it may have falsified data about another of its products, which is typically used in automobile parts including brakes and...

Kobe Steel Admits Falsifying Data on Components Used by 200 Firms

Oct 10 2017 // Japan’s government sought on Tuesday to contain the fallout from the disclosure by the nation’s third-biggest steel maker, Kobe Steel Ltd, that it had fabricated data on components used in cars, aircraft and...

Japan’s MS&AD to Invest $1B in Swiss Re’s UK Unit, ReAssure Jersey One

Oct 6 2017 // Japan’s MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc said on Friday it had agreed with Swiss Re AG to invest 800 million pounds ($1.05 billion) to take a stake of up to 15 percent in UK-based ReAssure Jersey One...

Nippon Life Eyes Buying MassMutual Japan Unit for Bancassurance Sales: Sources

Oct 5 2017 // Japan’s biggest private-sector life insurer, Nippon Life Insurance Co., is in talks to buy a majority stake in the domestic unit of U.S.-based MassMutual Financial Group in an attempt to boost its bancassurance...

Japan Court Rules Tepco, not Government, Must Pay $3.4M to Ex-Fukushima Residents

Sep 27 2017 // A Japanese court ruled Friday [Sept. 22] that a utility, not the government, should pay compensation to dozens of former residents of Fukushima for losses to their livelihood caused by reactor meltdowns at a nuclear plant...

Japan Post’s Stock Sale Raises $11B, but Demand Is Subdued

Sep 25 2017 // A government sale of Japan Post Holdings Co. stock raised $11 billion in the world’s second-biggest share sale this year, with the postal and financial giant’s attractive dividend yield helping drum up...

Japan Post Plans $9.1B-$12.8B Share Sale as Early as Sept. 11

Sep 5 2017 // Japan Post Holdings Co. will announce plans for a share sale by the government as early as Sept. 11, almost two years after the postal and financial-services giant was listed, people with knowledge of the matter said.The...

Japan’s Sompo Holdings to Sell Sompo Canopius for $952M to Centerbridge

Sep 1 2017 // Japan’s Sompo Holdings Inc. announced it has agreed to sell Lloyd’s re/insurer Sompo Canopius AG to a private equity consortium led by Centerbridge Partners for $952 million.On completion of the purchase,...

Japan Government Plans to Sell Shares in Bancassurer Japan Post

Sep 1 2017 // Japan’s government plans to sell shares in Japan Post Holdings Co. as soon as this month, the first sale since the company’s massive 2015 listing, a government source familiar with the deal said on Friday.The...

Mitsui Sumitomo Buys Singapore’s First Capital Insurance from Fairfax for $1.6B

Aug 24 2017 // Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company (MSI) is acquiring Singapore’s First Capital Insurance for $1.6 billion from Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings, in the biggest takeover by a Japanese insurer in populous...