Latest Japan Headlines

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

Report Makes Chilling Forecast On Northwest Quake

Mar 18 2013 // More than 10,000 people could die when – not if – a monster earthquake and tsunami occur just off the Pacific Northwest coast, researchers told Oregon legislators .Coastal towns would be inundated. Schools, buildings...

Report: Japan PM Abe’s Pacific Trade Pact Gambit Pays Off, for Now

Mar 18 2013 // Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s first politically risky step of declaring the country’s intent to join talks on a U.S.-led Pacific Rim free trade pact appears to be paying off as his record high...

Finaccord Reports on Bancassurance in Global Markets

Mar 14 2013 // A new report from UK based market research, publishing and consulting firm Finaccord notes that “emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America offer the most growth potential for bancassurers but the...

Japan’s Clean-Up from 2011 Tsunami, Nuclear Accident Lagging

Mar 11 2013 // Two years after the triple calamities of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster ravaged Japan’s northeastern Pacific coast, debris containing asbestos, lead, PCBs — and perhaps most worrying — radioactive waste...

Ratings Recap: American General, Philadelphia Indemnity, First Hawaii, Minnesota Lawyers Mutual, Workmen’s Auto

Mar 1 2013 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘B+’ (Good) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb-” of American General Property Insurance Company (AGPIC), based in Nashville,...

G20 Wrangles over Currencies, Borrowing, Deficits at Moscow Talks

Feb 15 2013 // The Group of 20 major economies struggled on Friday to find common ground on currencies and borrowing, exposing rifts between advocates of a dash for growth and supporters of more austerity to revive the world economy.A...

Japan’s ANA Counts Cost of Grounded 787; Not Yet Seeking Damages

Jan 31 2013 // All Nippon Airways Co, the launch airline for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner jet that has been grounded with undiagnosed battery problems, said it lost more than $15 million in revenue from having to cancel flights this...

Too Early to Know Cost of 787 Dreamliner Claims, Says Boeing’s Insurer

Jan 30 2013 // Boeing Co. has some insurance in case its aircraft are grounded, but it is far too soon to say whether the problems with the 787 Dreamliner will lead to significant claims, the head of the planemaker’s lead insurer...

Safety Board Looking at Whistleblower Claims in 787 Battery Case

Jan 24 2013 // The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is looking at issues raised by more than one whistleblower as it investigates battery failures that have grounded the global fleet of 50 Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners for a...

Many Hostages in Gas Plant Siege Unaccounted for; New Terrorist Threats

Jan 18 2013 // At least 22 foreign hostages were unaccounted for on Friday and their al-Qaeda-linked captors threatened to attack other energy installations after Algerian forces stormed a desert gas complex to free hundreds of captives,...

Huge Sahara Gas Plant Hostage Siege Turns Mali War Global

Jan 17 2013 // Islamist gunmen holding dozens of Western hostages and scores of Algerians at a gas plant deep in the Sahara desert let some them speak to the media on Thursday to warn that they would be blown up if the site is...

Japanese Airlines Ground Boeing 787 Dreamliners after Emergency Landing

Jan 16 2013 // Japan’s two leading airlines grounded their fleets of Boeing 787s on Wednesday after one of the Dreamliner passenger jets made an emergency landing, the latest in a series of incidents to heighten safety concerns...

U.S. Plans to Negotiate Services Trade Pacts with EU, Japan, 18 Others

Jan 16 2013 // The United States said on Tuesday it plans to negotiate an agreement with the European Union, Japan and 18 other economies to remove trade and investment barriers in services ranging from finance to express...

Sources Say Iran Charters Oil Tanker with Indian Insurance

Jan 15 2013 // A loophole in an Indian insurance scheme has allowed Iran’s state-run tanker company NITC to bolster oil exports by chartering a vessel insured by India’s state-run firms, industry and shipping sources said on...

Lloyd’s: Increasing Civil Unrest Driving Political Violence Coverage Demand

Dec 31 2012 // A report from Lloyd’s of London concludes that the increasing demand for political risk insurance “has been rising as civil unrest and political violence continue to threaten businesses around the...

Toyota Claimants Not Part of $1.1 Billion Settlement Face Uphill Climb

Dec 28 2012 // Toyota Motor Corp. eliminated a huge obstacle with a U.S. settlement over unintended acceleration in its cars and trucks, leaving it to fight smaller cases that will be harder for plaintiffs to prove and less likely to...

Coast Guard: Large Dock Washes Ashore On Washington Coast

Dec 20 2012 // The Coast Guard on Tuesday spotted a large dock that has washed ashore in a remote section of Olympic National Park on the northwest Washington coast. Scientists are concerned it could be debris from the tsunami that...

U.S. Slaps Japanese Company on California Nuclear Power Plant Work

Dec 19 2012 // A Japanese company that manufactured the troubled steam generators at a key nuclear power plant in southern California might be looking for fixes with the wrong test equipment, U.S. federal regulators have disclosed.A...

Officials Tracking Debris off Washington Coast

Dec 19 2012 // Federal, state and tribal officials are attempting to track a large dock that was reported drifting off the coast of Washington state, one of potentially hundreds of objects that could wash up along the West Coast from the...

Biologist: Tsunami Debris Overwhelming In Spots In Alaska

Dec 17 2012 // Debris that gathered this past summer on Alaska’s Kayak Island made walking on its beaches feel like walking through a natural disaster zone, a federal biologist said Thursday.Jacek Maselko, a biologist with the...