Latest Japan Headlines

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

Alaskan Senator Seeks $15M For Tsunami Debris

Dec 10 2012 // An Alaska senator wants $15 million for tsunami debris clean-up included in a federal disaster relief package for West Coast states affected by Superstorm Sandy. Sen. Mark Begich says the impact of debris from the 2011...

UPDATE: 7.3 Quake off Japan; Tsunami Warnings Cancelled

Dec 7 2012 // News reports are describing an earthquake off the east coast of Japan with a magnitude, estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey, of 7.3. The quake struck approximately 245 kms (153 miles) east-southeast of Kamaishi early...

Hawaii Finds Boat That May Be Tsunami Debris

Dec 6 2012 // The state Department of Land and Natural Resources says a boat recovered from Kahana Bay on Oahu’s windward coast may be tsunami debris that arrived in Hawaii from Japan. The department said Tuesday staff collected...

Highway Ceiling Collapse in Japan Kills 9

Dec 4 2012 // Concrete ceiling slabs fell onto moving vehicles deep inside a long Japanese highway tunnel, and authorities confirmed nine deaths before suspending rescue work Monday while the roof was being reinforced to prevent more...

Lloyd’s Report Focuses on ‘Gap’ in Disaster Costs and Insurance Coverage

Nov 28 2012 // A new report from Lloyd’s notes that the “the world has been battered by natural catastrophes in recent years, revealing a serious gap between the economic cost of natural catastrophes and the levels of insured...

California City Building ‘Tsunami-Resistant’ Port

Nov 26 2012 // It doesn’t matter if the earth sways in Chile, Alaska or Japan, the formation of the sea floor along the U.S. West Coast generally aims any tsunami surges at the tiny California port town of Crescent City. Churning...

Toyota to Recall 2.77 Million Vehicles for Steering, Water Pump Problems

Nov 14 2012 // Toyota Motor Corp said it will recall 2.77 million vehicles worldwide, including some of its popular Prius hybrid cars, for steering and water pump problems in the carmaker’s second multimillion-vehicle recall in a...

U.S. ‘Fiscal Cliff,’ Europe’s Debt Woes Worry G20

Nov 5 2012 // Leading world economies pressed the United States on Sunday to act decisively to avert a rush of spending cuts and tax hikes, warning that the so-called fiscal cliff is the biggest short-term threat to global growth.Unless...

‘Big One’ Looms in Minds of Experts Before California ShakeOut

Nov 5 2012 // A day before more than 9 million people in California took part in a massive nationwide earthquake drill in mid-October, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones stood in a room full of risk professionals in the San...

Alaska Setting for Japanese Documentary on Tsunami

Nov 5 2012 // A Japanese broadcasting group has been filming a documentary about tsunami debris in Kodiak, Alaska.NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting station, is filming a documentary about tsunami debris in Alaska to raise...

Alaska Setting For Japanese Documentary On Tsunami

Oct 22 2012 // A Japanese broadcasting group is filming a documentary about tsunami debris in Kodiak, Alaska this week.NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting station, is filming a documentary about tsunami debris in Alaska to...

Hong Kong’s Li Returns to Insurance with $2.1 Billion ING Deal

Oct 19 2012 // Hong Kong businessman Richard Li, the younger son of Asia’s richest man, is buying ING’s Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand insurance units for $2.14 billion in cash, bringing the Dutch financial services company a...

‘Big One’ Looms in Minds of Experts Before California ShakeOut

Oct 18 2012 // A day before more than 9 million people in California took part in a massive nationwide earthquake drill on Thursday, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones stood in a room full of risk professionals in the San...

India’s Battered Insurers May Need More than Foreign Investment

Oct 10 2012 // India’s proposal to allow more foreign investment in its $41 billion insurance business provides a lifeline for an industry starved of capital and squeezed by regulation – but it may not pass parliament and it...

Lloyd’s Analyzes Repercussions of Thai Flood Losses a Year Later

Oct 3 2012 // Lloyd’s has published an analysis of the floods that hit Thailand in October 2011, which notes that “after weeks of slowly spreading their way through many of Thailand’s provinces, flood waters eventually...

Typhoon Jelawat Hits Okinawa; Moves on Tokyo: AIR Analysis

Oct 1 2012 // Typhoon Jelawat remains a powerful storm, even if its wind speed has decreased from around from 155 mph, 250km/h, it passed over Okinawa on Saturday with wind speeds over 90 mph, 144 km/h, causing extensive damage, and...

Typhoon Sanba Makes Landfall in South Korea: AIR Analysis

Sep 18 2012 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Typhoon Sanba made landfall on September 17 just before noon local time (3:00 UTC) in South Gyeongsang Province on the southern coast of South Korea.Maximum sustained...

US Renews Waivers of Iran Sanctions for Japan, EU Nations

Sep 17 2012 // The United States has renewed waivers on Iran sanctions for Japan and 10 European countries because they cut their purchases of the OPEC nation’s crude oil, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.The...

Myanmar to Open Insurance Sector to Foreigners in 2015

Sep 14 2012 // Myanmar will allow foreign investors into its insurance sector by around 2015 once local private insurers have had time to establish themselves, a senior government official told Reuters.“We need to give these local...

Commentary by Gordon Brown:* Europe Risks Going the Way of Japan

Sep 14 2012 // The good news is that Europe is no longer going the way of Greece. The sad news is that it is threatening to go the way of Japan.After years of hesitation punctuated by panic, Europe has finally accepted the compelling...