Latest Japan Headlines

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

Climate Change Under World Spotlight

Mar 24 2008 // Swiss Re’s latest sigma study on natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2007 concludes that they killed over 20,000 people and cost the insurance industry $70 billion, $28 billion related to property claims....

Ratings Roundup: ACE (Japan), Inter Hannover, White Mountains

Mar 20 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on its ‘A-‘ financial strength and long-term counterparty ratings on ACE Insurance to positive from stable. S&P also affirmed the...

Greenhouse Funds Gloom Hangs over G20 Climate Talks

Mar 14 2008 // Rich nations must come up with billions in new money to help poor countries fight global warming and not just repackage development aid to score diplomatic points, environmentalists at a meeting of top polluters said on...

Japan’s Millea Group to Buy Lloyd’s Kiln for $898 Million

Dec 14 2007 // The boards of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. (TMNF), the main operating companies of Japan’s Millea Group, and Bermuda-based Kiln Ltd. , a major Lloyd’s insurer, announced that they have...

S&P: Japan Non-Life Insurers ‘Show Improvement in Profits’

Nov 29 2007 // A report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services concludes that Japan’s top nine non-life insurers recorded ¥173 billion ($1.575 billion) in interim net profits for the first half of fiscal 2007 (ended...

U.S. Employee Sues Japanese Ad Firm Alleging Offensive Sexual Activity

Nov 2 2007 // The former creative director of the U.S. arm of Japan’s largest advertising agency sued the company this week, saying he was pressured to visit a brothel and engage in other sexually explicit activities on company...

Aon Places $260 Million Japanese Quake Cat Bond

Oct 18 2007 // Aon Corp. announced that its investment banking group, Aon Capital Markets, has successfully completed the private placement of $260 million of principal at-risk variable rate notes for MIDORI Ltd. The placement provides...

Aon Appoints Wada as New ‘Chief Diversity Officer’ – Asia Pacific

Oct 4 2007 // Aon Corp. announced from its Hong Kong office that Randy Wada, CEO of Aon Japan, has been appointed Chief Diversity Officer for Asia Pacific and will serve on the company’s global diversity advisory board. Aon...

With Its Food Repuation Battered, China Showcases 3 Model Exporters

Oct 3 2007 // First comes the “wind shower.” Wearing overalls and rubber boots, employees at Fusheng Food Co. in Qingdao stand in a narrow room as air jets in the walls blow away any dust on them. They wade through...

Magnitude 7.4 Quake Strikes South of New Zealand

Oct 1 2007 // A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 occurred south of New Zealand on Sunday and there may be a chance of tsunamis, Japanese monitors said. There was no immediate report of injuries, damage or...

Children Could Be Getting Soft-Soled Clogs Caught in Escalators

Sep 24 2007 // At rail stations and shopping malls around the world, reports are popping up of people, particularly young children, getting their toes caught in escalators. The one common theme seems to be the clunky, soft-soled clogs...

New Management for Willis Japan

Sep 19 2007 // Willis Group Holdings announced that Shoji Ohashi has joined the international broker as the new Representative Director and Chairman of Willis Japan Holdings KK, and Yoshiki Yamamoto is the new Director and CEO of Willis...

EQECAT, AIR Estimate Japan Typhoon Losses – Less than $1 Billion

Sep 10 2007 // Catastrophe modeling firms EQECAT and AIR Worldwide have indicated that losses from Typhoon Fitow, which came ashore on Friday, Sept. 7 in Japan’s Shizuoka prefecture, would not exceed $1 billionThe storm, rated...

Ratings Recap: Sompo (U.S.); Clarendon, Kentucky National

Aug 30 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of “A” (Excellent) and assigned an issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a” to New York-based Sompo Japan Insurance Company of America (SJA)....

Japan Power Company Says Radioactive Leak Bigger Than First Reported

Jul 19 2007 // A top power company official defended safety standards at an earthquake-ravaged nuclear plant Wednesday, even as the company said a radioactive leak was bigger than first reported and came under international pressure for...

Strong Earthquake in Japan Takes 7 Lives, Destroys Hundreds of Homes

Jul 17 2007 // A strong earthquake struck northwestern Japan on Monday, destroying hundreds of homes, buckling seaside bridges and causing a fire at one of the world’s most powerful nuclear power plants. At least seven people were...

Aging, Skyscrapers, Malls Place Japan at Higher Risk of Disaster

Jun 6 2007 // Japan’s vulnerability to natural disasters is increasing as skyscrapers mushroom in cities, shopping malls go underground and the population ages, a recent government report said.While earthquakes are a primary...

S&P Sees Japan P/C Sector as ‘Stable’

May 30 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services latest report on the Japanese non-life industry concludes that, despite large payouts the sector remains relatively stable.However, 2006 was not a particularly good year....

Japan Proposes 50% Cut in Worldwide Greenhouse Gas Emissions

May 25 2007 // Japan plans to propose cutting world greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050 in a bid to limit the effects of global warming, news reports said Thursday [May 24].Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was to announce the plan later in...

R&M Adds Japan Non-Life ‘Snapshots’

May 24 2007 // Dublin-based Research and Markets has added “Snapshots Japan Non-Life Insurance 2007” to their offering. “Snapshots Japan Non-Life Insurance 2007 provides 2005 year-end market size data, with 2006...