Latest Japan Headlines

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

Nine Dead After South Korean-Flagged Vessel Capsizes off Japan, South Korea Says

Mar 21 2024 // At least nine people were killed when a South Korean-flagged vessel capsized off Japan, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.Two South Korean nationals were among the dead, it said, adding that the...

Tanker Capsizes off Coast of Japan, Seven Deaths Confirmed: Media Reports

Mar 20 2024 // A South Korean-flagged chemical tanker has capsized off the coast of Yamaguchi prefecture in western Japan, with seven deaths confirmed, public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday, citing the coastguard.The tanker,...

Bank of Japan Scraps Radical Policy, Makes First Interest Rate Hike in 17 Years

Mar 19 2024 // The Bank of Japan (BOJ) ended eight years of negative interest rates and other remnants of its unorthodox policy on Tuesday, making a historic shift away from its focus on reflating growth with decades of massive monetary...

People Moves: Sompo Japan Names Takahashi as Chief Risk Officer, Head of Reinsurance; WTW Taps Aon’s Bosc for Global Specialty Team

Mar 6 2024 // This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Sompo Japan and Willis Towers Watson (WTW).A summary of these new hires follows here. Sompo Japan Names Takahashi as Chief Risk Officer, Head of...

Michigan Town to Pay $320K to Japanese Man Wrongly Accused of Drunken Driving

Mar 5 2024 // A Michigan village has agreed to a $320,000 settlement with a man from Japan who was wrongly accused of drunken driving after a police officer badly misread a breath test, court records show.Ryohei Akima blew a 0.02 on the...

AM Best: Japan Quake’s Effect on Insurers ‘Manageable; KCC Says Losses to Hit $6.4B

Jan 5 2024 // The earnings impact on the major domestic non-life insurers of claims from the Jan. 1, 2024 earthquake in Japan is expected to be manageable relative to the sector’s net profit, according to AM Best in a market...

Japan Earthquake Casts Cloud Over Push to Restart Nuclear Plants

Jan 5 2024 // The powerful earthquake that hit Japan’s western coast on New Year’s Day has underscored the country’s exposure to natural disasters, casting fresh doubt over a push to bring its nuclear capacity back...

Japan Airline’s Runway Collision Marks Test of How New Carbon Jets Cope in Disaster

Jan 5 2024 // Tuesday’s runway collision in Japan marks the first time a modern lightweight airliner has burnt down and is being seen as a test case for how well a new generation of carbon-composite airplanes copes with a...

Update: Japan Airlines Counts Losses From Wrecked Tokyo Plane

Jan 4 2024 // Japan Airlines (JAL) on Thursday said it expected losses of more than $100 million after one of its planes was destroyed when it collided with another aircraft on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda airport this week.All...

Insurer AIG Leads Policy for Japan Airlines Plane Involved in Runway Collision: Sources

Jan 3 2024 // U.S. insurer AIG was the lead insurer on a $130 million “all-risks” policy for the Japan Airlines airplane which collided with another plane at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, two insurance industry sources said...

Japan Airlines Flight Was Cleared to Land Before Fiery Collision at Tokyo Airport

Jan 3 2024 // As Japan Airlines Co. Flight 516 approached Tokyo’s Haneda Airport late on Tuesday afternoon, all signs pointed to an uneventful conclusion to the routine one-and-a-half hour journey from Sapporo in northern Japan.At...

Japan Adds Rescuers as Death Toll From Jan. 1 Quake Rises to 64

Jan 3 2024 // The death toll in the wake of the Jan. 1 earthquake off Japan’s northwest coast rose above 60 as the government doubled the number of personnel dispatched to the affected areas to bolster rescue operations.The number...

Tokyo Airport Collision Leaves 5 Dead, Japan Airlines’ Aircraft in Flames

Jan 2 2024 // All 379 people aboard a Japan Airlines (JAL) plane escaped the burning airliner after a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda airport that killed five of six crew on the smaller craft on...

Update: Major Japan Quake Topples Buildings, Killing Nearly 50 People

Jan 2 2024 // The death toll from a powerful earthquake that toppled buildings in the Noto Peninsula on Japan’s northwest coast rose to nearly 50 as rescue workers searched for survivors trapped under rubble.One of the places...

Hapag-Lloyd, Japanese Shipping Firms Continue to Re-route From Suez Canal

Dec 29 2023 // Hapag-Lloyd will continue to divert its vessels around the Suez Canal for security reasons, a spokesperson for the German container shipper said on Friday, adding a further assessment would be made on Jan. 2.Mitsui O.S.K....

Japan Orders 4 Non-Life Insurers to End Anti-Competitive Business Practices

Dec 27 2023 // Japan ordered four major non-life insurance companies to improve business practices in connection with anti-competitive activity that aimed to keep premiums high, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday.The order...

Buffett Watchers Tout Japan Insurers, Banks as Next Potential Value Targets

Oct 13 2023 // Warren Buffett’s buying of Japanese trading firms helped propel the nation’s stocks to multi-decade highs. Six months on, insurers and banks are emerging as the next potential value targets.Insurers have low...

Markets/Coverages: Coalition, MS&AD Insurance Offer Cybersecurity Solutions in Japan

Oct 5 2023 // Coalition, the San Francisco-based cyber managing general agent and cyber-security firm, announced a strategic partnership with Japan’s MS&AD Insurance Group to provide cybersecurity monitoring solutions for...

What Caused Closure of Toyota’s 14 Assembly Plants in Japan?

Aug 30 2023 // Toyota Motor was ramping back production at its Japan-based factories on Wednesday after a computer system processing orders for vehicle parts broke down on Tuesday, forcing the closure of 14 assembly plants.The disruption...

Toyota’s Japan Production at Standstill as System Failure Hits All 14 Assembly Plants

Aug 29 2023 // Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday said it has suspended operations at all 14 of its assembly plants in Japan due to a production system malfunction, bringing domestic output to a standstill at the world’s biggest-selling...