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Japan

Toyota recalls 412,000 cars in US to fix steering

NEW YORK – Toyota is recalling nearly half a million cars, most of them large sedans sold in the U.S., for problems that can cause the steering wheel to lock up. It’s the latest indication that the automaker is still struggling with vehicle problems even as it works to overhaul quality [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 30, 2010

Does Japan still need 23-yr-old exchange program?

TOKYO – Every year for the past two decades, legions of young Americans have descended upon Japan to teach English. This government-sponsored charm offensive was launched to counter anti-Japan sentiment in the United States and has since grown into one of the country’s most successful displays of soft power.
But faced with [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 30, 2010

US envoy ambassador to attend Hiroshima ceremony

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Obama administration said Wednesday it is sending its ambassador in Tokyo to a ceremony next week marking the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the first time a US ambassador has attended the event.
“Ambassador John Roos will represent the United States at the August 6 Hiroshima Peace Memorial, to [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 30, 2010

Japan hangs 2 on death row; 1st executions in year

TOKYO – Japan hanged two convicted killers Wednesday, including a man who burned six women to death, in the country’s first executions in a year, and the justice minister said she wants renewed debate on whether to continue the punishment.
The justice ministry said Kazuo Shinozawa, 59, and Hidenori Ogata, 33, were [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 30, 2010

China to send 2 pandas to Japan in diplomatic move

BEIJING – China has announced plans to send two of its prized giant pandas to Japan, the latest installment of panda diplomacy aimed at warming the two countries’ often-strained relations.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday that China will send Bi Li and Xian Nu, both five-year-olds from China’s Wolong Nature [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 29, 2010

Microsoft condemns Yahoo! Japan-Google alliance

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Microsoft on Tuesday denounced Yahoo! Japan’s Internet search alliance with Google, saying it would give Google near-total control over the third-largest market for search queries in the world.
“Google’s plan would cement its position as essentially the sole provider of search results in Japan for years to come,” Microsoft [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 28, 2010

Japan defends costly visit by ex-N.Korean spy

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan’s government on Friday defended a costly four-day visit by a former North Korean spy who produced little news about Japanese nationals kidnapped decades ago by the communist regime.
Kim Hyon-Hui, 48 — who blew up a South Korean jet in 1987, killing 115 people — ended her visit [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 24, 2010

Ford bullish on Japan with new Asian investments

TOKYO – Ford hopes its investments in Asia will dramatically boost sales in Japan — a market so dominated by local makers like Toyota and Honda that the U.S. automaker has long struggled to maintain a toehold.
Tim Tucker, chief executive of Ford Motor Co.’s Japan operations, said Friday he was bullish about [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 24, 2010

Japan’s trainee programme ‘human trafficking’: lawyer

TOKYO (AFP) – A Japanese human rights lawyer Thursday labelled a government-backed foreign trainee programme as a “form of human trafficking”, saying dozens had died from apparent overwork.
Japan has invited tens of thousands of foreigners for industrial training programmes as low-wage apprentices, mostly from China, Indonesia and the Philippines, since the [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 23, 2010

Japan hopes spy sheds light on NKorea abductions

TOKYO – Hoping to unravel a mystery that has haunted them for decades, the families of two Japanese abducted by North Korea met with a former spy who claims she knew the captives before she committed one of North Korea’s most notorious acts of terrorism — the bombing of a South [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 22, 2010