Daily Japan Headlines: Thursday, Jul 28, 2011
Photo Source: Bloomberg.
Bloomberg: Apple IPads Shunned by Japanese Salarymen Hanging on to Laptops
Salarymen like Moriya are reluctant to embrace iPad tablets, the fastest-growing segment in the computer industry, because they aren’t light enough or functional enough to replace laptops in Japan. For each tablet shipped to corporate customers in Japan, dozens will be sold in the U.S. and western Europe through 2015, according to estimates by Framingham, Massachusetts-based research firm IDC. “Japanese businessmen already tend to carry around light laptops because they’re on the train so often,” said Masahiro Katayama, a PC group manager at IDC. “IPads are not suited for inputting and processing data, so people end up having both their laptops and iPads.”
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NPR: In Japan, Holding Onto Political Reins Proves Elusive
Kan has managed to cling to his job despite unusual vitriol from not only the other side of the aisle, but even from members of his own Democratic Party.
“I’ve known him for a long time, and my impression is he’s lost touch with reality. And he thinks that by keeping on going, and saying he can get beyond nuclear energy and other things with popular appeal, that opinion will turn around, and people will support him,”
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Reuters: How is Japan’s reconstruction plan shaping up?
“It is not yet clear what projects will be included in the government reconstruction scheme. The government is due to announce a framework and overall figures but this may not be followed immediately by action, given even removing of debris has not made headway,”
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Japan Times: DPJ panel seeks early restart of suspended reactors
A panel of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan has drafted an energy policy recommendation calling for an early restart of nuclear reactors that have been suspended for regular checks, after safety measures are taken.
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Bloomberg: Japan to Examine Separation of Tepco Power Plants, Distribution
The head of the oversight committee for Tokyo Electric Power Co. said a possible separation of the utility’s electricity distribution and generation units will be part of the probe into the company’s structure and assets.
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Reuters: Special report: Fukushima long ranked most hazardous plant
For five years to 2008, the Fukushima plant was rated the most hazardous nuclear facility in Japan for worker exposure to radiation and one of the five worst nuclear plants in the world on that basis.
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BBC Video: Strong Yen to hit Japanese company profits
A number of big Japanese companies are about to report their first quarter earnings. They include Sony, Nintendo, Sharp, and Panasonic.
The firms are expected to show a gradual recovery from the devastating earthquake in March.
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BBC: Japan’s retail sales rise for first time since quake
According to the latest official data, retail sales rose 1.1% in June from a year earlier, indicating that the economy is beginning to recover.
The rise comes after three successive months of falling sales as consumers stayed away from shops in wake of the devastation caused.
Compared with the previous month, retail sales rose by 2.9%.
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CNBC: Look Who’s Back: Japan Popular Again With Investors
Though still slightly negative for the year, the Japanese stock market has outperformed most if not all other developed markets over the past two months.
Investors have been raining money into Japan-centric exchange-traded funds, and even the normally weak yen is attracting interest as the US and Europe suffer under the weight of burdensome debt crises.
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Sydney Morning Herald: Sony eyes online Australian banking
Having built up expertise in Japan in low-cost management of a branchless bank with an edge on interest rates and fees, Sony hopes to expand its earnings base by expanding overseas, mainly into Asia
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Washington Post: Japan iPhone carrier Softbank posts big profit jump in latest quarter
Softbank’s mobile business, which is Japan’s No. 3 cell phone carrier, gained on rivals by adding a net 730,000 subscribers during the quarter. The company credits most of the rise to the popularity of the iPhone and Android handsets.
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Wall Street Journal: Early Winter Setsuden? Uniqlo Launches Heattech
Uniqlo’s plan to sell its popular heat-trapping fabric earlier than usual may not appear to be the hottest move as Japan boils this energy-saving summer. But the casual retail chain says saving energy is precisely why it is peddling its signature wintry wear several weeks sooner than it did in previous years. Riding on Japan’s setsuden conscious momentum, Uniqlo is hoping to attract customers looking for ways to cut back on heat in the fall.
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Wall Street Journal: Territorial Heat: Lee Concerned for Japan Lawmakers’ Safety
A recent flyover by a Korean Air Lines A380 above the islets prompted a ban—albeit symbolic—by Japan’s Foreign Ministry of its officials flying on official business on the Korean flag carrier. It is the latest territorial row to flare up between Japan and its neighbors. Japan is also in decades-long territorial contests with China and Russia that have strained bilateral ties with both in the last year.
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ABC Australia: Japan considers ending Antarctic whaling program
In a review conducted by Japan’s fisheries agency, the possibility of Japan discontinuing whaling in the Antarctic is mentioned as an option.
It is the first time any government agency in Japan has raised the possibility of putting an end to the whaling.
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