Tag Archives: japan

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Occupy the World, Corporate Incompetence: Camera maker Olympus never reported losses, for at least a decade!

November 8, scandal for Japanese owned camera and industrial equipment maker Olympus: They deliberately kept losses off their finance books since the 1990s.

More proof that corporations can’t be trusted. The scandal wasn’t the result of Olympus officials confessing, it was the result of a third party investigation!

The losses come from securities investments.  Company officials tried to cover up the losses by blaming it on consulting fees, and the purchase of three smaller companies.

Olympus stock is now crashing on the Japanese stock market.  Olympus Vice President Hisashi Mori was fired for his involvement in the cover up.

 

International, Technology

Government Incompetence: Inspectors screw up approval of nuclear fuel rods

The Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization admitted it allowed nuclear fuel rods to pass quality checks using a faulty factory manual.

Government inspectors used the manufacture’s manual to inspect four sets of fuel rods.  They approved three of the sets.  The problem is that the approved sets did not match up with the length stated in the manual.  The rods were four meters (13 feet) long, the manual said they should have been 5 centimeters shorter.

Government officials say they will correct future inspections.

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: TEPCo retracts Fukushima melt down claim!

On 02 November 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company said Reactor 2 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was in melt down, again. Now they changed their mind!

TEPCo now says the level of xenon radiation they detected is too low to be from spontaneous fission.  Can these guys get anything right?

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Government Incompetence: Japan will now study 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident

In a classic example of too little too late, Japan will now spend big money to study the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident!

Japan will expand its Ukrainian embassy staff to include two nuclear specialists and three translators.  The staff will also be equipped with gear for dealing with radiation.  They will interview Ukrainian and former Soviet officials, and residents about the effects of radiation contamination, and how to deal with a nuclear disaster.

The Japanese government said they will spend about U.S.$2 million on the project.  You’d think a country that got so involved with nuclear power would have included, as part of its nuclear disaster preparedness, a detailed study of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster!

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Fukushima Reactor 2 going Critical, TEPCo pouring Boric Acid into reactor!

02 November 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that melt down has re-started in Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2.

TEPCo detected radioactive xenon-133 and xenon-135, in the reactor’s containment vessel on 02 November.  They are produced during nuclear fission.  TEPCo poured a boric acid solution into Reactor 2 to suppress the nuclear fission (melt down).

Analysts are speculating that the other reactors at Fukushima Daiichi could also go critical.  Professor Okamoto Koji, of the University of Tokyo Graduate School, says the presence of xenon in the reactors leaves open the possibility that localized and temporary fission could still occur.

TEPCo claims that using the boric acid has cooled down the reactor.

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. officials say Asia is our only hope; then all is lost

“If we are going to move out of this recession, Asia is going to be part of that equation. Asia is where we are going to grow.”–Ernest Bower, Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

Next week the 21 members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will meet in Hawaii.  There U.S. officials are expected to bend over to make economic deals with Asia countries, that’s how desperate the situation is for the United States.

Ron Kirk, U.S. Trade Representative, said the main concern for the U.S. is resolving issues that affect U.S. exporters.

Last week the U.S. Congress approved a free trade deal with South Korea, however, the people of South Korea are against it and have been protesting ever since.  It’s obvious governments are not going to do what their people want.

If the United States is hoping that the countries of Asia, and the Pacific Rim, are going to pull us out of the ‘recession’ then all is lost:  Japan’s economy is a house of cards that’s already collapsed. China is focused on controlling inflation which is reducing consumer spending there. Vietnam, India, China, Japan and Philippines are facing off in what could turn into a war over oil rights in the South China Sea.  Australia’s main economic partner is China, and Australia is expanding its naval power in the hopes that the U.S. Navy will be forced out of the region due to economic hardship.  Japan and Russia are nudging closer to war over islands just north of Hokkaido.  And the U.S. has already lost it’s economic advantage in South America.


International, U.S.

World War 3: Japan to send troops to South Sudan

Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa announced that he will send about 200 troops to the new country of South Sudan in 2012. They will take part in UN peacekeeping operations.

Interestingly Ichikawa said the international community has been asking Japan to take on more UN peacekeeping roles, however I’ve not noticed any mention of that in all the international media sources I keep track of.  It’s probably more that the United States, in spreading its own military so thin, is putting pressure on Japan to take on more international military roles (also, payback for all the free U.S. aid in dealing with Japan’s on going nuclear disaster).

Japan’s current constitution does not allow their troops to carry weapons in other countries, but the new right wing government is trying to change that.

Most of the 200 Japanese troops slated to go to South Sudan are engineers.

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: More radiation in Yokohama, this time school lunches!

Shiitake mushrooms used in school lunches have tested positive for 350 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium.  That’s below the government limit of 500 becquerels, but Yokohama school officials are getting rid of them anyway.

Yokohama is about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

At a Ibaraki Prefecture mushroom farm, 830 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium were found on the mushrooms there.  The farm is about 170 km (106 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Earlier in the week mushrooms in Chiba Prefecture were found to be contaminated with cesium, higher then the government safe limits.  Clearly, after almost seven months, radiation is still spreading from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

International, Technology

World War 3: Russia building up military on islands just north of Japan, Japan wants islands

“Buk-M1 surface to air missile systems, modern communications systems and heavy armor, including a battalion of T-80 tanks, have already been delivered to the Kurils. The provision of modern weapons and hardware for the troops in the Kurils will continue.”-Russian Defense Ministry statement

On islands just north of Hokkaido, Russia is modernizing and increasing its military presence.  Recently, the new Japanese government had made several statements about taking the islands back from Russia.

Russia is taking Japan’s threats seriously and has been upgrading weapon systems on the Southern Kuril Islands, as well as increasing troop numbers.

New bases are also being built, which includes family housing.  Russian officials say the buildup was actually ordered by President Dmitry Medvedev back in February.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Japanese fleeing to United States, China and Australia, in the millions

The number of Japanese leaving their country, in one year, has hit a record 1.1 million.  That’s according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, which counted the number of Japanese who’ve officially become permanent residents of foreign countries.

The country of choice for most Japanese expatriates is the United States, with more than 388,000 becoming residents as of the end of 2010.

China is next with about 131,000, and Australia with about 70,800. The top three countries have remained unchanged since 2008.

Within the U.S., Los Angeles is the number one destination followed by New York City.