Tag Archives: japan

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Respected U.S. Economist says deeper recession coming, Australia no longer safest place to be

“We predicted this (current) downturn in the U.S. 20 years ago.”-Harry S. Dent Jr

September 11, U.S. economist Harry S. Dent Jr is predicting a second, deeper downturn between the beginning and the middle of next year.

Dent says the downturn will start in Europe, spread to the United States, China and eventually Australia.  He says Australia might not be the safest place to be: “Australia is probably the best place in the world to survive this, but we do think Australia will not escape as well as it did from the last crisis (in 2008).”

Dent says there are still ‘bubbles’ that need to burst.  He believes gold and silver prices are overrated, and there are still housing bubbles around the world, like in Australia, Japan and China, that need to burst.  The housing bubble that burst in the U.S. still hasn’t fully deflated.

Dent is in Australia to promote his book, The Great Crash Ahead – How to Prosper in the Debt Crisis of 2010-2012.


Business/Economics, International, Technology

Global Economic War: China accuses Europe & Japan of dumping steel products

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce is investigating claims that Europe and Japan are dumping steel tubes in China.

“Dumping can force established domestic producers out of a market and lead to monopolistic positions by the exporting nation.”-Wikipedia

China will look into the matter of “certain high-performance stainless steel seamless tubes” and calculate the loss suffered by domestic companies.

Fukushima

Sunflowers absorb radiation!

A Kobe, Japan, private-sector group announced the results of their studies on sunflowers in the contaminated areas of Japan.

They grew sunflowers in 4 fields in Minamisoma City, within 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

They found that soil contamination was reduced between 20% and 50%.  Radiation was absorbed by the sunflowers’ roots.  The problem is that the sunflowers are now considered nuclear waste.

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Radiation pouring into Pacific Ocean three times greater than reported! Airborne radiation not monitored!

Researchers at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kyoto University and other institutes say the actual radiation pouring into the Pacific Ocean, from Fukushima Daiichi, is at least three times what Tokyo Electric Power Company is officially reporting.

The researchers say that at least 15,000 terabecquerels (1 terabecquerel = 1.0 × 10+12 becquerels) of radioactive iodine-131 and cesium-137 has entered the ocean!!!  They say TEPCo is not monitoring airborne radiation that falls into the ocean.

 

International

World War 3: Russia declares no fly zone near Japan, sends two bombers around Japan

In less than a day after Japan’s new policy chief Seiji Maehara recommended changes to Japan’s military policies, Russia has declared a no fly zone north of Japan.

The no fly zone could be part of Russia’s planned war games in the Sea of Okhotsk, northeast of Hokkaido.  Japan is asking for details from Russia.

Russian officials are confirming that two of their Tu 95 Bear bombers flew around Japan. But insisted they were over international water.  The Japanese scrambled fighter jets, the Japanese pilots confirmed the Russian bombers were over international water.

These incidents have got the fragile Japanese government on edge.  Russia and Japan are disputing claims over islands north of Hokkaido.

International, U.S.

World War 3: Japan wants to start selling weapons to other countries, let their peacekeepers carry weapons & fight alongside U.S. troops

Currently the Japanese constitution does not allow the sale of Japanese made weapons to other countries.  It does not allow Japanese troops to be used outside Japan, although the government got around this by ordering their troops not to carry weapons on ‘peacekeeping’ missions.

Japan’s new policy chief Seiji Maehara, is recommending changing the constitution to relax criteria for weapons use by Japanese Self-Defense Forces taking part in UN peacekeeping operations.  He says Japanese troops could help the U.S. by being able to actually fight alongside U.S. forces.

Also, Maehara claims that without letting the Japanese military industry sell weapons to other countries, and take part in advanced weapons development with countries like the United States, Japan’s military defenses could become technologically outdated.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: Increase in Japanese Corporate Bankruptcies, they blame the falling U.S. dollar

Corporate bankruptcies in Japan have risen for the second month in a row, they blame the rising value of their yen, which is being pushed up by the falling U.S. dollar.

Credit research firm Teikoku Databank says 969 companies failed in August!

The strong yen is causing a drop in orders and exports, and causing trading losses in currency derivatives.

The research firm warns of a vicious spiral, with more companies shifting production overseas to escape the high yen, in turn cutting even more orders to Japanese firms and putting them at risk of bankruptcy.

International

Tropical Storm Kulap could drench southern Japan in heavy rain, 4 landslide made dams about to burst

The area of Japan that was hardest hit by Typhoon Talas, could get drenched by tropical storm Kulap.

Kulap is expected to move around Japan and hit Korea, but heavy rain is still likely to hit Shikoku and southwestern Honshu.

So far 54 people have been killed by Talas, and four of 12 dams made by landslides are about to burst.  The landslide dams are blocking rivers in hard to reach areas. Officials hope to use specially designed buoys to monitor the water levels of the new lakes.

International, U.S.

World War 3: Japan pushing for relocation of U.S. Marines, still need U.S. help in defense against China

The new Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa, and the new Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, both say they will push for the agreed to moving of USMC units from one part of Okinawa to a new location, also on Okinawa.

People living on Okinawa would like to see the USMC gone altogether, but Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba stressed the importance of the U.S. forces in Japan’s defense plans against China.

U.S. forces are part of a multilayered mechanism to avoid misunderstandings in case of ‘accidental occurrences’ between Japan and China.

International

World War 3: Japan to prepare to take disputed territories, to expand Japan’s security and economy

The new Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, is about to publish his national security policy in a Japanese magazine.  Reportedly this will include plans to control territories that many Japanese believe inherently belong to Japan.

For several months now, Japan and China have had run ins involving disputes over territorial water, and islands.  This includes harassment of fishing boats by both the Japanese and Chinese navies.

There are also incidents concerning islands in the South China Sea, in which China, Japan, Philippines and Vietnam all lay claim to.  The South China Sea has potentially the largest oil reserves in the world (it’s the real reason the U.S. was at war in Vietnam).

Other issues involve the control of islands north of Hokkaido, which were lost to the Soviet Union after the Second World War.  Japan wants them back and Russia says no way.

Prime Minister Noda is basing his plan on the vision of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who wanted to create a Japan led East Asia community in 2009.  The aim of the idea is to create stable economic and security systems across the region.  If anyone knows history, this sounds just like the reasoning of Imperial Japan, the same reasoning that led to Japan attacking the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor in 1941, thus creating the Second World War.