Japan

Japan: Brain dead child's organs save 3 lives

Tokyo: Heart, liver and kidneys of a brain dead child donor under six years of age were successfully transplanted at three hospitals in Japan early Saturday. Surgeons at Osaka University Hospital successfully transplanted on Friday the heart to a girl under age 10, the hospital said, making her the youngest person to receive a heart transplant in Japan. At the National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo, the...  

India, Japan to hold first naval exercise from today

New Delhi: India and Japan will hold their first-ever maritime exercise commencing on Saturday off the coast of Tokyo there. "Two destroyers, one maritime patrol aircraft and a helicopter of the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) will participate in the exercise whereas INS Rana, INS Shivalik, INS Karmukh and fleet tanker INS Shakti will represent India," the Navy said. The four ships entered Tokyo after visiting Singapore, Vietnam, the...  

Porter Prize comes to India, application process begins

New Delhi: Porter Prize, the most coveted awards in the field of strategy and competitiveness, will this year be organised for the first time outside Japan. The event will be held on September 28, 2012, in New Delhi. The objective of the Porter Prize is to recognise the Indian companies at the national as well as the international level in the field of strategy and competitiveness by assessing them on...  

Asia stocks tumble, Tokyo hits 28-yr low

Bangkok: Asia stock markets took a beating on Monday as signs that the US economic recovery might be shifting into reverse sent investors fleeing. A report on US hiring and employment in May pushed stock indexes to their biggest declines of the year on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 275 points, its biggest one-day decline since November. The dismal report came on the heels of earlier data that...  

Japan keen to support Delhi Metro for Phase IV: Nath

Tokyo: The Delhi Metro's expansion plans got a boost with Japan keen to participate in its future projects as well as carry out feasibility study for the capital's mono rail systems and urban transportation. "We met the Japan International cooperation agency (JICA) officials yesterday and talked about participation in metros, also to look if they can do a study for mono rail systems and urban transportation," visiting Urban Development minister...  

World's tallest tower, the Tokyo Skytree, opens

Tokyo: The world's tallest tower and Japan's biggest new landmark, the Tokyo Skytree, opened to the public on Tuesday. Nearly 8,000 visitors were expected to take high-speed elevators up to the observation decks of the 634-meter (2,080-foot) tower to mark its opening. Some reportedly waited in line more than a week to get the coveted tickets for a panoramic view, though on Tuesday ended up being cloudy in Tokyo. Skytree...  

73-year-old Japanese woman climbs Mount Everest

Sydney: A 73-year-old Japanese woman on Saturday broke her own record to again become the oldest woman to scale Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, a media report said. Tamae Watanabe reached Everest's 8,848-metre-high summit from the northern side of the mountain with four other team members, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) quoted Ang Tshering of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association as saying. Watanabe and the other team members were...  

Asian shares steady after sell-off

Tokyo: Asian shares steadied on Thursday from the previous day's sell-off, but investors found no reason to bet on risk amid deepening turmoil in Greece and fears of contagion to other stressed euro zone economies. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1 percent, after sliding more than 3 percent for its biggest one-day drop in six months on Wednesday. The index hit a new 4-month low...  

The Japanese are a brand conscious people: Lupin MD

Kamal K Sharma Designation: Managing Director, Lupin The Challenge: To enter the Japanese market, the world's second largest pharmaceutical market How He Did It: By entering the market with a partner and using them to understand the nuances. Lupin eventually bought the partner out, but made sure no changes were made to its management or operations In Japan, you just can't walk in and do business. It is a market...  

T'puram: Discover Japan Festival from Friday

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of the 60th year of India-Japan diplomatic relations, Discover Japan Festival-2012, a three-day cultural festival and industrial expo, will begin in the city on Friday. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the festival, jointly organised by Japanese Cultural and Information Centre, Alumni Society of AOTS and Terumo Penpol, at 5 pm on Friday at VJT Hall. Chief Secretary K Jayakumar will preside over the function. Masanori Nakano,...  

Japan tornado kills 1, injures dozens

Tokyo: A tornado tore through a city northeast of Japan's capital on Sunday, killing one person, injuring dozens of others and destroying scores of houses. Firefighters and medical teams rushed to the area after the tornado struck Tsukuba city, 60 kilometers (40 miles) from Tokyo. The city is a science centre, with dozens of research and academic institutes, but the tornado appeared to mostly hit residential areas. A 14-year-old boy...  

Japan nuclear power-free as last reactor shuts

Tokyo: Japanese utility Hokkaido Electric Power Co began shutting the country's last active nuclear reactor on Saturday, leaving the world's third-biggest user of atomic energy with no nuclear-derived electricity for the first time since 1970. A crisis at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where an earthquake and tsunami in March last year triggered radiation leaks, has hammered public faith in nuclear power and prevented the restart of reactors...  

'Indo-Japan ties have huge potential'

Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba has said that Japan has engaged in very concrete discussion with India on how the two countries may advance the economic cooperation. Speaking to CNN-IBN's deputy foreign editor Suhasini Haidar on her show World View, the Japanese foreign minister said that the two countries have not been able to capitalise on the huge potential because there has been a cap over it. Here is the...  

India, Japan to increase cooperation in energy sector

New Delhi: In a bid to strengthen the commercial ties between the two countries, India and Japan on Monday agreed to boost cooperation in infrastructure projects in DMIC, railways and energy sectors at their first Economic Dialogue. Besides the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, the two countries also agreed to accelerate cooperation in infrastructure development in the areas along the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. "We discussed the entire gamut of issues in which...  

Japan says no change in its stand on India joining NPT

New Delhi: Notwithstanding India and Japan deciding to move forward with discussions on civil nuclear co-operation, Tokyo on Monday maintained that there was no change in its stand that New Delhi has to join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, though it is not a pre-condition for the atomic deal. "We have reminded India time and again that it has to join the NPT. This message has been repeatedly conveyed to India....  

India, Japan to hold 1st economic dialogue on Monday

New Delhi: India and Japan will hold the first-ever economic dialouge on Monday, a move which reflects increasing trade ties between the two countries which will also be holding series of to deepen the strategic, economic and political ties. While the first India-Japan Ministerial-level Economic Dialogue will focus on giving boost to trade and economic relations, the 6th annual Strategic Dialogue between the two countries are expected to discuss civil...  

Soccer ball lost in tsunami, found after a year

Tokyo: The good thing is that Misaki Murakami's name was on his soccer ball. It was lost in last year's tsunami in Japan but has been found across the Pacific on a remote Alaskan island. Kyodo News agency says the 16-year-old from the devastated town of Rikuzentakata is surprised and thankful that the ball has been found. Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the ball is one...  

Japan to support US nominee to head World Bank

Tokyo: Japan will support Jim Yong Kim, the US nominee for the next World Bank head, Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said on Sunday after meeting the candidate who is in Tokyo on his world tour to seek support for the candidacy. Kim, a Korean-American, will be contesting against two nominees from emerging market countries - Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo -...