Japan on Monday approved a fresh $8.9 billion in aid for the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant as the company said it expected to lose a similar amount this year.
The decision means TEPCO stays solvent, but continues to run up costs as it struggles to clean up the mess left behind by reactor meltdowns and meet claims for compensation following the March 11 quake disaster and resulting nuclear crisis.
The 690 billion yen aid package was announced after Tokyo Electric Power revised up its estimate of what it would need …

What if the vice president of your university were a genius producer who had put together an insanely successful pop group of 90 singers and then approved the creation of identical doll versions of them?
Weird? Not for Kyoto University of Art and Design and Yasushi Akimoto, the Steve Jobs of otaku (supergeeks) in Japan. The school just hosted a hit exhibition of dolls based on the gals in the band he produces, AKB48.
At 90 members, AKB48 is the Guinness-certified world’s largest pop band. Its members are all females in their …

Three of Japan’s biggest electronics companies are to join forces in a chip-making venture, according to reports, days after a swathe of dire results from a sector struggling to compete globally.
Panasonic, which earlier said it expected to lose more than $10 billion this year, is set to hook up with Renesas Electronics and Fujitsu as they look for economies of scale in an increasingly difficult marketplace.
The three companies will spin off their system chip design and development divisions to create a new company in an effort to ensure the survival …

Can Japan afford for its legendary electronics companies to lose?  Alarmingly, this unthinkable thought is becoming thinkable.  The real question now is whether such a disaster is inevitable.
In the year ending March 31, 2012 Sony NYSE:SNE is expecting to lose JPY 220 billion USD 2.9 billion  .    This follows losses in the FY 2011 of JPY 260 billion USD 3.2 billion. Panasonic NYSE: PC will lose JPY 780 billion USD  10.3 billion following a loss of JPY 74 billion in the previous year. Sharp SHCAY.PK is expecting to lose JPY …

Southeast Asias largest budget carrier AirAsia Friday said its joint venture entity AirAsia Japan has won approval from Japanese authorities to begin commercial flights.
Malaysias AirAsia and Japans All Nippon Airways last year announced they had formed a joint venture to establish a low-cost airline that will be based in Tokyo.
AirAsia said it expects to launch commercial flights to international and domestic destinations in August.
Read the rest of the story: AirAsia-ANA win approval for budget carrier in Japan.

LOOKING OVERSEAS: Small but growing numbers of Japanese entrepreneurs are jumping into the startup scene in northern California.
FACTORS BEHIND THAT: Some venture capitalists believe last year’s earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear disaster that followed compelled many Japanese to take an increasingly uncertain future into their own hands.
AN EXAMPLE: Naoki Shibata, 30, had an executive-level position at online retailing giant Rakuten Inc. and an assistant professorship at the prestigious University of Tokyo. Last June he launched AppGrooves, an iPhone application discovery tool. He says, “If you want to reach a global market, then …

Japan has accused China of unilaterally exploring gas deposits in the East China Sea, in violation of an agreement to jointly develop disputed areas.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters Wednesday that Japan protested to China after a flare was seen Tuesday at a Chinese structure at an undersea gas deposit. Japan has made similar complaints several times in the past.
“We have detected a flare, a sign that it is highly likely that there is a gas development going on,” Fujimura said. “Any unilateral exploration is unacceptable.”
Read the rest of …

Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi escalated his warnings against strengthening in the yen toward a postwar high, and signaled that the Federal Reserve is partly to blame for its recent advance.
“Speculative moves are increasing in the market and we can’t overlook them,” Azumi told reporters in Tokyo today as the yen heads for its biggest six-day jump since mid-August against the dollar. Against the “backdrop” of the Fed’s plan to keep interest rates exceptionally low until 2014, “short- term speculative buying” has increased, contributing to the yen’s gain, he said …

Given the huge hurdles Facebook has in China where Internet censorship has left it with near zero penetration, the giant tech company is turning instead to markets like India, Japan and South Korea to spur its growth in Asia.
Details scattered throughout its IPO prospectus filed Wednesday show the social networking site intends to grow its user base in India, Japan and South Korea by “continuing marketing and user acquisition efforts and enhancing products including mobile apps in order to make Facebook more accessible.
”Facebook’s penetration rate in India is about 20% …

Japan’s top brokerage Nomura said Wednesday its operations in debt-hit Europe lost 20.94 billion yen ($275 million) in the quarter to December.
Despite global market turbulence, the group still reported an overall quarterly net profit of 17.82 billion yen, up 33 percent from 13.39 billion yen a year earlier.
The improvement was partly due to a one-time gain from the sale of its stake in restaurant chain Skylark Co, Nomura said.
Read the rest of the story: Japan’s Nomura loses $274 million in Europe.