China boosting investment in Japan, holds shares worth Y1.5 tril

Saturday 08th January, 06:26 AM JST

TOKYO —

Two investment funds backed by the Chinese government are accelerating their purchases of stakes in major Japanese listed firms, with their total market value surging 10-fold to 1.5 trillion yen in less than two years, a recent study showed.

The two funds were major shareholders of a combined 86 firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s First Section as of last September, compared with 35 firms as of March 2010 and 13 firms as of March 2009, according to the study by Chibagin Asset Management Co based in Tokyo.

Their combined market capitalization last September came to 1,515.7 billion yen, in stark contrast to 624.2 billion yen as of March 2010 and 155.6 billion yen as of March 2009.

Chibagin Asset Management predicts the value could reach 3 trillion yen by the end of March 2011.

‘‘I assume the funds are buying Japanese stocks considering them low-risk assets in managing an increasing amount of foreign currencies,’’ Fujio Ando, an adviser at the asset management firm, said.

‘‘I doubt they will move to launch an aggressive bid to obtain controlling stakes (in Japanese firms) anytime soon, but I don’t know the future,’’ he said.

The funds, which are both based in Australia, have made a series of investments in Japanese companies in various sectors including finance, electronics, telecommunications, trading houses, and utilities, according to the study on the financial reports of 550 major listed firms.

As of last September, one or other of the funds was the third-largest shareholder in such big Japanese firms as Mizuho Financial Group Inc and NEC Corp, the fourth-largest in Nomura Holdings Inc, and the fifth-largest in Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

Tokyo refuses local authorities permit to land on Senkaku Islands

Saturday 08th January, 07:23 AM JST

TOKYO —

The central government turned down Friday a request by the city government of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, for permission to land on the Senkaku Islands disputed by China which are under the city’s jurisdiction and partly privately owned but rented to Tokyo.

The request was filed in October after September’s maritime collisions between Japanese and Chinese vessels, which strained bilateral ties, by Ishigaki Mayor Yoshitaka Nakayama and some city assembly members with the internal affairs ministry.

The local authorities said they planned to research nature and the ecosystem on the uninhibited isles in the East China Sea, but the ministry said they took into consideration that the landowner on the island did not want outsiders from the central government landing there.

The ministry also said in conveying its stance to the city office the government has rented the islands for ‘‘peaceful and stable management and control.’‘

‘‘Should anyone land by force, we will deal with the case under domestic law,’’ a ministry official said.

After leasing the nonpublic parts on the islands from the private owner, the central government has restricted landings on the islets.

2 Japanese policemen in Philippines admonished over bogus reimbursement claims

Saturday 08th January, 07:29 AM JST

TOKYO —

The Japan International Cooperation Agency has reprimanded two Japanese police officers assisting the Philippine National Police for fraudulent reimbursement claims for personal wining and dining expenses, Japanese police authorities said Friday.

The state-run JICA issued the reprimand last month on a 44-year-old senior superintendent at the National Police Agency, who worked as a manager for Japan’s cooperation with the PNP, and a 50-year-old inspector at the Kyoto prefectural police.

The NPA had the senior superintendent return home last month and reprimanded by the NPA chief, instead of a stricter punishment, as the amount of money involved was small, while the Kyoto police admonished the inspector Thursday and will have him return home next week.

They were the first police officers punished by the JICA since Japanese police authorities started sending officers to the Philippines in 1980 to offer technical assistance for investigation, according to the JICA, which implements projects overseas with Japan’s official development aid.

The Japanese police authorities said the two police officers used dozens of receipts they received through private eating and drinking with fellow Japanese police officers from last July through September to fraudulently charge about 10,000 pesos (about 20,000 yen) by alleging that the expenses were spent in meetings with the Philippine police.

The fraud was found in JICA’s in-house investigation last October before the actual reimbursements were made.

Kan says he intends to stay in power for long time

Saturday 08th January, 07:12 AM JST

TOKYO —

Prime Minister Naoto Kan expressed resolve Friday to remain in power as long as possible, despite a recent plunge in his popularity. Kan said during a live Internet program that a self-made politician such as himself will not give up his job easily like his predecessors.

‘‘Now I’ve come to understand somehow why past prime ministers decided to resign,’’ Kan said after a long pause, when asked about what he has learned after being in office since June.

‘‘You try hard but you start feeling people don’t recognize that. You find yourself not communicating many of your thoughts to others and feel down, thinking you can’t go on any longer,’’ Kan said.

‘‘But I won’t quit even if I feel down. I’ll go all the way as I could say I’m a bit of a political anomaly,’’ he said, making reference to being Japan’s first leader in years not born into a blue-blood political family.

Kan also said that he will continue to serve as prime minister until he opens ‘‘new horizons’’ in fiscal reconstruction, social security and diplomacy.

Kan, the fifth prime minister since 2006, made the remarks at a time when he is struggling with falling approval ratings for his cabinet.

He appeared on a live Internet program for the first time as a Japanese prime minister.

During the program on videonews.com, which lasted for more than an hour, Kan also said that he will review some of his Democratic Party of Japan’s key policy pledges for the House of Representatives election in August 2009, partly because of fiscal constraints.

‘‘One and a half years have passed since the change of government. So at least by the halfway mark of two years (in September 2011) I want to do that,’’ he said.

Sony aims by 2012 to take second-largest slice of tablet market, behind iPad

Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011

Jumps right out: A Sony Corp. 3-D HDTV screen is seen through a pair of 3-D glasses at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday. AP PHOTO

LAS VEGAS (Kyodo) Sony Corp. is aiming high with its tablet computer under development, eyeing the second-largest share of the global market after Apple Inc.'s iPad by 2012, a company executive said Thursday.

"Although it's certain that the iPad is the king, the point is who will take second spot?" Kunimasa Suzuki, a Sony executive, told reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Sony has been working on the specifications of its tablet, including options such as adopting Google Inc.'s Android operating system and enabling the device to link with smart phones. A release date for the tablet has yet to be set. Suzuki said it is easier to have smart phones serve as a basis for its planned tablet.

"We need to have an integrated product strategy with Sony Ericsson," he said, referring to the group's mobile phone maker, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB.

Gasoline price at six-month high

Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011

Kyodo News

The average price of regular gasoline rose to ¥134.90 per liter as of Wednesday, the most it's been since touching ¥135.00 on July 20, the Oil Information Center said Friday.

The price at the pump was up ¥1.20 from the previous survey Dec. 20, marking the fifth consecutive weekly increase excluding the New Year's holidays, it said.

Attributing the rise to the global uptrend in crude oil markets, a center official said they expect gasoline prices to continue to advance slightly, tracing the rise of crude oil prices.

Forty-four prefectures saw an increase, with Nara marking the biggest rise at ¥3.20, followed by Toyama at ¥2.80 and Akita at ¥2.40.

Prices were down in Kochi and Okinawa prefectures, both by ¥0.10, and remained flat in Kagawa Prefecture.

The average price at the pump of high-octane gasoline stood at ¥145.60, up ¥1.20, while diesel rose to ¥115.50, an increase of ¥1.40.

Man cleared of exposing himself at public bath

Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011

KANAZAWA, Ishikawa Pref. (Kyodo) A 34-year-old man indicted for exposing himself outside the women's section of a public bathhouse in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, in 2009 was cleared Friday of public indecency after a court found his act wasn't intentional.

The Kanazawa District Court said the man from Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, "probably fell asleep on a sofa set up near the ladies' bath. There is reasonable doubt that he exhibited his lower body with intent to offend women."

The man, whose name was not released, was wearing a garment provided by the bathhouse, but his lower half was barely covered as he slept on the sofa.

Following the Nov. 3, 2009, incident, some women complained to police that they were offended by his act. He was eventually indicted for public indecency.

"I'm relieved. I was confident of my innocence, but worried until I heard the ruling," the man said.