MIYAZAKI (Kyodo)--Five chickens at a second farm in Miyazaki Prefecture were confirmed as infected with highly pathogenic avian flu on Sunday, the prefectural government said, prompting the central government to convene a task force meeting.
The local government is set to cull all of the around 410,000 chickens at the farm, it added. The detailed tests confirmed infection after 20 chickens were found dead at the farm in the town of Shintomi, located about 8.5 kilometers northeast of the farm in the city of Miyazaki where six chickens were confirmed Saturday to be infected with the H5 bird flu strain.
The poultry farm is the third to be hit with bird flu in Japan over the autumn and winter, following a case in Shimane Prefecture in November and the other in Miyazaki that resulted in all the roughly 10,000 chickens being culled Saturday.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries held a task force meeting on Sunday and dispatched Kenko Matsuki, the ministry's parliamentary secretary, to the prefecture to check on the situation, while boosting the number of its officials in the emergency support team for the prefecture.
Meanwhile, a team of experts conducting an epidemiological survey inspected the farms in the town of Shintomi and the city of Miyazaki.
The latest case in the southwestern Japan prefecture, Japan's No. 2 poultry producer after Kagoshima as of 2009, involves a farm that raises about 66,000 chickens for eggs in the same poultry house in which the dead birds were discovered. The farm has a total of around 410,000 chickens in 12 houses.
The prefectural government has asked all farms within a 10-kilometer radius of the affected farm to refrain from moving chickens and eggs while it conducts detailed tests, it said, adding that no problems were found when its officials checked the affected farm Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Hokkaido government said on Sunday that highly virulent avian influenza had also been detected in four wild birds found in the town of Hamanaka. The four birds -- two swans, a duck and a pintail -- had been taken in between Jan. 12 and 19, it added.
The latest finding came a day after the local government said the virus had been detected in a weakened swan found in the town.
Source:The Nikkei Jan. 24,2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The government plans to extend for another year the stays of the first wave of 91 Indonesian nurse candidates working in Japan to give them more time to obtain Japanese certification.
The government will make an official decision soon. If stays are extended, the nurse candidates will be able to reside in Japan through August 2012, letting those who fail next month's national nursing examination take it again in February 2012.
Under economic partnership agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines, Japan has now accepted around 1,100 candidate nurses and caregivers from those nations. Nurses can stay for three years and care workers for four. To work in Japan after that, they each must pass national exams. A mere three candidates have done so to date.
In order to raise the success rate among candidates from both nations, the government will let the Indonesian nurse candidates who came to Japan in August 2008 remain longer. Stays could also be extended for Indonesian caregiver candidates entering Japan in August 2008, as well as for nursing hopefuls from Indonesia and the Philippines who arrived in 2009.
Japanese-language education will also be bolstered from next fiscal year. Most language training takes place in the first six months after arriving on Japanese shores, but instruction will now be given in the six months leading up to departure for Japan. The government plans to send around 25 language teachers to both nations, anticipating as many as 200 students in both Indonesia and the Philippines.
New industrial spy law to shield trade secrets of victimized firms The government plans to ease firms' concerns that filing a criminal complaint over industrial espionage would risk having their corporate secrets revealed during court proceedings, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry will submit a bill to revise the Unfair Competition Prevention Law during the next ordinary session of the Diet, a ministry official said. The revision would help ensure secret information is not publicly disclosed during court hearings for criminal cases of industrial espionage, which in principle are open to the public, the official said.
If the court approves a request by lawyers, during proceedings trade secrets would be referred to as "material A" or "process B," for example, to keep their specifics concealed. This rule would be applied only in cases of alleged infringement of trade secrets, which was established as a criminal offense by a previous revision to the Unfair Competition Prevention Law made in 2003.
A revision in 2006 toughened punitive measures, extending the maximum term of imprisonment for industrial espionage to 10 years and raising the maximum fine to 10 million yen. Punishments were toughened further by a 2009 revision that made it an offense not only to use data acquired via espionage for personal gain, but also to copy such data to disks and other storage devices.
In this nation, a majority of companies that fall victim to industrial espionage do not file criminal complaints, for fear of suffering greater damage if confidential information is revealed in indictments or submitted as evidence. As a result, indictments for alleged infringement of trade secrets have been ordered in only two cases.
The ministry hopes the planned revision to the law will result in more companies lodging criminal complaints over industrial espionage. In South Korea and the United States, the law allows victimized firms to withhold the specifics of confidential data during court hearings. Industrial espionage has been on the rise in recent years, with advances in information technology facilitating the duplication of data.
In a current case, three executives of leading French carmaker Renault are suspected of leaking information on electric vehicle technology the firm developed jointly with Nissan Motor Co.
According to the fiscal 2009 White Paper on Manufacturing Industries, 281 of 1,479 domestic manufacturers, or 19 percent, had suffered leaks of technology information to other firms in the previous five years.
Source:The Yomiuri Shimbun Jan. 19, 2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The government plans to adopt as early as fiscal 2012 energy efficiency standards for industrial motors used in a host of products, including air conditioners, pumps and home appliances.The standards could slash greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 5 million tons a year, or 0.4% of Japan's total emissions. Since Japan must cut carbon dioxide emissions 6% under the Kyoto Protocol, the new rules would have a sizeable impact.
The U.S. and Europe hold the edge for adopting energy efficiency standards, such as mandating mileage targets for cars. In light of this, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is racing to cobble together specific measures, such as setting goals for each motor type and timelines for reaching targets.
Since motor uses and types vary widely, the government plans to first apply the standards to manufacturers whose production and shipments exceed certain thresholds. Companies not in compliance would be penalized.
An estimated 1 trillion yen or so will be spent overall to implement the new standards. A backlash is likely, not only from motor makers that will shoulder the costs, but also from the entire manufacturing sector, which is loathe to pass on higher prices to customers. Because motors are used in a wide spectrum of products, retail prices for cars, home appliances and other items will likely be jacked up.
METI on Monday will plead its case for adding motors to a list of products that must meet high energy efficiency standards to the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy. A working committee of experts will decide on the specifics by January 2012.
Source:The Nikkei Jan. 24,2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The Agriculture Ministry will by March draft a long-term growth strategy centering on enabling Japanese food processing companies to nearly double their sales elsewhere in Asia to around 2 trillion yen by 2020, ministry sources said Saturday.
The ministry will help the nation's food industry achieve the goal by publicizing Japanese foodmakers' high sanitary standards and cutting-edge production technology.
The strategy will be mapped out by an advisory panel made up of academics and other industry experts.
The ministry wants to create a more favorable business and investment environment in the rest of Asia for Japanese foodmakers, calling for governments outside Japan to eliminate non-tariff barriers and bring their commercial practices and intellectual property protection more in line with global standards.
Middle- and high-income earners numbered 940 million in non-Japanese Asia in 2008, but the number is projected to more than double to 1.9 billion in 2020, according to the farm ministry.
Japanese foodmakers posted a combined 1.2 trillion yen in Asian sales in 2008, but demand for high-quality Japanese food products is expected to grow sharply as the population of high-income earners in the region increases. In contrast, domestic demand is expected to stay weak in the years to come, due to Japan's shrinking population.
Source:The Nikkei Jan. 23,2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The number of companies listed on Japan's five stock exchanges came to 3,646 at the end of 2010, 93 fewer than a year earlier for a third straight annual decline. This contrasts with the swelling ranks of companies listed on bourses in China and other emerging nations continuing to benefit from brisk economic growth.
The drop in listed firms on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and other Japanese bourses was partly the result of parent companies transforming listed units into wholly owned ones. Since peaking at 3,942 firms in 2007, the number of companies listed on Japanese bourses has experienced a net decline of 296 firms.
A total of 128 companies exited the stock market in 2010, of which 54 were subsidiaries delisted by their parent firms. Hitachi Ltd. turned five units, including Hitachi Maxell Ltd., into wholly owned companies through such methods as tender offers.
Meanwhile, Sankyo Rikagaku Co. and fourteen other firms went private, with management buyouts among the methods employed. Maintenance costs for listed firms have risen owing to the rollout of a disclosure system for internal oversight, spurring some firms to leave the exchanges.
Seven firms delisted after they filed for bankruptcy protection, including Japan Airlines Corp. and Takefuji Corp. This represents a sharp decline from the 23 firms that went under and delisted in 2009, a time when the markets were still reeling from the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
Initial public offerings, however, have also slowed. Excluding listings by 13 firms such as JX Holdings Inc. that resulted from corporate reorganizations, the number effectively stood at 22.
Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. was among the most high-profile IPOs of 2010.
On the other hand, companies that made a home for themselves on Chinese and Indian exchanges increased in 2010. According to the World Federation of Exchanges, firms on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange rose by 339 in just one year to 1,169 at the end of last year. The Shanghai Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange increased their numbers by a respective 24 and 79 firms.
Source:The Nikkei Jan. 20, 2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Sony Corp., Canon Inc. and other Japanese electronics firms are aiming to expand their medical equipment businesses by offering cutting-edge products that take advantage of their advanced technologies.
Sony created a medical-solution business section as of Jan. 1 with the goal of boosting sales of its CCD (charge-coupled device) cameras, image monitors and other medical-use products. The company plans to develop an endoscopic camera that utilizes a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) image sensor to deliver better image resolutions than the conventional endoscopic cameras based on CCDs. In addition to supplying CMOS cameras to endoscope makers, Sony aims to develop CMOS-based endoscopes by teaming up with other medical equipment manufacturers.
Sony also plans to launch medical-use OEL (organic electroluminescent) monitors to offer sharper images than LCD monitors. Canon is developing an optical ultrasound diagnostic device for early cancer detection. The ultrasound readings from the lasers emitted by the machine will be used to find cancers in early stages, while placing less of a burden on patients' bodies than X-ray machines. The company aims to commercialize the device as a mammography machine by 2015.
Canon has been making X-ray machines and fundoscopy devices by making use of its sensor and image-processing technologies. The company aims to turn medical equipment into one of its business pillars, with a goal of tripling sales of such equipment to 100 billion yen by 2015.
Meanwhile, Panasonic Corp. and Toshiba Corp. are considering utilizing their 3-D imaging technologies in surgery simulation and image diagnosis. Among electronic parts makers, Murata Mfg.Co. plans to sell as early as this year a compact sensor that monitors heartbeat, blood oxygen levels and other vital signs for use in mobile phones and pedometers.
Rohm Co. joined hands with Ushio Inc. and others to release a blood testing system that utilizes semiconductor technology in 2008. The global medical equipment market is forecast to grow to be worth around 40 trillion yen by 2020, up from roughly 20 trillion yen in 2009. Aside from the strong growth potential, medical equipment offers more stable earnings than the consumer electronics market.
Source:The Nikkei Jan. 18,2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Marubeni Corp. said Monday that it will join forces with the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, or Zen-Noh, to collect and market rice. Japan produces around 8 million tons of rice a year, of which Zen-Noh collects some 3 million tons. But since the federation has only weak marketing capabilities, sales of rice processed at its mills and offered under its own brand come to just 800,000 tons.
By exploiting the sales might of Marubeni, which owns stakes in retailers like Daiei Inc., Zen-Noh aims to increase rice mill utilization rates and grow sales. The duo now handles more than 900,000 tons of rice domestically but plans to raise this by 60% to 1.5 million tons in three years.
Zen-Noh does ship rice to Asia, but only in negligible amounts. It could use Marubeni's foreign sales network going forward to export to China, Europe and Singapore, which are consumers of Japanese rice.
"Japanese rice is a product that is also competitive overseas," Marubeni Managing Executive Officer Daisuke Okada told reporters Monday. "Amid ongoing talk about participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, we'll expand our sales channels via exports to strengthen Japan's agricultural production base."
Source:The Nikkei Jan. 17,2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--A number of power companies plan to introduce new pumped-storage hydroelectric plants that enable them to fine-tune their power output and consumption. Demand for such plants is rising at home and abroad, with the global market expected to be worth 20-50 billion yen annually. That is creating big opportunities for Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and other manufacturers.
In pumped-storage hydroelectricity systems, waterways are built between reservoirs at different elevations. Electricity is generated when water stored at a higher elevation flows to the lower elevation, spinning a turbine. The water is then pumped back up to the upper reservoir, often at night, using excess electricity from nuclear or other power plants. The electricity generated from the hydropower plant is used to meet peak demand during the daytime.
Chipping in
Conventional pumped-storage hydroelectric plants cannot change the speed at which water is pumped but new, variable-speed pumps can. This lets the utility vary its power consumption and generation according to need.
Kansai Electric Power Co. plans to convert two of its 320,000kw pumped-storage hydroelectric plants to variable-speed plants, one in fiscal 2013 and the other in fiscal 2014. The company hopes to fine-tune its power generation, as growing use of wind power will make supplementary power more important in the future. The company also aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by replacing thermal power plants with hydroelectric ones. Chubu Electric Power Co. is also considering upgrading a facility in Gifu Prefecture.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to build more variable speed hydroelectric plants in fiscal 2020 or afterward, believing that with solar power generation expected to rise by roughly 300% over the period, it will need more power sources to meet daytime demand. Kyushu Electric Power Co. and Hokkaido Electric Power Co. are also building new hydropower plants.
To cut CO2 emissions, the government aims to encourage power generation from alternative sources including wind and solar power, by purchasing electricity from renewable sources at higher prices.
But the availability of that power varies according to the weather. Demand for variable-speed water pumps is rising as one solution to the problem. Plans to adopt advanced pumped-storage hydroelectric plants are also moving ahead overseas. A number of projects are under way in the U.S. state of California, as well as in European countries such as Switzerland and Portugal.
Source:The Nikkei Jan. 20, 2011
Tomy Teams With S Korean Toymaker In Animation
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Tomy Co. (7867) is partnering with South Korean toy giant Sonokong Co. to develop animated works in a bid to boost toy sales overseas.
As the first phase of the partnership, the two will create an animated television series targeting girls. "Pretty Rhythm" will be broadcast in Japan from April and in South Korea starting this summer.
Accompanying the broadcasts, some 40 toys based on characters that appear in the series will be marketed in both countries. Tomy expects sales of 5.5 billion yen in the year ending March 2012.
The Shiroyama pumped-storage hydroelectric power station in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture acts as a "battery," contributing to metropolitan Tokyo's electricity supply.
Pretty Rhythm" will be broadcast in Japan from April and in South Korea starting this summer.
Production costs are expected to total 700-800 million yen. In all, Tomy and Sonokong plan to produce five animated works over five years.
South Korea's toy segment is estimated at 200 billion yen, second in Asia only to Japan's 650 billion yen market. However, to foster the growth of domestic animation, South Korea restricts the number of foreign animated works that can be broadcast. Working with a local firm is expected to help Tomy get around those restrictions.
By tapping into the South Korean market, Tomy aims to increase its overseas sales ratio from 17% last fiscal year to 25% for the year ending in March 2013.
Source:The Nikkei Jan. 19, 2011
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Marubeni Corp. (8002) plans to enter the business of increasing the purity of lithium extracted from salt lakes and mines in response to robust demand projections for lithium ion batteries for electric cars, The Nikkei learned Wednesday.
The trading house will join forces with Honjo Chemical Corp. to build a processing plant, with the facility to come onstream around September. To be located on the grounds of Honjo's main factory in Osaka Prefecture, the total cost for the new plant is estimated at just under 1 billion yen.
The facility will remove impurities from lithium shipped from South America and elsewhere, and it will deliver high-purity lithium carbonate to electrolyte manufacturers. Nippon Chemical Industrial Co. (4092) and a Chinese company based in Chengdu are said to be the only two companies that handle such operations on a large scale due to the technological expertise required.
Marubeni and Honjo plan to set up a 70-30 joint venture to operate the new plant as early as next month, with the chemical firm to take the majority stake. The new facility is to produce 100-200 tons of high-purity lithium carbonate the first year, with output to reach 600 tons around 2015 as production swings into full gear.
Honjo generates almost 10 billion yen in annual sales, mainly by supplying lithium-related materials.
It has experience in processing small amounts of high-purity lithium carbonate. Partnering with Marubeni is expected to lead to stable supplies of lithium and to open up sales channels for its products.
Source:The Nikkei Jan. 20, 2011
The Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
Source : http://www.depthai.go.th