Panasonic says no plan to invest in Olympus
News On Japan via Reuters -- Jun 10

Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp has no plan to invest in Olympus Corp , President Fumio Ohtsubo told Reuters on Thursday, contradicting a media report it would invest in the medical equipment maker Olympus, which is struggling to recover from an accounting scandal.

Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday that Panasonic was making final arrangements to provide up to 50 billion yen ($630 million) in capital to Olympus.

"I don't know where that information came from, not from us," Ohtsubo said on the sidelines of a meeting of the Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association. "There isn't any," he said when asked if Panasonic had a plan to invest in Olympus.

Olympus last year admitted it used improper accounting to conceal huge investment losses under a scheme that began in the 1990s, after sacked British CEO Michael Woodford raised concerns in October about dubious book-keeping.

Source: Reuters



May 19 Japan's child kidnapping problem
Dozens of American children are abducted to Japan every year-not by strangers, but by parents after messy divorces. (thedailybeast.com )
May 18 5-year-old boy's hand gets caught in shopping mall escalator
A 5-year-old boy sustained an injury at a shopping mall in Nagoya on Friday after his hand became trapped in an escalator. (Japan Today )
May 18 Woman stabbed by stalker despite asking police for help
A 24-year-old woman was in a serious condition Friday after being stabbed by a man whom she reported to police for stalking her in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. (Japan Today )
May 18 70-year-old woman rescued from toilet after 3-day ordeal
A 70-year-old woman has been rescued from a toilet in which she had been waiting for help for three days, Hiroshima police said Friday. (Japan Today )
May 18 Traditional dance performed at Nikko temple
A traditional dance was performed on Friday at an ancient temple in Nikko City, northeast of Tokyo. (NHK )
May 18 China cracks down on over-the-top anti-Japan dramas
China's television regulator has ordered a crackdown on dramas about the country's battles with Japan during and before World War Two and demanded they be more serious, state media said on Friday, following viewer complaints about ludicrous storylines. (Reuters )
May 17 Bear shot dead after entering school in Ishikawa
A bear was shot dead after it wandered into a school in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday. (Japan Today )
May 17 Man kills 3 family members, then himself
Police said Friday they have found four dead bodies in an apartment in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in what is believed to have been a family murder-suicide. (Japan Today )
May 17 Chinese tourists a bane for Japanese hookers
Shukan Post (May 24) conveys the difficulties experienced by other parts of the adult-entertainment biz in servicing customers from the communist nation. A deri heru (“delivery health”) call-girl tells the tabloid that she is often requested to arrive at major hotels in the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro entertainment areas of Tokyo by Chinese visitors. (Tokyo Reporter)
May 17 6 dead in freighter fire at Wakkanai
Six sailors were found dead after a fire on a foreign freighter docked at a port in Hokkaido, northern Japan. The sailors are presumed to be Russians. (NHK )