Free Republic

More than 70 years ago, Toyota entered the auto business based on a simple, but powerful, principle: that Toyota would build the highest-quality, safest and most reliable automobiles in the world. The company has always put the needs of our customers first and made the constant improvement of our vehicles a top priority. That is why 80 percent of all Toyotas sold in the United States over the past 20 years are still on the road today. When consumers purchase a Toyota, they are not simply purchasing a car, truck or van. They are placing their trust in our company....

SYDNEY (AFP) – Anti-whaling activists said Tuesday they had exchanged water cannon fire with Japanese fishermen after ambushing them in Antarctic waters. The Sea Shepherd group, which has been pursuing the fishing fleet since December, said its Steve Irwin ship waited behind an iceberg before surprising Japan's Nisshin Maru whaling boat. "As the Steve Irwin passed by the Nisshin Maru, the factory ship turned on their water cannons and were surprised when the Steve Irwin responded with a more powerful water cannon that had a couple of the whalers diving for the bridge doors as the frigid water struck their...

China, S.Korea Flex Naval Muscle as U.S. Wanes China and South Korea are expanding their submarine fleets as the U.S. Navy shrinks its own. The conservative Heritage Foundation in a report last Tuesday said that by 2025 the number of U.S. submarines in the Pacific Ocean will fall from 30 to 27 while China will have 78 submarines and South Korea 26. Mackenzie Eaglen and Jon Rodeback, who prepared the report titled "Submarine Arms Race in the Pacific" among a flurry of such papers issuing from the think tank, said the military strength of the U.S. and Russia is waning...

Toyota Dealers Pull ABC TV Ads; Anger Over 'Excessive Stories' 'Punishment for Reporting' as Southeast Dealers Shift Commercial Money to Non-ABC Stations By JOSEPH RHEE and MARK SCHONE Feb. 8, 2010 Toyota dealers in five southeast states have pulled their commercials off ABC TV local affiliates, complaining about the coverage of Toyota safety problems by ABC News and its chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross. Executives decide whether to recall the Prius over software glitch.The ad agency representing the 173 dealers told ABC affiliates last week that the shift was due to "excessive stories on the Toyota issues." The dealers shifted...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese bank lending logged its biggest annual fall in more than four years in January as companies faced with overcapacity and a murky economic outlook steered clear of borrowing for capital investment purposes. The softness in domestic demand could also be seen in Japan's current account surplus, which surged more than fivefold in the year to December thanks to a recovery in exports. While that bodes well for the outlook for an export-led recovery, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Hirohide Yamaguchi said the economy could linger in the doldrums until around the summer before getting back on...

Dead man found in landing gear of US jet in Japan (AFP) – 2 hours ago TOKYO — Japanese authorities have found the body of a man in the landing gear of a Delta airliner that arrived in Tokyo from New York and said Monday they were seeking US help in identifying him. The man, who was of dark complexion and dressed only in blue jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, was carrying no passport or personal belongings.

Toyota Expected To Announce Second Recall In Two Weeks - On New Prius Toyota is set to suffer a further blow to its reputation by announcing a recall of the latest model of its Prius hybrid car. By Jonathan Russell 07 Feb 2010 Toyota is expected to announce a recall of the latest model of its Prius car The company is expected to announce this week how it will be dealing with a new braking problem on the Prius. Reports over the weekend suggested the company would announce a recall of around 3,500 vehicles in the UK with many times...

Sarah Palin's knock 'em out of the ballpark Nashville Address last night is already causing major tidal waves on thie other side of the Pacific Ocean.In her Tea Party address, Gov. Palin took the Obama Administration to serious task over plummeting US-Japan relations. She specifically mentioned that Japan is the KEY AMERICAN ALLY IN THE PACIFIC and clearly crossed swords with Barack Obama over his treatment of this critical bilateral tie.Anyone who knows the Japanese media will know that when Japan is specifically talked about by name and particularly by a major US leader, ears perk up and the...

ANOTHER collision has occurred between a Japanese whaling vessel and an anti-whaling Sea Shepherd vessel, this time its latest to enter the fray the Bob Barker. The anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said at 12.09pm today the Yushin Maru 3 intentionally rammed the Bob Barker penetrating its hull and endangering the lives of its crew. No-one was injured. The collision follows a collision between the space age carbon fibre trimaran Ady Gil and the Japanese whaling ship Shonan Maru 2 on January 6.

SYDNEY – The anti-whaling ship the Bob Barker and a Japanese harpoon boat collided in the icy waters off Antarctica on Saturday — the second major clash this year in the increasingly aggressive confrontations between the two sides. No one was reportedly injured in the latest strike. The U.S.-based activist group Sea Shepherd, which sends vessels to confront the Japanese fleet each year, said a small hole was torn in the hull of its ship, but it was above the water line and the vessel was not in danger of sinking.

Honda Recalls Thousands Of Cars Amid Fire Fears Honda has become the latest car manufacturer to recall thousands of vehicles amid fears that one of its models could catch fire. By David Millward 05 Feb 2010 Despite no complaints in Britain, Honda is contacting all drivers as a precaution. The Japanese motor company has recalled 171,372 of its Jazz models in Britain, as part of a larger worldwide recall, after several accidents including one in which a South African child died. Honda's recall comes after Toyota called in at least 180,000 cars amid concerns over faulty accelerator pedals and means...

Commerce: Now that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has served notice he's "not finished" with Toyota, how keen will other foreigners be to invest and create jobs here? This political show could cost us. The grandstanding against Toyota over a safety issue hasn't been limited to LaHood. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman also got out front the cameras to announce congressional hearings. And United Auto Workers, a big supplier of labor to General Motors and Chrysler, was out demonstrating. Everyone, it seems, is piling on Toyota over a fairly rare safety issue. But think twice about carrying the...

Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) massive safety recall comes as no surprise to Dimitrios Biller, a former company attorney fighting a lawsuit against the world's No. 1 automaker alleging Toyota has concealed evidence from courts and the U.S. government.

TOYOTA has offered a 'heartfelt apology" to customers over concerns about its accelerators and brakes and has assured the public that its cars are safe. The company is in a "moment of crisis" over the recall of eight million cars, the president of the world's largest car maker said last night, finally addressing a widely condemned refusal to break his silence on the issue. The company also admitted that it knew as long ago as last summer that its accelerator pedals were defective and had begun ordering their replacement five months before telling the public that the components represented a...

<p>NAGOYA, Japan—Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., broke his public silence Friday on the safety crisis battering his company, offering a "heartfelt apology" to customers, but offering little new on what steps the auto maker will take to resolve the doubts of car owners and lawmakers in the U.S.</p>

TOKYO – Toyota's president apologized Friday for the massive global recalls over sticking gas pedals as the automaker scrambles to repair a damaged reputation and sliding sales. But Akio Toyoda, appointed to the top job at Toyota Motor Corp. last June, said the company is still deciding what steps to take to fix brake problems in the popular Prius gas-electric hybrid. Speaking at a hastily announced news conference that lasted an hour, a stern-looking Toyoda promised to beef up quality control. "We are facing a crisis," he said, publicly confronting the automaker's safety problems for the first time since the...

Nikkei Falls Over 3% To 7-Week Low Thu Feb 4, 2010 8:38pm EST TOKYO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average fell more than 3 percent to hit its lowest in seven weeks on Friday, with exporters hurt by a stronger yen, while escalating sovereign debt problems in Europe dented investor confidence in riskier assets including equities. The benchmark Nikkei .N225 slid 3.1 percent to 10,039.66, after falling as low as 10,036.33, its lowest since Dec. 18. The broader Topix declined 2.4 percent to 888.94.[snip](The Nikkei 225 is down 2.58% as I post. See here.)

BEIJING --Asian stocks tumbled Friday after Wall Street dropped overnight on worries the global recovery is weaker than many expected. Major markets from Tokyo to Hong Kong to Sydney dropped about 3 percent or more after U.S. stocks fell on bad news about American unemployment levels and European debt. Oil prices slipped to near $73 a barrel, adding to a big slide overnight, while the dollar continued to gain against the euro, which was at its lowest since May.

A friend of mine once had a Toyota that wouldn't die. The odometer had only a dim recollection of passing 100,000 miles, the body was dinged and the paint was faded and the interior was worn, but the thing just kept running. He finally parked it at the airport, removed the plates and walked away. But that was more than 20 years ago, long before Toyota became the world's biggest car manufacturer. Now the gas pedal doesn't work right on some of the company's models and the brakes don't work right on others. A brand name that once meant "indestructible"...

America Rides Off into the SunsetThe only people excited about the “change” in America's foreign policy are the world’s bad actors.  Thousands in Tokyo have been echoing Barack Obama’s signature call for “change� — as in “Change Japanese-U.S. relations!� Our military is rushing anti-missile batteries to Iran’s Arab neighbors in anticipation of new Iranian military escalation. As in the case of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, the U.S. both gives the most aid to a devastated Haiti and still seems to receive the most criticism. China has just warned us not to supply more armaments to Taiwan. Our Predator drones continue...

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Wednesday said he wants to talk directly with Toyota Motor Corp Chief Executive Akio Toyoda about the safety concerns involving Toyota cars and the company's handling of those issues. "This is very serious," Mr. LaHood said at a breakfast with reporters in Washington. "After I talk with him, they'll get it. We're going to keep the pressure on." Mr. LaHood also defended the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's handling of invesitgations into reports of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles. The NHTSA "stepped up here," he said. Some safety advocates have questioned why NHTSA didn't...

WASHINGTON -- Toyota has hit another pothole. The company has gotten over 100 complaints in the US and Japan about brake problems involving it popular Prius hybrid, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. Two involved crashes resulting in injuries. Japan's transport ministry ordered an investigation early today. The complaints are the latest in a spate of quality troubles for the auto maker as it grapples with massive global recalls due to sticking accellerators. The Prius is not part of that recall of nearly 4.5 million vehicles.

Toyota is the latest Japanese corporate icon making headlines for all the wrong reasons. News of the automaker's massive vehicle recalls over faulty gas pedals in the U.S. came just days after Japan Airlines, a once proud flag carrier, filed for bankruptcy, saddled with billions in debt. Sony has lost its lead in consumer gadgets to the likes of Apple Inc. and has suffered its own quality mishaps. Honda, Japan's No. 2 automaker, is recalling 646,000 cars worldwide because of a faulty window switch. Taken together, Japan Inc.'s stellar reputation for quality has taken a hit — just as China...

Thousands of protesters from across Japan marched today in Tokyo to protest against U.S. military presence on Okinawa, while a Cabinet minister said she would fight to get rid of a marine base Washington considers crucial. Some 47,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, with more than half on the southern island of Okinawa. Residents have complained for years about noise, pollution and crime around the bases. Japan and the U.S. signed a pact in 2006 that called for the realignment of American troops in the country and for a Marine base on the island to be moved to a...

TOKYO – Thousands of protesters from across Japan marched Saturday in central Tokyo to protest the U.S. military presence on Okinawa, while a Cabinet minister said she would fight to move a Marine base Washington considers crucial out of the country. Some 47,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, with more than half on the southern island of Okinawa. Residents have complained for years about noise, pollution and crime around the bases. Japan and the U.S. signed a pact in 2006 that called for the realignment of American troops in the country and for a Marine base on the island...

The consumer advocacy group, Consumer Reports, has announced that it will be removing its recommendation to purchase the eight Toyota models named in the latest 2.3 million vehicle U.S. recall. The move marks the first time that Consumer Reports has removed several models at the same time from the recommended list. Due to the serious nature of the recall, and the fact that Toyota has still not identified a sure fix for the recalled vehicles, CR says it has reversed its decision to recommend the eight Toyota models named in the recall. “This is an unprecedented event, ” said David...

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — A piece of a Navy jet fell off in midflight Thursday afternoon, breaking a window at a residential home but causing no injuries. The F/A-18E Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 27 lost a pump service handle at 2:15 p.m. while flying just northwest of Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Ayase City, base spokesman Tim McGough said Friday. The handle was about 22 inches long and an inch in diameter, McGough said. The Japanese government’s South Kanto Defense Bureau and base officials assessed the damage last night but hadn’t yet released any monetary damage figures...

WASHINGTON – Toyota Motor Co. said Tuesday it was suspending U.S. sales of eight recalled vehicle models to fix accelerator pedals that stick, the latest quality problem to confront the world's No. 1 automaker. As part of the plan, Toyota said it was halting production at five manufacturing facilities for the week of Feb. 1 "to assess and coordinate activities." There are 2.3 million vehicles involved in the recall, which was announced last week.

Toyota just announced it will stop selling the eight models included in its recent 2.3 million vehicle recall over a sticking accelerator pedal. A Toyota spokesman said, "This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized. We're making every effort to address this situation for our customers as quickly as possible." The company says it will also stop production of the same vehicles starting Feb. 1. The delay is likely due to the complications of leaving vehicles unfinished on the line for an extended period of time. This is dramatic action, amid public outcry, because it includes two of the...

Asian stock markets fell for a fifth day Tuesday as China's lending curbs and slower growth in South Korea added to worries the global recovery will sputter once stimulus spending fades. Major benchmarks were down about 1.5 percent or more while oil slid below $75 a barrel. The dollar rose against the euro and fell versus the yen

Toyota says it knew there were problems with accelerator-pedal assemblies from supplier CTS late last year, but not enough to warrant a recall. The automaker says it hurriedly announced last Thursday a planned recall of 2.3 million Toyotas, back to 2005 models, because the defect trend had picked up. "The quickness that this all came together is one reason why I don't have numbers" of complaints, the automaker's U.S. safety spokesman, John Hanson, says. "And why we don't have a fix." CTS also supplies throttle assemblies to Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi. Those companies say their designs are different and pose...

TOKYO, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Central Japan Railway Co (JR Tokai) will join rivals in competing to develop a high-speed railway line in the U.S. state of Florida, as the former state-owned firm looks to sell its super-fast train systems overseas. A consulting firm hired by the company said a railway line connecting Tampa, Orlando and Miami in Florida was one of the most promising targets for its Shinkansen bullet trains as the route would be exclusively used by high-speed trains. "I expect competition for the contract to be fierce in Florida. We will be the last to join the...

Why A Hyperinflationary Fiasco Is Brewing In Japan Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Jan. 12, 2010, 11:39 AM I have felt rather lonely after suggesting in my New Year Predictions that Japan is dangerously close to blowing up on its sovereign debts, with consequences that will be felt across the world. My intended point — overly condensed — was that 2010 will prove to be the year that Japan flips from deflation to something very different: the beginnings of debt monetization by a terrified central bank that will ultimately spin out of control, perhaps crossing into hyperinflation by the middle of the decade....

SINGAPORE 2010: Asian fighter requirements continue to grow By Siva Govindasamy The Asia-Pacific fighters market will continue to be the world's most active over the next decade, with the countries likely to buy more than 500 aircraft to supplement existing fleets, embark on upgrades and acquire new capabilities to take them into the next stage of their development. "For many Asian countries, fourth-generation planes will be useful and relevant for decades to come, and we'll see orders for a few more batches of these," says Richard Aboulafia, vice-president analysis at the Teal Group. "But for Japan and Singapore, there's a...

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — A 14th Fighter Squadron F-16 pilot jettisoned a 300-gallon fuel tank into the Pacific Ocean during a training mission Thursday, according to Misawa officials. The 14-foot-long, 373-pound tank was empty when it was ditched at 2:45 p.m. about 80 miles northeast of Misawa, according to reports. Air Force officials could not comment on the reason for the jettison because the incident is under investigation. The last time a tank was jettisoned at Misawa was Dec. 18, 2007.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 2.72% Friday mid-session after the announcement by U.S. President Barack Obama steps to limit the size and activities of banks. A break from 11.00 am (0200 GMT) the Nikkei 225 index of blue chips lost 295.40 points (-2.72%) at 10,573.01 points. Losses as high as 2.99% during the morning, the Nikkei touching its lowest level during the meeting since December 28 last. President Obama attacked head-banks Thursday in announcing his intention to enter into law measures that restrict their size and their activities to stop the excesses that led to the crisis.

The Japanese stock market is down sharply in the red on Friday, with investors tracking Wall Street cues and dumping stocks cutting across various sectors. A stronger yen and lower commodity prices are also contributing to the weakness. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which plunged to 10,543, is currently trading at 10,569, down 299.4 points or 2.75% from its previous close. The mood is so bearish that just three stocks out of the 225-stock strong Nikkei benchmark are currently trading in positive territory. Bank stocks are mostly trading weak. Chemicals, machinery, steel and manufacturing stocks are exhibiting weakness. Insurance and...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (AP) - U.S. President Barack Obama showed willingness Thursday to visit the atomic-bombed city Hiroshima during his meeting with visiting Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba. Akiba, who met Obama at the White House with around 230 members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, requested Obama to visit Hiroshima. The president responded, "I would like to come," although he did not elaborate, Akiba told reporters in Washington after the meeting. The Hiroshima mayor also suggested that he expects Obama to visit his city in November when Japan hosts the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama.

Japan Airlines filed for bankruptcy Tuesday in one of the nation's biggest corporate failures ever, entering a restructuring that will shrink Asia's top carrier and its presence around the world. Staggering under a $25.6 billion debt mountain, the carrier applied for protection from creditors under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law — Japan's version of Chapter 11 — with the Tokyo District Court. > "I guess they did not work in earnest and so fell into this situation," said Isao Sasaki, 72, who waited in line Tuesday at a JAL check-in counter at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. "Weren't they spoiled as they always...

TOKYO – 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Japan-United States Security Treaty. But, instead of celebrating an agreement that has helped stabilize East Asia for a half-century, the treaty is now at serious risk, as much from indecision as from kneejerk anti-Americanism. In August 2009, Japan’s people voted for “change.” The Liberal Democratic Party, which had ruled Japan for most of the post-war decades, lost parliamentary elections to the Democratic Party of Japan. The key reason for the DPJ’s victory was that voters were fed up with the LDP. That feeling had been growing in the...

AMAZING pictures taken more than 2km below the surface show the torpedoed hospital ship Centaur resting on the sea floor. The incredibly sharp images show the Centaur sitting on the sandy ocean bottom just over 2km down, the vessel listing at an angle of about 25 degrees. Its red cross denoting its hospital ship status is clearly visible, as is the green band painted around the ship. The photos were taken shortly before 3am today after shipwreck hunters sent down a remote controlled submarine to take the first ever footage of the wreck of an Australian hospital ship that was...

January 09, 2010 JAL Seen Closer to Bankruptcy BY MARIKO SANCHANTA TOKYO -- Momentum is gathering for Japan Airlines Corp., Asia's leading carrier by revenues, to file for the Japanese equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in a move that would mark one of the country's biggest ever insolvencies. A state-backed turnaround body has proposed that JAL undergoes a modified version of a court-led rehabilitation process, according to a person familiar with the situation, which is set to be unveiled as early as the week of January 18. JAL's main banks and the transport ministry – a powerful Japanese bureaucracy...

By Bradley Perrett Japan is risking a rapid loss of fighter engineering skills, an official review of the industry warns, while urging the government to avoid fully importing combat aircraft. Estimates of future engineering effort starkly illustrate an unspoken argument for Japan to buy and develop advanced versions of the Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing F-15 or Boeing F/A-18E/F to fill its requirement for 50 fighters. “An industrial base is difficult to rebuild once experienced engineers and mechanics leave the industry, so it is essential to keep it for future fighter development,” says the Commission on Reform of Fighter Production Technology Base....

Japanese vessel smashes into Sea Shepherd anti-whaling boat Ady Gil in Aussie waters. Sea Shephard wants police in Antarctica. Videos

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Japan's newly appointed Finance Minister Naoto Kan sent his nation's currency significantly lower against its U.S. counterpart Thursday, as he used his inaugural press conference to talk down the yen. Kan said many Japanese companies are in favor of the dollar trading around 95.00 yen, and that he will work with the Bank of Japan to get the currency to "appropriate" levels. The dollar spiked to 92.63 yen, from 92.15 yen before Kan spoke. It is unusual for Japanese ministers to make comments on specific foreign-exchange levels. The currency market trend "has been corrected a lot toward...

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's new finance minister, Naoto Kan, said he wanted the yen to weaken more and would work with the Bank of Japan to bring the currency to an appropriate level given its impact on the economy. The dollar jumped half a yen after Kan's comments on the view that he will be more inclined to act against excessive yen rises that could hurt the export-driven economy, though some analysts questioned how the markets would interpret his comments. "Kan is known to make sharp comments when it comes to parliamentary debate, but it is uncertain whether he is...

ANTI-whaling group Sea Shepherd have confirmed one of their protest ships was sunk by Japanese whalers. The Ady Gil, a lightweight 24m (79-foot) boat went under after being rammed off Antarctica by Shonam Maru, a ship detailed to provide security to the rest of the whaling fleet. All six crew members have been rescued.

Double Atomic bomb survivor dies in Japan By JAY ALABASTER, Associated Press Writer 22 mins ago TOKYO – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only person officially recognized as a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings at the end of World War II, has died at age 93. Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip for his shipbuilding company on Aug. 6, 1945, when a U.S. B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on the city. He suffered serious burns to his upper body and spent the night in the city. He then returned to his hometown of Nagasaki, about 300...

By JAY ALABASTER, Associated Press Writer Jay Alabaster, Associated Press Writer – 31 mins ago TOKYO – Japan's prime minister said Monday he will press for more equal ties with Washington this year, the 50th anniversary of a joint security treaty that grants many special privileges to U.S. troops stationed in the country. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, in a New Year's speech shown live on national television, said he hopes the alliance will evolve to become more open and candid. It is important "for both sides to be able to firmly say what needs to be said, and to increase...