Free Republic

China's Real Estate Market Crashing... Real Estate is the single biggest domestic lending segment in China. Combined with deflation in Iron Ore, Steel, Copper, and other industrial metals China's collateral quality is looking very very shaky compared to loan volume... SNIP While the world's attention is glued to events in Greece, the real action continues to evolve quietly thousands of kilometers east, in China, where the near record surge in new loans remains unable to offset the dramatic slowdown in shadow banking issuance. And while China's bubble-chasing, animal spirits have recently reoriented themselves from real estate to the stock market,...

BREAKING: Preliminary M7.0 earthquake off the east coast of Japan at 6:06pm US EST. Monitoring for any tsunami concerns.

First Lady Michelle Obama missed out on President Obama’s Valentine’s Day golfing weekend in sunny California, but it appears that she has her own trip planned for next month. According to the Asahi Shimbun, the First Lady and her daughters Sasha and Malia will be traveling to Japan for a visit in March.

Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto, Reuters Februry 15, 2015 TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy rebounded from recession to grow an annualized 2.2 percent in the final quarter of last year, giving a much-needed boost to premier Shinzo Abe's efforts to shake off decades of stagnation even as the global outlook deteriorates. But the expansion was smaller than a 3.7 percent increase forecast in a Reuters poll, suggesting a fragile recovery for the world's third-largest economy as consumer mood remained soft and uneven global growth weighed on exports. Still, the return to growth will allow the Bank of Japan to hold...

Tokyo-based publisher Daisan Shokan released a book Tuesday containing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad previously published in the French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo. About 500 bookstores nationwide have expressed interest in selling the book, titled “Islam Heito Ka, Fushi Ka” (“Anti-Islam Hate, or Satire?”), but will use discretion in deciding whether to stock it. Others have said they will not stock it in response to opposition by Muslims in Japan. Riot police from the Metropolitan Police Department were stationed around Daisan Shokan’s headquarters in Shinjuku Ward on Tuesday morning.

With their little faces looking up to the camera, six breeds of foxes stand patiently awaiting their lunch. This is Fox Village, in Japan’s Miyagi prefecture, where for less than £4 (700 Japanese Yen) visitors are allowed entry and can feed the animals. Foxes are heralded in Japan, with many believing they have mystical powers, as well as others who believe they bring good luck as they descend from Inari Okami, the Shinto deity of fertility, prosperity and rice.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares wobbled on Monday after dismal Chinese trade data eclipsed a strong U.S. jobs report, raising concerns about a deepening slowdown in the world's second-largest economy and sending the Australian dollar sliding. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.3 percent with Australian shares (.AXJO) down 0.5 percent in early trade. U.S. stock futures also shed 0.4 percent (ESc1).

According to a new video released by the Islamic barbaric group ISIS, which also identifies itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a Japanese Christian man who had traveled to Iraq in an attempt to rescue a friend who was captured by the terrorist organization has been beheaded. As previously reported, Kenji Goto, 47, who became a Christian in 1997, told reporters last year that he felt compelled to do what he could to help rescue Haruna Yukawa, 42, after he was abducted in August near the city of Aleppo. Yukawa had been through a number of difficult...

TOKYO — When Islamic State militants posted a video over the weekend showing the grisly killing of a Japanese journalist, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reacted with outrage, promising “to make the terrorists pay the price.” Such vows of retribution may be common in the West when leaders face extremist violence, but they have been unheard of in confrontation-averse Japan — until now. The prime minister’s call for revenge after the killings of the journalist, Kenji Goto, and another hostage, Haruna Yukawa, raised eyebrows even in the military establishment, adding to a growing awareness here that the crisis could be a...

A visibly upset Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to "never forgive terrorists" after the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video purportedly showing the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto. "I am extremely angry about these heinous and despicable terrorist acts. We will never forgive terrorists," Abe told reporters in Tokyo on Sunday morning (local time), according to the AFP news agency. "We will cooperate with the international community to make them atone for their crimes," he declared. The ISIS claim was made in a video released online that included no mention of a Jordanian pilot also being held...

Terror group Islamic State has released a new video which seems to show Japanese hostage Kenji Goto being beheaded by the militant fighter known as Jihadi John. The 1 minute and 7 second clip shows Mr Goto kneeling in a rocky gorge while the masked murderer delivers a scripted message to the camera. The killer then lowers his knife and the footage goes black, as is common in ISIS propaganda films. When the footage begins again Mr Goto's body is shown lying on the desert floor.

Online Video Purports To Show Islamic State Group Beheading Japanese Journalist Kenji Goto Japan says working closely with Jordan for release of captives held by Islamic State CAIRO (AP) — Online video purports to show Islamic State group beheading Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.

SEATTLE — Lt. Col. Edward Saylor, one of four surviving Doolittle Raiders who attacked Japan during a daring 1942 mission credited with lifting American morale during World War II, has died. He was 94. Rod Saylor said his father died of natural causes on Wednesday in Sumner, Washington.

Arms Buildup: A senior weapons developer tells Congress that Beijing's massive defense buildup, emphasizing precision-guided and other advanced weapons, has placed the U.S. and its shrinking military at serious risk. 'I am very concerned about the increasing risk of loss of U.S. military technological superiority," Frank Kendall, deputy undersecretary for acquisition, said Wednesday. "We're at risk, and the situation is getting worse." He was testifying before the House Armed Services Committee at a hearing on the subject of defense and technological change. The Chinese were paying attention to U.S. military dominance in the early 1990s after we won the arms...

When the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria set terms for the release of a Jordanian fighter pilot captured when his plane was disabled over Syria, it was only marginally shocking that Jordan signaled it was willing to negotiate with ISIS fighters. That decision had some shock value not only because it is generally rare to see Western coalition partners negotiate with groups they admit to be terrorist organizations, but because the prisoner ISIS demanded in exchange was involved in one of the worst terrorist attacks in that countryÂ’s history. No sooner had bilateral negotiations between the Hashemite Kingdom...

Defense: War clouds gather in the East China Sea as China, in one of a series of territorial claims against its neighbors, builds a helicopter base within attack range of Japan's Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims as its own. When President Obama traveled to China last November, we don't suppose that he discussed with his Chinese counterparts their military buildup in the East and South China Seas and their ambitious territorial claims on island chains such as the Spratly, Paracel and Senkaku. As Bill Gertz reports in the Washington Free Beacon, commercial satellites observed construction of a Chinese military helicopter...

While America is preoccupied with the Middle East,evidence accumulates that China is actively preparing...the launch of a war with Japan. Just over a week after I wrote this article on evidence of China’s preparations for an attack, Janes on 22 January published this image from 13 October 2014 of the helipads under construction in the Nanji Islands: The image shows the construction of ten helipads with trenching around them. The trenching would be for individual fuel lines to each helipad. This is an expeditionary helipad complex. Flights of ten helicopters would fly in from the mainland, refuel as quickly as...

AMMAN/TOKYO - An audio message purportedly from a Japanese journalist being held by Islamic State militants said a Jordanian air force pilot also captured by the group would be killed unless an Iraqi female prisoner in Jordan was released by sunset on Thursday. The message appeared to postpone a previous deadline set on Tuesday in which the journalist, Kenji Goto, said he would be killed within 24 hours if the Iraqi was not freed. The latest audio recording, which could not be verified by Reuters, was posted on YouTube early on Thursday. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a...

NAGASAKI – A hotel with robot staff and face recognition instead of room keys will open this summer in Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki Prefecture, the operator of the theme park said Tuesday. The two-story Henn na Hotel is scheduled to open July 17. It will be promoted with the slogan “A Commitment for Evolution,” Huis Ten Bosch Co. said. The name reflects how the hotel will “change with cutting-edge technology,” a company official said. This is a play on words: “Henn” is also part of the Japanese word for change. Robots will provide porter service, room cleaning, front desk...

NEW DELHI: Russia, France, Germany and Spain, all better watch out. They may have to contend with Japan in the race to supply submarines to India. In keeping with their expanding strategic partnership, the Modi government has asked the Shinzo Abe administration whether it would be interested in the over Rs 50,000 crore project to build six stealth submarines in India. With Japan recently ending its decades old self-imposed arms export embargo, New Delhi has forwarded "a proposal" to Tokyo to "consider the possibility" of making its latest diesel-electric Soryu-class submarines in India, say sources. This "feeler" dovetails into PM...