Search Results for: japan

BY JULIAN RYALL

When the earthquake struck northern Japan and unleashed the largest tsunami in living memory here, property companies were quick to respond in ways that went beyond narrow corporate interest.

"We have donated supplies to relief agencies in Tohoku, but we also have to help the people in the area of our Chiba shopping centre, where 13 people died from the tsunami," said Seth Culkin, president of Pacifica Malls KK.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

FRENCH government nuclear scientists have warned that radioactive material, usually totally absent from food, has been discovered in milk in France. They are blaming radioactive clouds belching from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. The French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) says radioactive iodine-131 has been found in densities of Becquerels(bq)/litres(l) of 0.09bq/l near Paris and 0.15bq/l in the Loire valley, western France.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

IN comparison with some other industries, Japan’s cosmetics and beauty care companies have emerged relatively unscathed from the twin natural disasters of an earthquake and tsunami that devastated large parts of the north-east on March 11. That, however, is a relative assessment of the situation as while personal care product firms here will have lost tens of millions of dollars in revenues, Japan’s automobile industry has lost billions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

FRENCH wine producer Castel has continued its steady expansion through mergers and acquisition with the European Commission clearing its latest gambits: a 50%-50% joint takeover (with Japan’s Suntory) of France-based wine company Grands Millésimes de France, and sole purchase of French wine and spirit company Savour Club and wine company MAAF Subsidiaries.…

BY KELLY WETHERILLE

JAPAN is home to the world’s oldest?and most rapidly ageing?population, which is creating new challenges in both product development and marketing for companies across the beauty and personal care sector. How brands address this new demographic landscape will likely determine their future success in what is already one of the world’s most competitive and saturated markets.…

BY KELLY WETHERILLE and ALAN OSBORN

OIL refining in Japan suffered a major hit from the recent earthquake and resulting tsunami, with Tokyo-based Cosmo Oil taking 10 days after the March 11 quake Cosmo Oil to extinguish a fire at its Chiba refinery, and is still saying it is unsure when the plant would be able to resume operations.…

BY WANG FANGQING

Nissin Foods Holdings, the Japan-based instant noodle manufacturing multinational, will invest about Japanese Yen JPY 3.4 billion (US dollar USD41.5 million) to build an instant noodle plant in Vietnam to meet growing demand in this key emerging market.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

HUNGARY, which currently holds the European Union’s (EU’s) rotating presidency, made a little noticed promise in January to put organised crime well and truly on the EU agenda. Commercial Crime International attended a Brussels conference where senior figures admitted the EU’s response has been far too weak.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UNITED States’ Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has restricted the import of dairy, vegetable and fruit products from four northern prefectures of Japan affected by radiation leaks from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant. These imports from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures "will be detained upon entry into the United States," said the FDA, and then tested for contamination – they will then only be released if free from radiation.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

FRANCE is far ahead of the curve in terms of weaning itself off fossil fuels and sports the closest thing to energy independence of any country in Europe. Ever since 1974 when the government decided to rapidly expand the country’s nuclear power capacity, France has not felt the intense stress of energy insecurity nor been particularly impacted by the rising and falling prices of fuel.…