TOKYO, March 14 (Reuters) – The Daiichi nuclear power plant
in Fukushima is built right on the shoreline in northeast Japan.
So when an 8.9 magnitude earth quake struck on Friday, the
tsunami waves it spawned — tall as a house and speeding like a
jet plane — crashed over the reactors and put them at risk of a
meltdown.

Another hydrogen explosion rocked the plant on Monday while
engineers were flooding the three reactors in the complex with
sea water in a desperate attempt to prevent what was shaping up
as the worst nuclear emergency since the Chernobyl disaster 25
years ago.

TOKYO, March 13 (Reuters) – Japanese automakers, electronics
firms and oil refiners shut key factories after a massive
earthquake and tsunami struck the northeast coast, underscoring
the challenge facing the government as it rushes to limit the
economic blow.

Electronics giant Sony Corp has suspended
operations at eight factories including one making optical film
that was flooded by the tsunami triggered by Friday’s
8.9-magnitude quake. Nissan Motor halted output at all
four of its domestic assembly factories and said restarting them
could depend on whether it can get parts.

TOKYO/BANGALORE (Reuters) – Western Digital Corp (WDC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s No. 2 hard drive maker, agreed to buy Hitachi Ltd’s (6501.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) hard disk drive operations for about $4.3 billion in cash and stock, in a bid to leapfrog market leader Seagate Technology Plc (STX.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Western Digital will pay $3.5 billion in cash and $750 million in stock for Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, the companies said.

TOKYO, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported
a halving in quarterly profit, hit by a strong yen and slowing
sales of game machines, underscoring a steady decline in
earnings that some analysts warn could stretch well into next
year.

Nintendo, the world’s leading video game machine maker, is
struggling to fend off price competition from traditional rivals
Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Sony (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and cope with a growing
threat from Apple (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other makers of game-playing
smartphones.

TOKYO (Reuters) – The rising yen is helping reignite a push by Japanese companies to snap up overseas assets and secure growth outside their sluggish home market, after the financial crisis quieted their dealmaking last year.

Bankers report a strong appetite for deals across all industries — from Hitachi Ltd (6501.T: Quote, Profile, Research) hunting for an information technology services firm to brewers seeking growth in Asia and trading houses looking to invest in water and iron ore.

TOKYO (Reuters) – The rising yen is helping reignite a push by Japanese companies to snap up overseas assets and secure growth outside their sluggish home market, after the financial crisis quieted their dealmaking last year.

Bankers report a strong appetite for deals across all industries — from Hitachi Ltd (6501.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) hunting for an information technology services firm to brewers seeking growth in Asia and trading houses looking to invest in water and iron ore.

TOKYO (Reuters) – A movie released in Japan last year created a buzz with the seemingly implausible tale of a China-backed investment fund launching a hostile bid for a major Japanese car maker.

In reality the day when a Chinese firm seeks control of a big Japanese company may not be all that far away.

TOKYO/Hong Kong (Reuters) – Confronted with rising wages and a shortage of labour, a supplier of car body frames to Honda Motor last month earmarked the equivalent of a half year’s profit to triple the number of robots at its three Chinese plants.

The $22 million investment by Japan-based H-One is part of a push to automate factories across China that is expected to gather pace in the wake of the recent burst of strikes and expected appreciation of the yuan.

TOKYO/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Japanese auto giants Toyota and Honda said key factories in south China halted work on Wednesday after a strike at a parts supplier, as worker discontent continued to jolt the industry and unnerve investors.

A Toyota Motor Corp plant in Guangdong province that can make 360,000 vehicles a year has stood idle since Tuesday, after workers struck at a nearby parts supplier, Denso (Guangzhou Nansha) Co Ltd., owned by Japan’s Denso Corp.

TOKYO/HONG KONG, June 23 (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co
(7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) halted production at a car making factory in southern
China on Wednesday, making it the second car maker after Toyota
Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) to turn off assembly lines because of a
strike at a supplier owned by Japan’s Denso Corp (6902.T: Quote, Profile, Research).

A Honda spokesman said it was not certain when production
at the factory, one of two plants at its joint venture Guangqi
Honda, would resume. The halted plant has an annual production
capacity of 240,000 units, and makes the Accord and Fit, among
other models. [ID:nTST000226]