Asia, Japan | featured news

The Japanese insurer will seek $11.8 billion in what would be the world's largest initial public offering in nearly two years, in a move that will test renewed investor confidence in Japan's equity markets.

China gave up its title to Japan as the largest holder of U.S. Treasury securities in December as foreigners bought U.S. assets at a brisk pace.

Japan's economy grew at a faster than expected pace last quarter, as steady exports to Asia and support from government stimulus measures prevent another downturn in the region's largest economy.

Japanese opposition parties vowed on Sunday to pursue a funding scandal that has ensnared a ruling party kingpin ahead of a mid-year election, but stopped short of threatening to delay a budget debate in parliament.

If China keeps up a 8.7 growth rate, it will likely replace Japan as the world’s second-largest economy this year.

JAL will shrink dramatically under a government-led restructuring plan, cutting significantly its work force, its routes, and the number of affiliated companies launched when the airline tried to diversify into a broad-based service firm.

Japan's aged finance minister is to quit due to poor health after weeks of exhausting wrangling over the budget, the Nikkei news agency said on Tuesday, a fresh blow for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama as he struggles with a frail economy and huge public debt.

Let it be known without apology: Barack Obama is not above the bow. He dipped his head all through Asia -- greeting Japan's Emperor with a deep bend at the waist, nodding to Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on a Beijing tarmac, even bobbing forward in gratitude before his tour guide at the Courtyard of Loyal Obedience in the Forbidden City.

U.S. President Barack Obama headed into talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Friday in which he will likely try to smooth strained ties as the allies adjust to a rising China.

It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan's space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves.