News from Japan

2011-11-29T03:40:00.001-08:00

Toyota taking orders in Japan for Prius Plug-in

Yuri Kageyama
AP Business Writer via chron.com
11.29.2011

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota began taking orders Tuesday for the plug-in version of its hit Prius hybrid, announcing efficient mileage and a relatively affordable starting price of 3.2 million yen ($41,000), which comes down with green vehicle subsidies.

Toyota is targeting Prius Plug-in sales of 35,000 to 40,000 a year in Japan, and 60,000 globally. The car is set for delivery in Japan in January. With subsidies the cost comes down to 2.75 million yen ($35,200). It starts at $32,000 in the U.S. and 37,000 euros in Europe, according to Toyota.

2011-11-29T03:19:00.000-08:00

Tokyo retains title as Michelin's gourmet capital

Junko Fujita
Reuters
11.29.2011

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo retained the title of the world's gourmet capital on Tuesday, when the Michelin guide awarded it more stars than any other city for the fifth year in a row.

Tokyo restaurants also won more top awards than last year with 16 given the three-star rating, which Michelin defines as "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey." That is two more than last year and compares with 10 for Paris.

2011-11-29T03:14:00.000-08:00

More CEOs find Japan important

Editorial
Japan Times
11.28.2011

More CEOs are finding Japan a place for revenue growth, according to a recent New York Stock Exchange report. Of the 371 CEOs polled for the report, 27 percent said Japan was crucial or important for their companies' future growth.

That is up from 19 percent in the same survey last year. Japan also rose from 12th to seventh place in regional significance among the CEOs, most of whom were based in the United States, but others in Western Europe and Asia.

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2011-11-29T02:54:00.001-08:00

Getting Smart in the Suburbs of Tokyo

Miki Tanikawa
New York Times
11.27.2011

TOKYO — Introducing plans for Japan’s first smart city to be built “from scratch” in May could not have been better timed for Panasonic, the driving force behind the project to build an eco-savvy town in a Tokyo suburb by 2013.

The Tokyo area had just gone through multiple blackouts following the shutdown of nuclear power plants in Fukushima after the disastrous earthquake and tsunami in March. And calls from the general public for greater reliance on non-nuclear or renewable energy had never been louder.

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