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Japan Today
4 days ago
- Business
- Japan Today
Court rejects ¥13.3 tril damages verdict against Fukushima operator ex-bosses
'Take responsibility for the Fukushima nuclear accident!' a plaintiffs' banner says. By Kyoko Hasegawa and Caroline Gardin A Japanese court overturned a 13.3 trillion yen damages verdict on Friday against ex-bosses of the operator of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, thought to be the largest such award ever in the country for a civil suit. Four former executives had in 2022 been ordered to collectively pay 13.3 trillion yen in a suit brought by shareholders over the nuclear disaster triggered by a massive tsunami in 2011. But the verdict was thrown out Friday by the Tokyo High Court, a spokeswoman for the institution told AFP. Shareholders had argued the catastrophe could have been prevented if Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) bosses had listened to research and implemented preventative measures like placing an emergency power source on higher ground. But the defendants countered that the risks were unpredictable, and the studies cited were not credible. "The defendants... cannot be found to have had this foreseeability at a point in time before the earthquake in question," Friday's court ruling said. The 13.3 trillion yen damages award was believed to be the largest amount ever ordered in a civil suit in Japan. It was meant to cover TEPCO's costs for dismantling reactors, compensating affected residents, and cleaning up contamination. The court spokeswoman said an appeal by the shareholders for an even higher damages order of 22 trillion yen had been denied. "Take responsibility for the Fukushima nuclear accident!" said a pink-and-white banner displayed by the plaintiffs after the ruling. Hiroyuki Kawai, head of their legal team, also issued a stark warning at a press conference on Friday. "If I were to summarize today's ruling in one phrase: It is a ruling that will lead to future serious nuclear accidents," he said. TEPCO declined to comment on the verdict. Three of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant's six reactors were operating when a massive undersea quake triggered a massive tsunami on March 11, 2011. They went into meltdown after their cooling systems failed when waves flooded backup generators, leading to the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Overall the tsunami along Japan's northeast coast left around 18,500 people dead or missing. In March this year, Japan's top court said it had finalized the acquittal of two former TEPCO executives charged with professional negligence over the Fukushima meltdown. The decision concluded the only criminal trial to arise from the plant's 2011 accident. © 2025 AFP
Japan Today
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- Japan Today
Toyota cites tariffs as it forecasts 35% drop in 2025-26 net profit
Automobiles accounted for around 28 percent of Japanese exports to the United States last year By Kyoko Hasegawa and Tomohiro Osaki Japanese auto giant Toyota on Thursday forecast a 35 percent year-on-year drop in net profit for 2025-26 citing Donald Trump's vehicle tariffs among other factors. Carmakers have been among the hardest-hit by the U.S. president's multi-pronged assault on free trade. On top of a 25 percent tariff already placed on finished imported cars, the Trump administration on Saturday imposed a similar duty on auto parts including engines and transmissions. For the current financial year that began in April, Toyota now forecasts net profit of 3.1 trillion yen ($21.6 billion). "The estimated impact of U.S. tariffs in April and May 2025 have been tentatively factored in," the world's top-selling automaker said in a statement. The company logged net profit of nearly 4.8 trillion yen in the 12 months to March, down 3.6 percent year-on-year but beating its forecast issued in February. As of this month, it estimated the tariffs would impact 2025-2026 operating profit to the tune of 180 billion yen. Toyota's "influence and position" mean its profit forecasts are being closely watched in Japan, said Bloomberg Intelligence auto analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. "My feeling is that Toyota will somehow find a way to calculate the impact of tariffs and have it reflected on its forecast," he told AFP ahead of the earnings report. "The whole country including suppliers would be left at a loss if Toyota doesn't issue some kind of benchmark." Automobiles accounted for around 28 percent of Japanese exports to the United States last year. Trump late last month moved to soften the details of his tariffs on automakers -- signing an executive order to limit the impact of overlapping levies on firms. Trump's new policy means a company would not face the 25 percent levy for an imported vehicle and 25 percent on steel or aluminum; the importer would pay the higher of the two but not both, a U.S. commerce official said. The president also released a proclamation that gives the industry a two-year grace period to move supply chains back to the United States. Toyota sold 10.8 million vehicles worldwide in 2024, holding onto its crown as the world's top-selling automaker. Takaki Nakanishi of auto sector consulting firm Nakanishi Research Institute told AFP that it is "difficult to predict" the impact of the U.S. tariffs on car firms' earnings. "Automakers are doing what they can in trying to shift production to the United States, even though there are no huge changes right away as shifting production takes time," he said. Trump last month hit out at the wide difference between Japanese car exports to the United States and those going the other way. Toyota is the second-top-selling automaker in the United States, where it shifted more than 2.3 million vehicles last year, while U.S. industry leader General Motors sold just 587 Chevrolets and 449 Cadillacs in Japan. Ford pulled out of the tough Japanese market nearly a decade ago. "They don't take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs!" Trump said in April, accusing Japan of treating its ally "very poorly on trade". © 2025 AFP
