Japan

Olympus whistleblower demands to know why he was fired as CEO

Sujets: 
Whistleblowers, Corruption, Japan
Scores: 
2

Associated Press – April 20, 2012

Michael Woodford, who blew the whistle on an accounting scandal at Olympus Corp., took a stand at its shareholders’ meeting Friday, demanding to know why he was fired as chief executive.

The Japanese camera and medical-equipment maker was seeking shareholder approval for new management after executives behind a cover-up of massive investment losses were forced out.

Another Radioactive Water Leak at Fukushima Plant

Sujets: 
Nuclear industry, Public health & safety, Japan
Scores: 
0

Tsuyoshi Inajima – April 5, 2012

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said as much as 12 tons of radioactive water leaked from a pipe at its crippled Fukushima nuclear station, the second such incident in 11 days at the same pipeline, raising further doubts about the stability of the plant.

Part of the water may have poured into the sea through a drainage ditch, Osamu Yokokura, a spokesman for the utility, said by phone. The company known as Tepco stopped the leak from a pipe connecting a desalination unit and a tank today, he said.

Japan Weighed Evacuating Tokyo in Nuclear Crisis

Sujets: 
Nuclear industry, Japan
Scores: 
2

Martin Fackler – February 27, 2012

In the darkest moments of last year’s nuclear accident, Japanese leaders did not know the actual extent of damage at the plant and secretly considered the possibility of evacuating Tokyo, even as they tried to play down the risks in public, an independent investigation into the accident disclosed on Monday.

The investigation by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation, a new private policy organization, offers one of the most vivid accounts yet of how Japan teetered on the edge of an even larger nuclear crisis than the one that engulfed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Report: Gov't "collapsed" during Japan nuke crisis

Sujets: 
Nuclear industry, Japan
Scores: 
0

Lucy Craft – February 27, 2012

The one year anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan is less than two weeks away, but details about the nuclear meltdown that happened that tragic day are just beginning to emerge.

On Feb. 27, a news helicopter was allowed close enough to get a good glimpse of the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant. Today, a report revealed the chaos between Japan's leaders during the crisis.

Fukushima fuel rods may have completely melted

Sujets: 
Nuclear industry, Public health & safety, Japan
Scores: 
0

Justin McCurry – December 2, 2011

Fuel rods inside one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have completely melted and bored most of the way through a concrete floor, the reactor's last line of defence before its steel outer casing, the plant's operator said.

Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said in a report that fuel inside reactor No 1 appeared to have dropped through its inner pressure vessel and into the outer containment vessel, indicating that the accident was more severe than first thought.

Billions Lost by Olympus May Be Tied to Criminals

Sujets: 
Organized crime, White-collar crime, Corporate ethics, Japan
Scores: 
2

Hiroko Tabuchi – November 17, 2011

Japanese officials say that at least $4.9 billion is unaccounted for in a financial scandal at Olympus and are investigating whether much of that money went to companies with links to organized crime.

In a memo prepared by investigators and circulated at a recent meeting of officials from Japan’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, the Tokyo prosecutor’s office and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, officials say they are trying to determine whether Olympus worked with organized crime syndicates to obscure billions of dollars in past investment losses and then paid them exorbitant sums for their services.

Former Olympus director calls for whistleblower CEO’s return

Sujets: 
Whistleblowers, Corporate ethics, Japan
Scores: 
2
Michael Woodford

Murie Dickie and Kevin – Brown November 13, 2011

A former director of scandal-hit optical equipment maker Olympus Corp. has launched a campaign for reinstatement of its ousted British chief executive, saying Michael Woodford’s return is crucial to the “painful restructuring” needed to save the group.

The call from Koji Miyata, former head of Olympus’ medical systems business who served on the board from 1995 to 2006, adds to the pressure on the 92-year-old company’s management amid a scandal that has shaken faith in Japanese corporate governance.

Olympus whistleblower speaks out

Sujets: 
Whistleblowers, Organized crime, Corporate ethics, Japan
Scores: 
0

Kirstin Ridley and Alexander Smith – October 26, 2011

Michael Woodford makes an unlikely fighter. As he tucks his tie into his shirt and digs into a plate of Dover sole in a London restaurant, it's hard to imagine that this down-to-earth 51-year-old Englishman is at war with one of Japan's biggest corporations.

Woodford is taking on the leaders of Olympus Corp., one of Japan's most venerable camera makers. He was made CEO of the company in early October. But two weeks later, on October 14, the board sacked him for what chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa said was Woodford's failure to understand the company's management style and Japanese culture.

Interview: Japan whistleblower at highest court

Sujets: 
Whistleblowers, Japan
Scores: 
2

Yuri Kageyama – September 21, 2011

Masaharu Hamada is among a handful of whistleblowers in Japan, a nation that has long advocated corporate loyalty and subjected outspoken employees to bizarre punishments such as assigning them closet-sized offices.

The 50-year-old salesman for camera and precision-equipment maker Olympus Corp. is about to become rarer still. His case alleging he was demoted in reprisal for merely relaying a supplier's complaints is headed to the Supreme Court. It would be the first whistleblower case to reach the nation's highest court.

Japanese whistle-blower wins damages in high court

Sujets: 
Victories, Legislation, Japan
Scores: 
1

Yuri Kageyama – September 1, 2011

The still fledgling protection for whistle-blowers in Japan received a boost Wednesday by a high court that reversed an earlier decision and awarded damages to a worker who suffered retaliation through a transfer.

The Tokyo High Court ordered Japanese camera and precision-equipment maker Olympus Corp. to pay 2.2 million yen ($29,000) to Masaharu Hamada for transferring him from a sales division where he had a strong work record to a more solitary assignment.

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