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Fukushima soil used for METI flower bed

Soil generated from decontamination work near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is moved into a flower bed at the headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Sept. 14, 2025. The Japanese government is using the soil at various government facilities to ease public safety concerns.

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Fukushima soil used for METI flower bed

Soil generated from decontamination work near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is moved into a flower bed at the headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Sept. 14, 2025. The Japanese government is using the soil at various government facilities to ease public safety concerns.

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Fukushima soil used for METI flower bed

Soil generated from decontamination work near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is moved into a flower bed at the headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Sept. 14, 2025. The Japanese government is using the soil at various government facilities to ease public safety concerns.

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Fukushima soil used for METI flower bed

Soil generated from decontamination work near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is moved into a flower bed at the headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Sept. 14, 2025. The Japanese government is using the soil at various government facilities to ease public safety concerns.

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Kansai Electric apologizes over illegal information viewing

Kansai Electric Power Co. President Nozomu Mori (2nd from L) and other company executives bow at a press conference in Osaka on May 12, 2023, over the unauthorized viewing of customer information. Following the scandal, five Japanese utilities, including Kansai Electric, submitted their respective business improvement plans to the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry the same day.

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Kansai Electric apologizes over illegal information viewing

Kansai Electric Power Co. President Nozomu Mori attends a press conference in Osaka on May 12, 2023, over the unauthorized viewing of customer information. Following the scandal, five Japanese utilities, including Kansai Electric, submitted their respective business improvement plans to the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry the same day.

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Japan, China hold 1st gov't meeting since leaders' summit

BEIJING, China - Yosuke Takagi (L), senior vice minister of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, attend the eighth Japan-China Energy Conservation Forum in China's capital Beijing on Dec. 28, 2014. The forum is the first major governmental meeting since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov. 10.

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Nuclear panel head favors continued reactor operations

TOKYO, Japan - President Itaru Yasui (C) of the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation speaks in favor of maintaining nuclear power generation in a mid-term review of nuclear policy at a meeting of a panel he heads under the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources at the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry in Tokyo on Dec. 24, 2014.

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Kansai Electric applies for fresh utilities rate hike

TOKYO, Japan - Kansai Electric Power Co. President Makoto Yagi meets with reporters at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Dec. 24, 2014, after the company applied for a fresh electricity rate hike, seeking to increase bills for households by 10.23 percent on average from April amid higher fossil fuel costs after its nuclear reactors were idled.

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CORRECTED Industry minister says will sell off TEPCO shares when term ends

TOKYO, Japan - CORRECTING NAME OF POWER PLANT Industry minister Yoichi Miyazawa tells a session of the House of Councillors Committee on Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Oct. 28, 2014, that he intends to sell the Tokyo Electric Power Co. shares he owns when he ends his term and donate the proceeds to the revival of Fukushima, the prefecture hit hardest by the nuclear crisis at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Miyazawa, who took office the previous week, has come under fire following the revelation he holds 600 shares in TEPCO, raising questions about the independence of the minister in charge of overseeing the power sector.

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S. Korean consul general at meeting in Osaka

OSAKA, Japan - Consul General Lee Hyun Ju of the South Korean Consulate General in Osaka addresses a meeting with the Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry on Oct. 9, 2014, in Osaka.

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METI-Kyushu inspection of Karita power station

KITAKYUSHU, Japan - Officials of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry (far L and R side) conduct an on-site inspection of the central control room for unit 2 at the Karita power station operated by Kyushu Electric Power Co. in the town of Kanda, Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on June 19, 2014.

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METI-Kansai inspects Kainan power station

WAKAYAMA, Japan - Toshinori Kobayashi (L), director general of the Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, a regional branch organization of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, is briefed about the condition of Kansai Electronic Power Co.'s aging Kainan thermal power station in Kainan, Wakayama Prefecture, on June 19, 2014, during an inspection.

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METI-Kansai inspects Kainan power station

WAKAYAMA, Japan - Toshinori Kobayashi (C), director general of the Kansai Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, a regional branch organization of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, is briefed about the condition of Kansai Electronic Power Co.'s aging Kainan thermal power station in Kainan, Wakayama Prefecture, on June 19, 2014, during an inspection.

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METI-Kyushu head inspects Karita power station

KITAKYUSHU, Japan - Ikuro Hirozane (L), director general of the Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, addresses a meeting in the town of Kanda, Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on June 19, 2014. METI-Kyushu inspected Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Karita power station unit 2 the same day.

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1st female secretary to premier

TOKYO, Japan - Makiko Yamada (R), deputy director general for IT strategy at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, receives her letter of appointment from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to become one of Abe's secretaries at his office in Tokyo on Nov. 29, 2013. The 53-year-old senior official at the economy ministry is the first woman to serve as a prime ministerial secretary in postwar Japan.

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1st female secretary to premier

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Makiko Yamada, deputy director general for IT strategy at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided to appoint the 53-year-old senior official at the economy ministry as his secretary, making Yamada the first woman to serve as a prime ministerial secretary in postwar Japan, a government source said Nov. 29, 2013.

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1st female secretary to premier

TOKYO, Japan - Makiko Yamada (R), deputy director general for IT strategy at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, chats with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after receiving her letter of appointment from Abe to become one of his secretaries at his office in Tokyo on Nov. 29, 2013. The 53-year-old senior official at the economy ministry is the first woman to serve as a prime ministerial secretary in postwar Japan.

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Converted EV embarks on demonstration tour

TOKYO, Japan - An electric vehicle (front) converted from the two-seat Caterham Super Seven, a British sports car, leaves the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 24, 2013, for a demonstration run around Japan. The converted EV, made by replacing a gasoline engine with motor, battery and other parts, will return to Tokyo on Nov. 17 after visiting 46 of Japan's 47 prefectures. The two EVs in the background will accompany it on the journey.

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Antinuclear activists' tents

TOKYO, Japan - An April 8, 2013, photo shows tents set up by antinuclear campaigners on the premises of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in central Tokyo. The Japanese government has filed a lawsuit against the activists, demanding the removal of the tents, sources close to the matter said the same day.

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Antinuclear protests in Tokyo

TOKYO, Japan - People have their umbrellas up as they look on at an hour-long live program under rain at "Tent Square" on Feb. 15, 2013, in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki government district. The program was transmitting voices and messages disapproving of atomic-power use, which has long been promoted by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry (at right in the background).

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Timetable presented for reactor reactivation

TOKYO, Japan - Kansai Electric Power Co. President Makoto Yagi answers reporters' questions at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on April 9, 2012, after presenting to industry minister Yukio Edano a timetable for the implementation of safety measures as a step to restart the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.

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Antinuclear activists refuse to remove tents

TOKYO, Japan - Antinuclear activists gather in front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (L back) in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2012. The activists rejected a call by the industry ministry to remove their tents from its precincts by 5 p.m. the same day, and continued a four-month-old occupation of ministry grounds to press their demand for the closure of all nuclear power plants in Japan.

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Antinuclear activists refuse to remove tents

TOKYO, Japan - Setsuko Kuroda (2nd from L), a resident of Fukushima Prefecture, speaks during a gathering of antinuclear activists in front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Jan. 27, 2012. The activists rejected a call by the industry ministry to remove their tents from its precincts by 5 p.m. the same day, and continued a four-month-old occupation of ministry grounds to press their demand for the closure of all nuclear power plants in Japan.

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Ministers Edano, Hosono at news conference

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese industry minister Yukio Edano (L) and nuclear disaster minister Goshi Hosono give a press conference at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Dec. 21, 2011. The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. said they would seek to finish scrapping the four crippled nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in the next 30 to 40 years in a road map toward decommissioning.

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Edano takes part in online discussion on TPP

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese trade minister Yukio Edano (2nd from L) takes part in the government's first online open discussion on the issue of whether Japan should join negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, with Koichi Kato (2nd from R), chairman of the joint association of Seikatsu Club consumers' cooperatives, and others at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Nov. 2, 2011.

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Farmers against Pacific free trade

TOKYO, Japan - Farmers drive tractors in a demonstration near the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry in Tokyo on Oct. 26, 2011, demanding that Japan not join U.S.-led multilateral talks on a trans-Pacific free trade pact.

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'Cool Japan' promotion event in Singapore

SINGAPORE, Singapore - Models pose at an event to promote the ''Cool Japan'' culture drive in Singapore on Oct. 6, 2011. Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry unveiled the first round of public-private joint projects in Singapore in which products from 15 Japanese fashion brands are sold at stores collectively called Harajuku Street Style for three months from October.

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'Cool Japan' promotion event in Singapore

SINGAPORE, Singapore - Photo shows a ''Harajuku Street Style'' Japanese casual fashion shop in a department store in Singapore on Oct. 4, 2011. Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry unveiled on Oct. 6, 2011, the first round of public-private joint projects to promote ''Cool Japan'' culture drive in Singapore. Products from 15 Japanese fashion brands are sold at stores collectively called Harajuku Street Style for three months from October.

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Tomari reactor resumes commercial operation

TOKYO, Japan - Takao Takahashi (L), head of the Tokyo office of Hokkaido Electric Power Co., receives a certificate for the completion of regular inspection of the Tomari nuclear power plant's reactor from Tetsuya Yamamoto, head of the nuclear power inspection division of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Aug. 17, 2011. The same day HEPCO resumed commercial operation of the No. 3 reactor, the first among reactors undergoing regular checkups in the wake of the Fukushima crisis to restart commercial operation.

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Chubu Electric asks for support to restart Hamaoka

TOKYO, Japan - Chubu Electric Power Co. President Akihisa Mizuno (R) submits a request to industry minister Banri Kaieda at the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry in Tokyo on July 4, 2011, asking for the ministry to support the utility's efforts for an early resumption of operations at its Hamaoka nuclear power plant, which was shut down at the government's request for safety reasons in the wake of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

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Keidanren asks gov't to ensure rare earths supply

TOKYO, Japan - Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, speaks at a meeting with the Economy, Trade, and Industry Ministry in Tokyo on Sept. 30, 2010. Japan's biggest business lobby, also known as Nippon Keidanren, asked the government to ensure a stable supply of rare earth minerals after imports from China stalled amid heightened tensions between the two countries.

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Japan to end eco-friendly car subsidy program

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken in May 2010 shows a Nissan Motor Co. plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, which produces cars eligible for a government subsidy program for purchasers of environmentally friendly automobiles. The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry said on July 30, 2010, that Japan has decided to end the subsidy program at the end of September as planned.

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Inspections insufficient for more than 500 spots at Shimane reactor

TOKYO, Japan - Chugoku Electric Power Co. President Takashi Yamashita bows in apology at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on April 30, 2010, after submitting to the ministry a report on the review of inspections of the No.1 and No.2 reactors of the Shimane nuclear plant. The company reported that over 500 spots at the reactors were checked insufficiently during past periodic inspections.

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Inspections insufficient for over 500 spots at Shimane reactor

TOKYO, Japan - Chugoku Electric Power Co. President Takashi Yamashita speaks to reporters at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on April 30, 2010, after submitting a report on the review of inspections of the No.1 and No.2 reactors of the Shimane nuclear plant to the ministry. The company reported that over 500 spots at the reactors were checked insufficiently during past periodic inspections.

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Inspections insufficient for over 500 spots at Shimane reactor

TOKYO, Japan - Chugoku Electric Power Co. President Takashi Yamashita (R) submits a report on the review of the company's inspections of the No.1 and No.2 reactors of the Shimane nuclear plant to Teruhiko Mashiko, senior vice minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in Tokyo on April 30, 2010. The company reported that over 500 spots at the reactors were checked insufficiently during past periodic inspections.

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3 fuel cell cars begin 1,100-km demonstration run

TOKYO, Japan - Fuel cell-powered vehicles from Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. leave the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Nov. 11, 2009, for a 1,100-kilometer run to Fukuoka to demonstrate that they can go as far as gasoline-powered cars on a single fueling. Toyota's FCHV-adv, Nissan's X-Trail FCV and Honda's FCX Clarity will be used in the event.

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State-of-the-art veggie lab shown to press at industry ministry

TOKYO, Japan - People look at lettuce being grown in a lab in a lobby of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on May 26. The lab controls light, temperature and humidity, allowing produce to be harvested throughout the year.

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Japanese gov't launches bus tour to help job seekers

TOKYO, Japan - A group of unemployed men and women in their 20s to their 60s board a bus from Tokyo Station organized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on April 22. The ministry launched a bus tour to help job seekers learn about small and medium-sized companies in various parts of Japan in an effort to help their job-hunting activities.

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Gov't may require telecom firms to collect used cellphones

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows a box for collecting used mobile phones at a convenience store in Yokyo's Chiyoda Ward. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry officials said Jan. 20 that the ministry is considering requiring telecom companies and retailers to collect used cellphones to step up Japan's efforts to secure precious metals.

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Japanese vice foreign minister Hashimoto visits Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Japan's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Seiko Hashimoto (L) holds talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (R) in Baghdad on Dec. 21 -- the first visit to Iraq by a high-ranking Japanese official since then Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari visited the country in June.

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CO2 emissions mark chosen to raise global warming

TOKYO, Japan - The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry chose on Nov. 14 a CO2 emissions mark to be put on food, daily necessities and other products, showing the total amount of carbon dioxide generated from stages of procurement of raw materials, manufacturing and distribution through use of products and scrapping in a bid to raise awareness of global warming by companies and consumers. Photo shows the 123 grams in the amount of carbon dioxide emissions on a plate on a ''CO2'' scale. The mark will be on the market from next April on a trial basis.

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Aprica to change defective screws on nearly 600,000 strollers

OSAKA, Japan - Aprica's baby stroller. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said July 7 it has told Aprica Children's Products to change defective screws on around 593,400 infant strollers after six accidents including a serious one.

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METI asks Crocs to improve plastic shoes

TOKYO, Japan - Lightweight plastic shoes manufactured by Crocs Inc. of the United States are displayed at a shop in Tokyo on April 18. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry asked Crocs the same day to improve the structure and material of the plastic shoes to prevent them from getting stuck in escalators.

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Gov't again orders retailer Kojima to observe recycling law

TOKYO, Japan - Akitoshi Kojima (L), president of Kojima Co., receives an order from an official at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo on Dec. 5 for the second time to mend its conduct and observe the recycling law after the home appliance store chain operator was found to have failed to transfer 76,745 used products to manufacturers after collecting them for recycling from consumers in numerous parts of the country.

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Gov't orders Kojima to observe home appliance recycling law

TOKYO, Japan - Maki Mori (R), a senior executive of home electrics discount retailer Kojima Co., receives a ''recommendation'' order for the company to abide by the Home Appliance Recycling Law from officials of the Environment Ministry and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry at the Environment Ministry in Tokyo on Oct. 16. Kojima failed to return about 3,000 old electric appliance products to manufacturers as required by the recycling law even though it had charged customers who turned in the old products 10 million yen in recycling fees.

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Nova ordered to suspend part of business for lying to consumers

OSAKA, Japan - Nozomu Sahashi, president of Nova, Japan's largest English-language school operator, speaks at a news conference in Osaka on June 13 after the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ordered Nova to suspend part of its business for six months for lying to consumers about its services when soliciting students.

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Nova ordered to suspend part of business for lying to consumers

OSAKA, Japan - Nozomu Sahashi (C), president of Nova, Japan's largest English-language school operator, bows in apology during a press conference in Osaka on June 13. Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ordered Nova to suspend part of its business for six months for lying to consumers about its services when soliciting students.

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Gov't demands stricter checks at 7 nuclear plants to stem coverups

TOKYO, Japan - Tsunehisa Katsumata (C), president of Tokyo Electric Power Co., speaks with reporters on April 20 after his company, along with three others, was ordered by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to conduct additional checks on its nuclear power plants to prevent the recurrence of data falsification scandals involving nuclear reactors across the country.

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Gov't demands stricter checks at 7 nuclear plants to stem coverups

TOKYO, Japan - Takashi Yamashita, president of Chugoku Electric Power Co., speaks with reporters on April 20 after his company, along with three others, was ordered by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to conduct additional checks on its nuclear power plants to prevent the recurrence of data falsification scandals involving nuclear reactors across the country.