Sharp has unveiled plans to apply for delisting of its common stock on the Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo bourses in Japan.

Japan has partially approved a plan - without a specific deadline - to phase out nuclear power after last year's Fukushima disaster, officials say.

Dozens of Japanese businesses shut operations in China on Monday and urged expatriates to stay indoors, fearing an escalation of protests triggered by Tokyo's decision to nationalise a group of islands claimed by Beijing.

Apple instead picked Japan's Toshiba, Elpida Memory and Korea's SK Hynix to supply DRAM and NAND chips.

Japan has reported a wider-than-expected trade deficit in July, as slowing demand from China and Europe weighed on exports.

Cash-strapped Sharp is in talks to sell its key solar panel plant in Japan as part of an asset sale seeking more than US$1.2 billion, local media said on Thursday.

Japan's Fujitsu is in talks to sell its main semiconductor plant to TSMC, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Sharp is considering chopping some 3,000 jobs, or 15% of its parent-basis workforce, to turn its deteriorating business around, Kyodo News reported Thursday, citing sources close to the plan.

Toshiba has announced that it will implement a series of functional reorganizations of its Digital Products business facilities in Japan that will enhance operating efficiency and the performance of its Digital Products businesses, including the LCD TV business.

Japanese regulators approved a merger between the nation's two biggest stock exchanges, paving the way for the first tie-up of major bourses after US$32 billion of global deals failed since last February.

The Toshiba Corporation has announced that it will commence the construction of PV plants totaling 100MW in Minami Soma on the battered northeastern coastline where a tsunami and an earthquake caused the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl a year ago.

Many politicians and anti-nuclear activists in other countries are joining the international outcry against Japan and its decision to restart two reactors at the nuclear power plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture.

In an attempt to save electricity and help avoid power shortages this summer, the Japanese government is expected to ask major electronics retailers and home appliance makers to voluntarily put an end to both the sales and production of traditional incandescent light bulbs.

Japan's NEC will not provide a fresh capital injection to support loss-making chipmaker Renesas Electronics, a senior NEC executive said in a newspaper interview.

Olympus, the Japanese camera maker recovering from an accounting scandal, has announced a five-year plan that includes cutting 2,700 jobs.

Japan's public broadcasting network says new television technology will offer viewers a picture with 16 times the resolution currently available on HDTVs.

Problems at two Japanese microchip makers highlight the potential dangers in a gathering effort to reshape the country's tech industry, as struggling conglomerates try to revive their fortunes by shedding unprofitable businesses.

Japan and China said Tuesday they will start direct currency trading this week, marking the first time Beijing has let a major unit other than the dollar swap with the yuan.

"People are starting to position bankruptcy filing as a way to rebuild the company, and that's becoming more acceptable," says Mitsushige Akino, a chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. "If more cases like JAL emerge, it will help to revitalize the Japanese market, as well as the economy."

Loss-making Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics plans to cut 6,000 jobs, about 15% of its workforce, and raise JPY50 billion (US$630 million) through a third-party share allotment, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Tuesday.

According to IDC, 838.7 million employees in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan will be mobile workers by 2015 and majority of these mobile workers will be office-based.

Qualcomm has announced the appointment of Clifford Ficke as vice president and president of Qualcomm Japan.

A Japanese government panel is likely to recommend utilities pay 42 yen (51 cents) per kilowatt-hour (kwh) for solar power supplies in a feed-in tariff scheme, in line with requests by the solar power industry, the Nikkei business daily said

Japan's Toshiba Corporation has agreed to buy IBM's point-of-sale (POS) business in a deal worth US$850 million.

Private equity firms TPG Capital LP and China's Hony Capital are to bid jointly for Elpida Memory, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday, joining an increasingly international battle for the bankrupt Japanese chipmaker.

Japan's new feed-in tariff, implementation is anticipated to be July, is set to generate highly attractive returns, according to clean energy market research provider, Bloomberg Energy Finance.

"It is likely to mean fewer goods are 'Made in Japan', but more are 'Made by Japan'," said David Rea, Japan economist at Capital Economics.

Japan's Sumco is in final talks with a turnaround fund backed by the country's major banks to raise JPY15 billion (US$186 million) by issuing preferred shares, a source familiar with the deal said on Thursday.