Corporate scams deal a big blow to Japan's image

Two recent scandals have tarnished Japan's image of a manufacturer of quality products.

On Thursday Nissan Motor Co said it is suspending domestic production of vehicles for the Japanese market for at least two weeks to address misconduct in its final inspection procedures that has led to a recall of 1.2 million of its vehicles.

This was followed by a more catastrophic scandal: On Oct 8, Kobe Steel admitted it has systematically faked data about the strength and durability of some aluminum and copper for more than a decade, while its former employees said the data tampering dates back to the 1970s. The 112-year-old steel-maker's fraud has very serious consequences as its aluminum and copper products have been used by Japanese companies, and their overseas counterparts such as general Motors and Boeing, to make a wide range of products, from cars, bullet trains, planes and rockets to defense equipment. Kobe Steel says the aluminum and copper data was fabricated because of delivery deadlines.