New figures out this morning show Japan's economy is slowing down. It grew at a rate of 1.4 percent in the latest three month period. That's down sharply from the previous quarter.

In Japan, two big electronics companies are reporting disappointing earnings this morning. Sony is reporting a $316 million quarterly loss. And Sharp announced a $1.2 billion loss, which was much worse than expected.

In Japan, the radiation from the Fukushima nuclear accident is going nowhere fast. And in many cases, it's not clear where the radiation's OK, and where it's not. That's where a group called SafeCast comes in.

A Japanese government report on the Fukushima nuclear crisis puts the blame squarely on culture — namely, a cozy relationship between politicians, regulators and the nuclear power industry. It goes so far as to suggest the accident might have occurred even without an earthquake and tsunami.

The new government initiative could lift the land of the rising sun to second place among the world's solar energy markets.

A government plan would increase the nation's sales tax from 5 percent to 10 percent. Critics say this would affect consumer spending.

China and Japan move to trade each other's currencies directly, without using the U.S. dollar to set the exchange rate. The change is a new step toward a world where the dollar is not last word in global currencies.

And no one has clue who will pay for the clean-up of tons of debris.

The Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, is in Washington today for meetings with President Obama. There are tensions over the U.S. military in Japan, but moves toward closer cooperation on energy and trade.

Amid cries of a "lost decade" and economic stagnation, the real Japan looks and feels much different.