Japan firm ordered to swap shock absorbers

JAPANESE officials yesterday ordered a company that falsified data on the quality of its earthquake shock absorbers to replace its products in hundreds of buildings, including a major tourist site and venues for the 2020 Olympics.

KYB Corp, a major producer of the shock absorbers, which reduce shaking of buildings during a quake, said yesterday that data related to the quality of its products and those made by a subsidiary, had been falsified since 2003, and possibly even since 2000.

Officials said there was no risk that buildings would collapse as a result, even in a severe quake, but they were trying to determine how many structures were affected in one of the world’s most quake-prone countries.

The company said at least 900 buildings around Japan had used products involved in the data falsification.

The operator of the Tokyo Skytree, a 634-meter-high tower that is one of Japan’s biggest tourist attractions, said it had installed KYB products, while Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said the items had been used in at least seven buildings owned by the city government.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism urged KYB to take full responsibility and determine how the falsification occurred and take steps to replace the shock absorbers.

The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee said it had been told KYB products were used at several of the venues for the 2020 Summer Olympics but it did not identify the venues. “We are aware that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has already requested the company to inspect the products, and we will wait for further updates,” a spokesman said.