If the financial crisis makes you want to poke a finger in your boss`s eye or unleash some high karate kicks in the office, a Japanese toymaker may have the -- virtual -- answer.

Bandai has created the `tuttuki bako` or poking box, a palm-sized plastic box with a simple digital display on the front, a coin-size hole on the side and a motion sensor inside.

Isuzu Motors said Thursday it would cut 1,400 jobs and slash domestic production by 10 percent, the latest in a slew of layoffs by Japanese automakers to cope with the financial crisis.

`With the way things are, we had no choice but to make adjustments,` said a spokeswoman for Japan`s second-biggest truckmaker.

Japanese exports fell at their fastest pace in almost seven years in October as Asian demand cooled, pushing the world`s second biggest economy deeper into recession, official data showed Thursday.

Japan and China on Wednesday pledged to work together on trade issues as Asia`s two largest economies fend off the impact of the global financial crisis.

Japan`s trade minister Toshihiro Nikai held talks with his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming on the sidelines of a two-day meeting of Asia-Pacific ministers in Lima.

Japan`s Nikkei stock index tumbled 4.32 percent by the lunch break on Thursday as gloomy economic data added to fears of a long global recession.

The Nikkei dropped 357.59 points to 7,915.63, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 5.07 percent overnight on Wall Street.

Japan reported a rare trade deficit in October as exports of automobiles and electronic devices tumbled amid a global economic slowdown, official figures showed Thursday.

The deficit of 63.9 billion yen (665 million dollars) reversed a surplus of 999.4 billion yen a year before. The average market forecast was for a surplus of 104.8 billion yen.

Japan`s Nikkei stock index plunged four percent in early trade Thursday after Wall Street fell on dismal US economic data.

The benchmark index tumbled 333.55 points, or 4.03 percent, to 7,939.67 in early trade.

US stocks plunged to five-and-a-half-year lows Wednesday after data revealed a sharp deterioration in the world`s largest economy.

Japan`s Nikkei stock index opened 1.49 percent lower Thursday after Wall Street plunged on dismal US economic data.

The benchmark index lost 123.45 points to 8,149.77 in the first minute of trading.

US stocks plunged to five-and-a-half-year lows Wednesday after data revealed a sharp deterioration in the world`s largest economy.

A 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the main Japanese island of Honshu on Thursday, seismologists said.

The quake hit at 3:25 am (1925 GMT Wednesday) 163 kilometres (101 miles) east-northeast of the capital Tokyo, the US Geological Survey said.

It was registered at a depth of 35 kilometres.

No tsunami warning was immediately issued.

Japan and Australia said Wednesday they were doing everything they could to diplomatically resolve an emotionally charged dispute over whaling, though officials` remarks showed divisions remained deep.