Japan first annual trade deficit since 1980 as it imported expensive energy to offset the impact of its devastating tsunami

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 file photo, photovoltaic modules and a windmill of the wind farm are seen when residents of the radiation-stricken area around Japan's tsunami-hit nuclear reactors of Fukushima are visiting the village of Feldheim near Berlin, Germany. Japan reported Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 its first annual trade deficit since 1980 as it imported expensive energy to offset the impact of its devastating tsunami and exporters grappled with the rising value of the yen. A major factor behind the figures was the impact of the expensive energy imports Japan turned to after the March disaster touched off a nuclear crisis and led the country to shut down, or not restart, a large portion of its reactors, said Martin Schulz, senior economist with the Fujitsu Research Institute.