Canon Launches Recovery Measures

Canon launches recovery measures following major earthquake in Japan

TOKYO, March 14, 2011—In response to the damage sustained by the Canon Group due to the major earthquake that struck Japan on March 11, Canon Inc. has established an Earthquake Disaster Recovery Task Force (Task Force Chief: Chairman & CEO Fujio Mitarai; Task Force Assistant Chief: President & COO Tsuneji Uchida; Executive Director: Executive Vice President and CFO Toshizo Tanaka) and begun taking related measures.

The Task Force today issued the following instructions toward the promotion of swift response measures.

1. The prompt review and drafting of comprehensive recovery plans, spanning development, production and sales operations, for relevant operating sites, primarily by persons in charge of each business (chief executives/group executives). The Company’s headquarter divisions will provide full support for this effort.

2. With regard to Canon Inc. operation sites and Canon Group companies for which production operations may be suspended for one month or more, the Company will also consider making use of alternate sites that were not damaged by the earthquake as a means of continuing production.

Below is an overview of the latest impact of the earthquake on Canon operations in Japan as of 15:00 JST on Monday, March 14, 2011.

While the level of damage differs at each Canon Inc. operation site and Canon Group company located in northern Honshu (the area hardest hit by the earthquake), beginning today, the Company is earnestly taking action to realize the earliest possible start of operations. At this time, however, concrete schedules for when production may resume have yet to be determined.

As for Canon plants and Group companies in the western half of Honshu, while operations resumed as usual today (Monday, March 14), the Company is now working to ascertain whether or not there will be any impact on production at each location.

With regard to the Japanese government’s requests for cooperation in conserving electricity, in addition to the energy-saving measures Canon promotes as a matter of course, the Company has also called on its employees to make every effort to conserve electricity in their homes.