China has a "deeply ingrained" need to spar with neighbors over territory, because the Communist Party uses the disputes to maintain strong domestic support, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says.

Three death-row inmates are hanged, in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, the first executions carried out under the new Liberal Democratic Party-led government.

The Kobe District Court dismissesd a case against a former senior police officer over a 2001 fatal mass crush after a fireworks display in Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture, because the statute of limitations has expired.

Japan registers its largest-ever monthly trade deficit of ¥1.6294 trillion as costs of fossil fuel imports surged with the yen sliding sharply, despite a mild export rebound.

Pro-Pyongyang high schools are banned from the government's tuition-waiver program, almost three years after every student in Japan was declared eligible to receive the financial aid.

The economy may be heating up, the weather outside may be chilly, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sticks to the middle of the road: lukewarm water. In a Tuesday Facebook entry from the prime minister’s office, Abe wrote that the contents of the thermos ...

The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization on Wednesday unveiled a series of robots and systems to help deal with disasters such as the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and reduce the danger for workers. The robots, developed under a one-year project, ...

When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe travels to Washington this week for a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama, his first job may be to convince the president he’s not a rightwing fanatic seeking confrontation in East Asia, but rather a calm partner who can ...

At the end of last November, a flock of Canadians descended on concert venue Duo Music Exchange in Tokyo’s bustling Shibuya district. It wasn’t an attack of any sort; the Canuck invasion was only peppered with spirited calls to “Clap with us!” The event ...

Once you see the paintings of Paul Delvaux you are unlikely to forget them. The dreamlike mood and quaint atmosphere is unique and hypnotic. But where does the mysterious power of his art come from? The exhibition “Paul Delvaux: Dream Odyssey” at the Museum ...

Regardless of whether you are a bigger-name draw or a smaller, emerging band, planning — and more importantly financing — international gigs is no easy task. But since last year, things have gotten a bit easier for Korean acts touring abroad. In March 2012, ...

Without doubt, Takahiro Fujita is the most prominent newcomer in the world of Japanese contemporary theater. To a considerable extent that’s because the 27-year-old playwright/director has an unusual trademark style — to create works that often have the same lyrical phrases and series of ...

Japan manager Koji Yamamoto makes his final roster cuts ahead of the 2013 World Baseball Classic