Recovery and repair efforts continued Tuesday, a day after a tornado tore a path through Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, and Noda, Chiba Prefecture. Meanwhile, the Meteorological Agency continued its investigation into whether the tornado was produced by a supercell, the least common type of thunderstorm ...

Sales of high-priced merchandise are growing at department stores as stronger stock prices and the weaker yen from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” economic policy mix stimulate spending by affluent people. Department store sales across the country totaled some ¥3 trillion in the first ...

Rakuten Inc., controlled by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, said it has agreed to buy streaming video service provider Viki Inc. as the Internet retailer seeks to expand into new digital offerings. The companies see opportunities for Viki to boost revenue by selling more advertising against ...

Tokyo is the odds-on favorite to host the 2020 Olympic Games in the days before the winning city is announced, according to bookmakers. According to OddsChecker.com, a website that gathers online gambling data, Tokyo, which last hosted the Olympics in 1964, has 44 percent ...

Clifton Strickler never thought of coming to Japan until he met his boss at the University of Texas while engaged in an undergraduate work-study. His boss lived in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, teaching English with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. For Strickler, the JET ...

Brazil and Mexico on Monday demanded explanations from the United States over allegations that the National Security Agency spied on the communications of their presidents. Brazilian Foreign Minister Luis Figueiredo said the interception of Internet data from President Dilma Rousseff reported by U.S. journalist ...

With its towering waves, golden sand and stunning scenery, Toyoma Beach in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, is an almost perfect spot for surfing — if only it wasn’t just down the coast from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. “Of course we may seem a ...

The $52.6 billion U.S. intelligence arsenal is aimed mainly at unambiguous adversaries, including al-Qaida, North Korea and Iran. But top-secret budget documents reveal an equally intense focus on one purported ally: Pakistan, which appears at the top of charts listing critical U.S. intelligence gaps.

As the Obama administration launches what it describes as a "flood the zone" campaign to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Syria, officials say they are willing to rewrite the proposed resolution to clarify that any operation would be limited in scope and ...

SAS fare sale extended Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has announced that due to the popularity of its special sale, the airline will extend the term of the campaign to Sept. 9. The special sale allows travelers from Tokyo to fly to over 40 European cities ...

I am sitting at a low wooden table with a group of Japanese mothers discussing the pros and cons of different knitting stitches. In my hands are the embarrassingly uneven beginnings of a turquoise scarf that I am hoping will become the first-ever knitted ...

Once again struggling with his pace on the mound, New York Mets starter Daisuke Matsuzaka was roughed up for six runs in three innings in a 13-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Monday. Matsuzaka, who spent the bulk of the season with the ...

Third-ranked Daiki Kameda defeated fourth-ranked Mexican Rodrigo Guerrero by unanimous decision to take the vacant IBF super flyweight title on Tuesday. Kameda was on top on all three judges’ scorecards after the bout which didn’t really get going until the 10th round, winning 114-112, ...