The ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant is a sign that the world needs to seriously rethink nuclear safety and consider possibly ending its dependence on atomic power, the former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says.

People who live in Tokyo's Harumi seafront district are excited about hosting the Olympic Village when the games come to town in 2020, but the trick will be parleying the construction into a long-term boon.

Sonja Miskulin has forgotten her beloved cat, Pooki. She can’t remember whether she has grandchildren and has no memory of her nine-hour journey one recent Sunday to forever leave behind her home in Germany. Suffering from dementia, the wheelchair-bound former translator celebrated her 94th ...

At her Senate hearing last week, Caroline Kennedy, tipped to be the next U.S. ambassador to Japan, faced numerous questions about the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact, tensions over the Senkaku Islands, and what she would do about nearly 400 cases of American children allegedly abducted ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper were expected to confirm cooperation in free trade, defense and energy during talks to be held later Tuesday in Ottawa. Abe and Harper were to focus on trade liberalization within bilateral and multilateral frameworks, ...

Lamborghini expects the concept Urus vehicle, its first SUV since the Rambo Lambo of the 1990s, to get cleared for production, the supercar-maker’s chief executive officer said. “We’re working on it and it will come, which will be good for the brand,” Stephan Winkelmann ...

The latest version of the blockbuster video game “Grand Theft Auto” may have stoked a worldwide buying frenzy, but the ultraviolent offering is likely to be a minnow in Japan’s vast gaming market. Shoot-em-up video games from abroad often struggle to gain traction here, ...

Wild boars are taking a toll on agriculture in Fukushima Prefecture as farmers struggle to bounce back from the planting bans imposed after the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant in March 2011. The boars are multiplying and entering areas they previously ...

BlackBerry’s largest shareholder has reached a tentative agreement to pay $4.7 billion for the troubled smartphone maker, even as many investors fret about its potential demise. BlackBerry Ltd. said Monday that Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. has signed a letter of intent that “contemplates” buying ...

In the Soviet era, female political prisoners who were sent to labor in Russia’s Mordovia region described their privations in tiny words written on cigarette papers, which took months to reach the world. Today, an inmate can hand a real letter to a husband, ...

The attack that killed 69 people in a Kenyan shopping mall over the weekend was the first regional operation undertaken by the new leadership of Somalia’s al-Shabab militants following a bloody power struggle. After months of pressure from African troops against the al-Qaida-linked group ...

It carried hippies through the 1960s, hauled surfers in search of killer waves during endless summers and serves as a workhorse across the developing world, but the long, strange trip of the Volkswagen van is ending. Brazil is the last place in the world ...

A sports car driven by an 18-year-old male plows into a group of kids walking to school in Kyoto Prefecture, leaving five injured, including one in critical condition.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga raps Hokkaido Railway Co. over recent safety oversights that have tarnished its public image, and pledges a government investigation.

North Korean scientists are able to build crucial equipment for uranium-based nuclear bombs on their own, cutting the need for imports that had been one of the few ways outsiders could monitor the country's secretive atomic work, according to evidence gathered by two American ...

A former FBI explosives expert said Monday he will plead guilty to revealing secret information for an Associated Press story about a U.S. intelligence operation in Yemen in 2012. The story led to a leaks investigation and the seizure of AP phone records in ...

An Egyptian court orders the banning of the Muslim Brotherhood and the confiscation of its assets, opening the door for authorities to dramatically accelerate a crackdown on the extensive network of schools, hospitals, charities and other social institutions that was the foundation of the ...

Masaaki Katabami is a content producer working in Tokyo. Besides producing manga and mascot design for clients, Katabami publishes Burgeon, a biannual free manga magazine aimed at a female otaku (geek) readership. Available at Tokyo’s Comiket (Comic Market fair), the magazine is in its ...

When each new generation of game hardware begins, gamers are presented with choices: Which console will they buy? Will they be satisfied with one company's machine or will they need to buy rival hardware too?

Venus Williams upset top-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday to advance to the third round of the Pan Pacific Open. Williams, making her first appearance in the Tokyo tournament since 2009, took advantage of six-double faults by Azarenka, who struggled with her game ...

The long wait is over, Pittsburgh. Your Pirates are finally headed back to the postseason. After a 21-year absence, Pittsburgh clinched at least a National League wild card Monday night when it beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 and the Washington Nationals lost to St. ...

Ryozo Kato had the ideas to be the commissioner Japanese baseball needed, but not the muscle. Early in his tenure, you could hear the sincerity with which he spoke of trying to make NPB better for both fans and players. It is somewhat ironic ...

Shogo Akiyama and Takeya Nakamura hit back-to-back RBI singles as the Seibu Lions came from two runs down to beat rookie right-hander Takahiro Norimoto and the Pacific League-leading Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 4-3 on Tuesday night. Facing a 2-0 deficit in the eighth, Seibu ...

Paul George has no intention of leaving the Pacers. Larry Bird is spending most of his time these days trying to sure Indiana’s budding star sticks around for the next few years. The team president left Monday’s annual Pacers Foundation golf outing before the ...