It’s different this time. The four most dangerous words in markets, according to former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. With the consumption tax set to be raised for the first time since 1997, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s political future rides on a different outcome ...

Softbank Corp. President Masayoshi Son said Monday that providing a quality communications network will be even more critical now that all three major carriers are selling the iPhone. “The scene of the cellphone industry is changing,” Son said during an event unveiling Softbank’s winter-spring ...

For more than 40 years, Emile Yoshimura has brought more than 10,000 old damaged paintings back to life, including some by eminent artists dating back 200 to 300 years. Most of the paintings he deals with are oil paintings on canvas, which can crack ...

Sixty years after the end of the Korean War, the United States and South Korea still cannot agree on who should take charge if another war breaks out with the communist neighbor to the north. For years, Washington has been trying to persuade the ...

Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, was once a thriving Jewish cultural hub before Nazi Germany wiped out the “Jerusalem of the North” and killed off most of the country’s Jews. Now individuals and state institutions alike are trying to revive the memory of this Jewish heritage ...

He calls it “the yellow brick road” because it is literally sprinkled with gold dust. This road runs along Cape Cod’s shifting seafloor, and undersea explorer Barry Clifford believes it leads to undiscovered treasure from the wreck of the pirate ship Whydah. Two weeks ...

Austria’s two main political parties looked Monday to have little alternative but to continue their unloved “grand coalition” for another five years after just scraping together a majority in elections. This is unless the conservatives attempt a repeat of their 2000 coalition with the ...

In the months since a gruesome gang rape riveted India, a “women-only” culture has been on the rise, with Indians increasingly seeking out women-only buses, cabs, travel groups and hotel floors. One city is preparing to open a women-only park. And in November, the ...

Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) co-leader and Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto was facing a critical battle. And he lost. On Sunday, a candidate fielded by Nippon Ishin lost a local government election for the first time in Osaka Prefecture, the power base ...

Lawrence Ho, son of Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, plans to invest more than $5 billion in Japan if Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. receives permission to build a casino here as he sees constraints on development at home. Ho’s maneuver to build projects in ...

As the U.S. government teeters on the brink of a partial shutdown, congressional Republicans and Democrats traded blame for the failure to reach agreement on a temporary funding bill to keep federal agencies open. Congress was closed for the day Sunday after a post-midnight ...

Syria's government has been "businesslike and efficient" ahead of meetings this week to lay the groundwork for the destruction of the country's chemical weapons, officials charged with overseeing the effort said say.

Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi appears to backpedal Sunday in his strategy aimed at collapsing Italy's fragile coalition government and triggering early elections, after some key supporters chafe at his order to quit the Cabinet.

Get ready for 2014 with new diaries, fun desk accesories and other interior goods

This summer, I spent an hour floating in a 1.21 × 2.4-meter isolation tank filled with tepid salt water in a basement in Manassas, Virginia. Floating in a tank of skin-temperature water saltier than the Dead Sea is said to induce an ethereal, meditative ...

While more than 7,000 couples applied to adopt or become foster parents every year between 2006 and 2010, only 309 children were adopted in fiscal 2010, according to government figures.

Several years ago, we went to a bank in Tokyo that was advertising housing loans with easy terms. Though we weren’t shopping for a loan at the time we wanted to see what was needed in order to apply for one. The bank’s approval ...

Enthusiasm tinged with ambivalence greets the news that the city has been chosen to host the 2020 Summer Olympics — at least among this unscientific sample of Tokyoites.

International events undermine Japan's democracy. Shame on the International Olympic Committee for being a party to it.

Tony Blanco homered twice to drive in five runs, powering the Yokohama BayStars to a 6-3 win over the last-place Tokyo Yakult Swallows on Monday night. Yakult’s Wladimir Balentien extended his Japanese single-season record to 59 homers with a two-out solo blast that gave ...

J.J. Watt’s face was blood-splattered from a gash on the bridge of his nose which required six stitches. His white pants were splayed with crimson from the same injury. But his mangled nose and filthy uniform weren’t as troubling as the rage Houston’s star ...

France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated compatriot Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-6 (10-8), in a first-round match at the Japan Open on Monday. Tsonga, ranked eighth in the world, used a strong serve and powerful ground strokes to win a baseline battle with Monfils at Ariake Colosseum ...

The Japan Sumo Association’s Yokozuna Deliberation Council was largely sympathetic with the performance of yokozuna Harumafuji, who finished with a subpar 10-5 mark at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday. It was the second consecutive tournament that Harumafuji posted just 10 wins — ...

Luis Suarez returned to the Premier League in explosive fashion on Sunday, teaming up with strike partner Daniel Sturridge to propel Liverpool to a 3-1 win at Sunderland that inflicted more misery on the division’s managerless bottom team. Liverpool climbed to second place in ...