Prime Minister Shinzo Abe goes ahead with raising the consumption tax while also offering a ¥5 trillion stimulus package to offset the negative impact on consumer spending.

Shinzo Abe's future as prime minister may well depend on how well the ¥5 trillion stimulus package cushions the economy from the tax-hike blow.

Maritime Self-Defense Force training vessels on a round-the-world voyage arrive in Myanmar on Monday for a five-day mission, marking the first-ever port call by an MSDF vessel to the country.

Toyota Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada rode his pioneering work on the Prius hybrid to the top of the world’s biggest car company. But that doesn’t mean he is a zealot when it comes to the growing expectations for electric vehicle technology. The technical barriers to ...

Japan Airlines Co. and ANA Holdings Inc.’s fight over additional slots at Tokyo’s Haneda airport is widening to include global airline partnerships seeking access to fly businesspeople right into the heart of the capital. Haneda, Asia’s second-busiest airport, is set to gain about 40 ...

The German government admits it had approved as recently as 2011 the export to Syria of chemicals that could be weaponized, and in larger quantities than previously known.

South Korea displays its longest-range missile and other sophisticated weapons at a massive military ceremony, a display of force meant to show Pyongyang that any provocation would be met with strong retaliation.

As the U.S. government creaked toward a shutdown Monday, the world looked on with a little anxiety and a lot of dismay, and some people had trouble suppressing smirks. “To be honest, people are making a lot of jokes,” said Justice Malala, a political ...

Kazushi Suganuma from Nagoya is helping young people through his own experience as a “hikikomori,” a term referring to some young people’s withdrawal from society. Suganuma, 35, and his brother, Isao, 33, have established a support association that operates a coffee shop to help ...

China’s notoriously opaque courts have suddenly embraced social media to provide a window into their proceedings, to boost a skeptical public’s confidence in the country’s Communist Party-controlled legal system. Nearly 1,000 Chinese courts have set up microblog accounts. One in central China released a ...

The Florence Appellate Court hearing U.S. student Amanda Knox’s third trial in her roommate’s murder agrees Monday to run additional DNA tests on the presumed weapon, but rejects more than a dozen other defense requests for new testimony or evidence.

Greece’s prime minister said Monday his government will do “whatever it takes” to completely eradicate the extreme-right Golden Dawn party, whose neo-Nazi leaders have just been arrested. Antonis Samaras said the Greek people “are very smart” and are now seeing the party for what ...

In a society where cleanliness is revered, a series of pictures showing unhygienic pranks involving food industry workers and customers has triggered a media storm after going viral on social-networking services. The posts reflect a broader trend among young Japanese Internet users for sharing ...

A fisheries federation asks South Korea to lift an import ban imposed because of radiation-contaminated water reaching the sea at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The world is aging so fast that most countries are not prepared to support their swelling numbers of elderly people, according to a global study going out Tuesday by the United Nations and an elder rights group.

A 30-year-old infertile woman gave birth after surgeons removed her ovaries and re-implanted tissue they treated in a lab, in an experimental technique that could help women in their early 40s who have trouble getting pregnant because of their age, Japanese researchers find.

Every parent is all too familiar with The Tantrum. The screaming, the flailing arms, the angry head butting — and the timing (normally in the most inconvenient public place possible).

As if on cue, the Pacific League pennant winner Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles came through for right-hander Masahiro Tanaka — and big. After being held scoreless in three consecutive games since clinching the PL title on Sept. 26, the Eagles erupted with a six-run ...

Defending champion Kei Nishikori was two points from defeat in his first-round match at the Rakuten Japan Open on Tuesday, but stormed back to beat unseeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-2 with a huge show of will. Playing indoors at Ariake ...

Kashiwa Reysol and Iran’s Esteghlal will have to make history in second-leg games of the Asian Champions League semifinals on Wednesday if they are to prevent Chinese and Korean titans Guangzhou Evergrande and FC Seoul reaching the final. No team since the current format ...

David Price, Evan Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays are going to the playoffs again, getting there with a victory in their final regular-season contest for the second time in three years. They needed an extra game this time. Price threw his fourth complete ...

Drew Brees made his latest claim to the moniker of Mr. Monday Night. He also gave the Miami Dolphins another reason to regret not making a harder push to sign him when they had the chance seven years ago. Brees passed for 413 yards ...

Romelu Lukaku scored twice and set up the other goal to lead Everton to a 3-2 win over Newcastle on Monday, lifting the Premier League’s only unbeaten team to fourth in the standings. The Belgium striker, who is on loan from Chelsea, shredded Newcastle’s ...

LeBron James is not saying much of anything about next season. The second edition of “The Decision” is still nine months away, and the four-time NBA MVP is all too aware of the already-incessant buzz about what uniform he will be wearing a year ...