Japan's trade deficit shot to a record high of ¥11.47 trillion ($112.07 billion) in 2013 as a weakened yen and an insatiable demand for energy drove up import costs.

Recent South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate Koreans who were forced to perform labor for them during the war have cast a shadow on already strained bilateral ties. In July, the Seoul High Court ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. (NSSMC) ...

Yamaha Motor Co., the world's second-largest motorcycle maker, said it probably met a reduced 2013 sales target in Indonesia and expects to at least maintain the level of deliveries in its largest market this year. Yamaha cut its 2013 sales estimate for Indonesia by 200,000 ...

Investigative sources said Monday that, prior to his arrest, a factory worker suspected of lacing frozen food with pesticide at a factory in the town of Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture, described to police how such an act could be carried out. Toshiki Abe, 49, was arrested ...

The smooth, metallic surface reflects the sunlight coming through the window. Without touching it you can see that this is an object made with great care — even though it came from a factory. I'm inside a shop run by Lexus in Tokyo, but ...

Dealing out some monsters No, these are not the Pocket Monster trading cards that made the game an international sensation. But they are still Pokémon cards — just a different kind. Pokémon Trump are "Pokémon X"- and "Pokémon Y"-branded playing cards from Nintendo, a company that ...

What was the back story to this Ghanaian's death from pneumonia? A pre-existing condition? Or something the immigration authorities wanted hidden? Without an autopsy, there would be no answers to these gnawing questions. We already knew all we would ever know.

Letters and online responses to the Jan. 6, 13 and 20 Learning Curve columns by Teru Clavel on English education.

An album featuring Japanese violinist Midori Goto on Sunday won the Best Classical Compendium award at the Grammys. Goto, 42, is a soloist in the violin concerto on "Hindemith: Violinkonzert; Symphonic Metamorphosis; Konzertmusik," under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach. The album, in which Germany's NDR ...

Mongolian ozeki Kakuryu will be a candidate for promotion to sumo's highest rank in March, the head of the Japan Sumo Association's Yokozuna Deliberation Council indicated Monday. The council held its regular meeting following the final day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament, in ...

Dutch-born Indonesia forward Irfan Bachdim announced Monday he has officially joined J. League first-division side Ventforet Kofu. "I am very happy about this move to a higher level such as the J. League," Bachdim told a news conference. The idea to invite Bachdim came up last ...