Tokyo Electric Wednesday sent a submersible robot into the primary containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant to probe for the exact location of melted fuel debris. The the first day of the operation, which lasted for about ...

The virtually reality experience is no longer limited to bulky head gear with the advent of a new headset-free 8K high-resolution video projection system. Some Japanese firms have come up with a headset-free VR entertainment experience that projects ultra-clear imagery, and they are trying to ...

The Defense Ministry was hit again Wednesday by another apparent data cover-up scandal involving Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, prompting opposition lawmakers to further step up their calls for her immediate resignation. On Tuesday, it was reported that anonymous government sources had said that Inada attended ...

A scholar and the family of a New Zealander who died after being tied to a hospital bed for 10 days forms a group that will push for a review of restraints at hospitals.

The number of foreign visitors and spending by the tourists in the first six months of 2017 both hit record highs, government data estimates showed Wednesday. The Japan Tourism Agency said the number of foreign visitors in the January-June period grew 17.4 percent from the ...

Toshiba Corp. said Wednesday it has resumed blocking Western Digital Corp.'s access to the databases of their joint chip venture after a U.S. appellate court allowed the action in a temporary order. The decision by the California Court of Appeal in San Francisco came after ...

About a year has passed since the fatal stabbings of 19 residents with developmental disabilities at a facility in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, killed at the hands of a former care worker who spoke of euthanizing the disabled. Satoshi Uematsu, 27, was indicted in February on ...

Yomiuri Giants' Shun Yamaguchi was abruptly withdrawn from a game against the Chunichi Dragons on Tuesday over of a violent incident last week in which the pitcher is suspected to have been involved, according to the Central League ball club. In the early hours of ...

Daimler AG aims to head off a growing crisis over potential emissions cheating by voluntarily recalling more than 3 million Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles in Europe. The company will extend an ongoing upgrade of about 250,000 compact cars and vans to nearly every modern Mercedes diesel ...

Yahoo Japan Corp., operator of the nation's second-most popular website, has announced a new web-based gaming platform called Game Plus. The new service, which started Tuesday in Japan with 39 games, offers titles through cloud streaming and those built on HTML5. Yahoo Japan is partnering ...

Japanese securities firms face an inspection by the industry association into their compliance with insider rules after Nomura Holdings Inc. discovered it breached laws governing the handling of nonpublic information. The Japan Securities Dealers Association's new chief pledged to examine how firms train and educate ...

Officials from Japan and the United States have started making plans for high-level economic dialogue in October in Washington, with a target of arranging U.S. President Donald Trump's first visit to Tokyo this fall, a diplomatic source said. At the second round of the bilateral ...

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is seeking a deal with North Korea in 2020 to bring about the "complete denuclearization" of the isolated nation in return for a peace treaty that would guarantee the survival of Kim Jong Un's regime. Moon, an advocate of dialogue ...

With the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo just three years away, the government is stepping up efforts to prevent terrorist attacks using nuclear and other radioactive materials. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has developed a device capable of detecting nuclear materials during airport baggage ...

Feeling blue at work? According to Keio University professor Takashi Maeno, there are science-backed reasons explaining why workers may feel so distressed. Maeno, the dean of the Graduate School of System Design and Management at the university, has used a scientific approach to study psychological ...

In early January at about 8 p.m., a 17-year-old who works at Naniwa de Sanpo (A Walk in Naniwa) in Osaka's Namba district stands outside a convenience store with a luxury bag slung across her shoulder. Moments later, a man in a suit who appears ...

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a previously undisclosed dialogue during a dinner for G-20 leaders at a summit earlier this month in Germany, a White House official said on Tuesday. The two leaders had also held a formal two-hour bilateral ...

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres), which advocates freedom of information around the world, on Tuesday accused Chinese authorities of having "murdered" Nobel Peace Prize-winning dissident Liu Xiaobo by denying him proper medical care during his incarceration. "We can clearly state that Liu Xiaobo was ...

A 36-year-old Osaka man and his 19-year-old wife were arrested on suspicion of leaving their 3-month-old son alone at home overnight, the Osaka Prefectural Police said Tueday, adding the baby apparently died of heatstroke during that time. The son was found face down in his ...

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government on Tuesday vowed to proceed with plans for a controversial new congress despite what it called a "brutal interventionist" threat of U.S. economic sanctions. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would take "strong and swift economic actions" if Maduro ...

U.S. President Donald Trump probably pulled America out of the Paris climate accord to bolster his sagging popularity ratings, but the rest of the world may benefit as well.

Eventually the BOJ will need to clarify its monetary policy stance.

Japanese society and culture seem intrinsically suited to bicycles, which require a degree of safety of environment and intimacy that are alien to many thunderously car-based, brash and crime-ridden Western societies.

People in Kansai's commercial capital were asked if they feel concerned about the prospect of missile attacks by North Korea on Japan — and whether there are more important worries in their lives right now.

A 38-year-old first-time writer is the winner of the 157th Akutagawa Prize for his story "Eiri," the awards selection committee announced Wednesday. "It's a great honor, I've only written one work so far. I'll keep up the good work," said Shinsuke Numata during a news ...

Interviews with Japanese directors tend to be straightforward PR exercises. The subjects may be friendly, but they are also disinclined to deviate from their script, especially if they are on their umpteenth media interview of the day. Ryuichi Hiroki is different, though, and that's not ...

The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and its aftermath have been the focus of many films, both fiction and nonfiction. However, most of them have been by filmmakers who've come from outside Fukushima Prefecture, where the disaster hit hardest. Ryuichi Hiroki, a native of ...

Bong Joon-ho's latest film, "Okja," received a four-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in May, an about-face reaction from the loud boos heard at the beginning of the screening. Those were likely due to a technical failure that delayed the screening for ...

Country music star Kenny Rogers is planning to take a final bow with Dolly Parton in a Nashville concert celebrating his 60-year career. Rogers, 78, who is on the final stage of his world farewell tour, said on Tuesday he will be joined by Little ...

Atsunori Inaba will be named the new manager of Japan's national men's baseball team as early as next week, an official source said Wednesday. The 44-year-old former outfielder, who starred with the Central League's Yakult Swallows and the Pacific League's Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, was ...

Masayuki Kuwahara smashed a tie-breaking, two-run, eighth-inning triple to lift the Yokohama BayStars to a 5-3 win over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Before 28,939 at packed Yokohama Stadium, the BayStars overcame three solo homers by the Swallows, tying the score at 3-3 in the seventh ...

Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho suffered a shocking first defeat at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Wednesday, but still managed to hold onto sole possession of the lead with four days of the meet remaining. Hakuho (10-1) was widely expected to keep his flawless record intact ...

When the Japan Basketball Association announced its 12-player women's national team squad for the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup in Bangalore, India, a couple of weeks ago, it came as a bit of a surprise, because it did not list the name of star player ...

Tomoki Sato captured his second gold medal of the World Para Athletics Championships by winning the men's 400 meter T52 wheelchair race in a meet record of 56.78 seconds on Tuesday. Sato added to the gold medal he won in the 1,500 meters on Sunday, ...

Japan won the bronze medal in the women's technical routine team competition at the world swimming championships for the second time in a row on Tuesday, securing the country's first podium finish at the ongoing meet in Budapest. Yukiko Inui, Mai Nakamura, Kanami Nakamaki, Sakiko ...