Japan's top diplomat is set to hold talks with his counterparts from the United States and China next week, aiming to strengthen efforts to tackle North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, government sources said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Taro Kono replaced Fumio Kishida in a Cabinet ...

Japan's famed manga industry is turning the page to an unknown chapter. Possibly this year, annual sales of digital comics may surpass that of paper for the first time, according to a report released by the Tokyo-based Research Institute for Publications, which follows the publishing ...

Thursday’s reshuffle is also expected to see foreign minister Fumio Kishida appointed to a key Liberal Democratic Party post.

A survivor of Minamata mercury poisoning disease will visit Switzerland next month to attend the first conference of signatory states to an international treaty to prevent mercury pollution, one of the organizers of her trip said Wednesday. Shinobu Sakamoto, 61, who suffered mercury poisoning while ...

Accident involving five workers at a research and development center in Ibaraki Prefecture was assessed on zero-to-seven international scale.

A high number of surveyed medical facilities noted language and communication issues, which they said could lead to inappropriate diagnoses or mistreatment.

Japan's oldest working water wheels resumed operation Wednesday in the city of Asakura about a month after torrential rains devastated the area and claimed dozens of lives. Work to restore operation of the three water wheels in the Fukuoka Prefecture city had been underway since ...

Tie-up of e-commerce giant and Chinese firm comes following the passage of a new law giving the green light to private short-term lodging services.

The main opposition Democratic Party, forced to find a new leader after the sudden resignation of Renho, is set to choose its new head on Sept. 1, party lawmakers have said. The contest is predicted to be fought between two veteran lawmakers, Seiji Maehara, a ...

With its basic recommendations for operating integrated resort casinos now complete, the central government will hold public hearings across the country this month to explain the requirements and the policies to address problem gambling and concerns about money laundering. While local government officials from Hokkaido ...

Toyota Motor Corp. is considering expanding the number of employees eligible for its flexible working hours system and guaranteeing 45 hours of extra work pay a month regardless of actual overtime hours, its officials said Wednesday. The measure is aimed at allowing workers to choose ...

Rikio Kozu, head of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), the nation's largest labor organization, will stay on for a second two-year term beginning in October, sources said Tuesday. Executives of labor unions under the confederation proposed that the 61-year-old incumbent continue as president, they ...

A Bank of Japan policymaker on Wednesday encouraged businesses to take advantage of the central bank's ultra-easy monetary policy to find new areas for growth as the country's shrinking population heralds a fall in domestic demand. In a speech to business leaders in Sapporo, Yukitoshi ...

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday that Washington is not seeking regime change in North Korea and would be open to dialogue, a stance seemingly at odds with President Donald Trump and officials in the administration. Tillerson, in a rare news conference marking ...

Japan and the United States are considering operating the U.S. military's Osprey aircraft at night as part of an upcoming joint exercise planned in Hokkaido, an official of the Ground Self-Defense Force said Wednesday. The exercise involving GSDF members and U.S. Marines is planned between ...

Young Japanese women are flocking to pools on summer evenings — but not so much to swim as to shine on social media. Women in their teens and 20s are putting on their bathing suits and heading to "night pools" at upscale hotels and other ...

Toyota Motor Corp. stood out as the only major automaker to increase U.S. sales last month, while Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. both beat projections, as demand at traditional U.S. automakers slumped. Sales at Toyota rose 3.6 percent in July, defying estimates of ...

SoftBank Vision Fund, the technology investor founded by Masayoshi Son, is in talks to invest directly in India's Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter, after talks to fold SoftBank-backed Snapdeal into Flipkart fell apart. The fund is looking at ...

Daiichi Sankyo Inc. has settled thousands of lawsuits alleging its blood-pressure drugs caused intestinal damage, bringing to $339 million the amount the drugmaker has paid over the medicines. Daiichi officials agreed Monday to pay $300 million to resolve patient suits over its blood-pressure treatments Benicar, ...

An increasing number of economists forecast that consumer prices will not only fail to meet the Bank of Japan's target, but that they will peak as soon as this autumn, in stark contrast with the view from Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda and his policy board. Inflation ...

Sprint Corp. Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Claure said Tuesday that a decision on possible mergers is close at hand, potentially setting a new course for a company that has slashed costs as it loses subscribers. The company has had positive merger discussions with T-Mobile U.S. ...

The operator of a Korean senior high school in the city of Hiroshima appealed to a higher court Tuesday a ruling dismissing its claim for the publicly funded tuition support that covers most of the nation's high schools. The appeal comes just days after a ...

Protesters marched on the offices of Kenya's election commission on Tuesday, demanding a speedy investigation of the murder of a senior official that has raised fears over the legitimacy of next week's national elections. Chris Msando, the election board's head of information, communication and technology, ...

The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate called on President Donald Trump on Tuesday to block some Chinese investments in the United States to pressure China "to help rein in North Korea's threatening and destabilizing behavior." In a letter to Trump, Senate Democratic leader Chuck ...

Australian police said on Tuesday they had released one of four men arrested in raids last weekend that foiled an "Islamic-inspired" plot to bring down a plane. Local media said the plot may have involved a bomb or poisonous gas. A 50-year-old man was released on ...

Europe will look quite different after Brexit because forces are at work internationally and globally that are changing the whole pattern of European collaboration.

The repercussions of the August 1947 partition of India continue to shake the subcontinent today.

A born-in-Japan competition of low-tech clunky robots is gaining traction in many countries, spreading its motto that "All failures are beautiful." Hebocon, as the competition is called, encourages young people to come up with their own robot creations. In May, dozens of people gathered in San ...

Sixty years on, letters that formed the basis of Austrian writer Jungk's acclaimed account of life after the A-bomb are set to be published.

Takeshi Fukunaga first came to international attention at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival, where his debut feature, "Out of My Hand," premiered. He is only now bringing the film to his homeland, and at a preview screening at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of ...

It's Monday night and the newly opened Brew La La craft beer bar in Tokyo's Shinbashi neighborhood is hopping. As the clock strikes 8 p.m., however, the 60 or so people gathered there fall silent. "Game of Thrones" is on. It's the seventh season premiere ...

Japanese directors have made films in many different settings, but it's safe to say Takeshi Fukunaga is the first of his countrymen to direct a narrative feature set partly in Liberia, a small African country not too long ago embroiled in a bloody civil ...

Recordings of Princess Diana speaking candidly about her sex life with Prince Charles and her sorrow at the spectacular collapse of her marriage will be broadcast on British television on Sunday. Diana, first wife of the heir to the British throne, died aged 36 in ...

Tokyo American Club has been reserved as the site for USA House at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the country's Olympic committee revealed there on Wednesday. USA House serves as the hospitality and organizational headquarters of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) during the Olympics. According to ...

Second seed Kei Nishikori got off to a winning start at the rain-delayed Citi Open on Tuesday, posting a three-sets win over American Donald Young in the second round. Nishikori, who had a first-round bye, prevailed 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) in a match that lasted ...

Former Japan midfielder and FC Tokyo player Naohiro Ishikawa has decided to draw the curtain on his 18-year career after this season, the J. League first division side said Wednesday. The 36-year-old Ishikawa, who joined FC Tokyo from Yokohama F. Marinos in 2002, revealed on ...