Yoko Kamikawa, who became justice minister in Thursday's Cabinet shake-up, said she will "act carefully and strictly as required by the law" regarding capital punishment, respecting the sentences handed down by courts. "The death penalty is an extremely serious punishment that ends a person's life, ...

A woman on a motorcycle was killed and 10 people were injured in a pair of multiple-vehicle collisions Thursday in an expressway tunnel in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture, police said. Five vehicles and a motorcycle collided in the 2.6-km-long tunnel on the Shin-Tomei Expressway around 10:10 ...

In shake-up, embattled prime minister taps veterans as part of effort to avoid further gaffes, scandals.

With Thursday's shake-up of his Cabinet done and dusted, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has delivered an apparent message to the public and political heavyweights in Nagatacho, the heart of Japan's central government. The message: no more scandals, no more unscrupulous politicians and only political veterans ...

With his political capital waning, leader looks set to fall back to his rhetoric on Abenomics.

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Taro Kono is known as an outspoken, reform-minded politician unafraid of questioning the party line. Like Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Kono is a political blue blood. His father, Yohei, also served as foreign minister, and is known for a landmark 1993 ...

ANA Holdings Inc. said group net profit jumped nearly eight-fold from April to June to ¥51.07 billion ($461 million), boosted by strong demand for both domestic and international flights and the addition of Peach Aviation Ltd. ANA, the parent of All Nippon Airways Co., said ...

A man detained on suspicion of attempted murder died Thursday of injuries received in a car accident that occurred a day earlier while he was being transported in a police van, Saga Prefectural Police said. According to investigators, the police van swerved into the opposite ...

Sony Corp. has developed a new type of magnetic tape that can record 20 times more data than was previously thought possible — a technology that could be useful as the spread of cloud computing and artificial intelligence demand higher data storage capacities and ...

Akio Toyoda has opened an account on Weibo seeking to win friends in China, an uncommon social media presence for Toyota Motor Corp.'s boss. Toyoda, 61, the president and chief executive officer of Asia's biggest automaker, got more than 16,000 followers within hours of his ...

Move appears to be compromise, bringing former foreign minister one step closer to his widely rumored bid to lead Japan.

While President Donald Trump has thrust transgender people back into the conflict between conservative and liberal values in the United States, geneticists are quietly working on a major research effort to unlock the secrets of gender identity. A consortium of five research institutions in Europe ...

As he watched the deluge in the disaster-hit Fukuoka city of Asakura on TV on July 6, the day after the deadly rains began, Tetsuya Morooka, who runs a traditional inn called Yaguruma So, wondered if there was anything he could do. The 46-year-old then ...

Residents of the U.S. Pacific Northwest were enduring sweltering heat on Wednesday as temperatures smashed records and hit triple digits in a region better known for rain and mild weather. Portland had a high of 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius) on Wednesday, meteorologists said, well ...

It was a case of instant captivation when Shagari first heard Boko Haram's founder deliver a jihadi sermon a decade ago. Gripped by the message, Shagari swapped life as a father and electrician to join the militants and rose rapidly through their ranks, his ascent ...

President Xi Jinping's top economic adviser commissioned a study earlier this year to see how China could avoid the fate of Japan's epic bust in the 1990s and decades of stagnation that followed. The report covered a wide range of topics, from the Plaza Accord ...

The United States is considering deployment of two aircraft carriers in waters around the Korean Peninsula by mid-August in response to North Korea's latest provocations, South Korean media reported Wednesday. Yonhap News Agency quoted an unidentified South Korean government official as saying the nuclear-powered carriers ...

Canadian health authorities and aid workers are using an Olympic stadium to shelter asylum seekers as a growing number of people walk into the country from the United States. The Quebec Red Cross and local health authorities opened Montreal's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday to asylum ...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday described North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a "fool" and a "son of a bitch," just days before Manila hosts an international meeting certain to address Pyongyang's long-range missile tests. Duterte held nothing back in rebuking Kim for ...

What's happening now in the U.S. and U.K. shows how poor leadership can be devastating to a country's international standing.

The outcome of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's trial will change Thailand's political trajectory.

The Champagne Bar on the third floor of the ANA InterContinental Tokyo is currently offering a Champagne Social, in which guests can choose from three exclusive free-flow plans with a choice of the chef's Elegant Creations tapas menu to enjoy a luxurious evening. For two ...

Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" tells the story of a young Japanese girl named Cio-Cio San ("chō-chō" is the Japanese word for "butterfly") marrying and getting dumped by an American naval officer named Pinkerton. First performed in Italy in 1904, the opera is one ...

If they did it to Cutie Honey and Fujiko Mine, they can do it to Wonder Woman. I’m talking about the kawaii treatment, which works like a kiss of death to bad-ass super-heroines in Japanese pop culture. Like Wonder Woman, Cutie Honey and Fujiko were ...

The 2017 edition of the Fuji Rock Festival boasted one of the more eclectic lineups the long-running gathering has had in recent years. It was also one of the wettest ones on record.

If you were a Shibuya regular 20 years ago, chances are you would have seen, or even made contact with, Kohki Hasei. Fresh from an Okayama high school, he came to seek his fortune on the streets of the capital. The first job he ...

The natural beauty of flowers has inspired artists for centuries, but for American nature photographer Terri Weifenbach, flowers have given rise to reflection on the cycle of life. In the spring of 2015, a garden near the slopes of Mount Fuji at Izu Photo Museum ...

Yusei Kikuchi overcame an awkward start to strike out 11 batters over eight innings as the Seibu Lions whipped the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 8-1, extending their win streak to 12 games. Before 20,355 at MetLife Dome, Kikuchi (11-4) stumbled covering first base on the ...

After a controversial loss in his first world title shot in May, Ryota Murata has publicly adopted an "it-happens-when-it-happens" attitude about his potential rematch against the same opponent. Now, it will happen. He has earned another shot, perhaps quicker than many thought. Olympic gold medalist Murata ...