Tomomi Inada's resignation as defense minister ended a tenure that often made reporters wonder if her transgressions had more to do with ignorance than with incompetence. It would be wrong to associate her failures with her sex, though there were some in the media ...

So far, 2017 has been a banner year for sports prodigies in Japan, from table tennis and shogi to baseball.

The streetcars that have tootled along Ginza, Tokyo's most glamorous shopping center for the past 56 years, will bow out by the end of the year.

Beginning in 2019, China is expected to overtake Japan and become the second-largest contributor to the United Nations’ general budget.

A Kuroshio limited express train led by a car with a panda face debuted Saturday in Osaka to lure tourists to Adventure World, the giant wildlife theme park in Wakayama Prefecture where the popular animals are on show. "I'm about to board the train and ...

Ever since Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy in February 2014, investigators have been puzzled by the disappearance of virtual currency worth hundreds of millions of dollars from its digital vaults. Mt. Gox, which claimed it once hosted around 80 percent of bitcoin ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his government remains committed to a plan to complete the doubling of the consumption tax to 10 percent in 2019.

Fear of falling behind as electric vehicles become more popular was apparently the impetus behind Toyota Motor Corp.’s capital tie-up with Mazda Motor Corp.

Myanmar's visiting military chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to ensure the Self-Defense Forces continue to provide "capacity-building assistance" to Myanmar's national forces. During a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday, Abe expressed hope that stability and ...

Police in Tokyo are attempting to eliminate blind spots in security linked to high-rise condominiums lining the waterfront, where many of Olympic events will be held in 2020.

The U.S. Navy has suspended search operations for a missing sailor believed to have fallen overboard Tuesday from a ship in the South China Sea. The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said in a statement Friday that after searching for the sailor, Lt. Steven Hopkins, assigned ...

Investigators working for U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating whether President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia, have asked the White House for documents related to Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, The New York Times reported Friday. "Though not a ...

About 2,000 Islamic State fighters are estimated to remain in the Syrian city of Raqqa, fighting for their survival in the face of an offensive by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a senior U.S. official said on Friday. Brett McGurk, U.S. special envoy for ...

Europe's death toll from weather disasters could rise 50-fold by the end of this century, with extreme heat alone killing more than 150,000 people a year by 2100 if nothing is done to curb the effects of climate change, scientists said on Friday. In a ...

The public has seen the true face of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and doesn't like what it sees.

Few are aware that Japan is a Mecca for classic car enthusiasts worldwide. Boasting a world-class national road network of blacktop roads, bridges and tunnels, the country is the perfect place to cruise around in a 1950s Rolls-Royce limousine or a 1970s Nissan Skyline ...

Japanese monk Seigaku lives a Zen life with as little money as possible in Berlin.

If not for a long-lost article extolling the virtues of Wild Turkey in the late 1980s, Yu Sumiyoshi might never have discovered whiskey. But a well-placed feature caught the 19-year-old Yu's attention and, after receiving his monthly salary, he headed to the city of ...

Singer-songwriter and comedian George Tokoro is no stranger to vintage cars. A self-proclaimed "car guy," he is famous not only as one of the most familiar faces on Japanese television, but also for being one of the country's most high-profile evangelists of automotive culture. "I ...

Tokyo is a tough place to open any business, especially your first restaurant. Along with kitchen skills and front-of-house nous, you need the right location, good connections and a strong underlying raison d'etre. A catchy name and some funky background music can't hurt either, ...

Tokyo has never been big on outdoors dining. Save for the old-school beer gardens that mushroom in midsummer, there are too few opportunities in the inner city to drink, snack and while away the time al fresco. At least there's Commune 2nd. Following its predecessor, ...

Few had heard of new German cuisine when twin chefs Thomas and Mathias Suhring began serving elevated takes on kazespatle (Bavarian pasta made with cheese) and smoked trout at their restaurant, Suhring, in Bangkok, at the start of last year. Less than a year after ...

Japanese netizens have noticed something strange about Nissin's latest special edition of it's venerable Cup Noodle brand. The new Black Seafood variety features a white squid on the packaging — reflecting the use of said sea critter's ink in this item — surrounded by splotches ...

In 1933, when Junichiro Tanizaki (1886-1965) published his short but landmark essay "In Praise of Shadows," it could hardly be seen as anything other than a riposte to the "enlightening" agenda of the great cultural critic Fukuzawa Yukichi of the preceding Meiji Era (1868-1912). Fukuzawa ...

Yasunari Kawabata is often seen in the West as one of the quintessential modern Japanese writers. His most famous novels are filled with tea ceremonies and geisha and his prose is a consummate example of mono no aware, the Japanese aesthetic that finds beauty ...

From bone shards to swipe keyboards, "Chinese Script: History, Characters, Calligraphy" is a brief but absorbing crash course on the origins and evolution of China's writing system that tackles a range of topics beyond language. Chinese Script, by Thomas O. Hollmann, Translated by Maximiliane Donicht.128 ...

Every photo has a story to tell, and the eldest son of Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara is hoping that the photographs taken by his father will give people a fuller view of his life. An exhibition starting in Tokyo next Wednesday will showcase ...

The Yomiuri Giants belted three home runs for the sixth straight game and Tomoyuki Sugano went eight innings as the Kyojin clobbered the Chunichi Dragons 8-2 on Saturday afternoon. Before 43,599 at Tokyo Dome, offseason free-agent acquisition Daikan Yoh hit his fourth homer in three ...

Kashiwa Reysol brought an abrupt end to German World Cup-winner Lukas Podolski's J. League honeymoon after coming from behind to beat Vissel Kobe 3-1 on Saturday. Podolski, who joined Vissel from Turkish side Galatasaray last month and scored twice on his J. League debut against ...

Shohei Tateyama hasn't done much pitching for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows this season, but his presence is still being felt to some extent on the diamond through Seibu Lions starter Ken Togame. In his most recent outing for the surging Lions on Tuesday, Togame shut ...

Abdul Hakim Sani Brown tied his personal best in the men's 100 meters with a time of 10.05 seconds at the world athletics championships on Friday, advancing to the semifinals with fellow Japanese Shuhei Tada and Asuka Cambridge. Tada clocked 10.19 and Cambridge at 10.21, ...

Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic admitted Saturday that injuries to striker Yuya Osako and midfielder Keisuke Honda are causing him concern ahead of the team's upcoming World Cup qualifier at home against Australia. The status of Cologne forward Osako appears to be in major doubt for ...

World No. 3 Hideki Matsuyama shot a 3-under-par 67 on Friday to close within three shots of the lead after the second round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Matsuyama nailed four birdies against a lone bogey at the par-70 Firestone Country Club to finish ...