The Defense Ministry plans to seek a record-high budget of ¥5.26 trillion ($48.1 billion) for fiscal 2018 as the country seeks to beef up its missile defense capabilities in the face of growing threats by North Korea, a government source said Tuesday. The ministry plans ...

Media outlets said former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara had more party support than former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.

The government's decision in late July to nominate a group of 49 ancient burial sites in southern Osaka Prefecture for UNESCO World Heritage status has raised local hopes for a major boost in international prestige and tourism appeal. But the move also raises sometimes politically ...

Japan is unlikely to develop nuclear weapons to counter the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons capability, a Japanese security specialist said last week in Taipei. Yuki Tatsumi, director of the Japan Program at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank, said Japan will ...

The head of the U.S. military's Pacific Command said on Tuesday it was more important to use diplomacy to counter North Korea's missile threat rather than consider what actions by the reclusive North might trigger a pre-emptive strike. Adm. Harry Harris was in South Korea ...

At least three people were killed and two others remain unaccounted for after a fire engulfed an apartment building in Yokote, Akita Prefecture, early Tuesday, police and firefighters said. Ten of the two-story wooden building's 25 residents were injured in the fire that started around ...

The firm, which could start taking bids as early as next month, has struggled to win back consumers from smartphone competitors like Apple and Samsung.

The Bank of Japan's reduction of the amount it invests in the Nikkei 225 stock average is leaving the blue-chip gauge lagging behind the broader Topix by the widest margin in nearly two years. Following criticism that its exchange-traded funds purchases are distorting the stock ...

Companies in Japan are becoming more active in hiring people with mental health issues as they prepare for a legal change on employing people with disabilities that takes effect next spring. Measures to assist such workers include setting up a support division with a licensed ...

Native American elders led stargazers in prayer Monday as the Sun vanished behind the Moon at a ranch in Oregon, the first state to experience a rare total eclipse that swept the continent coast-to-coast. Time stood still as millions across the nation took in the ...

A leading British academic publisher that bowed to pressure from Beijing to block online access to hundreds of scholarly articles in China reversed its position and reposted the material on Monday, following an outcry over academic freedom. Cambridge University Press (CUP) said late last week ...

The U.S. Secret Service will not be able to pay an estimated 1,100 employees for required overtime work after September due to government-imposed pay caps, the agency's chief said on Monday. In a statement, Secret Service Director Randolph "Tex" Alles attributed the funding shortfall to ...

The victims all ate potato salad sold at the Shokusaikan Marche Kagohara supermarket in the city of Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, the prefecture said.

Reversing his past calls for a speedy exit, President Donald Trump renewed the United States' commitment Monday to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan, declaring that U.S. troops must "fight to win." He pointedly declined to disclose how many more troops might be sent to ...

It's time for those in Trump's orbit — including Prime Minister Abe — to assess how much they'll be diminished by association and do some crisis management.

At last, the Brexit issue is calming down and the way forward is becoming clear.

China's ruling party is on the cusp of exercising unprecedented control over its citizens, and it's been made possible with the cooperation of tech companies.

This year's Summer Sonic had its craziest moment on Sunday night when 1980s singer Rick Astley joined the Foo Fighters for the latter's headlining performance. "Come on you motherf———!" Astley bellowed at the thousands of fans gathered in Chiba's Zozo Marine Stadium, with the U.S. ...

Terror and tragedy are widely considered entirely disagreeable in principle. But audiences have for millennia taken pleasure in the pain of narrative spectacles in the arts. Fear is popular because it arouses curiosity in addition to revulsion. So, too, does the assemblage of Western ...

Aug. 29-Oct. 22 Uemura Shoen (1875-1949), a painter well known for her works of bijinga (ukiyo-e beauty portraits) reportedly said, "Not once I've drawn women thinking they should only be 'beautiful.' My wish is to paint gem-like, clear, decorous and sophisticated figures with no element ...

Aug. 29-Oct. 22 With increasing interest in kōgei artisanal craftwork both here and abroad, the Shiseido Gallery is hosting an exhibition featuring handmade items for everyday use created with washi paper that is produced with natural materials. To highlight the fascinating world of paper, the exhibition ...

Sept. 2-Oct. 15 A traditional Japanese natural lacquer, urushi is not involved in the usual coating process. It produces a certain beauty when it's employed through techniques such as sculpting, gold lacquer, and mother-of-pearl inlay work. Known for housing more than 3,000 artifacts donated from the ...

Japanese folk singer Chiharu Matsuyama sang his hit song on a plane that remained grounded over an hour past its departure time at a Hokkaido airport Sunday, in a bid to ease passengers' irritation, according to All Nippon Airways Co. Matsuyama, a Hokkaido native, came ...

Yokohama pulled off a minor miracle as Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, Jose Lopez and Toshiro Miyazaki hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the BayStars a 6-5 victory over the Hiroshima Carp on Tuesday. "By far the most exciting game this year," ...

Kawasaki Frontale manager Toru Oniki insists last month's hammering of Urawa Reds will count for nothing when the two J. League teams clash in the first leg of the Asian Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday night. Yu Kobayashi scored twice as Kawasaki crushed the Reds ...

Koryo catcher Shosei Nakamura hit two homers in the Hiroshima team's 12-9 semifinal victory over Nara's Tenri at the National High School Baseball Championship on Tuesday, rewriting the record of home runs hit by a player in a single tournament. Nakamura tied the five-homer mark ...

Mitsuru Manaka is set to step down as manager of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows at the end of the season due to the team's poor performance, club president Tsuyoshi Kinugasa said Tuesday. Kinugasa revealed that Manaka made his intentions known in a meeting the two ...