The Hyogo Prefectural Government said Wednesday it will hold an evacuation drill Sept. 17 in Nishinomiya to prepare for a possible ballistic missile attack. The drill, also involving the central government, will be held in response to North Korea's recent announcement of a plan to ...

Japan is set to remove goshawks from its scarce species list after a government subcommittee approved the move Wednesday following an increase in their population. Goshawks, whose numbers were estimated at 9,000 in a survey conducted by the Environment Ministry at the turn of the ...

Photos released by nuclear-armed North Korea on Wednesday appear to reveal the designs for two new missiles — a provocative move that comes just after the United States' top diplomat said he was pleased with the recent "restraint" exercised by Pyongyang. The pictures were released ...

The U.S. Navy on Wednesday relieved the commander of the Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture-based 7th Fleet after two fatal collisions between destroyers and civilian vessels in Asian waters in less than three months. Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, the three-star commander of the fleet, was removed "due ...

The police believe all those killed in the fire were residents of the apartment building, which housed people with mental health issues.

Adjusting to culture in Japan is often a challenge for foreign residents. The same goes for foreign companies. Some global retailers have entered the Japanese market and established themselves as beloved brands by adapting to the local culture, while others struggle to win the hearts ...

While most tobacco companies have embraced smokeless products to survive ever-tightening controls, the Japanese maker of Winston and Camel cigarettes is pressing ahead with a more low-tech strategy: Selling smokes to emerging markets. Japan Tobacco Inc., whose domestic market is predicted to shrink 27 percent ...

Guam's lieutenant governor on Wednesday urged Japanese people to visit the Pacific island despite North Korea's threat to fire missiles near the U.S. territory, saying Washington has prepared for any contingency. "All the defenses are already in place" such as the Aegis missile defense system, ...

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Taro Kono on Tuesday advocated for the "strict and thorough" implementation of U.N. sanctions against North Korea to further squeeze the reclusive regime, saying "loopholes" undercutting their effect must be eliminated. If U.N. Security Council resolutions "are thoroughly implemented, I believe ...

The inspection was ordered after 10 people in Gunma and Saitama prefectures were found to have been infected with the O-157 strain of the E. coli bacteria.

The government may set up a data center to analyze the genomes of dementia patients utilizing artificial intelligence to interpret vast amounts of information, assist doctors and prescribe treatments.

The Tokyo area's 21-day stretch of rainfall that began Aug. 1 ended Tuesday, the second-longest wet streak logged for the month of August. According to the Meteorological Agency, from Aug. 1 to Aug. 21, Tokyo experienced 131.5 milliliters of rain, with the average for the ...

The welfare ministry plans to revise the law on child-rearing support to reduce fees for child care facilities for unmarried single parents as well as letting them take tax deductions.

In recent decades, same-sex marriage has become legal in many countries, including the United States, Canada and parts of Europe. In Japan — starting with Tokyo's Shibuya and Setagaya wards in November 2015 — municipal governments have begun issuing certificates that recognize same-sex unions as ...

Hundreds of people with disabilities involved in a government-subsidized work program have been laid off, as the businesses that employed them were forced to shut their doors due to financial difficulties, sources close to the matter said Tuesday. Over 280 employees at seven businesses run ...

The United States has decided to deny Egypt $95.7 million in aid and to delay a further $195 million because of its failure to make progress on respecting human rights and democratic norms, two sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The decision reflects a ...

The U.S. Navy's second major collision by a ship from its 7th Fleet on Monday shows it is "becoming a hazard in Asian waters" amid Washington's claim that the navy is protecting freedom of navigation, Chinese state-run media have said. The U.S. Navy announced Monday ...

Japan is witnessing an expansion of businesses catering to solo customers, including restaurants and even karaoke spots targeting patrons who value privacy and minimal human interaction. Some ramen shops and yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurants, which customarily serve families or groups, are switching gears to focus ...

It's still early, but there are signs Japan's equity market is approaching escape velocity when it comes to a force that has entranced it for years. It's the yen, whose level against the dollar has generally been all you needed to know to tell where ...

Indigenous people living on Peru's largest oil field concession have seized some facilities operated by Frontera Energy Corp. demanding that the government apply an indigenous rights law before signing a new contract with the Canadian company, a tribal chieftain said on Tuesday. The so-called prior ...

Government forces breached the city limits of Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq on Tuesday on the third day of a U.S.-backed offensive to seize it back from Islamic State militants. Tal Afar, a longtime Islamic State stronghold, is the latest objective in the war following ...

The education ministry has started discussions on providing support for high schools that operate social businesses, aiming to solve problems in regional communities through business methods, Jiji Press learned Tuesday. The ministry plans to offer backups, such as collating successful cases of social businesses undertaken ...

The internet is transforming the power of social coercion in extremely troubling ways.

Private equity has the potential to shake up Japan's cozy, stagnant corporate world, and in the process help revive it from its long productivity slump.

Carnage in Virginia shows why America needs to limit expression that necessarily leads to violence.

Trump made his choice. Now it is time for every American, including those of us living in Japan, to choose between hate and tolerance, ignorance and knowledge, revisionism and truth.

Director Patty Jenkins has been the talk of Tinseltown lately as the woman behind "Wonder Woman," a Warner Bros./DC Comics blockbuster that has already broken a few records at the box office. It's a triumphant comeback for a director whose last big film was ...

The "Wonder Woman" comic was created by William Moulton Marston in 1941, an unlikely year for a female superhero. World War II was in full swing, and in the DC Comics world, Batman and Superman reigned supreme — then along she came, fighting with ...

Last summer, "Your Name.," Makoto Shinkai's anime about gender-swapping high school lovers, began its triumphant march into the box-office record books. Not surprisingly, this summer has seen the arrival of more teen romances, but "Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the ...

Director Hidetaka Inazuka, known for his documentary on the double atomic-bomb survivor, has completed a new film on three Japanese children fighting a very rare and little-known disease that has left them mostly immobile since birth. The film, titled "Kiseki no Kodomotachi" ("Miracle Children"), features ...

Rookie Shuta Ishikawa allowed three hits over seven innings and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks left just two runners on base in a 9-0 whipping of the Seibu Lions on Wednesday. Ishikawa (5-3) allowed three hits and walked two, while striking out seven to earn his ...

Yu Kobayashi scored twice as Kawasaki Frontale took a significant step towards the last four of the Asian Champions League with a 3-1 home win over J. League rival Urawa Reds in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie on Wednesday night. Kobayashi, the two-goal ...

The Japan Football Association reiterated its support for national team coach Vahid Halilhodzic on Wednesday, responding to a report that said the federation could sack the Bosnian if Japan fails to beat Australia in its upcoming World Cup qualifier. Nikkan Sports, quoting an unnamed JFA ...

Manaya Nishikawa went 3-for-6 with four RBIs to lead a 16-hit attack as Hanasaki Tokuharu beat Hiroshima's Koryo 14-4 at the National High School Baseball Championship final on Wednesday. Hanasaki Tokuharu, managed by Takashi Iwai, became the first school from Saitama Prefecture to win the ...

Things are not going well for Lukas Podolski. The German World Cup winner made global headlines in March when he agreed to join Vissel Kobe in July, spurning advances from wealthy Chinese clubs to give the J. League its most high-profile signing in years. Upon arriving ...

Japan midfielder Keisuke Honda made an immediate impression in Pachuca colors as he came off the bench to score a goal on his Liga MX debut in a 4-1 win over Veracruz on Tuesday. Honda came on 12 minutes after the break, welcomed by cheers ...

Kenichiro Fumita won gold in the men's Greco-Roman 59-kg division Tuesday for Japan's first medal of the world wrestling championships in Paris, becoming the country's first male wrestler in 34 years to be crowned world champion. In his fifth bout of the day, the Asian ...