Japan's current run of economic growth provides a now-or-never opportunity to tackle the nation's debt and forge ahead with plans to increase the sales tax, said Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai). The ballooning debt shows no signs of ...

Two people died and over 10 were injured Friday in Tokushima Prefecture when a truck rammed a stranded minibus filled with high school students, police said. The impact killed the male bus driver, a female passenger, and injured 10 of the 14 other occupants, most ...

Looking for an extraordinary experience in Japan? How about climbing to the top of the world's longest suspension bridge for a panoramic view of the city, or a walking tour on an expressway yet to be completed? So-called infrastructure tourism is an emerging segment of ...

Prime Minister Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in hold a phone call to explore redress for Koreans who were forced into labor during the Japanese occupation and the war.

Parts of central and northern Japan received heavy rain Friday that was linked to the death of one person in Iwate Prefecture whose car was apparently swept away by a flooding river. The body of Yuki Ikeda, a 29-year-old construction worker from Miyako, was found ...

Accessing reliable information in the aftermath of a disaster is not easy, especially in an era where vast quantities of information are scattered across the internet. The government is trying to ease the potential for confusion ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a new ...

In Tokyo and want to watch this weekend's Mayweather-McGregor superfight? You won't need a satellite dish or a sports bar — just an app. Japan's boxing fans can view the $500-million bout, the richest global sporting event this year, with their smartphone and a $15 ...

A 4-year-old girl died Friday a day after she was found unconscious in a nursery school pool in the city of Saitama, the police said. Miku Akanuma was found floating facedown Thursday afternoon. At the time, 19 children between 3 and 5 were playing in ...

The government should plan prevention measures to help people deemed at high risk for suicide, including young people, pregnant women, mothers with newborns and overworked employees, an expert on preventive efforts said Tuesday. "Considering that children attending elementary or junior high school are committing suicide, ...

Appalled by the shocking sight of emaciated and dying dogs and horses in Tokyo after World War II, two British women set about raising money to improve animal welfare in Japan and, in the process, changed public attitudes in the country. More than six decades ...

A Nagoya hospital started the first clinical trials in regenerative medicine on patients in Japan with the skin condition known as vitiligo, which is characterized by patches of skin losing their pigmentation over time. Starting in July, Nagoya City University Hospital has been cultivating skin ...

A new, high-tech yarn that generates electricity when stretched or twisted could use ocean waves and human motion to lower man's dependency on fossil fuels, researchers said Thursday. An international team of scientists said in a study they had developed a stretchy yarn made of ...

Hong Kong's highest court dismissed an appeal by two pro-independence lawmakers contesting their disqualification from the legislature last year on Friday, effectively ruling out their return to the political fold in the Chinese-ruled city. China's parliament made a controversial interpretation of Hong Kong's mini-constitution that ...

Archaeologists exploring Peru's pre-Colombian past recently unearthed a glimpse of a less prominent chapter in the Andean country's history — the remains of 16 Chinese laborers from around the turn of the 19th century. The bodies, thought to be those of indentured workers brought to ...

District of Columbia Superior Court judge on Thursday approved a government warrant seeking data from an anti-Trump website related to Inauguration Day protests, but he added protections to safeguard "innocent users." Chief Judge Robert Morin said DreamHost, a Los Angeles-based web-hosting company, must turn over ...

U.S. authorities on Thursday accused a Chinese national visiting the United States of providing malware that has been linked to the theft of security clearance records of millions of American government employees. Yu Pingan of Shanghai was arrested on Monday at Los Angeles International Airport ...

The U.S. government is turning the screws on companies that do business with North Korea in violation of U.N. sanctions but has stopped short of taking the more aggressive — and riskier — move of targeting Chinese banks that facilitate Pyongyang's trade in arms ...

Egyptian students have built a machine they say can produce fuel from worn-out vehicle tires, after big rises in energy prices as part of recent economic reforms. The device heats the tires until they reach evaporation point. The vapor then enters a condenser. The product is ...

A Liberal Democratic Party chapter led by economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi received a donation in 2015 from a company subsidized by the state, Kyodo News learned Thursday. Motegi, who assumed his post in a Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month, and architectural company Nikken Sekkei ...

Mold is spreading through the Toyosu wholesale food market after an unusually long spell of rainy weather, prompting complaints from nearly a hundred businesses settled in Tsukiji's toxic replacement, sources said Thursday. "The spread of mold is a result of the metropolitan government's negligence," a ...

Some 30 percent of Japanese may experience rejection after receiving transplants of cells developed from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from someone other than the patient, a Japanese research team has found. The team, including Hiroshi Kawamoto, professor at Kyoto University's Institute for Frontier ...

A government-affiliated institution said Thursday it filmed a snailfish in the Mariana Trench at a depth of 8,178 meters — the deepest point ever for capturing a fish on video. The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (Jamstec), said the filming was jointly carried ...

About 150 Americans including sailors sue Tokyo Electric for $5 billion over radiation exposure from the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns in March 2011.

Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers have flown a rare mission around the Korean Peninsula at the same time as the United States and South Korea conduct joint military exercises that have infuriated Pyongyang. Russia, which has said it is strongly against any unilateral U.S. military action ...

Peak U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan was 100,000 in 2010-2011. If that did not deliver victory, how will boosting it from 8,500 to 12,500 do it now?

A former British ambassador to Japan offers his personal views on the bilateral relationship.

Passengers flying into Kagoshima Airport in Kyushu pass over verdant mountains and lush agricultural fields just before landing. This rich terrain, fertilized by ash from a nearby active volcano, partially explains one facet of the prefecture's reputation: Kagoshima is famous for healthy cuisine. Centuries-old seaports ...

After the furor over the recent "Ghost in the Shell" adaptation, moviegoers should be familiar with the concept of "whitewashing," the insidious Hollywood practice of casting Caucasian actors in roles that originated as non-white characters. But when Lakeith Stanfield, who is African-American, was picked ...

The Yokohama BayStars led from just about start to finish on Friday night at Jingu Stadium. No comebacks needed this time. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo hit a two-run double in the third inning, and the BayStars exploded for six runs in the seventh before holding off a late ...

Amid a mountain of rumors, denials, exclusive (even world-exclusive) stories and endless hours of discussion, Philippe Coutinho remains a Liverpool player. Many will congratulate owners FSG for keeping to their word (which most doubted it would keep) and not sell the forward to Barcelona ...

PGA Tour points leader Hideki Matsuyama struggled to a 4-over-par 74 in Thursday's first round of the Northern Trust, leaving him in a tie for 102nd place. The Japanese golf star, who cut short his practice for the first of four PGA Tour playoff tournaments ...

Kawasaki Frontale will not file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over being disciplined over a controversial wartime Japanese flag, the J. League first-division side said Friday. The club's decision means accepting the Asian Football Confederation's ruling: a $15,000 fine and one ...

Japan's Sara Dosho, Yui Susaki and Risako Kawai won gold in the women's divisions at the world wrestling championships, while Mayu Mukaida settled for silver on Thursday. Dosho defeated Aline Focken of Germany in the 69-g weight class. Susaki and Kawai beat Emilia Aline Vuc ...