Business leaders have called on the government to raise the consumption tax to more than 10 percent while maintaining its determination to promote fiscal responsibility. The comments come after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a plan to review the use of revenue from the second ...

The government is considering charging a ¥1,000 departure tax on all people to secure funding for tourism infrastructure and promotion, according to informed sources. The new tax will likely be imposed on both Japanese and non-Japanese people to ensure fairness, the sources said. Similar levies ...

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike launches a new political party, promising to “reset” Japan and restore its international prestige, while also posing a powerful threat to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Twitter Inc., struggling to attract new users, will lift its 140-character limit on tweets in an experiment with a small group that may expand to the entire social media platform. The test announced Tuesday will let users send tweets with as many as 280 characters. ...

The Supreme Court ruled the vote disparity in the July 2016 Upper House election to be constitutional, following more than a dozen conflicting rulings from lower courts.

Women have the potential to transform transportation in Saudi Arabia, from the types of vehicles sold to how cars are driven, when the government lets them start driving next summer. The market currently is dominated by Toyota Motor Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co., selling sport ...

Victims' families and friends on Wednesday marked the third anniversary of the eruption of Mount Ontake, the nation's deadliest postwar volcanic disaster, which killed 58 people and left five more missing and presumed dead. In the Nagano Prefecture village of Otaki at the foot of ...

The government says it will introduce a new warning system from November to alert residents in Pacific coastal areas to a potential massive earthquake in the Nankai Trough.

President Donald Trump warned North Korea on Tuesday that any U.S. military option would be "devastating" for Pyongyang, but said the use of force was not Washington's first option to deal with the country's ballistic and nuclear weapons program. "We are totally prepared for the ...

North Korea has threatened to shoot down U.S. bombers flying near the Korean Peninsula, but it would have difficulty matching its words with action given aging air defense systems mostly dating to the Cold War, military experts said. In intensifying rhetoric between the United States ...

In discussions between the U.S. and China about reining in North Korea, one topic remains taboo: What would happen if Kim Jong Un's regime collapses? For years, China has rebuffed U.S. attempts to raise the topic at so-called Track 2 dialogue sessions between academics in ...

As the sun sets on Japan's solar energy boom, companies and investors are rushing into wood-burning biomass projects to lock in still-high government subsidies. More than 800 projects have already won government approval, offering 12.4 gigawatts of capacity — equal to 12 nuclear reactors and ...

The agriculture ministry will help domestic potato farmers increase production following a shortage due to bad weather that has adversely affected potato chip makers, sources said Tuesday. The potato crop was poor, particularly in Hokkaido Prefecture, last year due to typhoons, forcing major domestic snack ...

It's a role-playing video game that, like many of its kind, allows users to choose and customize their own avatars, including a hairstyle and clothing. Set in a medieval fantasy world, users build up power as their characters travel across "provinces," overcoming obstacles and ...

The fast-growing fitness chain Rizap has teamed up with local governments to launch a program targeting elderly residents as part of efforts to curb the graying nation's ballooning medical expenses. Rizap Group Inc. provides municipalities with health management programs incorporating exercise and dietary regimes with ...

People who often eat fish, including so-called blue-backed fish such as saury, face a lower risk of suffering depression than those consuming less, a team of researchers from institutes including Japan's National Cancer Center has said. In its research findings that were announced in a ...

Rescuers are unlikely to find any more survivors of Mexico's earthquake still buried in the ruins, the emergency services chief said, with anger rising about a lack of information among relatives of an estimated 40 people still buried under rubble. Tuesday marks one week since ...

The Trump administration on Tuesday denied a request to waive shipping restrictions to help get fuel and supplies to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, saying it would do nothing to address the island's main impediment to shipping: damaged ports. The Jones Act limits shipping between coasts to ...

The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday slapped preliminary anti-subsidy duties on CSeries jets made by Bombardier Inc. after rival Boeing Co. charged that the aircraft were unfairly subsidized by Canada. The department said it imposed a 219.63 percent countervailing duty on Bombardier's new commercial jets ...

Japan came in at No. 9 in the World Economic Forum's annual Global Competitiveness Index of 137 countries and regions, down one place from last year's assessment, the organization said Wednesday. The nation saw its ranking drop for the second consecutive year. Although Japan's infrastructure, including ...

Western Digital Corp. said Tuesday it will seek an interim injunction to prevent Toshiba Corp. from selling its chip unit to a Japan-U.S.-South Korea consortium. The suit to be filed with the International Court of Arbitration is the latest salvo in the companies' bitter legal ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reiterated his government's plan to hike the consumption tax to 10 percent from the current 8 percent in October 2019 unless a setback such as a major financial crisis or massive earthquake occurs. "Our basic policy is to increase the ...

James Dyson, the billionaire British inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, said on Tuesday his company was working on developing an electric car to be launched by 2020. Dyson said he was spending £2 billion (about ¥302 billion) to exploit his namesake company's expertise in ...

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday denounced football players who have protested racism by kneeling or locking arms during the playing of the national anthem before games, saying that even though their speech is protected, they should be condemned for showing disrespect to ...

Rebounding from low public support, Abe is back on the offensive.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea need to rely on pressure and patience, deterrence and containment — not military action.

Despite signs of progress, some women still face secondary ordeals at the hands of police after rape and other sexual attacks.

When Tran Anh Hung enters the room for an interview with The Japan Times, a hush falls among the people gathered there. The staff speak in low, gentle tones and their gestures seem restrained. "It's probably because I'm very sensitive to the sound of spoken ...

In his three films to date, Hirobumi Watanabe has created a unique cinematic world. "And the Mud Ship Sails Away" (2013), "7 Days" (2015) and now "Poolsideman" (2016) were all shot in black-and-white in Watanabe's native Tochigi Prefecture, with music by younger brother Yuji ...

The first thing a customer will say when they walk into Pelican past lunchtime is: "Any left?" That's how fast loaves sell at this popular Asakusa bakery. Many a time I've walked into Pelican — sorry, ran into Pelican — at 3 p.m. only to ...

Katsura Sunshine has come quite a way from his days listening to Japanese rakugo comic tales at a local yakitori skewered chicken restaurant where he was introduced to the ancient traditional art form almost 20 years ago. One might never guess that the 47-year-old Canadian ...

The Yokohama BayStars wasted a golden opportunity to close the gap in the race for the Central League's second postseason seed in Wednesday's 4-4 tie with the Hanshin Tigers. BayStars closer Yasuaki Yamasaki blew a one-run, ninth inning lead when Yoshio Itoi singled in a ...

With its sophomore season set to get underway Friday, the B. League held a regular general assembly to select board members and auditors for a new two-year term, and approved them in a temporary board of directors meeting on Wednesday. Masaaki Okawa, the inaugural chairman ...

The 2017 Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament ended with a yokozuna beating an ozeki in the title-deciding final bout. That was pretty much the only normal thing we witnessed over the last 15 days at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. In one of the wildest basho in recent ...

Before the overhyped Y2K scare at the end of the last century and the technological breakthroughs of the 21st century, the Vancouver Grizzlies selected a former UCLA Bruins forward named J.R. Henderson in the second round of the 1998 NBA Draft. The Grizzlies relocated to ...

When the Dallas Cowboys — known as America's team — took a knee before the national anthem and then beat the Arizona Cardinals, they provided the strongest evidence yet that President Donald Trump can't keep fans away from football. ESPN said overnight ratings rose 63 ...