Japan enjoys the highest life expectancy among OECD countries and does relatively well in improving health outcomes, but it has room to improve in areas such as smoking rates and hospital stays, according to the latest edition of a biennial health care report issued ...

Kibo no To (Party of Hope) elects a new co-leader for founder Yuriko Koike, choosing a candidate who shares the Tokyo governor’s conservative stance on the Constitution and security.

Kobe Steel Ltd., rocked by a data fabrication scandal, said Friday its internal probe has found that pressure to meet delivery dates was behind its product irregularities and unveiled measures to prevent similar problems in the future. The steel maker said in a released internal ...

As the nation debates how to establish and operate casinos via integrated resorts, it must take measures to keep the yakuza out and manage not only problem gambling but also develop a responsible drinking policy for the casino floor, a group of U.S. experts ...

Budget-managing app operator Money Forward Inc. stoked investor excitement when it became the nation's first financial technology venture to go public in September, reflecting strong interest in the nascent but fast-growing sector. Yosuke Tsuji, the startup's founder and chief executive officer, is now looking to ...

The number of foreign visitors to Japan this year hit a new record, exceeding the previous high of over 24 million logged last year, Japan's tourism minister said Friday. After hitting the 20 million mark on Sept. 15 at the fastest pace ever, the number ...

A plan by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s friend to open a veterinary school on Shikoku clears an education ministry panel, taking the heavily criticized project one step closer to approval.

The U.S. Air Force missed at least two chances to block the shooter in last weekend's deadly church attack in Texas from buying guns after he was accused of a violent offense in 2012, according to current and former government officials and a review ...

Documents leaked from an offshore law firm show a Japanese hospital and a doctor profited from unlisted shares in a Singapore medical firm, with the doctor profiting ¥100 million ($880,000) despite the hospital's involvement in clinical trials for the company. According to an analysis of ...

Kiyondo Matsui, the president of the publishing house Bungei Shunju, spoke at this year's All-Japan Library Conference, which took place in Tokyo on Oct. 12 and 13. During his talk, Matsui asked the assembled professionals to no longer acquire bunko editions of books for ...

The headline number is impressive: a quarter of trillion dollars' worth of deals from China that President Donald Trump can use to show he is creating opportunities for U.S. businesses and jobs for his base. The reality, however, is that the roughly 15 agreements unveiled ...

A solar power generation firm based in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, is pursuing a new line of business, tapping into a renovated vacant house as an inn for foreign visitors, especially large families. Kingdom Solar Co., which sells solar power systems, hopes tourism can be a ...

U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled a tax plan on Thursday that differed from the House of Representatives' version on several key fronts, including how they treat the corporate tax rate, the tax deduction for state and local taxes, and the estate tax. Complicating a Republican push ...

The U.S. Justice Department started a long-delayed distribution to victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, tapping a $4 billion fund created through settlements with some of the con man's oldest customers and his bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Madoff Victim Fund will return $772.5 ...

Twitter Inc. is halting its system for verifying users' identity, saying the process has become "broken" and in need of repair. A few years back, Twitter began placing a blue check-mark next to accounts whose users' identities had been verified — a way to help ...

Lebanon believes Saad al-Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia, from where he resigned as Lebanese prime minister, two top government officials in Beirut said, amid a deepening crisis pushing Lebanon onto the front lines of a power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran. A ...

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's Kibo no To (Party of Hope) is expected to receive ¥503 million in political subsidies for 2017, a Jiji Press survey has found. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, launched by former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, is expected to ...

Nine people dismembered by a serial killer in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, are formally identified by the police, including three female high school students.

Eager to show he can narrow the trade gap with China and create jobs at home, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday touted an order for 300 Boeing Co. planes. Yet the bulk of the deal announced in Beijing was old news. The order, with ...

A group of 37 U.S.-based scientists whose research focuses on Arctic wildlife asked two U.S. senators in a letter on Thursday not to open the National Arctic Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, according to a copy seen by Reuters. The scientists, including several ...

China asked Japan to not make the South China Sea the focus of upcoming talks between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese leaders, sources close to bilateral relations have said. Over the next few days, Abe is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping ...

Does China have the resolve this time to countenance the prospect of harming North Korea?

In the United States, one out of 10 rape victims is male.

Even with its convenience stores, souvenir outlets, tour buses and boutique coffee shops, Mount Koya might be modestly alluded to as a Japanese Lhasa. There is no living being, of course, who embodies the doctrines of a religious order such as the Dalai Lama, ...

Two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva grabbed the lead at the NHK Trophy with a score of 79.99 points in the short program on Friday night. The Russian was her usual sublime self while skating to "Nocturne," executing element after element nearly flawlessly. Sochi bronze medalist ...

In a game showcasing two of the top teams in the second division, the Kumamoto Volters ran past the visiting Gunma Crane Thunders on Friday night, winning 98-78. Backup shooting guard Terrance Woodbury, doing his best Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson impersonation, sparked the Volters off ...

World and Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu withdrew from the NHK Trophy on Friday afternoon due to an injured lateral ligament in his right ankle, the Japan Skating Federation announced. The development means Hanyu will be unable to defend his title at next month's Grand Prix ...

England coach Eddie Jones has challenged his players to kick on from their summer series victory in Argentina and show they are continuing to evolve when they face the Pumas for the fourth time in 13 months on Saturday. England, without a host of players ...

The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters said Friday they will allow Shohei Otani to use the posting system this offseason to try to land a deal with a major league team. "Everyone in our ballclub accepts his thoughts," Fighters manager Hideki Kuriyama told a news conference ...