Lawyers in five cities set up telephone counseling hotlines Friday for individuals who were forced into sterilization or affected by the Eugenic Protection Law to gauge the effect that the now-defunct act has had nationwide. Volunteer lawyers based in Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka ...

All of the almost 3,000 athletes competing at the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics are set to get perks including the latest $1,100 Samsung smartphones, top of the range new equipment to take home and sleek Nike uniforms. All except perhaps the 22 athletes from North ...

Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai, the man credited with the electronics giant’s turnaround, will assume the chairmanship and be replaced by his right-hand man.

The former yokozuna only wins two votes from the Japan Sumo Association’s 101 elders in the first election since being demoted over last year’s assault scandal.

Japan's digital camera industry, which has been hit hard by the explosive growth of the camera-equipped smartphone market, may have finally found a ray of hope — thanks to Instagram users showing off their private lives online. According to statistics released Thursday by the Camera ...

After declaring they were ready to fight sexual harassment on university campuses, the Chinese authorities now appear to be seeking to contain a nascent Me Too movement. On Jan. 14, the education ministry announced it had stripped the academic title of a professor at Beihang ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's point man for a massive Pacific trade pact is defending his job after giving incense sticks to voters, the latest example of how even the whiff of scandal can threaten policymaking in Japan. Toshimitsu Motegi, the economy minister who last month ...

Jomanji Temple, a state-designated tangible cultural property in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, went up in flames late Thursday, bringing an end to a Buddhist structure that dated back to the Edo Period (1603-1868). "I heard loud booms, which I first thought were fireworks," said resident Makoto ...

The Financial Services Agency inspects Coincheck to pin down how hackers stole the equivalent of ¥58 billion from the cryptocurrency exchange.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will make a three-day visit to Japan before attending the opening of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, the Japanese government said. Pence will arrive on Tuesday and hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday. The Winter ...

The commanding officer of one of Okinawa Prefecture's two MV-22 tilt-rotor Osprey squadrons has been fired, nearly six months after a crash involving the aircraft killed three U.S. Marines. Marine Lt. Col. Bryan Swenson was fired as head of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265, based ...

Honda Motor Co. is looking to take the top spot in India — the world's largest motorcycle market — through a massive investment in production and sales on the crest of the growing popularity of scooters. Honda has already seen success, becoming the No. 1 ...

Madoka Sugihara never had a chance to hear directly from her grandfather, Chiune Sugihara, about his heroic effort as a diplomat during World War II to issue visas allowing thousands of Jews to escape Nazi persecution. But through the stories of the offspring of the ...

Marking the 70th anniversary of one of Japan's most compelling mass murder cases, a Tokyo gallery is showcasing 21 paintings made by a death row inmate who was convicted of the Teigin Incident, with the aim of providing the public with a look into ...

The U.S. special envoy for North Korea has said that while Washington was keeping all options on the table, he did not believe the United States was close to using military action to rein in Pyongyang's nuclear and missile ambitions. "Our policy is very much ...

British Prime Minister Theresa May landed in China earlier this week fending off questions about her future amid mounting accusations of poor leadership, boring policies, and weakness over Brexit. By Friday the 61-year-old leader was basking in a warm reception from the leaders of the ...

The eldest son of late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, committed suicide Thursday at age 68 after being treated for months for depression, Cuban state-run media reported. Castro Diaz-Balart, also known as "Fidelito" because of how much he looked like his father, ...

The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday that the recent bankruptcy of a Pennsylvania oil refiner was evidence the nation's biofuel policy needs an overhaul in comments that infuriated biofuels advocates. Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the largest oil refiner on the East ...

Nearly 7 million people from South Sudan need emergency aid such as food, water and basic medicines due to a protracted civil war in the country, the United Nations said on Thursday, appealing to international donors for $3.2 billion. The violence in the world's youngest ...

The current system practically forces the three branches of the SDF to fight with each other not only for budgetary allocations but also for relevancy.

Rarely has the U.S. embraced a policy that, in contrast to the supporting rhetoric, is so contrary to its own interests.

In Tokyo, people set up funky cafes with all kinds of sideshows — curry, cats, goats, hedgehogs and maids come to mind — so when I catch a whiff of a good cup of joe escaping from a huge glass and concrete box near ...

Los Angeles County homicide detectives have named actor Robert Wagner a "person of interest" in the probe of the unexplained 1981 drowning of his wife, actress Natalie Wood, saying he was the last person with her before she vanished off Southern California. The latest twist ...

Local hero Yuichi Sugita dominated his fifth-set tiebreak to pull Japan even in its Davis Cup World Group first-round tie with Italy on Friday. At two sets apiece, and Japan already trailing after Taro Daniel dropped the first singles rubber, Sugita fought off match point ...

Former Germany national team striker Lukas Podolski will take the reins as captain of Vissel Kobe this coming season, members of the J. League eam announced Friday. "It's a heavy responsibility to be appointed captain by any team, in any country," Podolski said after a ...

Sometimes, the combined efforts of government officials, volunteers, local residents and sports leagues team up to produce a certifiable winner. Such was the case with the second annual B. League All-Star Game on Jan. 15 at Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium. All in all, the weekend was ...

Kei Nishikori reached the semifinals of the RBC Tennis Championships on Thursday by beating Diminik Koepfer. Nishikori, who dropped to world No. 27 after a five-month injury layoff, defeated Germany's Koepfer 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in a tough 1 hour, 35 minute match at the ATP ...

Former linebacker and defensive back Shinzo Yamada says that he is fond of the plan to relaunch the XFL, because it could serve as a window for international players, including his compatriots. Last week, World Wrestling Entertainment chairman Vince McMahon announced that the football league ...

Eleven days after leaving the AFC Championship Game with a head injury, Rob Gronkowski was cleared from NFL concussion protocol on Thursday and practiced without limitation with the New England Patriots during the team's afternoon workout at the Minnesota Vikings' practice facility 15 miles ...