More than half of Japan's companies do not plan to raise base pay in annual wage talks in coming months, a setback for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Keidanren, who have called for wage rises of 3 percent to fuel an economic revival. In a ...

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and government officials clash with opposition lawmakers over a proposal to expand an overtime work system called the discretionary labor system, here's a look at how the system works. What is the discretionary labor system? It's a system that allows employers ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denied Tuesday the possibility that he or his office was involved in a controversial survey that oppositional parties claim was aimed at making a so-called discretionary labor proposal look like a system that could improve the nation’s overwork problem. Abe's remarks ...

Yakuza who wish to cut ties with crime groups — yet fear a backlash and cannot seek refuge elsewhere — will be entitled to the program.

A tree-cutting ceremony took place in the village of Shirakawa on Tuesday to mark the start of lumber procurement for a communal facility in the Olympic Village at the 2020 Tokyo Games. The Gifu Prefecture village is one of 63 municipalities providing wood for the ...

The reappointment of Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda for another five-year term means the central bank will continue to gradually edge away from crisis-mode stimulus, according to former BOJ Policy Board member Takahide Kiuchi. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to reappoint Kuroda, whose massive ...

Sony Corp. is jumping into the ride-hailing fray. The Tokyo-based electronics giant plans to form a joint venture with six taxi operators in Japan this spring, according to a statement Tuesday. The alliance comes as Uber Technologies Inc., the world's biggest ride-hailing startup, is in talks ...

In a move that is likely to enrage nuclear-armed North Korea, the South Korean Defense Ministry said Tuesday that by the end of next month it will announce plans for postponed joint military exercises with the United States. South Korean defense chief Song Young-moo said ...

Question: "Someone I've met on the internet asked me to send them a picture of myself. What should I do?" Answer A: "It might be OK to send it if it's a shot of you with a friend." Answer B: "Forget about it." The correct answer is ...

The man was found to have killed himself a day after learning the government was set to issue an evacuation order for his village.

The #MeToo movement may have finally made its way to corporate Japan: The president of a blue chip company has resigned after a subordinate he was traveling with made sexually explicit remarks to an airline employee. The junior executive from NH Foods Ltd., a Nikkei ...

If you want to know how vampire bats can survive on a diet that — as everyone knows — consists exclusively of blood, the answer is simple. It's in their genes. Scientists on Monday said they have mapped for the first time the complete genome ...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has sought to allay fears about China's construction of military bases on man-made islands in the South China Sea, saying these were built to defend against America rather than confront neighboring states. On Monday, Duterte also blamed past governments for not ...

At a general store in a thickly forested mountain valley in eastern Taiwan, villagers are not speaking Mandarin Chinese nor Taiwanese but, surprisingly, a variant form of Japanese. Aohua village in Nanao township in Yilan County is home to indigenous Atayal people, whose language stems ...

A Peruvian court ordered former President Alberto Fujimori on Monday to stand trial for the 1992 killings of six farmers, arguing that he lacks immunity despite a recent pardon for a different crime. The National Criminal Court said the pardon granted to Fujimori in a ...

The White House said Monday that President Donald Trump supports efforts to improve federal background checks for gun purchases, days after a shooting at a Florida school killed 17 people. Trump spoke to Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, on Friday about a bipartisan bill that ...

The government is putting the cart before the horse by testing students' ability to think critically without first changing how they are taught.

Most of the players in Syria don't even have a serious strategy, much less a clue about what they want as a final outcome.

Masayoshi Amamiya could provide Japan's central bank with much-needed room to maneuver.

Romanian Viorel Isticioaia-Budura, who heads the delegation of the European Union to Japan, draws inspiration from Asia's cultures and developments in the belief they hint at our raison d'etre and at goals to pursue in order to strengthen international ties.

How do you make a thousand-year-old story resonate with an audience in Osaka today? Tell them that you plan to radically modernize one of the most famous literary works ever to come out of Japan to fit present concerns. The centerpiece of "Asia.ai" is an ...

The current exhibition at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art could be considered a retrospective of Toshio Hara's career as a collector. Surprisingly, given that the museum was founded in 1979, it's the first time that the director and president has personally curated a ...

Feb. 23-June 10 Known for his photojournalism and fashion photography of the 1950s to '80s, William Klein's playful humor and unusual techniques greatly influenced modern visual arts. A self-taught photographer, his experimental style defied genre norms and his documentation of major cities, including his native ...

Feb. 24-May 27 The Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid was founded in 1819 to showcase works that had been acquired by the Spanish Royal family. Since then, it has grown to be considered one of the finest collections of European art and has amassed ...

Feb. 24-March 25 'Bronze Jia Wine Warmer With Tao-tie Design' | OSAKA CITY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS; YAMAGUCHI COLLECTION Excavation findings have shown that ancient China was at the forefront of bronze ware, utilizing sophisticated smelting and decorative techniques to fashion the alloy into items ...

Akito Watabe had his heart broken for the second time at the Pyeongchang Olympics, missing gold again on Tuesday, this time in the Nordic combined large hill 10-km event. Watabe opened the cross-country leg with a 31-second lead over German gold medalist Johannes Rydzek after ...

Switzerland defeated Smile Japan 1-0 in the fifth-place game at the Kwandong Hockey Centre on Tuesday night. Evelina Raselli picked up a loose puck for a breakaway and beat Nana Fujimoto to the stick side just 3 minutes and 19 seconds into the game for ...

The Japan men's and women's curling teams struggled on Tuesday, going down to powerhouses Canada and Great Britain, respectively, at the Pyeongchang Olympics. In the day's mid-session at the Gangneung Curling Centre, the women pushed the experienced British team but were outmaneuvered in the latter ...

With less than 10 days left until a fight in which he'll try to avenge the only loss of his professional career, Shinsuke Yamanaka didn't show any signs of despair, only confidence. Yamanaka, who will face Luis Nery (25-0, 19 knockouts) in a March 1 ...

As the Pyeongchang Games moved into the second week, here are some observations on the first 10 days: 1 There has been a disjointed feel here from the beginning. In Sochi, the Olympic Park was set up in a fashion that allowed athletes, media and ...

Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir put on a dazzling show to win the gold medal in ice dance on Tuesday afternoon at Gangneung Ice Arena. The duo skated to "Moulin Rouge" in their free dance and earned a world record total score of 206.07 ...

Japan is still celebrating Nao Kodaira's golden victory, not only for her athletic prowess but also her kindness. Stories are filling the web about Kodaira hugging her opponents and talking about her late friend during the Olympics. The usually slow curling matches are gaining traction ...

Noriaki Kasai is going for No. 9. Kasai, the only eight-time Winter Olympian in history after competing at the Pyeongchang Games at the age of 45, said Monday he has no plans to hang up his skis any time soon and will make a run ...

Japan strengthened its chances of a semifinal berth in women's curling at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics with a gutsy 5-4 comeback win over Sweden on Monday night, rebounding from an 8-3 loss to Canada earlier in the day. The accuracy problems that cost skip Satsuki ...

9:05 a.m. Curling, men’s preliminary round: World No. 8 Japan plays top-ranked Canada and ninth-place Denmark. The men’s national team has made its first Olympic appearance in curling since the 1998 Nagano Olympics. 2:05 p.m. Curling, women’s preliminary round: Japan, No. 6 in the world, ...