On April 3, the ruling coalition adopted a plan for integrated resorts featuring casino gambling that it will submit for Diet approval during the current session, although some media organizations think that won't happen. The public still isn't comfortable with the idea of casinos ...

When does posting a photo on social media of something you use on a daily basis represent more than simply sharing a slice of your life with your followers? It’s a question that took on new relevance last week as hundreds of social media ...

Modern middle-class life, you could reasonably argue, generates more happiness among more people than any other ever conceived. It has been extravagantly derided — as bourgeois, soulless, spiritless, narrow, boring, mindlessly acquisitive and so on. But back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, ...

A mind like Shoeki Ando — bold, mischievous, unconventional, borderline crackpot, one might almost say — is worth probing, if only for those qualities, let alone for his ideas, which leave the mainstream so far behind that the word "evil" has been attached to ...

Tokyo backs “the resolve of the United States, Britain and France not to allow the proliferation or use of chemical weapons,” Abe tells reporters in Tokyo.

Abe told members of the LDP’s Osaka chapter Friday evening that he is opposed to a plan to merge the city’s 24 wards.

Residents renewed their commitment to increase reconstruction efforts two years after a string of earthquakes killed more than 250 people in the prefecture.

A Japanese government source said China “likely has an ulterior motive — to win Japan over and weaken” the Japan-U.S. alliance.

A massive statue of Karl Marx, the founding father of communism, was erected in his birthplace on Friday after the southern German city of Trier decided to accept the bronze sculpture from China despite concerns over the country's human rights record. The 3-ton statue was ...

Myriad spiritual and high-tech options are available to help owners find their missing animals, but human trackers are still the best bet.

Born and raised in Osaka, Ryoko Hori, 37, moved to Tokyo to study fashion design at the age of 18. As a student she was lucky enough to work for the famous clothing brand Issey Miyake, but she wanted even more experiences in life. ...

Spring is a great time for fans of wagashi, traditional Japanese sweets. While many wagashi reflect the seasons all year long visually — especially the colorful, beautifully formed nerikiri created by skilled artisans — this is the time of year when you can taste, ...

Sometimes you want simple. Sometimes you feel like hunkering down with no-frills, no-fuss food that fills and comforts. Sometimes you need a quick, restorative visit to Kagawa Ippuku in Kanda. As the name indicates, Ippuku has pedigree. The main restaurant in Shikoku's Kagawa Prefecture is ...

The Oak Door is back in action. For the past 15 years, the Grand Hyatt's flagship restaurant has been a Tokyo fixture, a monument to man-sized steaks, heavyweight wines and power dining. That was until a chimney fire in early 2017 necessitated a year-long ...

It takes a lot to stand out in the crowded Japanese chip market in 2018. The safest ways to catch a consumer's eye is to either embrace some sort of novelty flavor, or to go flat out on the hyperbole. With its new line ...

Lion Cross Point" is a novel of intersections: of memory and dream, past and future, rural and urban, of innocence and tragedy. Masatsugu Ono's poignant tale spins out in a child-driven stream of consciousness, unwinding from a series of shrouded traumatic events.

First published in 1962 and recently made into a series for Amazon TV, Phillip K. Dick's novel imagines a counterfactual World War II, in which Germany and Japan have conquered Europe and America.

Durian Sukegawa's novel is an original twist on the "odd couple" genre, in which two unlikely companions find they have much to offer each other, and retains much of the humor that genre entails.

The Kawasaki Brave Thunders dominated inside during Sunday's series opener against the San-en NeoPhoenix. On defense, the Brave Thunders also caused fits for San-en's shooters, who struggled to put points on the board. Kawasaki picked up a 77-54 victory that wasn't as close as the final ...

Kohei Arihara worked eight innings Saturday to pick up his first win of the season on return from a right-shoulder injury as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters defeated the Orix Buffaloes 2-1. In front of 17,443 at a rain-soaked Hotto Motto Field Kobe, Arihara allowed ...

Striker Ken Tokura scored with a header in the dying minutes to give Consadole Sapporo a 2-1 comeback win against Kashiwa Reysol on Saturday. As the home side pressed for a late winner at Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium, Consadole hit back on the break, with ...

The Sunwolves let an early lead slip through their fingers to remain winless after seven games of the Super Rugby season after a 24-10 defeat to New Zealand's Blues on Saturday. The Sunwolves took control of the game at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground — ...

Yuzuru Hanyu on Friday skated in Japan for the first time since winning a second successive gold medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February, making a surprise performance at his self-produced ice show. Hanyu missed last month's world championships in Milan, Italy, because of ...

Nadeshiko Japan booked its ticket to the 2019 Women's World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Australia in the Asian Cup on Friday. The result in its final Group B match at Amman International Stadium ensured Japan advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, which ...

World-renowned boxing and mixed martial arts ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. has introduced fighters in 35 countries in his long career. And he calls Japan one of "my favorite" nations to work in. The 59-year-old Lennon, the ring announcer when Ryota Murata captured the WBA middleweight ...