Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Chinese counterpart say the two countries are now at a new starting point to develop their bilateral relationship.

The ministry says it will ask an independent lawyer to continue investigating the bureaucrat’s denials and the allegations made by Shukan Shincho magazine.

A pair of premium mangoes from Miyazaki Prefecture fetched a record-matching ¥400,000 at the season's first wholesale auction Monday. The high-end mangoes carry the Taiyo no Tamago (Egg of the Sun) brand. According to the Miyazaki Agricultural Economic Federation, mangoes have to be assessed before ...

South Korea's disgraced former president, Park Geun-hye, will not appeal her 24-year prison sentence for corruption, reports said Monday. Park, 66, removed from office last year over a massive corruption scandal last year, was convicted of multiple criminal charges, including bribery and abuse of power, ...

The total number of nights spent by foreign guests in the disaster-hit northeast surpassed the 1 million mark in 2017 for the first time on the back of a continued increase in inbound tourism, according to a recent government survey. The survey by the Japan ...

An Indian man died Friday at a Japanese immigration detention center in an apparent suicide, the latest death in a system widely criticized over medical standards, monitoring of detainees and mental health care. Immigration is a sensitive subject in Japan, where many pride themselves on ...

Stock investors should take note that the risks of domestic political upheaval or trade friction are far from gone away. So say strategists at Nomura Holdings Inc. led by Hisao Matsuura. While the trade rhetoric between U.S. President Donald Trump and China calmed last week, ...

The family of the last confirmed victim of the powerful earthquakes that rocked Kumamoto Prefecture in 2016 marked the second anniversary of the main quake on Monday. Takuya Yamato, 59, his wife, Shinobu, 50, arrived with their eldest son Shogo, 25, near the spot in ...

The secretive unit’s commander, Lt. Gen. Shiro Ishii, and others received immunity from prosecution by giving the United States its data on germ warfare.

Men wearing gold, full-body suits and costume hats, themed as taiyaki (a waffle-like cake shaped like a fish, typically filled with red bean paste), have started to appear in central Nagoya, attracting the attention of pedestrians. The men call themselves the Shachihoko Boys — ...

Police in Hiroshima and Ehime prefectures have been pursuing the man on Mukaishima Island since he escaped from Matsuyama Prison on April 8.

Tokyo is vying to become an innovation hub for entrepreneurs and investors, challenging Japan's reputation as an environment that fails to nurture entrepreneurship, and a new nonprofit organization is hoping to play a leading role. The recently launched Venture Cafe Tokyo aims to help innovators ...

Nearly half of Tokyo's residents can't name a single Paralympian, and international sporting officials are worried about the capital's readiness to accommodate athletes. As the 2020 Games approaches, Tokyo has work to do. "If the Paralympics are not a success, the Tokyo Games are not ...

Donald Trump is "morally unfit" to lead the U.S., former FBI Director James Comey said in a highly anticipated prime-time interview Sunday, adding that he can't rule out the possibility the Russian government has incriminating information about the president. "I think it's possible. I don't ...

A sightseeing route running through the Tateyama mountain range in the Northern Alps opened Monday, offering views at one point of snow walls as high as 17 meters on each side of the road. "I was so surprised at the size. I guess we cannot ...

Japan was given a preview of the stealthy JASSM-ER "standoff" missiles it is considering purchasing after U.S. officials said B-1B bombers launched the weapons Friday for the first time in combat during strikes on the Syrian regime. The new Lockheed Martin Corp. air-launched cruise missile ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that further Western attacks on Syria would bring chaos to world affairs, as Washington prepared to increase pressure on Russia with new economic sanctions. In a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, Putin and Rouhani agreed ...

The implications of the limited U.S.-led air raid against Syria are not about Russia. They concern Damascus, Tehran and Pyongyang.

The next few years are likely to be less friendly to Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google.

History shows how in sufficiently complex situations, chain reactions can cause small events to cascade into big changes.

If you are stuck for what to say in Japanese, Google search — and in particular, its auto-fill function — can be your friend.

Introducing how to use Xなら、Y, meaning "if X, Y" or "if it is the case that X, Y."

Former Japan national team manager Takeshi Okada voices his approval of newly appointed Akira Nishino.

A controversy over gender discrimination in sumo flared earlier this month after a referee urged two women to stay out of the ring as they tried to assist an unconscious official.

R. Lee Ermey, a former U.S. Marine who made a career in Hollywood playing hard-nosed military men like Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket," has died. Ermey's longtime manager Bill Rogin says he died Sunday morning from pneumonia-related complications. He was 74. The ...

Kei Nishikori fought back from a set down to see off Czech No. 12 seed Tomas Berdych on Monday and reach the Monte Carlo Masters second round. In a battle of two former Grand Slam finalists, Nishikori raced through the final two sets to progress ...

Japan treated Christian Covington as well as he could have hoped. The Houston Texans defensive lineman took a private trip here along with a few friends, including former Rice University teammates, earlier this month. All of them agreed they had a blast during their stay in ...

It must take a considerable amount of willpower for Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Hideki Kuriyama not to respond to questions about his former player Shohei Ohtani with a simple, "I told you so." Although the sly smile he lets slip on occasion more ...

Going into the fight, it looked unlikely WBA middleweight champion Ryota Murata would lose his belt to obscure challenger Emanuele Blandamura. But he still breathed a sigh of relief after successfully defending his title for the first time with an eight-round technical knockout victory over ...

They won it in the last remaining seconds in 2012, and in the final match in 2014. At last, Manchester City's players can enjoy a serene Premier League title triumph. And they can thank fierce rival Manchester United for that. City clinched the title without even ...