Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga died Wednesday evening at age 67 following hospitalization related to pancreatic cancer. The death of the governor, who had been ill for many months and who underwent surgery in April to remove a cancerous tumor, comes just days after he ordered ...

Japan's weather agency has warned of heavy rain, strong gusts of wind and high waves as a strong typhoon is expected to travel very close to the country's eastern and northeastern coastal areas from late Wednesday to Thursday afternoon. Typhoon Shanshan could linger longer than ...

The Japan Times newsroom will be updating the status of Typhoon Shanshan as it moves toward the Kanto region this evening and overnight.

The carcass of a 10-meter-long whale that washed ashore on a beach in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, last Sunday has been confirmed to be a blue whale — the largest known animal to have lived on Earth. The National Museum of Nature and Science, which examined ...

The U.S. said it will begin imposing 25 percent duties on an additional $16 billion in Chinese imports in two weeks, escalating a trade war between the world's two biggest economies. Customs will begin collecting duties on 279 product lines, down from 284 items on ...

Few corners of the tech industry are as tantalizing or complex as quantum computing. For years its evangelists have promised machines capable of breaking the most impenetrable coded messages, unlocking the secret properties of the physical world and putting supercomputers to shame. But Rigetti Computing, ...

The admissions scandal in which Tokyo Medical University admitted to manipulating females' entrance exams did not come as a surprise for many women doctors, but rather was verification of what they had suspected for a long time: Some medical universities set the bar higher ...

Yokohama has been a cultural intersection between Japanese, foreign residents and visitors from overseas ever since opening its port to international trade in 1859, leading what was once a sleepy fishing village to become home to one of the first foreign communities in the ...

The parents of Princess Mako, the eldest granddaughter of Emperor Akihito, demanded her boyfriend Kei Komuro and his mother resolve their finances before the Imperial Agency in February postponed their formal engagement and marriage ceremonies, a source said Wednesday. Prince Akishino and his wife Princess ...

The majority of the costs went toward medical expenses, with fires caused by careless smoking also said to be a key factor.

Japan's current account surplus increased in the first half of 2018 thanks to increased returns on foreign investments, government data showed Wednesday. The country's current account, one of the widest measures of international trade, was ¥10.84 trillion ($97 billion) in the black, with the margin ...

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Wednesday that his visit to Japan this time is of momentous importance for him because he is set to become the first U.N. chief to attend the annual Aug. 9 remembrance ...

A group of people who can't have children due to disability or illness protested Tuesday over a recent article written by a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who said gay and lesbian couples are unproductive because they don't reproduce. Speaking at a news conference at the ...

A Brazilian federal appeals court judge on Tuesday overturned a ruling barring Venezuelan immigrants fleeing economic and political turmoil from entering the country, said the Solicitor General's office, which had made the appeal. On Sunday, a federal judge in the northern state of Roraima ordered ...

Parts of Frankfurt airport were evacuated for several hours on Tuesday following a lapse in security in which a French family of four were allowed to leave the secure zone despite testing positive for explosives, federal police said. After the alarm had been raised, the ...

Firms doing business with Iran will be barred from the United States, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, as new U.S. sanctions took effect in spite of pleas from Washington's allies. Iran dismissed a last-minute offer from the Trump administration for talks, saying it could ...

Lawyers tasked with investigating Tokyo Medical University's alleged discrimination against female prospective students said Tuesday that they have confirmed the practice occurred, and criticized the actions taken by the institution. They also said they have confirmed further discriminatory practice against male applicants who took the ...

Better than most, Tokyo has clarity about the disaccord between economic and security interests when advocating the Indo-Pacific strategy.

The current tumults in Portland perhaps reveal something about Oregon's political DNA.

Was the U.S.-North Korea summit a great first step for peace in Northeast Asia? Hardly.

People out and about in the capital on a scorcher of a day talk about how they are coping with the heat wave.

Clueless online crusaders risk doing real harm to the very cultures they claim to represent

Here's a sight you may not expect at a kabuki performance: A blue-haired boy bolts toward a massive snake that writhes menacingly on stage. He brings his sword down on the beast, slicing it into sections that fall apart dramatically. I thought a kabuki ...

When the circus comes to town in most parts of the world these days, you won't see elephants, tigers or clowns with big red noses. Since Canada's animal-less Cirque du Soleil took to the road in 1984 with its character-driven shows and nonstop live music, ...

Summer was once the peak season for horror in Japan, part of the local custom of beating the heat with chills from scary stories. But since the decline of J-horror a decade or so ago, local horror films have become harder to find in theaters, ...

Masahiko Tsugawa, an actor with numerous appearances in movies and TV dramas, died of heart failure Saturday, his management agency said Tuesday. He was 78. A Kyoto native, Tsugawa, whose grandfather and uncle were famed film directors, began performing on the stage and in movies ...

Walt Disney Co.'s request to screen "Christopher Robin," a movie that features the honey-loving bear Winnie-the-Pooh, in China has been denied, a source said on Tuesday. It is unclear why the Chinese government denied the film. Chinese authorities do not provide reasons to Hollywood studios ...

Kona Takahashi looked rusty in his first start of the season, but the Seibu Lions' hitters kept him in the game in a 7-6 win over the Orix Buffaloes on Wednesday. Takahashi (1-0) allowed four runs on seven hits, three walks and a hit batsman ...

Independiente became the third Argentine side to capture the Suruga Bank Championship on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over J. League first-division side Cerezo Osaka. Playing for the second time in the game between the champions of South America's Copa Sudamericana and Japan's league cup, ...

The group opposing Japan Amateur Boxing Federation chairman Akira Yamane is looking for a complete systematic transformation of the JABF. Otherwise, they feel, the very existence of the sport in Japan could be in jeopardy going forward. That said, the members are not content with ...

In lifting the Emperor's Cup last month, Mitakeumi became the fourth Japanese wrestler to win a championship in the past two years. That's significant in a sport that had been utterly dominated by foreigners for the previous decade. However even with the recent success of native-born ...

Tokyo Yakult Swallows second baseman Tetsuto Yamada has won his sixth monthly MVP award after leading Japan in batting average, runs scored, stolen bases and on-base percentage in July, Nippon Professional Baseball announced Wednesday. The 26-year-old posted a .425 batting average and set a team ...

Japan Amateur Boxing Federation President Akira Yamane announced his resignation Wednesday following multiple allegations of misconduct, including pressuring referees to fix matches and misuse of grant money. Yamane, 78, has denied several allegations against him, but acknowledged his relationship with a former gang leader, prompting ...