The estimated number of visitors to Japan in August rose 4.1 percent from a year earlier to 2,577,800, marking slow growth due to recent disasters in the country as well as scorching summer heat, the Japan National Tourism Organization said Wednesday. A powerful earthquake in ...

Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. said Wednesday that it will launch a limited number of miniature versions of its original PlayStation game console in Japan, North America and Europe on Dec. 3. The original PlayStation, launched in Japan in 1994, recorded total shipments of more than ...

Dilemma: You are in a public park in Tokyo and you desperately need the toilet. You think about holding on until you can find a convenience store, but you realize time is against you. You accept your fate and approach the dimly lit lavatory with some ...

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Wednesday that unilateral trade actions will not solve any problems, stressing that multilateralism should instead be upheld. "It is essential that we uphold the basic principles of multilateralism and free trade," Li said in a speech at the World Economic ...

Deadlocked denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington are expected to again weigh heavily on U.S. President Donald Trump's mind after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered up a flurry of seemingly tantalizing proposals Wednesday. The North agreed to "permanently" decommission a key missile facility ...

Ever struggled to identify the name of a fish when visiting an aquarium? A campaign being held at three aquariums in Japan until the end of November will allow visitors to look up the names of fish and mammals as if they have an encyclopedia ...

About three-quarters of companies in Japan have no plans to allow their employees to have side jobs despite government efforts to promote such a practice, a survey has shown. The poll by the government-funded Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training, which covered both firms ...

Marubeni Corp. said it would no longer start new coal-fired power plant projects and will halve its net coal power-generating capacity of about 3 gigawatts by 2030 to cut greenhouse gas emissions and tackle global climate change. "As a general principle, Marubeni will no longer ...

The prefecture’s largest coal-fired power plant had one of its three units restarted Wednesday, almost two weeks after the complex was damaged by a powerful earthquake.

Export growth accelerated in August in a sign that escalating trade friction between Washington and Beijing has yet to hit Japanese trade.

The date of the wedding between Princess Ayako — the youngest daughter of Emperor Akihito's late cousin, Prince Takamado — and commoner Kei Moriya was officially set for Oct. 29 in a traditional ceremony held Wednesday. In the Kokki no Gi rite held at the ...

At least 354 schools, universities and other educational institutions in Hokkaido were damaged in the powerful earthquake that struck the prefecture Sept. 6, a tally by the central and local governments showed. In most cases, the deadly quake that occurred shortly after 3 a.m. caused ...

Police officer Hiroaki Seino was fatally stabbed early Wednesday by a man who said he had come to hand over some lost cash.

The signs of a future in which humans merge with machines are appearing in Japan as people start to implant microchips in their bodies. But set against considerations of convenience are questions over potential medical law violations, health concerns and security risks. Although integrated circuit ...

Urban air pollution, mostly from vehicles, is associated with an increased risk of dementia, according to research published Wednesday. The link remained even after heavy drinking, smoking and other well-established risk factors for dementia were ruled out, the researchers reported in the medical journal BMJ ...

Philippe Bigot, the French baker credited with introducing the baguette to many Japanese households, died Monday of an unspecified illness, a source said Tuesday. He was 76. Born in Nazi-occupied Normandy in 1942, Bigot was taught to bake by his father and came to Japan ...

Utilizing Japan's superior technology and expertise in clean energy, we must step up to take a lead in the global fight to save the Earth.

At the height of his political power, now is an opportune time for Abe to attempt constitutional revision.

Naomi Osaka's decision to represent the country she left at the age of 3 may be good for her bottom line but not necessarily her longevity.

Given the present "don't ask, don't tell" attitude of the Justice Ministry, it would be highly unusual if Naomi Osaka was forced to relinquish her U.S. citizenship at the age of 22.

For all its many attractions as a place to live, Japan can be unforgiving for anyone who's perceived as different. There's a phrase that comes up repeatedly during Hikaru Toda's "Of Love & Law": "reading the air" (kūki o yomu). It describes the unspoken way ...

Teenagers take chances that, to the adults in their lives, are sheer idiocy (as I know first-hand from both sides of the teenager-adult divide). These days anything they do or say can also end up on social media, which can instantly turn an adolescent ...

The 1964 tune "The Sound of Silence" by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is a bona fide classic, but it never really identifies just what this "sound of silence" is. That task instead falls to "In Pursuit of Silence," the documentary about this surprisingly ...

The eyes of the rugby world will be on Japan in a year when the Brave Blossoms take on Russia at Tokyo Stadium on Sept. 20, 2019, in the opening game of the ninth Rugby World Cup. In a bid to break away from the ...

Left-hander Katsuki Azuma pitched eight strong innings and Jose Lopez hit two home runs in the Yokohama BayStars' 6-1 win on Wednesday over the Yomiuri Giants. In front of 44,544 at Tokyo Dome, Azuma (11-5) pitched seven perfect innings before surrendering a solo home run ...

Rugby icon Ayumu Goromaru is deeply concerned with the status quo surrounding his sport since the Japan's national team's sensational World Cup campaign in 2015. "Frankly speaking, as a player I feel very irritated," said Goromaru, a fullback for the Top League's Yamaha Jubilo, in ...

Playing in front of Japanese fans for the first time as a Grand Slam winner was a special moment, newly crowned U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka said Wednesday. Less than two weeks after becoming the first Japanese major winner at Flushing Meadows, Osaka cruised through ...

U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka thrilled her Japanese fans with a display of power and precision at the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday, dominating Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in a straight-sets victory. Osaka, who is No. 7 in the world rankings controlled every aspect of ...

Akira Uehara, the president of longtime rugby national team sponsor Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., played in the front row for Keio University's B.Y.B Rugby Football Club in the 1960s. Even after starting his career as a businessman at electronics company NEC Corporation in 1966, his ...

Two-time Olympic gold medalists Hitoshi Saito and Ayumi Tanimoto were inducted into the International Judo Federation Hall of Fame on Tuesday ahead of the world championships which kick off on Thursday. Saito was inducted posthumously following his death at age 54 from bile duct cancer ...

Mongolian yokozuna Kakuryu suffered his first loss on Wednesday, as yokozuna Hakuho emerged as the sole leader with a perfect 11-0 record at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament. Yokozuna Kisenosato (8-3), who secured his first winning record in nine meets on Tuesday, also suffered an ...

When Naomi Osaka faced the media in Japan as a Grand Slam champion for the first time on Sept. 13, Shun Nakasone was right there beside her. This week, Nakasone has essentially been the tennis star's mouthpiece in his role as the interpreter for the ...

Sumo is a Darwinian world, but even in this harsh unforgiving environment, new recruits aren't given a "Battle Royale"-style "here's your mawashi — try to survive" induction. Quite the opposite in fact. All new recruits must complete a six-month course at the "Sumo School" in ...