Naomi Osaka’s women’s singles final victory at the 2018 U.S. Open on Sept. 6 excited netizens in Japan, turning the young tennis superstar into one of the most popular figures online. Her trip to Japan last week only generated more buzz, with users being ...

In August, it was reported that central government ministries and agencies, not to mention national legislative offices and local governments, have for years been fulfilling their legal responsibility to hire certain numbers of people with disabilities by fudging criteria for determining what qualifies as ...

Nearly 60 percent of the public is positive about taking action to close or relocate ancestral graves that are far from where they live, a survey says. The survey, carried out this month by Jiji Press, found that 59.6 percent of the respondents view acts ...

A somewhat cynical commentary attributed to the late American TV comedian Jackie Gleason goes, "Anybody who says money can't buy happiness doesn't know where to shop." Shopping per se, however, is an essential daily activity for many, and no one was particularly happy when ...

A pair of tiny robots released by the Hayabusa2 space probe touched down Saturday on an asteroid 300 million km from Earth, JAXA said. The cylinder-shaped Minerva-II1 explorers will take photos and temperature readings on the asteroid Ryugu before the main probe lands, the Japan ...

Five Russian residents of one of the disputed islands off Hokkaido visited a quake-hit town in the prefecture on Saturday to encourage the survivors. They are among 58 Russians staying in Hokkaido from Friday through Tuesday under a visa-free program to promote mutual understanding with ...

A temporary cafe that will use remotely controlled robots as waiters is set to open in Tokyo's Akasaka district in November to show how machines can act as proxies for people with severe physical disabilities. The cafe, which will be open on weekdays between Nov. ...

The advanced treatment is expected to give people with uncontrollable diseases a better way to increase their platelet counts at a time when blood donors are drying up.

The prime minister’s foreign, finance, trade and economy chiefs will stay, along with his party’s top executives, but followers of rival Shigeru Ishiba face the boot.

Foreign Minister Taro Kono found himself the only man at a photo session Friday on the first day of a two-day meeting of female foreign ministers in Montreal. Kono took part in some of the events at the Women Foreign Ministers' Meeting co-hosted by Canada ...

Auto exports are crucial to Japan’s economy, but the Abe administration views a reduction to its main ally as inevitable, though it still wants the U.S. in the TPP.

More than a year after President Donald Trump threatened Pyongyang with "fire and fury like the world has never seen," the US leader now boasts of his relationship with North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un. Trump told a rally Friday in Springfield, Missouri, that he ...

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein discussed secretly recording President Donald Trump last year amid law enforcement concerns about chaos in the White House, according to people familiar with exchanges at the time. One person who was present said Rosenstein was just being sarcastic. Rosenstein's ...

A love of samurai movies brought business analyst Behumuma to Japan, but a love of Africa and promoting its culture has kept him here.

An early designing post in Shanghai leads to a full-time business move

Run by father-and-son duo Toshihiro and Kouki Watanabe, Taihou remains a cozy, unfussy, family-run restaurant rooted in Kyoto's Nijo district. But that modesty can't hide what is some of the best Sichuan food you'll find in the city.

Hidehito Komaki pulls a dried pod from the flowering stem of a cabbage plant and carefully splits it. Both sides are lined with tiny brown beads. "Each of these is a seed," Komaki explains to those clustered around him. "A single cabbage plant produces ...

Q-Pot Cafe in Omotesando ushers in the Halloween season with a host of spooky treats.

At Geisels Werneckhof in Munich, Tohru Nakamura — whose father is from Japan and mother is from Germany — displays his bicultural heritage to winning effect, in a style that combines Japanese and German traditions in subtle yet surprising ways.

Haruki Murakami's sole foray into journalism, "Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche," celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. What lessons does it hold today about where Japan has gone as a society?

Jiro Osaragi's "The Journey" is an intriguing literary and psychological depiction of a society coming to grips with the aftermath of defeat and occupation.

"Speculative Japan 4" is the latest in Kumamoto-based Kurodahan Press' mission to bring the best of Japanese science fiction and fantasy to the English-speaking world.

Panasonic Wild Knights on Saturday signaled their intentions to bring the Japan Rugby Top League trophy back to their clubhouse in Ota, Gunma Prefecture, as they beat Yamaha Jubilo 15-0 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground. Having finished third and second the last two seasons, ...

The Ryukyu Golden Kings jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter and played stellar defense against the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins throughout the game in The Terrific 12 semifinals on Saturday in Macau. With a 66-48 victory, the Golden Kings advanced to Sunday's ...

Two teams arrived at Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium in desperate need of a win on Saturday afternoon, and neither found what they were looking for as Kashiwa Reysol and Sagan Tosu battled to a 1-1 draw in the first of the day's J. League ...

Right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano pitched his sixth shutout of the season as the third-place Yomiuri Giants beat the second-place Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5-0 in the Central League on Saturday. In front of 45,025 at Tokyo Dome, Giants ace Sugano (13-8) struck out nine of the 34 ...

The last day of a sumo tournament is called senshuraku and it's packed with all kinds of ceremonies and events not seen over the preceding 14. The word itself combines the characters for "thousand," "autumn" and "comfort" and is an old industry term for the ...

Yokozuna Hakuho made history twice at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday, claiming a record 41st Emperor's Cup with his 1,000th victory in the sport's top division. The 33-year-oldimproved to an unassailable 14-0 record by beating ozeki Goeido on Day 14 of the 15-day ...

Naomi Osaka had punched her ticket for the Toray Pan Pacific Open final and fielded questions from the media about 10 minutes. Now, she had a question of her own. "Um, what is that on your phone?" she asked Ichika Shingyo from Nippon Broadcasting ...

Uta Abe won her first World Judo Championships gold medal on Friday, while her brother Hifumi defended his men's under-66 kg title. Abe beat compatriot and defending champion Ai Shishime in the women's under-52 kg final. Abe won all five of her matches at the ...

Kei Nishikori set himself up for a semifinal clash with qualifier Matthias Bachinger of Germany after a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 quarterfinal victory at the Moselle Open on Friday. The top-seeded Nishikori easily won the first set but had to fight through the next two ...

The Texas Rangers fired manager Jeff Banister on Friday after the team stumbled to its first consecutive losing records in 10 years following AL West titles in each of his first two seasons. The Rangers took a 64-88 record into the Friday night's game against ...

Britain's Tyson Fury will challenge Deontay Wilder for the American's WBC heavyweight crown on Dec. 1, a statement said Friday. The Los Angeles Times reported that Staples Center in Los Angeles was a potential venue for the fight while Brooklyn's Barclays Center was also in ...

Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu seized the lead with a fluid skate in the short program on Friday at the Autumn Classic International. Taking part in his first competition since becoming the first men's back-to-back Olympic champion in 66 years in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in ...