The government is mulling an update to the nation's visa system in order to accept more foreign workers in a growing number of professions facing manpower shortages, including those that serve the labor-hungry restaurant and fisheries industries, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday. As ...

A record 103 Japanese universities made it onto this year's Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings list, with the nation's two top universities — the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University — moving up in the standings. According to THE, the country's top institution, ...

In ancient legend they were called the kraken, fearsome sea monsters of giant proportions that would drag sailors down to their doom. More than 2,000 years later, the world still remains mystified by the creatures we now know as giant squids. But researchers, led by internationally ...

Shinchosha Publishing announced its Shincho 45 magazine will effectively fold after carrying articles that its president said contained “outrageous prejudice” against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Starting this year’s U.N. speech with the topic of trade, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signaled its high priority at a time of rising tensions between the world’s economic powers.

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke of "a bold and new push for peace" with nuclear-armed North Korea during his speech before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, in a hint at the direction his administration is heading as he gears up for a second ...

The following is a translation provided by the Foreign Ministry of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I have been accorded the privilege of continuing to serve as Japan's helmsman for ...

With Typhoon Trami predicted to pass over Okinawa Prefecture this weekend, candidates for Sunday's gubernatorial election are making efforts to get voters to the polls early out of concern over the effect the storm could have on the final result. As of Wednesday morning, the ...

Organizers began recruiting volunteers to work for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics on Wednesday, with staff distributing leaflets in the capital to solicit applicants. The organizing committee aims to secure 80,000 volunteers via a special website through early December. The deadline will be announced ...

Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. signed its second Japanese customer in as many weeks — but the payload this time will be lunar rovers rather than a group of space tourists. Tokyo-based lunar-exploration startup Ispace has signed up for launches on SpaceX's Falcon 9 ...

Nissan Motor Co. submitted a report to the government Wednesday containing measures to prevent any further fabrication of exhaust emissions and fuel efficiency data. "We have hurt the trust of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and our customers," Nissan President Hiroto Saikawa ...

Carlos Ghosn, who built the three-way union of Renault, Nissan. and Mitsubishi Motors, said overseeing the group is a job he isn’t looking to relinquish.

China and the United States can compete but should not view each other with a Cold War mentality and should avoid falling into a zero-sum game trap, the Chinese government's top diplomat said, amid deteriorating ties between the superpowers. Beijing and Washington are locked in ...

As a Self-Defense Forces recruiter sat patiently at a booth outside a supermarket in Tokyo one recent weekend, she welcomed a rare visitor, high school student Kazuaki Matsumura. But Matsumura, who plans to go to university, wasn't there to sign up. He was just curious. "There ...

South Korean President Moon Jae-in told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during talks on Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is ready to engage in direct talks with Japan at an appropriate time and improve relations. South Korea's presidential office provided the details ...

Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and other tech and advertising companies have committed to implementing new measures and investing in new technologies to fight the spread of hoax news online in Europe, according to a draft of the agreement. The group, an ad-hoc ...

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday an Ebola outbreak in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo could worsen rapidly because of attacks by armed groups, community resistance and the geographic spread of the disease. At least 100 people have died in the outbreak, out ...

Russian railway worker Andrey Bugera had a singular goal: get to pension age so he can leave the polluted, frigid coal mining town above the Arctic Circle where he works and move south to live out even a brief bit of retirement in comfort. But ...

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with a group of state attorneys general on how to protect consumers from dominant technology companies, though they didn't decide to open an investigation. Sessions heard from more than a dozen state officials Tuesday at a closed-door meeting weeks ...

President Donald Trump, fighting to shore up his nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court in a divided U.S. Senate, on Tuesday called sexual misconduct allegations against the judge "a con game being played by the Democrats." In a break from convention, Senate ...

Japan and the United States agreed on Tuesday to create a framework for expanding trade between the two countries. The two governments reached the accord at the second round of their "free, fair and reciprocal," ministerial trade dialogue in New York. The meeting came at a ...

The lack of an LDP heir apparent and the absence of a credible opposition force means that Japan may face a leadership vacuum when Abe's tenure ends.

The U.S. president makes his best case yet for the importance of American sovereignty.

Don't be fooled by her child-like grin and bubbly down-to-earth personality. Aya Osanai is serious about her mission to rewrite the rules of fitness and front a campaign to get Japan into shape. Although she appears very much the girl next door in her cropped ...

In the wake of Naomi Osaka's historic triumph in the U.S. Open, The Japan Times asked people what they think makes a person Japanese. Is it parentage, language, culture or a combination of factors? Hiroyuki Fujisawa, 71 Restaurateur (Japanese) The way that Japanese think, to be Japanese, ...

Pop music often opts for positivity rather than confronting the uncomfortable, but Seiko Oomori has never really adhered to J-pop norms. "The bad things that happen to you can also be attractive, almost kawaii," she says from one of the upper floors at the headquarters ...

Movies about pro-wrestling seldom star actual pro wrestlers. Instead we get Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler") or Ryuta Sato ("Gachi Boy: Wrestling with a Memory"). But the ascent to Hollywood stardom of Dwayne Johnson, who wrestled professionally as "The Rock," has inspired New Japan Pro-Wrestling, ...

An old-fashioned coffee house serves up a dash of mystery and a great dollop of sentiment in Ayuko Tsukahara's "Cafe Funiculi Funicula." Based on a pair of best-selling novels by playwright-turned-author Toshikazu Kawaguchi, this aggressively tear-jerky paean to life, death and past regrets plays ...

Shonan Bellmare escaped with a 0-0 draw against Kawasaki Frontale in the J. League on Wednesday night after striker Yu Kobayashi missed a late penalty for the visitors at a rain-soaked BMW Stadium. Following the postponement of their July 28 clash due to Typhoon Jongdari, ...

Japan's run at the women's world cup ended Wednesday with an 87-81 loss to China in a meeting between two of Asia's best. A hot-shooting Nako Motohashi led the way for Japan, going 10-for-17 from the floor for her 25 points, including 3-for-5 from 3-point ...

Aren Kuri threw eight scoreless innings to help the Hiroshima Carp to clinch their third straight Central League pennant in grand fashion with a 10-0 win over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows on Wednesday. For two straight days, the Carp had needed one win or one ...

Chunichi Dragons reliever Takuya Asao, an unprecedented choice for Central League MVP as a set-up man, announced Wednesday that he will retire at the end of the season. "I have no regrets," he told a press conference at Nagoya Dome. "I have enjoyed a joyful ...

Shori Hamada marked her world championships debut, and her 28th birthday, with an added-time victory in the women's 78-kg weight class on Tuesday. The final between the Tokyo Grand Slam winner and world No. 1 Guusje Steenhuis of the Netherlands at the National Gymnastics Arena ...

Kazuo Matsui, the first Japanese infielder to be signed by a major league team, will draw the curtain on a career that has spanned 25 years at the end of this season, the Saitama Seibu Lions announced Wednesday. The 42-year-old, a seven-time All-Star and four-time ...

Takanohana's retirement, announced on Tuesday, brings to an end the Hanada dynasty's 72-year-long involvement in sumo. The scion of a family that dominated both in the ring and in the headlines since the 1950's, Takanohana never seemed at ease in the sport that was his ...