A 30-year-old fugitive who escaped from a police station in Osaka Prefecture in mid-August is arrested in Yamaguchi Prefecture for shoplifting rice cakes and other food at a roadside rest area.

The Japan Times presents the fifth installment of a monthly 12-part series that looks back at the leading issues of the past three decades.

Earlier this month, two different Tokyo District Court sessions associated with the maglev bullet train line now under construction were convened. In one, major contractor Obayashi Corp. was prosecuted for rigging bids for work on the project. In the other, a citizens' network was ...

A growing number of people in Japan are turning to the internet as their main destination for entertainment. Younger folk in particular opt for YouTube and Instagram as a first choice over TV. So how is traditional media adjusting to this new reality? In recent ...

Should murderers be put to death? Yes, says Japan. No, says (increasingly) much of the rest of the world. Japan swims against the current. The execution of criminals — not just murderers — was formerly, in Japan as elsewhere, a matter of course. The social ...

Brett Kavanaugh's angry denunciation of Senate Democrats at his confirmation hearing could reinforce views of the Supreme Court as a political institution at a time when the court already is sharply split between liberals and conservatives and America's stark partisan division is growing. The nominee ...

The death toll from a Friday evening earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi jumped to 384 on Saturday, authorities said, with many of those killed swept away by giant waves as they played on the beach in the city of Palu. Strong ...

Companies listed on stock exchanges along with their subsidiaries have come under closer scrutiny by investors due to continuing concerns over corporate governance. Such listings serve a dual purpose for parent companies, as they can maintain their influence over subsidiaries and at the same time ...

The Chinese military has sent fighter planes and bombers to conduct live-fire exercises at a range in the disputed South China Sea, state broadcaster CCTV reported Saturday, just days after the U.S. sent heavy bombers through the strategic waterway twice during the past week. The ...

Facebook has reported a major security breach in which 50 million user accounts were accessed by unknown attackers. The attackers gained the ability to "seize control" of those accounts, Facebook said, by stealing digital keys it uses to keep people logged in. Facebook has logged ...

A recent study by two Japanese universities found that about 40 percent of seabirds surveyed around the world had toxic substances derived from plastic waste in their bodies.

As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on whether to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, all eyes are on three Republican senators who could make or break the nomination: Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and ...

Powerful Typhoon Trami pummels Okinawa, injuring at least 18 people, as weather officials warn the storm will rip through the rest of the country over the weekend.

The central government has decided to provide subsidies covering up to 70 percent of the cost of tours to Hokkaido, where tourism demand has slumped due to a powerful earthquake early this month. The subsidy program for the prefecture is among the measures adopted at ...

Tepco says much of the radioactive water stored at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant isn’t clean enough and needs further treatment before it is released into the ocean.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says Japan’s pacifist Constitution stands out in the world for embodying peace and should be emulated, not revised.

Curator of the Live Magic! festival shares experiences of DJ-ing in Japan and reveals some of his favorite tunes.

Shottsuru is a fish sauce made from sandfish in Akita Prefecture. When its commercial production plummeted in the early 1990s, one man made it his mission to revive the local product.

For most of us, the first meal of the day is also the fastest, a quick bite or perhaps just some java on the run. But why the hurry? Slow down, breathe, take your time, reward yourself. This is a good half of the ...

In a tourist town, it pays to know where to eat before you get there. Pro tip: The best places are usually off the main drag. Look where the locals are lining up; the queue outside Oxymoron in Kamakura is always one of the ...

For more than a decade, Kevin Kent and his staff have been selling chefs and home cooks on the array of Japanese knives as well as how to care for them. That knowledge has been distilled into Kent's upcoming book, "The Knifenerd Guide to ...

It's been a big month for the venerable snack brands Kinoko no Yama and Takenoko no Sato. In September, the company behind both, Meiji, shared the results of its nationwide "general election," in which voters chose their favorite of the two sweets. Fifteen million people ...

Kyoto University wants students out of "filthy" Yoshida Ryo but won't say if the 105-year-old antiestablishment hub has any future.

Tracy Franz's poignant memoir, "My Year of Dirt and Water," is full of carefully observed details. Organised by the season and dated like a diary, Franz delves into the solitary year she spent in Japan while her husband was cloistered in a Zen monastery.

"No-No Boy," a 1957 novel by Japanese-American writer John Okada, unravels the complicated, varied perspectives of Japanese-Americans in the aftermath of World War II under the shadow of the internment camps of the American northwest.

"Once and Forever" is a brand-new selection of 24 lesser-known, but equally delightful and imaginative tales by Kenji Miyazawa expertly translated into English by the late John Bester.

Yoshihiko Ishikawa battled through cold and rain to win the 245.3-km Spartathlon race on Saturday, one of the world's toughest ultra-marathons. The 30-year-old, one of a record 60 Japanese runners who took part, clocked 22 hours, 54 minutes and 40 seconds for victory, for which ...

All that glitters was not gold for FC Tokyo, whose 20th anniversary celebrations in special gold uniforms were crashed by Shimizu S-Pulse in a 2-0 defeat at Ajinomoto Stadium on Saturday evening. A steady stream of rain throughout the day threatened to put a damper ...

Left-hander Ariel Miranda pitched seven strong innings and Nobuhiro Matsuda blasted two home runs on Saturday as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks came from behind to beat the Pacific-League leading Seibu Lions 3-1. The Hawks snapped the Lions' winning streak at 12 and delayed Seibu's pennant ...

The Kobe Kobelco Steelers moved to the top of the Red Conference thanks to a 69-5 hammering of the Munakata Sanix Blues in Saturday's only Japan Rugby Top League game. The Round 2 game was originally slated for Sept. 8 but was postponed as a ...

The AL wild-card game will be in the Bronx, where the New York Yankees bats have always felt at home. The Yankees cleared the Fenway fences four times on Friday night to tie the major league single-season home run record, clinching home-field advantage for the ...

The Boston Celtics' Gordon Hayward says just getting back on the court Friday felt like a victory after scoring 10 points in his first NBA game in almost a year. "Been waiting a long time to lace back up and get out there with the ...

Shohei Ohtani could have shut it down already. He could have wrapped up his singular rookie season with the Los Angeles Angels and proceeded straight to the Tommy John surgery looming for him next week. Instead, Ohtani is still slugging away in the eighth inning ...