In August, five North Korean defectors residing in Japan filed a lawsuit in Tokyo District Court charging Pyongyang with human rights abuses. The plaintiffs were described in the Mainichi Shimbun as "second-generation ethnic Koreans" who grew up in Japan but moved to North Korea ...

Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics have started accepting applications from those hoping to volunteer at the games a little less from two years from now. As you might suspect, Japan’s online community had plenty to say about the issue from the ...

Some magazines meet their end with a whimper. Last month, however, a monthly called Shincho 45 went out with a bang. On Sept. 25, Shincho 45's publisher, Shincho-sha, announced it would suspend publication of the magazine in response to protests from the LGBT community and ...

A delicious sauce, comparable to shōyu, made by a process of properly mixed coconut milk sugar and salt has been discovered by a Japanese school teacher in Davao, Philippines.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirm the two nations’ shared policy on North Korea before Pompeo travels to Pyongyang for denuclearization talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

With scores of plump tuna lining the floor, auctioneers rhythmically called out prices and bidders signaled with their hands. It was before daybreak, and the Tsukiji fish market looked like it was starting a normal business day. Yet it would never be the same again. [video_embed ...

More tourists in Kyoto and Tokyo are sightseeing early in the morning, although many venues are not yet ready to handle the new trend. In Kyoto, home to a huge array of temples and shrines, officials have been trying in recent years to ease congestion ...

Goichiro Toyoda, 34, has an impressive resume. A graduate of the prestigious University of Tokyo faculty of medicine, Toyoda worked as a brain surgeon in Tokyo before leaving to become a research scholar at Children's Hospital of Michigan. Toyoda, however, eventually quit what looked to ...

The Yoshinoya outlet at the origin of the nationwide gyūdon (beef on rice) chain — located inside Tokyo's Tsukiji wholesale food market — closed its doors for the last time Saturday, ending its 59-year-old history due to the relocation of the famed market. Many customers ...

Through the ages, sexual violence has been a savage feature of armed conflict, often systematically inflicted by combatants on girls and women in what the world today defines as a war crime. It happened in the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and ...

A plan to filter bacteria from the water around Odaiba Beach Park in Tokyo Bay was announced Friday by 2020 Olympic and Paralympic organizers and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Tests performed in July and August confirmed that polyester screens can contain the flow of contaminants ...

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross signals Washington may flex its muscles with additional trading partners — including Japan — in order to exert pressure on China to open its markets.

President Donald Trump's nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, looked headed for a lifetime job on the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday after two crucial senators said that sexual misconduct accusations against the judge would not prevent them from voting to confirm him. If Kavanaugh is approved in ...

Unagi (eel) may be one of Japan's most beloved dishes, but despite its much-touted health benefits, rising prices and shrinking numbers of juvenile eels may threaten consumption levels of this Japanese dish.

With her unusual approach to traditional sprig designs, Japanese ceramicist Hosono is helping change the face of Wedgwood.

Marco Garcia is a man with a mission that is at once modest and radical. At Los Tacos Azules, his bright, cheerful little restaurant, his aim is simply to serve the staple food of his homeland, Mexico. But along the way, he is likely ...

The secret is long since out: Japan's craft beer scene is a vibrant place, filled with innovative brewers creating new and interesting beers alongside masterful examples of traditional styles.

The Halloween desserts just keep on coming! Gin no Budo's October lineup features almost too-cute-to-eat cats and pumpkins.

Hard-boiled, multifaceted writer Joel Rose paired up with the late Anthony Bourdain to pen "Anthony Bourdain's Hungry Ghosts," an illustrated collection of fright and food evoking the Japanese kaidan (ghost story) tradition.

In "Studies in Intellectual History of Tokugawa Japan," leading postwar political scientist Masao Maruyama chronicles the ideas and debates of scholars throughout the Edo Period (1603-1868). Studies in Intellectual History of Tokugawa Japan, by Masao Maruyama, Translated by Mikiso Hane.383 pages PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, Nonfiction. The central ...

Shuji Terayama's "When I Was a Wolf" is a collection of essays that reappraise Western fairy tales, fables and literature and flips them head over heels.

Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto has spent a career steeped in high drama but Saturday the Japanese star revealed he had now realized a childhood dream by working for the first time in animation. "I grew up watching Astro Boy," said Sakamoto, referring to the ...

Montserrat Caballe, a Spanish opera singer renowned for her bel canto technique and her interpretations of the roles of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti, has died. She was 85. The Gran Teatre del Liceu opera house in Barcelona, where Caballe performed more than 200 times, described ...

The defending B. League champion Alvark Tokyo opened their new season with a down-to-the-wire victory over the Sunrockers Shibuya on Saturday afternoon in Tachikawa. Star center Alex Kirk led the way with 27 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, in Tokyo's 73-71 triumph. Alvark mainstay ...

Two exquisite goals by midfielder Junya Ito set relegation-threatened Kashiwa Reysol on the road to a 3-0 J. League first-division win at Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Saturday. With a strong wind at his back, Ito broke the ice at Edion Stadium in the 23rd minute when ...

Rookie Kairi Shimada's 10th-inning, two-out single lifted the Hanshin Tigers to a 4-3 walk-off win over the Yokohama BayStars on Saturday. With the loss, the BayStars, currently in fourth place in the Central League standings, fell 1½ games behind the third-place Yomiuri Giants in their ...

Naomi Osaka's bid for a third tour title ended in a straight-sets semifinal defeat to Anastasija Sevastova at the China Open on Saturday. The Latvian, ranked 20th in the world, knocked off the U.S. Open champ 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour, 31 minutes. According to ...

Two-time champion Kei Nishikori swatted aside eighth seed Richard Gasquet with very little fuss on Saturday, beating the Frenchman in straight sets to reach the Rakuten Japan Open final. Third seed Nishikori, who won the last of his 11 career titles in Memphis two years ...

Chris Sale left the mound to a standing ovation and then waited along with anxious Red Sox fans while the Boston bullpen frittered away most of a five-run lead. Bases loaded in the sixth inning. Two runs. Bases loaded, nobody out in the seventh. The Yankees ...

Glenn Murray scored his 99th goal for Brighton as it won 1-0 at home to West Ham on Friday and climbed above the Hammers in the Premier League table. Victory saw the Seagulls soar into 12th place ahead of the bulk of this weekend's fixtures, ...

World champion Lewis Hamilton roared to pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix as Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel slumped to ninth after a disastrous showing in qualifying on Saturday. Hamilton, who leads Vettel by 50 points with five races left this season, led a Mercedes ...

New Sunwolves head coach Tony Brown said Friday the Japan national team members in line to play at the 2019 Rugby World Cup will need to prove themselves if they are to play Super Rugby next year. The 43-year-old former All Black, who will combine ...

During August and September, esports competitions took the stage in two very different and significant places. In August, esports had a presence at the Asian Games in Indonesia as a demonstration sport alongside swimming, track and field and other traditional athletics endeavors. Then in September, ...

About an hour's drive south of central Sapporo is the hot springs resort of Jozankei, a town nestled within the lush valley of the Toyohira River. Popular as a tourist destination for its onsens and brilliant red and yellow autumn foliage, Jozankei has a well-kept ...