The education ministry last year announced it would change the common testing system for universities, starting in 2020. A major change is expected to be made to the English-language component of the exam. Applicants will be asked to take English tests developed by commercial ...

Less than a decade ago, finding any sort of Halloween celebration in Tokyo would have been tough. Then, suddenly, October revelry was everywhere you looked in the capital. And in 2018, the spookiest event of the year has evolved once again in Japan: It’s now ...

Japan's media coverage of Canada's Oct. 17 announcement that possession and use of marijuana would be legalized — subject to certain restrictions — has been mostly brief and low-key. To access the best source about marijuana in Japanese, I suggest you buy a subscription to ...

Today the citizens of the capital of Japan rejoice with the Allies, of whom Japan has been so important a member, and celebrate the triumph of their common cause.

The government said Saturday it will bestow honors at its annual fall event on 4,079 citizens and 135 foreign nationals for their achievements in various fields.

Advances in artificial intelligence have come along in leaps and bounds in recent years, prompting police in Fukuoka and Kyoto to look into ways of using the technology to tackle organized crime. The Fukuoka Prefectural Police in Kyushu face a particularly daunting task, with some ...

The envisaged creation of a new visa program for foreign workers may help ease shortages, but the obstacles to opening up Japan’s labor market are manifold.

A former elementary school building in a sparsely populated area in Kochi Prefecture is thriving as an aquarium, with its cumulative visitors topping 100,000 as of Tuesday, about six months after its opening. Closed as a schoolhouse 12 years ago, the three-story building in the ...

A damages lawsuit demanding ¥70 million in compensation has been filed against the educational institution, alleging that it failed to reprimand male professors who made remarks about the plaintiff.

The global walkout by Google workers, a response to Alphabet Inc.'s reported protection of executives accused of sexual misconduct, may be a harbinger of something new in employer-employee relations: empowered workers' moral-political protest directed as much against the general culture as against management. Although the ...

North Korea has warned that it could revive its scrapped policy of building up its nuclear arsenal if the U.S. does not remove harsh economic sanctions as part of reciprocal measures Pyongyang has demanded in ongoing denuclearization talks. In a statement released Friday, North Korea's ...

Harvard University defended its admissions policies Friday against a group accusing it of discriminating against Asian-American applicants in the closing arguments of a trial that could change the role of race in U.S. college admissions. The case in federal court in Boston has pitted the ...

Former internal affairs minister Seiko Noda, the first female chair of the Lower House Budget Committee, is making headlines for her unconventional style in steering deliberations — calling lawmakers by their names with the honorific suffix san, rather than kun, which is usually used ...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request by President Donald Trump's administration to halt a trial set to begin on Monday that will test the legality of the government's contentious decision to ask people taking part in the 2020 national census whether ...

Twitter deleted more than 10,000 automated accounts posting messages that discouraged people from voting in Tuesday's U.S. election and wrongly appeared to be from Democrats, after the party flagged the misleading tweets to the social media company. "We took action on relevant accounts and activity ...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday backtracked from his suggestion a day earlier that American troops sent to the U.S. border with Mexico would be free to fire on migrants who throw rocks at them, saying that rock-throwers would only be arrested. "They won't have ...

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he will likely make a deal with China on trade, adding that a lot of progress had been made to resolve the two countries' differences but warning that he still may impose more tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump, ...

The reporter, who returned to Japan late last month after 40 months of captivity, has been slammed by some for putting himself in harm’s way.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama warned on Friday against rhetoric he said was designed to sow fear as he campaigned in support of Democratic candidates while President Donald Trump hammered a hard-line anti-immigration message to energize Republicans. In a packed day of campaigning ahead of ...

But it will not be achieved without strong public policies and forward-looking business strategies.

Gaining a first-hand insight into what is needed to create universal access in Tokyo in time for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

This year marks 25 years of violin study for Daichi Nakamura. His practice has earned him a host of international accolades and the position of guest soloist at renowned symphony orchestras in Europe such as the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. Yet the 28-year-old is far ...

Chef Takashi Miyazaki's Ichigo Ichie is Ireland's first kaiseki restaurant — albeit one that blends Japanese and Irish flavors. When it landed a Michelin star within its first year, the restaurant put Cork back on Europe's culinary map and brought Miyazaki instant international acclaim.

The old-school, low-rise district of Yanaka boasts tree-lined streets, temples aplenty, fresh air and a sense of connection with Tokyo's past that has long been paved over elsewhere. What it lacks — and this is a plus, not a minus — is a subway ...

There are plenty of reasons to mourn the closure of Tsukiji's legendary wholesale market, and many more to bemoan its successor in Toyosu. Not least is the dearth of good, established restaurants out on that sterile landfill location. So it is comforting at least to ...

A vibrant part of Japan's craft beer community since 1997, family-run Minoh Beer has been pushing the boundaries of brewing by harnessing local flavors — and they have the international awards to prove it.

Japan's always-reliable family restaurants are serving up solid pear-flavored desserts this season.

Like a bouquet of exotic flowers, the stories in "The Lonesome Bodybuilder" are varied and full of surprise, starting out with mundane situations and then turning strange in a way that feels uniquely Japanese.

"Taketori Monogatari," or "The Old Bamboo-Hewer's Story," is a fascinating piece of early Japanese literature, well worth the short read. Written in the 10th century, it is one of the earliest known Japanese prose narratives, and the story recounts the beloved folktale of the ...

Although many police procedural mystery novels may appear to reflect realism, most authors only touch on a fraction of the time and shoe leather typically devoted to a real investigation. In "Newcomer," author Keigo Higashino challenges the conventional wisdom, adopting an approach that underscores ...

After an overtime loss on Friday night, the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka rebounded in a big way, blasting the Kyoto Hannaryz 100-47 in the series finale on Saturday afternoon. Benjamin Lawson scored 23 points, Dexter Pittman had 22 and Masashi Joho poured in 18 as Fukuoka ...

Kawasaki Frontale moved closer to a second straight J. League title with a 3-0 win Saturday against visiting Kashiwa Reysol. Akihiro Ienaga opened the scoring in the 21st minute after Hidemasa Morita found him inside the box with a well-executed cross. The midfielder sent a ...

Kashima Antlers are one step away from long-desired Asian glory after a testy but emphatic 2-0 win over Iran's Persepolis in the first leg of the 2018 AFC Champions League final on Saturday. Former 2002 World Cup venue Kashima Stadium in Ibaraki Prefecture was as ...

Japan scored five tries against the world champion All Blacks but still suffered a 69-31 defeat on Saturday. Japan went into the match at Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium — the venue for the opening game of the 2019 Rugby World Cup — having never beaten New ...

Kei Nishikori suffered a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Roger Federer on Friday and was knocked out of the Paris Masters. Nishikori, coming off a convincing win against South Africa's Kevin Anderson, lost 6-4, 6-4 to the world No. 3 in 1 hour, 19 ...