The government plans to hold off on deciding whether to allow female members of the Imperial family to establish branches of the family after marriage, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. The government will not launch in-depth discussions on the issue at least ...

The fund represents the final hurdle in a settlement the company reached with Chinese claimants in June 2016.

A vast majority of uses of the hashtag #kyūjo — which means rescue in Japanese — posted on Twitter during the deadly flooding last summer were unrelated to calls for help.

The program will be included in Japan’s five-year security plan that takes effect next April.

But the Vision Fund’s connections with Saudi Arabia are raising concerns.

Iran greeted the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Monday with air defense drills and an acknowledgement from President Hassan Rouhani the nation faces a "war situation," raising Mideast tensions as America's maximalist approach to the Islamic Republic takes hold. The sanctions end all the economic ...

The wallets of Japanese residents may get a little lighter next year, as the prices of most goods and services are set to rise under a new consumption tax system starting in October 2019. Under this new system, consumers may have at least some reprieve, ...

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. has launched an English-language online virtual tour of the interior of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant, allowing website visitors to check the progress of decommissioning work following the 2011 meltdowns — one of the world's worst ...

Japan's capital expenditure boom is shifting to the services sector, stirring fears that self-checkout systems and software will take the human touch out of omotenashi, the country's vaunted commitment to hospitality. The economic forces at work are undeniable. The working age population is forecast to ...

A section of Ring Road No. 2, a key route for transportation during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games that connects the capital's central and southeastern waterfront areas, was provisionally opened to traffic Sunday. The completion of the 2.8-kilometer-long section between Toyosu in Koto ...

A number of notable races are taking place Tuesday in the U.S. midterm elections, when Americans go to the polls to elect governors and members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Here is a look at some of the most interesting contests: Beto-mania One of ...

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated Monday that policymakers will be more mindful of the rising cost of prolonged stimulus, though the central bank chief ruled out the chance of a near-term interest rate hike. Kuroda said there is "no reason" now for the ...

The Tokyo Olympics in 1964 marked the emergence of Japan as a consumer economy with the population growing, incomes rising and the economy expanding. In fact, the Japanese economy averaged nearly 10 percent annual growth between 1957 and 1972. Sales of TVs, refrigerators, automobiles, ...

Superrealistic plastic face masks produced by a firm in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, have recently attracted attention at home and abroad, from facial-recognition system developers to a Saudi Arabian royal family member. "Look, it makes your heart pound, doesn't it?" says Osamu Kitagawa, 60, president of ...

In February, the YourNewsWire page on Facebook was at its peak popularity, boosted by its salacious post claiming that Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, was Fidel Castro's love child. That story, shared 1,800 times, represented exactly the kind of content Facebook Inc. had promised ...

If the South Koreans remain obsessed with the past and do not respect the rule-based international system, they are committing international political suicide.

To lament the 'fall of Japan' during the Heisei Era, as some pessimists do, misses the big picture.

Politicians want to win, which makes it extremely hard for them to peddle long-term solutions.

The U.S.'s actions instilled Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's deep sense of impunity.

Trump's strategy is likely to increase Middle East tensions — and unlikely to bring the U.S. closer to achieving its goals on Iran.

It's no news that Japanese writing is a complex affair. Apart from the sheer number of characters — 48 each for the hiragana and katakana syllabaries plus an almost open-ended number of kanji — there are also various rules about when to use what.

Today, we'll look at the Xように言(い)う pattern and some related expressions. Xように言う means to "tell someone to do X," and it's used when a person reports what they told someone to do, like how the mother told Takako to get milk.

Popular American actor Johnny Depp will play the lead role of Eugene Smith in the movie "Minamata" (original title), which depicts the life of the master photographer who reported on Minamata disease to the world, and whose death 40 years ago is being commemorated ...

Japanese journalist Jumpei Yasuda, freed from Syria this week, arrived home to overjoyed relatives and supporters, but also to vitriol from some who accuse him and other hostages of reckless behavior.

Saitama Seibu Lions second baseman and Pacific League RBI champ Hideto Asamura will file for domestic free agency, the club said Monday. The 27-year old was the Lions' third pick in the 2008 draft out of high school. He set career highs this season with ...

The Saitama Seibu Lions have approved Yusei Kikuchi's wish to pursue a career in the major leagues and will post the left-hander soon, executives of the Pacific League team revealed Monday. Since Kikuchi cannot file for international free agency until 2020, he needed Seibu's approval ...

Former Test captain Mark Taylor quit as a Cricket Australia director Monday, giving the organization a clean slate to repair the damage inflicted by the ball-tampering scandal and a damning review into the governing body. Taylor becomes the latest top figure to exit the embattled ...

Midfielder Daichi Kamada netted his sixth goal of the season, scoring in Sint-Truiden's 2-1 win over Zulte Waregem at home in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League on Sunday. After Theo Bongonda gave the visitors the early lead at Stayen, Kamada beat the offside trap and ...

Daisuke Takahashi, the men's figure skating bronze medalist at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, qualified for this year's national championships by winning the Western Japan championship on Sunday. The 32-year-old, who returned to the ice last month after retiring after the 2014 Sochi Olympics, scored 161.11 ...

Floyd Mayweather has won world titles in five different weight classes and is 50-0 in an unparalleled boxing career, but the American could be set for a stunning detour into the world of mixed martial arts after signing with Japanese promoters RIZIN Fighting Federation. The ...

Kei Nishikori, who has secured a spot in the season-ending ATP Finals, jumped two places to No. 9 in the ATP rankings on Monday. Nishikori broke into the top 10 for the first time since August 2017, when he suffered a season-ending wrist injury. Paris ...

Star slugger Seiya Suzuki came out to the Mazda Stadium parking lot earlier than other Hiroshima Carp players after Game 6 of the Japan Series wrapped up on Saturday night. There he was quickly surrounded by reporters who wanted to hear what the team's cleanup ...

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks must've known something was off. Hiroshima Carp shortstop Kosuke Tanaka, who had led off Game 6 of the Japan Series with a single, had taken off as Hawks starter Rick van den Hurk pitched to Ryosuke Kikuchi and was ruled to ...

Two-time defending Olympic men’s champion Yuzuru Hanyu wasn’t at his best, but still blew away the field to win the Helsinki Grand Prix on Sunday. "I'm really pleased with this because I don't do well in my first Grand Prix event," Hanyu said. "Of course ...