Russian President Vladimir Putin says the sovereignty of two islands set under a 1956 agreement is still subject to future negotiations.

Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. tell the government about measures they say will prevent heavy drinking by airline crew members.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a historic visit to Darwin on Friday, some 75 years after Japanese planes bombed the northern Australian city, as the two countries cement ties in the face of an emergent China. Trade and closer defense relations are the centerpieces of ...

More than 345,000 blue-collar foreign laborers are expected to enter Japan within a five-year period starting from fiscal 2019, but expectations as to their status and potential appear to differ significantly between the industries they are set to join. Some simply consider them labor, while ...

Chiba police question the son of a 75-year-old missing woman after body parts believed to be hers were found at a coastal site.

Ikea Japan K.K. said Thursday it will open an outlet in front of Harajuku Station in Tokyo in spring 2020. It will be its first urban outlet in Japan, according to the unit of the Swedish furniture retailer. The 2,500-sq.-meter store will occupy the first and ...

Cows that can withstand hotter temperatures. Cows born without pesky horns. Pigs that never reach puberty. A company wants to alter farm animals by adding and subtracting genetic traits in a lab. It sounds like science fiction, but Recombinetics sees opportunity for its technology in ...

Despite facing a fierce backlash to her draft Brexit deal, British Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to fight on. Amid Cabinet resignations and moves by her own politicians to oust her, the battle to save the EU withdrawal agreement and her own political career ...

Although cautious, Japanese firms are ready to hire foreign workers who will come to the country under a new visa arrangement.

During the early days of World War I, a young Japanese man who had left his country behind seeking a new life enlisted in the British Army to fight the Germans. In the four ensuing years of war, Harry Fusao O'Hara would be wounded almost ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen the test of a new "ultramodern tactical weapon," the North's state-run media reported Friday in the first mention of such a test in months. Kim hailed the "great success," which he said "serves as another striking demonstration ...

The most basic condition for the return of Shikotan and Habomai would be for Japan to accept that the territorial dispute has been permanently resolved.

The U.S. president is correct that Europe could fall apart without the trans-Atlantic alliance, but he's the one who's endangering it

Big business is backing a South African fund to eradicate invasive trees around Cape Town and yield billions of liters of water as the city emerges from its worst drought in a century, officials said Friday. Alien species, such as eucalyptus, which are largely native ...

Contemporary artist James Turrell is known for experiential artwork that manipulates his primary medium: light. For the "House of Light" in the Niigata Prefecture town of Tokamachi, Turrell took his inspiration from Junichiro Tanizaki's book "In Praise of Shadows."

The Michinoku Coastal Trail is a 2013 initiative by Japan's environment ministry to rejuvenate disaster-stricken Tohoku through ecotourism. At 700-kilometers long, it winds through protected forest, bucolic villages and along dramatic coastlines.

As makeup artist Kodo Nishimura sashays into a room in Tokyo balanced on pin-thin heels, he could hardly look less like a practicing Buddhist monk. Immaculately made-up, sporting smoky eye shadow, false lashes and winged eyeliner, he changes outfits three times during a presentation to ...

The English version of "Kentoshi," or "The Emissary," a work by Japanese writer Yoko Tawada, has won the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature. The National Book Awards are one of the most distinguished literature prizes in the United States. The winners of this ...

Hiroki Sakai struck his first senior international goal before conceding a penalty Friday night as Japan drew 1-1 with Venezuela but stayed unbeaten under head coach Hajime Moriyasu. Having arrived at Oita Bank Dome less than 45 minutes before kickoff after their bus was stuck ...

Syracuse University alum James Southerland scored 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the SeaHorses Mikawa topped the visiting Nagoya Diamond Dolphins 87-71 in Friday's B. League series opener. Mikawa (8-8) halted a three-game losing streak, getting a big boost from Kosuke ...

Nao Kodaira opened her World Cup season with another 500-meter victory on Friday, while her compatriots captured their eighth straight World Cup women's team pursuit win. Skating on home ice at Tokachi Oval, the defending Olympic 500-meter champion won in 37.496 seconds, 0.54 ahead of ...

Takakeisho became the only wrestler with a perfect record following his win over fellow komusubi Kaisei on Friday, the sixth day of the 15-day Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament. Takakeisho grabbed Kaisei's throat before thrusting the Brazilian down to the clay with his left hand at ...

One of the defining sights of a sumo tournament is the parade of brightly colored kensho banners around the ring before the highest- ranked wrestlers fight. While many bouts in the top division have three to five banners, those involving the most popular wrestlers such ...

Carmelo Anthony's brief tenure in Houston is over after he played just 10 NBA games with the Rockets, general manager Daryl Morey said Thursday. "After much internal discussion, the Rockets will be parting ways with Carmelo Anthony and we are working toward a resolution," Morey ...

Kei Nishikori suffered a 6-1, 6-4 defeat by Austria's Dominic Thiem at the season-ending ATP Finals on Thursday, ending his hopes of advancing to the semifinals. World No. 9 Nishikori succumbed to Thiem at O2 Arena after producing an upset over six-time champion Roger Federer ...

Zach Norvell Jr. scored 22 points and Rui Hachimura added 18 on 7-for-11 shooting, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked one shot as Gonzaga trounced Texas A&M 94-71 on Thursday night. Brandon Clarke had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Gonzaga (3-0), which won its ...

Nasa Hataoka took advantage of a hot putting streak Thursday to finish at 8-under 64, one shot back of leader Amy Olsen after the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship, the LPGA's season-ending event. On the tournament-opening par-5 first at the Tiburon Golf ...

Experienced winger Akihito Yamada returns to the Japan team to face England at Twickenham on Saturday as one of eight changes from the side beaten by New Zealand two weeks ago. The 33-year-old Yamada, one of the survivors of the 2015 World Cup upset win ...