A ruckus in the Diet over erroneous statistics leaves the government’s Dec. 10 deadline for passage of new legislation in doubt.

Rubella infections are spreading across Japan, raising concern that a potentially long-term epidemic could sap travel demand ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. With the total number of rubella patients this year expected to top 2,000 for the first time in nearly five ...

In the main control room for the crippled Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, time seems to have stood still. That was the impression reported Thursday by the first journalists to enter the facility since the 2011 nuclear ...

Three leaders of Hong Kong's 2014 pro-democracy Occupy movement, which paralyzed parts of the Chinese-ruled city for nearly three months, denied public nuisance charges on Monday as international criticism of the erosion of civil liberties grows. Law professor Benny Tai, 54, retired sociologist Chan Kin-man, ...

British Prime Minister Theresa May faces a day of reckoning on Monday as mutinous lawmakers try to trigger a no confidence vote over their opposition to her draft European Union divorce deal, a rebel member of her Conservative Party said. "This is absolutely the day ...

The "C" in APEC stands for Cooperation. But when the two biggest members are fighting a trade war and using the forum to attack each other's policies, it was always going to be hard work delivering on that. The weekend's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in ...

SoftBank Group Corp. is introducing a new robot that, unlike the talkative Pepper, skips the chit chat and just mops the floor. Whiz, an autonomous floor-cleaning machine for businesses, will go on sale in Japan in February, the company announced Monday. The 32-kg machine is powered ...

Japan posted a goods trade deficit in October as rising energy costs led imports to rise at the fastest pace in nearly five years, according to government data released Monday. The trade balance in goods with the rest of the world came to a deficit ...

As mentioned before, the sōgō shōsha have two fundamental business models: Their traditional, core business model as trader, supplier, wholesaler and distributor of a vast array of goods and materials upstream and downstream in the supply or value chain, and as an organizer of ...

Prime Minister in a bind as he seeks to keep alliance with Washington as foundation of foreign policy, while avoiding excessive conflict with Beijing.

The city of Sasayama in Hyogo Prefecture will be changing its name to Tamba-Sasayama as early as next May following what city officials described as the country's first referendum on changing a municipality's name. Sunday's referendum passed with a margin of 3,128, with 13,646 voting ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday there would never be a foreign military base in his country, following a news report that China was lobbying for a naval base in southwest Koh Kong province. The Asia Times, citing unidentified diplomatic sources and analysts, ...

Nearly half of those with dementia who have been hospitalized in Japan were physically restrained at some point to prevent them from harming themselves. A nationwide survey carried out early last year at 3,446 hospitals and receiving valid responses from 937 found that among 23,539 ...

In disaster-prone Japan, earthquake resistance is vital to prevent buildings from collapsing when a powerful temblor hits, and builders and seismic reinforcement providers have repeatedly given assurances about the safety of their structures. So when quake damper producer KYB Corp. admitted in October to falsifying ...

Mickey Mouse drew crowds of visitors to an attraction at Tokyo Disneyland on Sunday, the 90th anniversary of the character's debut, forcing the operator to ask some to wait for 11 hours for entry. "There is no official record but we are not aware of ...

Members of the Nippon Bartenders Association's branch in Mie Prefecture have created original cocktails that make use of typhoon-damaged Jiro persimmons — a local specialty of the town of Taki that is now in harvest — that cannot be shipped for sale. Until now, persimmons ...

North Korea's claim last week that it had tested an unidentified "ultramodern tactical weapon" highlighted its desire to upgrade its conventional arms and reassure its military even as talks are underway to end its nuclear program, analysts said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un witnessed ...

Following a surge in the number of fatal accidents involving electric wheelchairs getting stuck at rail crossings, the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE) has started an investigation. The move came as the death toll from such rail crossing accidents has reached five so ...

Two years after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced a divorce with old ally the United States in return for bumper business ties with China, he doesn't have much to show for it. Duterte left Beijing in 2016 with $24 billion of Chinese loans and investment ...

Since the Soviet Union fell in the early 1990s, Southeast Asia has sought to avoid getting caught in a fight between major powers. The Trump administration is making that position look increasingly untenable. Vice President Mike Pence sharpened U.S. attacks on China during a week ...

At least 150 Salvadorans set off on Sunday from their impoverished Central American country in a U.S.-bound caravan, ignoring their likely rejection at the U.S.-Mexico border where a larger caravan of mostly Hondurans has been stalled for days. Guarded by police officers, the men, women ...

President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday he would not intervene if Matthew Whitaker, his acting U.S. attorney general, moved to curtail special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. In an interview with the "Fox News ...

Bangladesh's plans to tackle the Rohingya refugee crisis have been stalled until the new year with repatriation and relocation programs only likely to be revisited following year-end general elections, a top Bangladeshi official said on Sunday. Abul Kalam, Bangladesh's refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told ...

It is much easier to globalize economic systems, but it is still very difficult to globalize the minds of human beings.

The new cold war has spread far from the geopolitical arena.

Japan has thus far succeeded in preserving its national character while fulfilling its growing responsibility toward the international community.

The words "sokkuri" and "sukkari" are used to show resemblance, but one can be used in entirely different situations.

New measures are being taken to help clean our seas, but are they too little too late?

What's that word, the one for when you like a person but are too shy to say so? Or how about the one you use when you visit Tokyo Disney? Well, one book has all the answers.

For Chris Hill, CEO of WeWork Japan, the day begins at 5:00 a.m. with meditating in the bath.

Kaparu from Shiki, a city in Saitama Prefecture, won the 2018 Yuru-kyara Grand Prix (Soft Character Grand Prix) title in the regional division on Sunday. With the motif of the mythical kappa, or water goblin, the mascot for the city's public corporation to promote culture ...

Cerezo Osaka announced on Monday that it will not renew the contract of manager Yoon Jong-hwan for next year's first-division campaign. The South Korean will lead Cerezo, which currently sits in eighth place, in the two remaining matches of the season. His replacement has not ...

Yokozuna are the stars of sumo. Always in the spotlight, they get the lion's share of column inches. Rightly so, given that only 72 men have ever attained the rank. And yet, yokozuna wasn't always the sport's highest position. For most of sumo's history, ozeki was its ...

Komusubi Takakeisho took out ozeki Tochinoshin on Monday to remain in sole possession of the lead after nine days of action at the 15-day Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament. But despite the quick victory, the Chiganoura stable wrestler doesn't have much room for error. Because in ...

Ryoyu Kobayashi achieved his maiden podium finish Sunday by taking third place at the ski jumping World Cup season opener in Poland. The 22-year-old Pyeongchang Olympian totaled 255.6 to finish 7.8 points behind winner Evgeniy Klimov of Russia in the large hill event in Wisla. ...