The number of licensed private lodgings for tourists in Japan topped 10,000 in early November, but the facilities were concentrated in urban areas, the Japan Tourism Agency said Tuesday. Since a new law legalizing "minpaku" lodgings took effect in June, private home rentals in Japan ...

Some members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including Lower House member Shinjiro Koizumi, one of the most popular politicians in Japan, launched a caucus on Tuesday to enjoy and learn from rakugo sit-down comic storytelling shows. The caucus comprising rakugo fan LDP members is ...

Houseflies, the Soviet space program and manned missions to Mars — these aren't plot devices for a Cold War space thriller, but key terms to understand the history behind Fukuoka-based startup Musca Inc.'s project to provide a solution to some of the world's most ...

The chairman is believed to have used multiple residences purchased by the automaker in the Netherlands and three other countries.

Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita claimed the errors arose due to incorrect data calculations in the Excel spreadsheet software.

The arrest Monday of Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who is widely credited with turning around the struggling Yokohama-based automaker and forming one of the world's most powerful auto groups, has sent shock waves through the industry and left observers wondering what will become of ...

In the latest political clash over a controversial immigration bill, the ruling parties on Tuesday voted down a motion calling for the dismissal of the head of the Lower House's judiciary committee. The motion was submitted last week against Chairman Yasuhiro Hanashi, a Liberal Democratic ...

The U.S. Navy's Kanagawa-based aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, is due to make a port call in Hong Kong on Wednesday, a notice posted to the website of the city's maritime authority said, nearly two months after China denied a request by another ...

The government decided to cut back on the number of court banquets, and to hold half of them in a buffet-style.

Almost 71 percent of people in Japan who changed jobs within three years of joining a company after graduating from a university were satisfied with their career change, according to a recent survey. On their reasons for quitting that first job, 51.5 percent pointed to ...

A U.N. committee on Monday expressed concern that Japan's reparations to Korean women who were forced to work in Japanese wartime brothels are insufficient. The U.N. Committee on Enforced Disappearances revealed the view in a report on Japan's implementation of the International Convention for the ...

Abe and Putin seem determined to reach a deal on decades-old territorial dispute.

Control of the House will enable Democratic lawmakers to exercise greater oversight of U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led war.

It is in Beijing's interests to at least calm down and reign in the forces of Chinese nationalism.

The Japanese film industry may be the second-biggest in Asia, but to Hollywood it is still an island unto itself, its inner workings little understood. And the knowledge gap goes the both ways too; Japanese filmmakers may mine Hollywood for ideas and inspiration, but ...

While nothing so much as an epochal rupture occurred, 1980s' artists in Japan were reactive to the lingering concerns of the '70s — in that decade, oil painting and sculpture were mostly passe, while modernism appeared exhausted.

Japan proved a cut above in its last friendly before next year's Asian Cup, beating Kyrgyzstan 4-0 on Tuesday. A second-minute strike by national team debutant Ryosuke Yamanaka set the tone, with Genki Haraguchi adding another midway through the first half and substitutes Yuya Osako ...

The J. League welcomed its 55th club on Tuesday after its board of directors approved the admittance of Aomori Prefecture's Vanraure Hachinohe to the league's third division. Hachinohe, which had already received its J3 club license earlier this year, fulfilled entry requirements by finishing third ...

"This is like Formula One on water." That's how Sir Russell Coutts, who won a gold medal for New Zealand in sailing at the 1984 Olympics and won the America's Cup five times, describes SailGP, the nation vs. nation sailing circuit set to launch early ...

Komusubi Takakeisho remains the sole leader after he improved to a 9-1 record on Tuesday with five days remaining at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament. Takakeisho, whose only defeat came on Day 7 to sekiwake Mitakeumi, beat top-ranked maegashira Hokutofuji (5-5) in a one-sided bout ...

Sumo referees are arguably the most elaborately outfitted arbiters in the sporting world. The brightly colored kimonos they wear in the ring provide a dramatic contrast to wrestlers clad only in mawashi. The intricateness of the attire, which is based on traditional clothing, increases as gyoji ...

Kimiyasu Kudo, who this month managed the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to their third Japan Series victory in four years, won his third Matsutaro Shoriki Award on Tuesday. Kudo, who won the award in 1987 as a player, also won as Hawks manager in 2015. Hall ...

When a country takes the gold and bronze medals in the same discipline at a Grand Prix it would usually be considered a successful weekend. The joy for Japan at the Cup of Russia, however, was tempered by the injury suffered by two-time Olympic champion ...

Japan will host its first-ever PGA Tour event starting next year with one of the fastest growing online business companies in the nation as the tourney's title sponsor, organizers announced on Tuesday. The event will be called the Zozo Championship. The North American premier golf ...

Junior star Rui Hachimura scored 23 points, Zach Norvell Jr. added 15 and No. 3 Gonzaga held off Illinois 84-78 on Monday in the opening round of the Maui Invitational. Gonzaga (4-0) overcame 22 turnovers by shooting 52 percent. "They're a team that brings a lot ...