Thailand halted plans Monday to expel an 18-year-old Saudi woman fleeing her family after she barricaded herself inside an airport hotel to prevent immigration officials putting her on a flight to Kuwait. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun has been at Bangkok's international airport since Saturday when she ...

Emperor Akihito, who is set to abdicate on April 30, commemorated on Monday the 30th anniversary of the death of his father, Emperor Showa, at his tomb in Tokyo. Emperor Akihito had expressed his desire to host the ceremony at the Musashino Mausoleum in Hachioji ...

The three workers, all women in their 20s, will spend three years gaining experience at Sapporo-based Sakura Community Service Co.

Looking to improve security on public transportation, the government plans to conduct tests at a rail station by the end of March on an electronic system designed to detect dangerous objects on train passengers, a transport ministry official said Monday. The details have not yet ...

A tabloid magazine has ignited intense backlash on social media after it published a list of colleges whose students are "easily available" for sex after drinking, underscoring what critics described as the country's systematic objectification of women. In its Dec. 25 issue, the weekly magazine ...

Japan outmuscled China to dominate mergers and acquisitions in Asia last year, and with companies in possession of more than $890 billion in cash, the spending spree is likely to continue in 2019. Japanese companies announced more than 1,000 offshore acquisitions totaling a record $191 ...

Travelers start getting dinged at all airports and seaports in the first new tax since 1992.

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could meet in Vietnam's capital for their second summit on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, the South Korean newspaper Munhwa Ilbo said. Denuclearization talks have sputtered since Trump and Kim held an unprecedented June meeting in ...

Carlos Ghosn will get a chance Tuesday to make his case to the Tokyo District Court that he should be released on bail from his 50-day detention. But 9,500 km away in Paris, his future as head of Renault SA is increasingly in doubt. The ...

Legendary Queen guitarist Brian May became the latest celebrity to weigh in Sunday on controversial construction work associated with the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture, a project that opponents say will endanger rare coral species. May took to social ...

Seven Bank will equip its ATMs with facial recognition technology, possibly starting this fall, as a way to identify customers and let people open bank accounts on the spot, sources said Monday. The new ATM operated by Seven Bank, a unit of retailer Seven & ...

Travelers in Hokkaido remained stranded Monday after flight cancellations due to heavy snow from Saturday onwards delayed around 2,000, leaving many stranded overnight at a key airport just as the country's New Year holidays wrapped up. On Monday, check-in counters at New Chitose Airport near ...

"I'll have a draft," says Yasuo Fujinuma, heaving himself down at the sushi counter. He pulls a pack of cigarettes from a frayed pocket of his sweater. From the corner of the restaurant, a small TV hums the noon weather forecast. He never drinks ...

A Philippine court has ordered the arrest of Japanese casino mogul Kazuo Okada, about a month after the country's Department of Justice (DOJ) recommended filing charges against him on three counts of fraud. The DOJ has found cause to indict Okada on three counts of ...

In 1985, about 30 bald men in their 30s who were running businesses in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, created a group called Hagetemo Katsura wo Kaburan Kai, which roughly translates to a group of men who won't wear wigs even if they go bald. The men, ...

Victims of last July's torrential rain that hit parts of western Japan were remembered Sunday, six months after the first special heavy rain warning during the disaster was issued. Bereaved relatives and residents laid flowers on an altar set up within the premises of a ...

In comments ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's planned second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump said Sunday that crippling sanctions imposed on nuclear-armed North Korea will remain "in full force and effect" until the United States sees "very positive" results. Trump ...

The French government has told Renault to provide more details on compensation paid to senior executives via a Dutch holding company jointly owned with alliance partner Nissan, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday. Le Maire made the demand after France's CGT trade Union ...

China will not back down on what it sees as a highly successful de-radicalization program in Xinjiang that has attracted global concern, but fewer people will be sent through, officials said last week in allowing rare media access there. Beijing has faced an outcry from ...

Southeast Asian countries should be cautious in negotiating with China on its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to avoid being trapped in unsustainable debt, 70 percent of respondents said in a policy survey released on Monday. Southeast Asia is increasingly skeptical of U.S. commitment ...

U.S. State Department officials are changing the policy of the president.

Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and reduce forces in Afghanistan has exposed the hollowness of arguments in favor of endless intervention.

Without a new paradigm for managing globalization, fragmentation and political despair will become the new normal.

The predictions of democratic failure in the face of authoritarian power will come true only if publics allow it.

Amid today's global conflicts, debasement of public debate, attacks on democratic institutions and escalating geopolitical tensions, it is hard to find much cause for hope. But it's still possible to restore faith in our shared humanity.

With the Golden Globes finished, the race to the Oscars is on. It's time to try out your Japanese on the topic of movies.

Depending on whether it's used as a noun, an idomatic expression or as an adverb, 'shidai' can mean something entirely different.

A hot spring map proves to be a hot topic in the news. Read about how the city of Beppu is making efforts to welcome tourists with tattoos.

A Nagoya-based effort to recycle food waste gets an award — and we get a lesson on composting.

Yokozuna Kisenosato broke even over six practice bouts on Monday as he prepares for the fight of his life at the upcoming New Year Grand Sumo Tournament. Kisenosato won three and lost three of his practice bouts, which were overseen by the yokozuna council, going ...

The Yomiuri Giants announced Monday they will send veteran outfielder Hisayoshi Chono to the Hiroshima Carp as part of the compensation package for the Tokyo-based team's signing of free agent slugger Yoshihiro Maru. The Carp, winners of the last three Central League pennants, selected the ...

The Chiba Lotte Marines have acquired former major league pitcher Josh Ravin for next season, the Pacific League club said Monday. The 30-year-old Ravin, who played with the Atlanta Braves last year, agreed to terms worth an estimated $800,000 (about ¥87.2 million). The Marines hope ...

Why would an NPB team post its best players now? If the going rate for someone like Yusei Kikuchi, one of the best pitchers in Japan, is only just over $10 million, how long before NPB clubs see the value in just keeping their top ...

Defender Gen Shoji said Sunday he is confident he can adjust to playing in the French top division and vowed to make a positive impact for his new club Toulouse. "I've always wanted to be a player who can lead their team to victories, so ...