The South Korean military on Wednesday accused Japan of clear provocations, alleging Japanese patrol planes deliberately flew at low altitudes recently near South Korean naval vessels, a claim immediately denied by Tokyo. Suh Wook, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's operational headquarters, said the ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took the stage at the World Economic Forum's 2019 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, where he stressed Japan's commitment to enhancing a free, open and rules-based international order. Flying in from Moscow and appearing in front of the audience ...

Sony Corp. on Wednesday showed off the latest tricks of its signature robotic dog, Aibo, including a new security capability of patrolling inside a house. Teaming up with security company Secom Co. Ltd., the Japanese electronics giant will roll out the new roaming security feature ...

The government is considering holding the first skills tests for foreign nationals hoping to work in the Japan's nursing sector under new visa categories in Vietnam and the Philippines, sources with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday. The sector is expected to attract the greatest ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s attempt to quickly settle a territorial dispute with Russia appears unlikely to bear fruit, with no substantive progress announced after talks with Vladimir Putin.

Toyota Motor Corp. and electronics giant Panasonic Corp. said Tuesday they will jointly establish a new company to make batteries for automobiles, including electric vehicles, by the end of 2020. With the joint venture, the firms aim to counter Chinese and other foreign rivals. Toyota ...

The labor ministry releases corrected personal income statistics going back to 2012 after the discovery of sampling irregularities stretching back years that resulted in compensation to millions going unpaid.

Japan logged a goods trade deficit of ¥1.2 trillion ($11 billion) in 2018, government data showed Wednesday, the first red ink in three years as the cost of energy imports surged. Imports rose 9.7 percent from a year earlier to ¥82.69 trillion, outpacing a 4.1 ...

The story of Iwao Hakamada, a former professional boxer and death-row inmate, 82, who continues to battle to clear his name over a 1966 quadruple murder, will be adapted into a manga series, supporters of the convict announced Wednesday. Hakamada was sentenced to hang in ...

The police believe the men belong to a group suspected of similarly smuggling a total of some 4 tons of gold since March 2017, and selling it in Japan.

Renault has called a board meeting to replace Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn, in a move that may begin to ease tensions with alliance partner Nissan in the wake of Ghosn's arrest in Japan for alleged financial misconduct. The board, which meets on Thursday ...

Weekly tabloid magazine Spa! issued an apology in its latest edition after a list it published in December — which ranked colleges based on the perceived sexual availability of their female students — received heavy criticism and led the publication to re-evaluate its editorial ...

The number of new, short-term visitors to Japan hit a record high of 27.05 million last year, according to data showing arrivals from overseas by their visa status released by the Justice Ministry for the first time. New visitors staying for 90 days or less ...

The U.K. Parliament is moving closer to a plan to delay Brexit in order to stop the country dropping out of the European Union with no deal and avoid the risk of an economically damaging divorce. The main opposition Labour Party is now increasingly likely ...

In Tokyo's Ginza, Seoul's Gangnam and Beijing's Chaoyang financial district, a familiar scene plays out almost every night of the work week. As dusk falls, businessmen flock to karaoke and hostess clubs to close deals and build relationships in the liquor-lubricated intimacy of young ...

Eighteen years ago, at the height of the Taliban's power in Afghanistan, Roshan Mashal secretly taught her daughters to read and write alongside a dozen local girls who smuggled school books to her house in potato sacks. Mashal's daughters have since gained university degrees in ...

The Taliban, carrying out one of the deadliest attacks of Afghanistan's 17-year insurgency just hours before new peace talks began, has rammed home its message that it intends to reach any settlement from a position of strength on the battlefield. The attack, carried out with ...

As much as U.S. President Donald Trump wants to boost markets through a trade pact with China, he will not soften his position that Beijing must make real structural reforms, including how it handles intellectual property, to reach a deal, advisers say. Offering to buy ...

Russia and China are taking advantage of changes in the "strategic environment" that has prevailed for almost a century to gain influence and undermine American objectives, according to a new strategy document issued by U.S. intelligence agencies. The document, released Tuesday, says global trends such ...

A week-old strike by more than 30,000 Los Angeles teachers that has disrupted classes for nearly half a million students neared an end on Tuesday as the teachers' union and the second-largest U.S. school district reached a contract deal. "I'm proud to announce, pending approval, ...

James Dyson, the billionaire Brexit supporter who revolutionised vacuum cleaners with his bagless technology, is moving his corporate office and tax registration to Singapore from Britain to be closer to his fastest growing markets. The company said the move from Britain was not driven by ...

Greater involvement by families and local communities can stimulate the curiosity of young potential leaders and cultivate their spirit of adventure.

Resolving a dispute from WWII would require giving up territory, but that would be deeply unpopular in Russia.

If you've ever taught English at a Japanese school, you'll likely be familiar with a certain kind of silence — pervasive and tinged with teenage ennui. Authors Alexander Dutson and James Hill want to recommend breaking the ice with philosophy. Their book, "Thinking Experiments," presents ...

I teach a class of 38 at Hamamatsu Higashi Senior High School in Shizuoka Prefecture, and earlier this month I tried out a gender-themed lesson from Alexander Dutson and James Hill's "Thinking Experiments." The class I teach emphasizes essay writing and comprises students who aim ...

Japanese music hasn't made many inroads into Western markets this decade. Save for some brief viral flashes and niche success, the country's artists have mostly been overlooked. However, Sean Miyashiro, founder of media company 88rising, thinks Japan still holds one big advantage. "I think the ...

Love hotels feature in many Japanese films, including those, like Ryuichi Hiroki's "Kabukicho Love Hotel" and Izuru Kumasaka's "Asyl: Park and Love Hotel," that make such establishments a central focus. Typically guests drop their social masks within their walls, while employees get an up-close ...

The concept of parallel universes is a fascinating one. What if there was another you out there, making the big bucks, fighting in a war or writing bad poetry? And what would happen if you and your alternate self were ever to meet up? That's ...

Having tasted her first Grand Slam success at the U.S. Open last year, Naomi Osaka says she now has a "weird" feeling of wanting more after progressing to her first Australian Open semifinal on Wednesday. Osaka was just 20 when she became Japan's first Grand ...

Kei Nishikori retired from his quarterfinal against top seed Novak Djokovic on Wednesday, succumbing to an injured thigh as he trailed 6-1, 4-1. Nishikori, ranked ninth in the world, was coming off a five-hour, five-set match on Monday and could not keep up with the ...

Those who doubted the value of Nippon Professional Baseball's video review system a year ago have officially left the building. On Tuesday, NPB announced a few tweaks to a system that got some negative press last year, but was — on the whole — considered ...

Komusubi Mitakeumi handed yokozuna Hakuho his first loss on Wednesday, returning from injury to pull off the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament's biggest surprise so far. Mitakeumi (6-2-3), who missed three days of competition with an injured left leg, faced the unenviable task of battling ...

"Defense wins championships," as the old saying goes. The Samurai Blue certainly needed plenty of it on Monday after maintaining less than 24 percent possession over 90 minutes of their Asian Cup round of 16 win against Saudi Arabia under the baking sun at Sharjah ...

With a sport as ancient as sumo, trading cards aren't the first things that spring to mind when you think of memorabilia. A person could be forgiven for assuming that if such cards existed, they must be just a recent concession to western tastes. The reality ...