Hatsune is Akihiko Kondo's dream wife. Petite and animated, she always greets him with a cheery smile when he returns home from a hard day at work and selects his favorite TV channel. She even sings him a song and charges his phone. She isn't really ...

Maybe we're immortal. It's not a new idea. Christianity's appeal over 2,000 years rests largely on its promise of eternal life. In Japanese Buddhism, the soul passes from life to life — a dreadful prospect, it was held, which only the enlightened escaped. Buddhist karma ...

There seems to be little chance that Russia will ever give back any part of the four islands it seized from Japan at the end of World War II, but the Japanese government, as well as some mainstream media, continues to act as if ...

A lot of people online appear to be feeling anxious ahead of the Emperor’s abdication. Some simply don’t like change, and this upcoming transition represents the biggest change their lives have ever known. So when the Yomiuri Shimbun published an article online that included predictions ...

The Defense Ministry plans to cancel a port call by its Izumo helicopter carrier in South Korea this spring amid growing tensions between the two countries over alleged risky moves by each of their militaries, a Japanese government source said Saturday. The Maritime Self-Defense Force ...

As the United States has increasingly backed away from multilateral leadership and engagement at the United Nations, China in particular has stepped up to fill the vacuum, according to diplomats and insiders, while countries such as Japan are left on uncertain footing. "China has become ...

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, known as one of the most hawkish officials in the Trump administration, has said that Washington would roll back crushing sanctions on North Korea if the U.S. sees "a significant sign" of steps toward denuclearization. Bolton alluded to the ...

Travel agencies and organizations from Japan pitched the country as a perfect destination for American tourists at the annual New York Times Travel Show, which opened on Friday. "One of our main efforts is to disperse travelers throughout Japan," said Keiko Matsuura, a spokeswoman for ...

Focus The most important line in an indictment of Trump associate Roger Stone by special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday may be the one stating that a senior official in Donald Trump's presidential campaign "was directed" to contact Stone to get information from the organization ...

Greece on Friday ratified a landmark accord that changes the name of neighboring Macedonia, ending a decades-old dispute with its neighbor and opening the way for the ex-Yugoslav republic to join the European Union and NATO. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who hammered out the deal ...

Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. agreed to buy Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC's brewing business for $330 million, showing that despite business angst about Brexit, there's still international demand for the most British of products — ale and cider. Fuller shares surged as much as 25 ...

Brazilian rescuers were searching for some 200 missing people after a tailings dam burst on Friday at an iron ore mine owned by Vale SA, the second major dam disaster involving the company in just over three years. Seven bodies had been recovered by nightfall, ...

Japan and the United States are unlikely to open negotiations on a proposed bilateral trade pact before the end of this month, due chiefly to the prolonged partial U.S. government shutdown.

South Korea is committed to advancing relations with Japan but its foreign minister says Seoul will step up efforts to share with the world its experience of Japanese wartime atrocities, including sexual violence against its women.

Private military contractors who do secret missions for Russia flew into Venezuela in the past few days to beef up security for President Nicolas Maduro in the face of U.S.-backed opposition protests, according to two people close to them. A third source close to the ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and French President Emmanuel Macron have expressed hope that a management change at Renault SA will work to facilitate cooperation between the French automaker and its Japanese partner, Nissan Motor Co. During 20-minute telephone talks Friday, Abe told Macron that the ...

President Donald Trump, who famously vowed to negotiate big deals in the White House, came out of a government shutdown battle on Friday politically wounded and outmaneuvered by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. With Americans exasperated over the 35-day shutdown's impact on everyday ...

Heavy snowfall is expected across Japan over the weekend as the weather agency issued a warning Friday for many regions on the Sea of Japan coast as well as some mountainous areas on the Pacific side. The Meteorological Agency said that with strong cold air ...

Women's defense will come from within.

A legendary Kyoto restaurant serving kaiseki, Japan's exquisite multicourse haute cuisine. A traditional grilled-eel specialist in Tokyo with roots dating to the days of the shoguns. An irreverent fast-food joint where fish burgers rule. The newly opened offshoot of one of Scandinavia's most innovative ...

A love of Tex-Mex cuisine and a desire to find quality burritos in Japan inspired Ryota Kurokawa to set off on a burrito-making journey, culminating in Que Pasa, his Kyoto-based Mexican restaurant.

Drawing from nature and past experiences, jewerly maker Maho Kato says don't fear failure to live life to the fullest.

At Calayer, a curry restaurant that pays homage to thrash metal band Slayer, chef Takahiro Kubo prepares innovative, constantly changing curries for meat-lovers and vegans alike.

In its new range, Mister Donut collaborates with pastry chef Toshihiko Yoroizuka to develop fancy takes on the chain's ring doughnuts, and a pair of decadent cake-like creations.

Japanese-English translator Louise Heal Kawai reveals the challenges of sourcing translation commissions and how one text — Soji Shimada's "Murder in the Crooked House" — was more intellectually rewarding than she initially assumed.

"Kokoro," a collection of essays published in 1896 by the prolific Anglo-Irish author Lafcadio Hearn, teems with a diverse panorama of observations from a country swelling with national pride.

Kazufumi Shiraishi's novella "Stand-in Companion" offers an interesting male perspective on infertility, plumbing the frustrations of a childless couple and the self-accusation and unspoken blame that can eat away at a relationship.

The work of popular Japanese comic book artist Naoki Urasawa has been on display in Hollywood at a facility used to promote his country's culture, marking the first such North American exhibition for the manga master. "This is MANGA — The Art of NAOKI URASAWA" ...

The Niigata Albirex BB are tough to beat at home. Saturday's series opener against the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka was a reminder of that fact. Davante Gardner, the B. League's leading scorer, and veteran teammates Lamont Hamilton and Kei Igarashi set the tone for Niigata in an ...

Sekiwake Tamawashi maintained his lead by beating No. 5 maegashira Aoiyama with one day remaining in the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday. Tamawashi picked up his 12th victory and will go into Sunday's bout at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan with a one-win lead over ...

World No. 1 Justin Rose shot a six-under-par 66 to open up a three-stroke lead at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego on Friday. While Tiger Woods posted his second consecutive 70 to slip 11 strokes off the pace, Rose excelled on the Torrey ...

Yusuke Yamada, a 20-year-old prop forward for the Toyota Industries Shuttles, is one of the many rugby players excited about Toyota hosting 2019 Rugby World Cup matches. Yamada, who hopes to one day play for Japan's Brave Blossoms and the Sunwolves, the nation's Super Rugby ...

If Rafael Nadal's Australian Open semifinal win over Greek sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas was one-sided, Novak Djokovic showed he could be even more brutal in his victory against Lucas Pouille on Friday. Nadal only needed 1 hour and 46 minutes to wrap up his victory on ...

Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova are facing off at the women's final of the Australian Open. | AFP-JIJI Welcome to our liveblog, following the action of the women's final of the Australian Open where Naomi Osaka is facing Petra Kvitova.

New Year Basho Yokozuna Hakuho has withdrawn from the ongoing New Year Grand Sumo Tournament due to injuries, ending his bid for a record-extending 42nd top division championship, his stablemaster announced Saturday. The Mongolian won his first 10 bouts at the year's opening grand tournament, but ...