Rental apartment operator Leopalace21 Corp. said Thursday it will ask 14,443 residents to move out as it plans to repair defects found in 1,324 of its apartments. The company said a probe found faulty installation of a fire-resistant material in ceilings and the use of ...

There's a well-known anecdote about Masayoshi Son, the maverick billionaire founder and chief executive of SoftBank Group Corp. and the man behind the world's largest technology investment fund.

In a few years, perhaps for some the most dreaded household chore may be taken over by robots. Robot startup Mira Robotics unveiled Thursday a machine that performs a range of laundry duties while controlled remotely. The new service, called ugo, hopes to resolve two major ...

Lisa Roley has worked at Nissan Motor Co.'s car plant in Sunderland, U.K., for the past two decades. Like the majority of people in the city, she also voted to leave the European Union in 2016. A day after the Japanese manufacturing giant pointed a ...

One of the key factors driving Japan's unprecedented tourism boom is its culture of hospitality — epitomized by the concept of omotenashi, which can be roughly translated as "wholeheartedly looking after guests." Yet perhaps because omotenashi has a long history and can be taken for ...

An investigative source said the rise in the figures can be partly attributed to heightened awareness among citizens leading to an increase in people reporting.

A 10-year-old girl who was found dead at her home in Chiba Prefecture last month had been deprived of sleep by her father in addition to being underfed and confined at home by her parents, investigative sources said. Mia Kurihara's mother, Nagisa, 31, has told ...

The statement adopted at the protest in Tokyo omitted phrases used in the past that could inflame tensions with the Kremlin.

It’s the strongest sign yet of the challenges facing the Franco-Japanese partnership as the sides try to forge a fresh path.

Sipping booze while being surrounded by a small army of robot figures may not be a relaxing setting for ordinary bar-goers. But that's the sort of place where middle-aged fans of the mecha anime genre, which focuses on giant robots or machines controlled by people, ...

A mission to explore uncharted depths in the Indian Ocean was launched on Wednesday, hoping to discover hundreds of new species and find out what impact plastic is having way below the surface. The First Descent expedition, led by British-based ocean research institute Nekton, is ...

Three options, including a surcharge, have been proposed to ease traffic jams on Tokyo-area expressways during the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. The remaining two options under consideration are to limit access based on license plate numbers and the use of high-occupancy lanes for vehicles with ...

Women and girls will be able to use an emoji to chat about their periods from next month, which will help to end the shame around menstruation, a child rights group said on Wednesday. Coding consortium Unicode, which distributes emoji across mobile devices, said it ...

The operator of one of Japan's largest sushi restaurant chains said Wednesday that video footage recently uploaded to the internet showed one of its part-time kitchen workers throwing sliced fish into a trash can and then returning it to a cutting board at an ...

The last four years were the hottest since global temperature records began, the U.N. confirmed Wednesday in an analysis that it said was a "clear sign of continuing long-term climate change." The U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization said in November that 2018 was set to be ...

By abandoning Afghanistan, the Trump administration is repeating one of the worst foreign policy mistakes of the past few decades.

Self-driving vehicles powered by artificial intelligence might not have the same priorities as their human owners.

Fans of Arashi still haven't come to terms with the news that the J-pop group will go on a hiatus at the end of 2020, bringing a close, at least temporarily, to one of the 21st century's most popular Japanese acts. While supporters might not ...

Japan jumped 23 spots to No. 27 in the FIFA world rankings announced Thursday following its runner-up finish in the just-concluded Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates. The Samurai Blue placed in the top 30 for the first time since 2013. They ranked No. ...

Two-time Olympic medalist Kaori Matsumoto said Thursday she has put her judo days behind her and is looking forward to kick-starting a new career at an ice cream shop. Matsumoto, who said she decided to draw the curtain on her judo career after her hopes ...

Veteran skater Ayaka Hosoda, who stole the show with her triple axels at the Japan Championships in December, is very likely to continue her skating career, The Japan Times has learned. In an exclusive interview with Hosoda on Tuesday, the jumping sensation said, "I'm willing ...

The Akita Northern Happinets know their limitations. But that hasn't stopped second-year head coach Josep "Pep" Claros from pushing his charges to play an up-tempo game and exert energy from start to finish every time. The Northern Happinets, last season's second-division regular-season champions (54-6), have faced ...

Toronto's victory over Ottawa was a little too back-and forth for Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock's liking. "Way too entertaining for the coach," Babcock said. Morgan Rielly broke a tie midway through the third period and the Maple Leafs beat the Senators 5-4 on Wednesday night. Rielly ...

The latest team to join the Bryce Harper sweepstakes is the San Francisco Giants, according to a multiple reports on Wednesday. Highly sought free agent outfielder reportedly met with Giants executives this week, putting San Francisco in the mix with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White ...