In her 2017 book, "Thinking About Child Abuse,” Haru Sugiyama describes her correspondence with Yukihiro Saito, who is serving a lengthy sentence for causing the death of his 5-year-old son, Riku, in the mid-2000s through neglect. In his letters, Saito expresses regret, but also ...

The ubiquitous word "productivity" last summer acquired a new meaning — or at least a new twist. Members of the LGBT community, wrote Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Mio Sugita, "do not reproduce. In other words, they are unproductive. I wonder if it is appropriate ...

Retailers typically strive to promote their products by creating ad campaigns that attract consumers’ attention. Loft Co. appears to have achieved this with the recent launch of its 2019 Valentine’s Day campaign, albeit for the wrong reason. The chain, which sells everyday commodities in Japan and ...

Brexit is driving companies out of the U.K., and the Netherlands is raking in the corporate refugees. About 250 companies are in talks with the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency to potentially relocate activities to the country, according to a statement published on Saturday. The candidates ...

China's Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the disputed northeastern border state of Arunachal Pradesh, saying it "resolutely opposes" activities by Indian leaders in the region. Modi's visit was part of a series of public meetings in the region ...

Japan has warned South Korea it will take “countermeasures” if Seoul moves ahead with selling any assets seized from a Japanese firm.

Jeff Bezos called American Media Inc.'s bluff by exposing its "extortionate proposal" to force him to drop an investigation of its National Enquirer tabloid. And he still has plenty more options. He could sue, claiming AMI tried to blackmail him with embarrassing photos of himself ...

A cold snap hit Tokyo and its surrounding areas Saturday, causing cancellations of more than 100 domestic flights to and from the capital. The Meteorological Agency said up to 5 cm of snow was expected to fall in central Tokyo by 6 a.m. Sunday due ...

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be held in Hanoi at the end of this month as the two sides seek to inject fresh momentum into denuclearization talks. The announcement came after the ...

Pakistan, long at odds with the United States over the war in Afghanistan, has begun to play a behind-the-scenes but central role in supporting U.S. peace talks with the Afghan Taliban, including by facilitating travel to negotiations, U.S. officials and Taliban sources say. The Pakistani ...

The lawmaker was asked how the nations could resolve a worsening diplomatic feud fueled by disagreements over Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

Organizers hope the new system will allow a high level of security despite having venues spread across the country.

After holding up its admission for years, Greece became the first nation on Friday to ratify Macedonia's membership of NATO after the two states resolved a decades-old name dispute last month. NATO members signed the accord with Macedonia earlier in the week, days after the ...

The United States is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela's military urging them to abandon President Nicolas Maduro and is also preparing new sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on him, a senior White House official said. The Trump administration expects further military defections from ...

An entrepreneur and cultural innovator, Yu Nakamura helps Thai farmers with her coconut sugar business.

With the number of visitors to Japan continuing to grow, many hotels and hostels around the country have incorporated specialty coffee shops into their spaces not only to attract inbound visitors, but also to become more accessible, community-focused hubs for locals.

Medicom Toy's urban vinyl and other designer toys keep the inner kids alive in their adult fans.

Cacao Hunters Japan partners with indigenous communities in Colombia to source heirloom varieties of cacao — and provide farmers with stable, high incomes — for the Cacao Hunters line of premium chocolates.

Founded by Yuji Sakagami, bread shop Nogami sells about 20,000 loaves of its famous nama shokupan ("fresh" bread) per day, making it one of Japan's most beloved breads. The secret to its success is the texture of its crust.

This Valentine's Day offering from ramen chain Kourakuen features a soy sauce-based ramen with a hefty dose of chocolate.

Toyota will host four games for the Rugby World Cup at its 45,000-capacity Toyota Stadium. Read our guide to the city to find out what to do when you're in Toyota and neighboring Nagoya for the weekend.

Naoko Abe's "'Cherry' Ingram: The Englishman Who Saved Japan's Blossoms," an enchanting story about an Englishman's attempts to preserve Japan's rich cherry tree heritage in the face of rapid modernization, is due to hit bookshelves across the world in March.

Heisig's "Philosophers of Nothingness" introduces the Kyoto School's three main philosophers: Kitaro Nishida, Hajime Tanabe and Keiji Nishitani.

A new edition of popular contemporary poet Makoto Ooka's "Beneath the Sleepless Tossing of the Planets" includes the original Japanese texts of each poem, early drafts, photos from the poet's life and a new introduction by translator Janine Beichman.

The Tochigi Brex didn't have a single player carrying the offense on Saturday. Instead, it was an across-the-board effort that produced a 91-71 victory over the Sunrockers Shibuya at Brex Arena Utsunomiya. Hironori Watanabe (22 points), Jeff Gibbs (18 points) and Ryan Rossiter (11 points) score ...

Japan came within one point of taking a 2-0 lead against Spain, but Misaki Doi was unable to hang on for victory as the two sides split Saturday's singles in their Fed Cup World Group II tie. Nao Hibino opened the first-round fixture at Kitakyushu ...

Yuto Totsuka took silver in the men's halfpipe Friday at the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships. The 17-year-old earned a score of 92.25 on his high-flying second run to finish 5.25 points back from gold medalist Scotty James of Australia, who claimed an ...

Sara Takanashi finished second in the women's normal hill individual competition on Friday as Norway's Maren Lundby claimed her sixth straight World Cup victory. Takanashi grabbed her second World Cup silver in a row with jumps of 90.0 and 88.5 meters for a total of ...

Olympic champion Nao Kodaira's two-year undefeated run in the 500-meter race came to an end Friday when she finished second at the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships. Kodaira, who won her 37th consecutive race over the distance since March 2016 on Feb. 2, ...