To merge or not to merge? That is the question Osaka hopes to finally answer as the campaign for Osaka governor kicked off Thursday morning.

Toyota on Wednesday said it will build a new hybrid car in the U.K. for Japanese peer Suzuki — a welcome boost for the country's auto sector which has been hit by Brexit uncertainty. "Seeking to produce additional volume for other customers is one example ...

India's new ambassador to Japan believes the two countries can complement each other in terms of talent and technology, and that cooperation could lead to new innovations. "Indian software competence, married with Japanese hardware production ... if these two can merge together, you have embedded ...

If a once-in-1,000-years earthquake occurs, the area of Fukushima Prefecture expected to be flooded by subsequent tsunami could be 1.3 times larger than at the time of the March 2011 disaster, the prefectural government said Wednesday. If such a powerful earthquake takes place, tsunami of ...

At 11:48 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2018, a large space rock heading straight for Earth at a speed of 30 kilometers per second (19 miles per second) exploded into a vast ball of fire as it entered the atmosphere, 25 km above the Bering ...

A recent spate of warning signs that the economy is headed for a downturn means the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may need to take corrective action sooner rather than later. Worsening conditions — and upcoming elections — could push Abe to beef up ...

North Korea's illicit and highly sophisticated efforts to circumvent U.N. sanctions may have sought to cushion their impact, but they offer no long-term solution to the fallout of tightened economic isolation, analysts say. Sanctions relief was top of leader Kim Jong Un's agenda for his ...

Google was fined €1.49 billion ($1.7 billion) on Wednesday for blocking rival online search advertisers, in the third large European Union antitrust penalty for the Alphabet business in two only years. The European Commission, which said the fine accounted for 1.29 percent of Google's turnover ...

The cherry blossom season officially arrived in Tokyo on Thursday after officials from the Meteorological Agency confirmed that more than five blossoms had opened on a Somei-Yoshino cherry tree at Yasukuni Shrine in Chiyoda Ward. Most Somei Yoshino cherry trees in Tokyo are now expected ...

Abe and Trump are also expected to affirm that the international community will coordinate in maintaining sanctions on Pyongyang until it achieves complete denuclearization.

And if they aren't, what should liberal and democratic political parties in Thailand do?

Five years of international sanctions and Western attempts to isolate Russia have had no effect on the Kremlin's control of Crimea.

Last year proved to be a pivotal one for streaming music in Japan. According to a report by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, 2018 saw plays via platforms such as YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify overtake digital downloads. This would be a great piece ...

Like so many authors of cult movies, Macoto Tezka didn't set out to make a commercial bomb. His debut feature, "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers" ("Hoshikuzu Kyodai no Densetsu"), was widely lambasted upon its release in 1985, but over the years it has ...

Maybe the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's thought that if they kept playing, Ichiro Suzuki couldn't leave baseball. The game had to end at some point, however, and it was the Mariners who provided the final blow. Seattle scored the tiebreaking run in the 12th when ...

Defending world champion Nathan Chen secured a huge lead with a stellar short program on Thursday night at the world championships. The 19-year-old student at Yale University was the final skater of the evening and rose to the occasion, combining strong jumps with fine artistry ...

World No. 1 Naomi Osaka refused on Wednesday to become embroiled in a dispute with one of her former coaches who is suing her for 20 percent of her career earnings. Christophe Jean, who helped the two-time Grand Slam champion when she was a junior, ...

Oppressive actions such as corporal punishment and verbal abuse of athletes by coaches and those who have positions of authority have clearly been a major issue in Japanese sports in recent years. The Japan Basketball Association has recently formed an "integrity committee" to bring healthy ...

Sumo has no shortage of legends. From titanic yokozuna that dominated in the ring, to plucky underdogs that achieved far more than a lack of size would have seemed to allow, the sport has never lacked stars and celebrities. Indeed, yokozuna Hakuho, the man leading the ...

Yokozuna Hakuho defeated ozeki Tochinoshin on Wednesday to retain his lead at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament with 12 straight wins. Hakuho faced little challenge from the struggling Tochinoshin (6-6), who has only beaten the 41-time top-division champion once in 28 matchups. Hakuho hemmed up Tochinoshin ...

We're following the action of the Men's Short Program at the 2019 ISU World Championships, being held at the Saitama Super Arena.

Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday announced their 12-year contract, a record deal that ties baseball's top player to Los Angeles for what likely will be the rest of his career. A person with knowledge of the contract told The Associated Press ...

Figure skating's global governing body is set to investigate claims America's Mariah Bell deliberately injured South Korean rival Lim Eun-soo during a warm-up at the world championships in Japan. Korean officials told AFP on Thursday that they had lodged a formal complaint following the incident, ...

James Harden did everything he could to bring the Houston Rockets back from a big deficit in the fourth quarter. He got them to overtime, but his 57 points weren't enough. All because of a last-second free throw. Mike Conley scored 35 points and Jonas Valanciunas ...

The 2019 ISU World Championships opened at Saitama Super Arena on Wednesday. Here's a selection of photos from the women's short program.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is seeking to suppress video evidence that authorities assert support the solicitation of prostitution charges filed against him, ESPN reported Wednesday. ESPN investigative reporter T.J. Quinn said a motion filed Wednesday by Kraft's attorneys is intended to make sure ...