Sony Corp. Chairman Kazuo Hirai, the architect of a turnaround at the once-dominant electronics giant, will retire in June after spending more than three decades at the company. The 58-year-old, who ceded the role of chief executive officer to Kenichiro Yoshida in April 2018, will ...

A restaurant in a high-class Tokyo hotel has unveiled giant wagyu burgers with golden-dusted buns costing ¥100,000 ($908), in honor of the upcoming ascension of Crown Prince Naruhito. Available at the Oak Door steakhouse in the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, located in the posh Roppongi district, ...

Honda Motor Co.and Hino Motors said Thursday that each company will acquire a 9.9 percent stake in the ¥2 billion venture.

In a retrial held decades after his conviction, a court on Thursday acquitted an 85-year-old man of a 1985 murder in Kumamoto Prefecture. The Kumamoto District Court found Koki Miyata not guilty in the murder of his shogi partner Matao Okamura in Matsubase, Kumamoto Prefecture, ...

A supervisor berates employees as slackers and incompetents. A president taunts, punches and forces a worker to write a letter of resignation — leading the employee to commit suicide. A whistle-blower exposes an illegal cartel, only to be banished and given mundane tasks to ...

Line Corp. and Mercari Inc. are joining forces on mobile payments as the nation's internet companies race to dominate cashless transactions in the world's No. 3 economy. The operator of Japan's most popular messaging platform and the used-goods online marketplace app will let users shop ...

Police took action against a record 3,578 people in cannabis cases in 2018, up 570 from the previous year, data released by the National Police Agency showed Thursday. The NPA data showed the figure per 100,000 people doubled from 1.7 in 2014 to 3.5 in ...

French prosecutors have questioned Takeda and placed him under formal investigation in December for suspected corruption in Tokyo’s successful bid to host the Olympic Games.

The NPA said increased social awareness of the issue is believed to have resulted in a rise in the number of people seeking police consultations.

Japanese commercial broadcasters on Wednesday proposed a revision to the broadcast law that would allow them to ditch AM radio broadcasting due to issues over cost amid a decline in listenership. The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association asked the communications ministry to implement a system revision ...

Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has warned any nations contemplating anti-satellite weapons tests like the one India carried out Wednesday that they risk making a "mess" in space because of debris fields they can leave behind. Speaking to reporters in Florida during a visit ...

Israeli cave explorers said Thursday that a salt cave with striking stalactites near the Dead Sea is the world's longest, beating the record-holder in Iran. The cave, named Malham, stretching over 10 kilometers (6.25 miles), runs through Mount Sodom, Israel's largest mountain, and spills out ...

Kyoto University was crowned the best among about 330 Japanese universities in rankings released Wednesday by Times Higher Education, moving into sole possession of first after sharing the top spot in 2018 with the University of Tokyo, which finished second this year. The top nine ...

With increased competition from online stores and digital alternatives, bookstores in Japan are belatedly following their overseas brethren out of business, so convenience store chains are stepping in to cater to readers who like to peruse a page or two before they buy. Of the ...

Japan marked a fall in applicants seeking refugee status in 2018 for the first time in eight years amid stricter rules, government data showed Wednesday. The number of applicants fell approximately 47 percent from the previous year to 10,493, with 42 people granted asylum — ...

For the third time in a week, U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a measure calling for special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian election interference to be publicly released. Amid the squabble over the timing and scope of the release, a senior Republican senator ...

The social media giant is a growing global force, and it does Beijing's bidding.

A new article warns that the economy might be on the edge of a giant "wealth bubble" that will collapse with possibly dire consequences.

Takashi Murakami's work on Billie Eilish's new video for "You Should See Me in a Crown" is the latest example of Western music's ongoing love affair with Japanese anime. And while it may seem obvious — American kids who like anime and grow up ...

Every year, more than 2,000 bands flock to Austin, Texas, for the South By Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW). The internationally recognized event has recently leaned heavy on tech, but music still plays a big part. During this year's mid-March music showcase, Japan ...

Three days before its first-ever event in Japan, the fast-growing ONE Championship fighting organization held a gorgeous news conference at a luxury Tokyo hotel on Thursday night. Indicating the promoter's seriousness for one of the largest combat sports markets in Asia, ONE prepared a bout ...

Surfer Kanoa Igarashi said he intends to ride the momentum of last season all the way to a ride at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when the 2019 World Surf League's Men's Championship Tour begins next Wednesday in Australia with the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. "This ...

Reiya Konishi will get a second world title shot when he fights IBF light flyweight champion Felix Alvarado of Nicaragua in May, Shinsei Gym announced on Thursday. Konishi, who lost to Carlos Canizales in an unsuccessful WBA light flyweight title bid in March 2018, said ...

The Yomiuri Giants are set up to have a lot of star power in their 2019 lineup. Yoshihiro Maru is the two-time reigning Central League MVP, Hayato Sakamoto has been on four Best Nine teams, including last season, and Kazuma Okamoto was an All-Star last ...

There are stereotypes in all walks of life, and student-athletes are often labeled as individuals who don't or can't focus on academics, too. But nobody ever convinced Ryuji Aoki to stick to just one of those two tasks during his three distinguished academic years at ...

The following is the last of a two-part NPB preview ending with the 2019 Central League. In order of predicted finish: Yomiuri Giants Manager: Tatsunori Hara 2018 record: 67-71-5 (3rd) Yomiuri skipper Tatsunori Hara, back for a third stint with the team, has a roster with plenty of big ...

The Sunwolves head into Friday's game against the New South Wales Waratahs hoping to right a perceived wrong. Back in Round 2 of the Super Rugby campaign on Feb. 23, the Waratahs won a thriller in Tokyo 31-30 after a last-minute piece of foul play ...

Jun Nakanishi launched his pro basketball career during a period of major changes — nonstop expansion for a decade — here. And so he has witnessed the ups and downs of Japan pro basketball since the inception of the now-disbanded bj-league in 2005. As a ...

Hideki Matsuyama and Satoshi Kodaira were among the losers in the first of three group-stage matches at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play on Wednesday. Matsuyama lost 4&3 to Branden Grace of South Africa to open the Masters tune-up while Kodaira suffered a 5&4 ...

For the New York Yankees Opening Day starter Masahiro Tanaka the bone-chilling cold on the U.S. East Coast has helped him sharpen his focus rather than giving him the blues. The 30-year-old, who earned the Opening Day nod for the fourth time in his past ...