The Hyogo College of Medicine has introduced a facial recognition technology-based system to check student attendance. It is the first university in Japan to use such a system, according to the institution in the city of Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. The university expects the system to allow ...

The U.S. Navy said Wednesday that it will drop charges against two former USS Fitzgerald officers accused of criminal negligence in the warship's deadly 2017 collision south of Tokyo Bay. Former Fitzgerald commanding officer Cmdr. Bryce Benson and the destroyer's former tactical action officer Lt. ...

Japan will send the head of the Maritime Self-Defense Force and a destroyer to the Chinese Navy's fleet review in late April to strengthen defense exchanges, the Japanese government confirmed Thursday. MSDF Chief of Staff Hiroshi Yamamura will make a four-day trip from April 22 ...

Apart from culture, food and a superefficient rail system, one of the things that most impresses travelers to Japan is its convenience stores, bursting with sushi, alcohol, underwear and ready-made food available at all hours. Well, maybe not for much longer. The 24-hour konbini experience is ...

Japan will continue to urge the U.K. to avoid leaving the European Union without any deal, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday, following news that an arrangement had been reached to delay Brexit by six months. On Wednesday, European Union and U.K. leaders agreed ...

The government has decided to draw up a program aimed at facilitating stable employment of nonregular workers in their 30s and 40s who were unable to obtain regular positions upon graduation from universities or other educational institutions due to the tough job market at ...

Lawyer Junichiro Hironaka believes there would be no further questions for Carole Ghosn but declined to speculate on whether she would remain in Japan.

Yoshitaka Sakurada has repeatedly made headlines by making gaffes that have significantly damaged the reputation of Abe’s administration.

In a landmark ruling over a law that campaigners say puts women at risk, South Korea's Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered the country's decades-old abortion ban to be lifted. South Korea remains one of the few industrialized nations that criminalizes abortion, except for instances of ...

Nomura Holdings Inc.'s latest attempt to revamp its international business is falling flat with investors, who have never been so downbeat on the stock relative to global peers. Japan's largest brokerage has dropped almost 3 percent in Tokyo trading since Chief Executive Officer Koji Nagai ...

Toyota Motor Corp. released the fully remodeled RAV4 sport utility vehicle in Japan on Wednesday, marking the first launch of a new model of the globally popular SUV here in three years. With the fifth-generation series, Toyota revived the RAV4 in its product lineup for ...

If it worked for Maria Callas, maybe it can work for others. Rumor has it that Callas, one of the most influential soprano singers of the 20th century, used tapeworms to maintain her figure, helping her lose around 50 kg in the 1950s. Although the truth ...

The number of companies in Japan that have adopted Reiwa — the name announced for the country's forthcoming new era — as part of their corporate names has reached 30, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said. There were no such firms before the name of the ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has doubled down on his regime persevering through tough sanctions that have choked his economy, urging his country to deal a "telling blow" to those imposing the sanctions and pitching self-reliance as an "eternal lifeline," state-run media reported ...

China is struggling to ease worries about President Xi Jinping's signature plan to build a new Silk Road as it readies for a major summit in late April, especially among Western nations wary about debt, transparency and Chinese influence. While China gained a major victory ...

Amazon Japan G.K. will withdraw its plan to provide customers with reward points worth at least 1 percent of purchase amounts for all items on its shopping site, company sources said. According to an announcement by the unit of U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. in ...

Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, the health commissioner of an outlying New York suburban county, is feeling "overwhelmed." Since October she has been fighting an uphill battle to quell one of the worst U.S. measles outbreaks in 20 years. Among her daily struggles: having to constantly repeat that ...

Protests erupted Wednesday at commemorations to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, underlining how divisive the mustachioed peasant leader remains a century later. Zapata, one of the main leaders of the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, was ...

The F-35A that crashed into the sea off Aomori Prefecture on Tuesday was one of a growing global fleet of advanced stealth aircraft sold to U.S. allies, and among the first to be assembled in Japan. There are already about twice as many copies of ...

A Peruvian judge ordered the arrest of former President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on Wednesday while also authorizing a search of several properties as part of a probe into a bribery scheme linked to scandal-plagued Brazilian builder Odebrecht. Kuczynski, 80, underwent medical exams accompanied by police ...

Amid growing uncertainties caused by the breakdown of the second U.S.-North Korea summit, analysts are wondering whether U.S. President Donald Trump's administration can foster a cooperative relationship with Japan and South Korea to improve regional stability. Disputes between the two U.S. allies over wartime labor ...

Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Himawari Life Insurance Inc. said it will refuse to employ graduates who smoke when it recruits new hires in April next year. It is unusual for a company to refuse to hire smokers. The move is described as part of corporate efforts to ...

Bridgestone Corp. said Wednesday it would tie up with Toyota Motor Corp. and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on a joint mission to send a rover to the moon. The world's leading tire maker announced its participation at the Space Symposium in Colorado. JAXA is planning ...

Honjo said he wished to donate money derived from patent sales to a foundation supporting young researchers set up by Kyoto University.

Australians will go to the polls in a general election on May 18 after Prime Minister Scott Morrison fired the starting gun Thursday on a campaign set to be fought over taxation, climate change and inequality. Morrison and his main opponent, Labor Party leader Bill ...

India's gargantuan election, the biggest in history, kicked off Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a second term from the South Asian behemoth's 900 million voters. Opinion polls put Modi, 68, as the favorite but he faces a tough challenge from not one but ...

Japanese police will launch an investigation into a major phone scam based out of Thailand in which hundreds of people across Japan are believed to have been swindled out of more than ¥200 million ($1.8 million) this year, investigative sources said Wednesday. Following the arrest ...

Posters that use traditional kimono-wearing characters portrayed in the style of Edo Period ukiyo-e to educate train passengers on proper etiquette have gained attention abroad, with the works featured in a British exhibition and printed in Taiwanese textbooks. First introduced in September 2016, the light-hearted ...

The Hokkaido Museum in Sapporo has been surveying historical artifacts on the four Russian-held isles claimed by Japan through a bilateral arrangement that lets Japanese former residents make visa-free visits. Hiroshi Ushiro, the chief curator, used the program to make visits from 2005 through 2018 ...

After effectively removing gaffe-prone Olympics minister Yoshitaka Sakurada Wednesday night, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appointed Shunichi Suzuki, Sakurada's predecessor, as the next Olympics minister Thursday. "I want (Suzuki) to regain trust and bring the Olympics to a success," Abe told reporters Thursday morning. Sakurada submitted his ...

Eastern forces and troops loyal to the Tripoli government battled on the outskirts of Libya's capital on Wednesday as thousands of residents fled from the fighting. The Libyan National Army (LNA) forces of eastern commander Khalifa Haftar held positions in the suburbs about 11 km ...

Just over 40 percent in Japan are supportive of efforts to revise the war-renouncing Article 9 of the nation's Constitution, while over half oppose, a poll showed Wednesday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has advocated amending the top law, proposing that a paragraph of Article 9 ...

More than 10,000 Canadians have died of opioid-related overdoses since a public health crisis erupted in 2016, according to new data released Wednesday. The latest figures — 3,200 deaths in the first nine months of 2018 — show that the powerful painkiller fentanyl remains "a ...

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved "net neutrality" legislation to require internet service providers to treat all online traffic equally, but the measure is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate and faces White House opposition. The largely symbolic 232-190 vote on the "Save the ...

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is poised for its first commercial space launch Wednesday, carrying a Saudi satellite operated by Arabsat, a year after sending founder Elon Musk's red Tesla roadster into orbit as a test. The Falcon Heavy is scheduled to lift off from the ...

There's a need for Japan humanities perspectives to be heard more by foreign audiences abroad, to have greater influence in international scholarship and the global public sphere.

The IMF's latest numbers show a worrisome trajectory, but they aren't terrible.

The Tokyo Station Hotel's popular seasonal afternoon tea set returns this spring at the Lobby Lounge — just in time for the Golden Week holiday. Featuring a heavenly combination of sweets, savory delights and a refreshing array of teas, the LL Afternoon Tea Spring ...

The term J-pop, a Heisei invention, needed a defining characteristic to make it stand out from the Showa Era's soundtrack, and Komuro provided a synthesizer-powered foundation.

Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush won damages of at least 850,000 Australian dollars ($610,000) on Thursday after a court ruled that the Australian arm of News Corp. defamed him by saying he behaved inappropriately toward a co-star in a production of King Lear. The Federal Court, which ...

"Sorry?" splutters Connan Hosford, better known as Connan Mockasin, as his bandmates cackle in the background. "Excuse me ... What did you say before?" He's got me on speakerphone, and I've just mentioned the name of the group he'll be appearing alongside at his debut ...

Virtual YouTubers ended up being one of 2018's biggest cultural surprises. Dozens of animated characters attracted followings on the video-sharing site, led by popular creations such as Kizuna Ai and Kaguya Luna. Some repped for local governments, while others generated real-world controversies. An interesting trend for ...

Shinichi Onuki picked up the first win of his career by pitching five solid innings on Thursday as the Yokohama BayStars claimed a 5-2 win over the Hanshin Tigers. Onuki, making his second NPB start, claimed the win by limiting the Tigers to a run ...

The 1-2 punch of world champion Nathan Chen and world bronze medalist Vincent Zhou propelled the United States into the lead on the opening day of the World Team Trophy on Thursday at Marine Messe. Chen rang up a tally of 101.95 points in his ...

George Gregan has experienced the full gamut of Rugby World Cup emotions, but the Australian legend knows what he is looking forward to most when Japan hosts the tournament later this year. "Just being in Japan," the 45-year-old, who was part of the Australia teams ...

There's an old adage cited by managers and coaches that comes to mind as the B. League regular season winds down. "You want to be playing your best ball at the end of the season," they say. Well, with five games remaining before the eight-team playoffs ...