Although the total population had fallen by 263,000 people as of October, Japan’s working-age population shrank by 512,000 last year.

The Defense Ministry is not considering a revision to its plan to procure a total of 105 F-35A stealth fighters despite the crash Wednesday of one of the jets into the sea off Aomori Prefecture, Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Friday. "We don't know the ...

Strongmen in the Middle East and North Africa will be warily eyeing popular protests, fed by frustration with living standards and an elite perceived as corrupt, that helped push veteran Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and now Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from power. While recent events ...

Yoshihisa Kainuma has made a career out of being in the right place at the right time. In 2015, the head of Minebea Mitsumi Inc. was on a bullet train heading to a city northwest of Tokyo when he realized the chief of a potential ...

The move is being prompted by the controversial CRISPR technology, which might lead to the creation of “designer babies” and a host of ethical conundrums.

Sudanese protesters angry that army commanders have taken control after removing veteran president Omar al-Bashir in a palace coup defied a night-time curfew to keep up four months of mass demonstrations on Friday. Protest leaders dismissed the transitional military council formed by top brass after ...

A website created by the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum to educate the next generation on nuclear energy was taken down Friday after drawing criticism on social media, with some Twitter users calling the effort "inappropriate" given that the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear disaster happened ...

A Tokyo court decided Friday to extend the detention of former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn to April 22, following his rearrest last week over fresh allegations of financial misconduct. Ghosn, 65, was served a fourth arrest warrant on April 4 over a new ...

Shanti Ramchand learned quickly what was expected when she began campaigning in Jakarta for Indonesia's national parliament; distribute envelopes of cash at a small campaign event, and give a motorcycle or an air-conditioning unit to the community leader. Ramchand — an aspiring politician from the ...

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Thursday he was seeking a "very quick agreement" with Japan on tariff cuts for agricultural goods as part of efforts to reach a bilateral trade deal. "I hope we can come to a very quick agreement with Japan over ...

Japan will seek to reassure other countries about the safety of food produced in areas affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, officials said Friday, after the World Trade Organization supported South Korea's import ban on some Japanese seafood. Fishermen in Tohoku, the region hit ...

U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. has raised the price of its Prime membership service in Japan for the first time since launching the service 11 years ago, citing rising costs. The annual price for shipping, video-streaming and an array of other services rose by 26 ...

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, on a mission to Washington on Thursday to kick-start nuclear diplomacy by persuading U.S. President Donald Trump to ease crushing sanctions on North Korea and gain an OK for inter-Korean projects, fell short in talks with Trump. But is there ...

The ink was not yet dry on EU leaders' deal to give Britain a hard-fought, second delay to Brexit until November when some diplomats and officials in the bloc grudgingly conceded: This may well not be the last extension. The Wednesday evening European Union summit ...

Fast Retailing Co. said the brisk performance of its Uniqlo casual clothing brand in overseas markets helped lift the group's profits in its first half, but the firm also downgraded full-year estimates due to slowing sales at home. For the six months through February, its ...

In an Asahi Shimbun editorial published March 30, a week before nationwide elections were held for prefectural and municipal assemblies on April 7, the newspaper fretted about the state of local politics. Usually in such cases, it's voter apathy the media laments, but in this ...

The Japanese government hired 2,876 women in fiscal 2019, lifting their ratio to all hires beyond its previous high of 34.5 percent marked in fiscal 2016.

The government plans to penalize universities with many foreign students whose whereabouts are unknown, it was revealed Thursday. The move is included in a draft of the government's response to the issue, which came to light following the recent revelation that about 700 foreign students ...

Yoshinoya Holdings Co. incurred an annual net loss for the first time in six years for the year ended in February, the fast-food restaurant group said Thursday. The red ink came as the company, known for its mainstay gyūdon beef-on-rice bowls, booked an impairment loss ...

Nissan Motor Co. informed the transport ministry on Thursday that it will recall a total of 745,372 Note subcompact vehicles. The affected cars were manufactured between July 2012 and February this year. According to the ministry, a front-wheel suspension spring could break because of a problem ...

Daihatsu Motor Co. said Thursday it will recall about 1.92 million cars in Japan due to faults that can affect the vehicles' braking system. The recall affects 1,916,973 cars across 22 models, including the Move and Tanto minivehicles manufactured between December 2010 and September 2018. ...

Chinese chemicals maker ENN Ecological Holdings Co. is scrapping a plan to buy Toshiba Corp.'s liquefied natural gas operations in the United States, the Japanese firm has said. The Chinese company notified Toshiba of its decision, citing "considerable uncertainty" partly caused by the delayed completion ...

The most powerful operational rocket in the world, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, launched its first commercial mission on Thursday from Florida in a key demonstration for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's space company in the race to grasp lucrative military launch contracts. The 23-story-tall Heavy, which previously ...

The reversal allows South Korea to keep its ban on fish feared tainted by fallout from the Fukushima nuclear crisis in place.

Donald Trump made no secret during the 2016 campaign that he appreciated WikiLeaks and founder Julian Assange for publishing thousands of hacked Democratic emails, many of them damaging to Hillary Clinton. "I love WikiLeaks," he said more than once as the group posted emails stolen ...

Uber filed documents Thursday for its much-anticipated public share offering expected to be the largest in the tech sector in years, and a bellwether for other venture-backed start-ups eying Wall Street listing. The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission contained no specific pricing or ...

A French court on Thursday upheld a guilty verdict against chemicals giant Monsanto over the poisoning of a farmer who suffered neurological damage after using one of its weedkillers, the latest legal setback for the company over its controversial pesticides. Cereal farmer Paul Francois has ...

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned Thursday that the deteriorating situation in Libya could create a humanitarian crisis and increase the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. "Ongoing fighting and a rising number of dead, now estimated at several hundred, as well as the wounded ...

For thousands of poor or homeless children in California, you could say that chef Bruno Serato is a real super-hero, vanquishing hunger by the plateful — 3 million meals in 14 years, to be exact. His powers lie in the pasta topped with tomato sauce ...

India's Jet Airways canceled several international flights on Thursday and grounded another 10 aircraft after failing to pay lessors, deepening the woes of the beleaguered carrier. "We have canceled all long-haul west-bound international flights from India from tonight until tomorrow (Friday) morning," a Jet Airways ...

In the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, Alan Campbell, a project manager for space systems at the famed Draper Laboratory that built the computer which took astronauts to the moon 50 years ago, is waiting for news from NASA. His firm has continued to specialize ...

Ethiopia Airlines' doomed 737 Max jet hit excessive speed and was forced downward by a wrongly triggered automation system as pilots wrestled to regain control, a preliminary report into the crash that has shaken the aviation world showed on Thursday. Three times Capt. Yared Getachew ...

The government's goal of strategically attracting outstanding students from abroad under its plan to accept 300,000 foreign students is far from accomplished.

A point of infinite density trapping even light? It's pretty far fetched, but its finally been photographed

Little-known outside Japan, Shizuoka Prefecture hugs the coast to the south of Mount Fuji. Home to the Tokyo getaway of Izu, the prefecture is known as the starting point for three of the main hiking trails up Fuji, which forms the greater part of ...

Tomoyuki Sugano said his pitching was just "so-so." The Tokyo Yakult Swallows and their red-hot lineup might beg to differ. The Yomiuri Giants ace held the Swallows in check for the better part of seven innings, his teammates reminded everyone they're pretty good at the plate, ...

The powerful tandem of world champion Nathan Chen and world bronze medalist Vincent Zhou helped the United States open up a big lead on the second day of the World Team Trophy on Friday at Marine Messe. Chen won the free skate and the men's ...

The Yokohama B-Corsairs faced a 58-43 deficit at halftime in Friday's series opener against the Toyama Grouses. They dominated the third quarter, pulling in front by three points entering the final stanza. The fourth quarter, ultimately, came down to free throws. The Grouses sank 10 of ...

A decade ago, Yoko Aoki would never have been able to imagine the current life she has. Without any major sports experience, her day-to-day lifestyle used to be far from that of an average athlete. Now she runs long distances every day, supported by a ...

The Japan Sumo Association is preparing to host U.S. President Donald Trump at an upcoming tournament after learning he wants to watch a live sumo bout during his visit to Japan at the end of May, a source with the organization said Friday. The sport’s ...

Amateur Takumi Kanaya made a birdie-birdie start Thursday in his Masters debut, allowing the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship winner to live a dream and top the Augusta National leaderboard. The 20-year-old from Hiroshima bowed to reality by the end of the day, firing a one-over par ...