The University of Tokyo plans to start an experiment to grow human pancreases in pigs for transplantation using induced pluripotent stem cells, better known as iPS cells, a professor leading the project said recently. Professor Hiromitsu Nakauchi said he hopes to launch the first project ...

A week ago, Sri Lankan tourist guide Ricky Costa was preparing for a typically easy Sunday ferrying backpackers between Colombo's tea shops and beach bars in his canary-yellow rickshaw. Then the blasts began. The coordinated suicide bombings by Islamist militants at hotels and churches killed ...

Emperor Akihito’s abdication, one of several ceremonies marking the transition to his heir, Crown Prince Naruhito, will be a brief, relatively simple and rare event.

China's powerful military is considered to be a master at concealing its intentions. But there is no secret about how it plans to destroy American aircraft carriers if rivalry becomes war. At November's biennial air show in the southern city of Zhuhai, the biggest state-owned ...

Operations of the Joetsu Shinkansen were halted for 3½ hours on Sunday, the second day of an extended holiday period.

According to the organizers, 10,000 people were expected to take part in this year’s march, with more than 180,000 participating in a related festival.

Having your luggage stolen or losing it while traveling can easily ruin a trip, but dragging bulky baggage around crowded tourist spots can hijack your itinerary, too. The latter is more likely in Japan, especially in major destinations like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto where the ...

Quitting a treaty designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons is one of Iran's "numerous choices" after the United States tightened sanctions on Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was on Sunday quoted as saying by state media. Tensions between Tehran and Washington ...

Foreign hotel stays in Fukushima Prefecture more than doubled to 17,700 in January, marking the highest year-on-year growth among all prefectures, according to Japan Tourism Agency statistics released in March. Fukushima Prefectural Government officials attribute the robust growth, up roughly 2.4 times from the same ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted some 5,000 delegates from across the globe at a Belt and Road Forum in Beijing last week to discuss his signature infrastructure project, which began in 2013 to rebuild ancient trading routes across Eurasia. This year's gathering eschewed the ...

Along forest trails below a bare mountain peak that until last year was a vantage point for a North Korean guard post, a group of around 20 ordinary South Koreans took a rare hike on Saturday near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two ...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in a meeting this week with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, brought up the thorny issue of a 2016 arbitration award favoring his country in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea, senior Philippine officials said Saturday. At ...

With the maglev line scheduled to launch in 2027, linking Tokyo and Nagoya, more companies in Aichi Prefecture are moving their headquarters closer to Nagoya Station to take advantage of the convenient location. With rent rising around the station, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult ...

A gunman walked into a San Diego-area synagogue crowded with Sabbath worshippers on Saturday and opened fire with an assault-style rifle, killing one woman inside and wounding three others in a hate crime carried out on the last day of Passover, authorities said. The suspect, ...

As we brace for the Reiwa Era, we must be ready to take on structural reform of the economy as well as administrative and fiscal reforms of a much larger and broader scale than took place in Heisei.

The anti-EU militant's new Brexit Party seeks seats in the European Parliament, but his larger ambition is realigning British politics.

The Unko Museum, the world's first museum of poop, may be a flush of joy for kids, but is it fun for adults too?

Now that the flurry of activity that surrounds the annual Salone del Mobile has died down, this month's On: Design takes a look at a few of the interiors fair's Japanese prizewinning ideas and new product debuts.

C. W. Nicol relects on more than 35 years of working to conserve the environment in Japan.

Seated in his embassy's beautifully appointed reception room, Ambassador Ayman Aly Kamel has much to share about Egypt's relationship with Japan.

Emperor Akihito will be facing a lot of changes to his routine when he retires this week, but presumably the Imperial Household Agency will take care of all the details of his retirement planning. The rest of us, however, are on our own. That means ...

The beautiful Wenceslas was first featured in Adopt Me! in November 2017. He'd been rescued from the mountains of Yamaguchi Prefecture along with tens of other dogs. Wen's life has drastically changed since those wild days, and he now lives in Kyoto with the Komatsu ...

Takumi Kuriyama's eighth-inning, bases-loaded RBI single lifted the Saitama Seibu Lions to a 4-2 come-from-behind win over the Orix Buffaloes on Sunday. Tomoya Mori drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, and Kuriyama singled to right field against Buffaloes reliever Sachiya Yamasaki to put ...

As expected, the Chiba Jets Funabashi outplayed the Toyama Grouses on Sunday. The Jets dazzled and dominated in their B. League Championship quarterfinal series-clinching victory, winning 96-85 at Funabashi Arena. Chiba (54-8), which extended its winning streak to 10, never trailed in the second, third and ...

Race-favorite Fierement claimed the spring Tenno-sho by a neck on Sunday as French jockey Christophe Lemaire picked up his third straight Grade 1 victory in Japan. Fierement crossed the finish line at Kyoto Racecourse in 3 minutes, 15 seconds, edging sixth-favorite Glory Vase. A four-year-old colt ...

Brazilian striker Marcos Junior scored the 82nd-minute winner, giving Yokohama F. Marinos a well-earned 2-1 victory over Kashima Antlers in the J. League first division on Sunday. Despite controlling the ball for most of the game, F. Marinos trailed early and were thwarted by stout ...

Hina Hayata and Mima Ito became the first Japanese women's doubles pair in 48 years to reach the table tennis world championship finals with a victory over compatriots Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato on Saturday. Hayata and Ito, who claimed bronze at the last worlds ...

Kakeru Tanigawa and Asuka Teramoto prevailed in their individual all-around finals on Sunday at the national gymnastics championships, which double as a qualifier for this year's worlds in October. Tanigawa defended his title in the men's competition, scoring 170.265 points at Takasaki Arena to finish ...

As Japan prepares to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, a number of the country's sports bodies are taking steps to prevent coaches from verbally and physically abusing athletes following a spate of high-profile cases. These measures include guidelines telling coaches to use ...

Three-time figure skating world champion Mao Asada became one of Japan’s most prominent individuals on the international scene during her storied career, while also taking the sport to new heights.