Japan has become "the quintessential smart power" and the new "leader of the liberal order in Asia," according to a new index of power in the region published Wednesday by a leading Australian think tank. The release of the Lowy Institute's Asia Power Index 2019 ...

Another crew member was found dead Tuesday as divers searched inside a cargo ship that sank in the Pacific Ocean off eastern Japan, bringing the death toll from the accident to two, authorities said. The divers had resumed a search for missing crew members with ...

The Japanese government has suggested to China that the countries should begin holding meetings between their foreign and defense ministers in order to deepen mutual understanding on security issues, diplomatic sources said Tuesday. Beijing has yet to accept or decline the suggestion, the sources said, ...

The court rejected the ¥71.5 million damages suit in the first ruling handed down in a number of similar cases nationwide.

Peppered with pomp and decorum, Trump’s four-day visit to Japan ended with a gesture highlighting the long-standing military ties between the two countries.

The cost of damage to the agriculture, forestry and fishery industries from abnormal weather and natural disasters including typhoons and torrential rain stood at ¥567.9 billion in 2018, a government white paper said Tuesday. The total also included damage caused by a powerful earthquake in ...

Three women died and around 10 students were taken to hospitals Monday due to heatstroke symptoms as unseasonably hot weather continued in Japan, authorities have said. The mercury topped 30 degrees for a fourth straight day in central Tokyo, setting a new record for May, ...

The immigration agency said Tuesday it will increase the number of business sectors that foreign nationals are allowed to work in after graduating from universities or completing postgraduate studies in Japan, in the latest effort to lure more laborers to the country. Under a revised ...

Miwa Moriya was 6 when social workers told her she was going to a Christmas party but instead moved her into a group home for about 60 children in a small city in western Japan. The "party" turned into more than eight years of living ...

As the Korean War raged, eight of Pyongyang's young heroes — all members of the North's new elite, destined for a life of privilege and power — left for Moscow to study at a prestigious film school. They never returned. Scattered to the corners of ...

Green parties achieved a landmark breakthrough in the European elections but the challenge is only now starting for them to use newly found leverage in the EU parliament and further increase popularity to achieve real power. In the U.K., France, Germany and other EU states, ...

North Koreans are forced to pay bribes to officials to survive in their isolated country, where corruption is "endemic" and repression rife, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday. Officials across North Korea extort money from a population struggling to make ends meet, ...

The government will expand its national security restriction on foreign investors acquiring shares in Japanese firms by adding information technology-related firms in August. The move is aimed at preventing the outflow of sensitive information and technologies to other countries, including China. The announcement Monday followed a ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may have won some respite from U.S. pressure on trade for now, but analysts expect President Donald Trump to push Japan in a few months into making concessions on agriculture and automobiles as he looks for a major win to ...

Investigative sources said they detained a suspect after the rampage, a man in his 50s, who later died of a self-inflicted stab wound, they said.

Fiat has conditioned the merger talks on Renault agreeing not to pursue a transaction with Nissan in the short term, sources said.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou will assume his duties as ambassador to Japan on Thursday, according to the Chinese Embassy. Kong, considered an expert on Japan, will become Beijing's man in Tokyo after Cheng Yonghua ends what has been an unusually long stint in ...

India will not invite Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to Thursday's swearing-in ceremony for Narendra Modi, who will start his second term as India's prime minister, two sources in the foreign ministry said, suggesting any early warming in ties between the nuclear-armed neighbors is ...

Seventy-five years ago, a young British sailor stood on the bridge of a warship, its gun barrels pointing out to the coast of France, and watched the devastation being rained down on a country he wanted to liberate. Today, Richard Llewellyn, 93, is among the ...

At a Tokyo hotel Tuesday, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako bid farewell to U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, who have been visiting Japan as state guests. The Trumps have been staying at the hotel since their arrival in the nation on Saturday ...

Forget drones. The future of deliveries may be "robovans." A Chinese startup called Neolix kicked off mass production of its self-driving delivery vehicles Friday — saying it's the first company globally to do so — and has lined up giants such as JD.com Inc. and ...

The moon was formed when it was washed out of the right eye of the god of the land while he was bathing. Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the moon god of Japanese folklore, then lived forever in the heavens after climbing a giant celestial ladder from his ...

From dining out to camping, more Japanese women are doing things alone. In the past, women without family members, partners or friends were commonly looked upon in a negative light. This view has been changing as "soloists" as they are called grow in number. One who ...

Documents related to Beate Sirota Gordon, the American translator who played a major role in the formulation of the Japanese Constitution's gender equality protections, are being archived in a project exploring the development of women's rights. The initiative, which aims to demonstrate the role women ...

Seven infants were left in a baby hatch in the city of Kumamoto in fiscal 2018, the municipal government said Monday. A total of 144 infants have been brought to the hatch, called Konotori no Yurikago (Storks' Cradle), since it was set up at Jikei ...

Canada took a first step toward ratifying a new North American trade agreement on Monday just three days ahead of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Ottawa to discuss passage of the treaty. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland presented what is known as a "ways ...

Microsoft Corp. and Facebook Inc. have agreed to help boost the security of Canada's October election by removing fake accounts and cracking down on bots, a top government official said on Monday. The measures are outlined in a nonbinding declaration on electoral integrity, Democratic Institutions ...

Green and vervet monkeys live on either side of Africa and their evolutionary paths diverged 3.5 million years ago, and yet the two species share a hardwired vocabulary when faced with danger, clever experiments have shown. The new research, published Monday, sheds light not only ...

Iran hit out at the United States on Monday for "causing tensions" after President Donald Trump said his government was not seeking regime change and that he would welcome talks with Tehran. The Trump administration was "hurting the Iranian people and causing tension in the ...

Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei is reviewing its relationship with FedEx Corp after it claimed the U.S. package delivery company, without detailed explanation, diverted two parcels destined for Huawei addresses in Asia to the United States and attempted to reroute two others. Huawei told Reuters ...

Canada's most populous province of Ontario on Monday announced plans to sue opioid makers to recover health care costs related to the deadly addiction epidemic. Ontario's attorney general, Caroline Mulroney, said the province will join a lawsuit launched last year by British Columbia against more ...

EU-U.S. talks that could prevent the United States imposing punitive car tariffs have made some progress, but Washington must decide if it wants to negotiate with Brussels on a broad removal of import duties, the EU trade chief said on Monday. EU countries last month ...

The key concepts behind innovation are diversity and excellent higher education.

A defector from the authoritarian regime sees a U.S. president carefully keeping his options open.

In the rest of the world, trainspotting is something of a niche hobby, but in Japan it is much more mainstream. Combine a natural predilection for hobbies with a massive proliferation of railways and you naturally get train enthusiasts. It's easy to see why. Japan ...

The minimalist elegance of Yu Araki's "Le Souvenir Du Japon" at first seems to be an affirmation of civilization and the redemptive possibilities of beauty; however, within the gorgeous setup is a postcolonial ambivalence about the social and historical conditions of "taste."

June 1-Aug. 30 During the Meiji Era (1868-1912), portraits of beautiful women — which later became known as bijinga — evolved to focus on not only physical beauty, but also inner beauty. During this time, many artists excelled at bijinga, including Kiyokata Kaburaki (1878-1972), who ...

May 31-July 6 Renowned for brightly colored, visually arresting works, artist and graphic designer Tadanori Yokoo's works often feature a seemingly eclectic range of motifs and cultural references. Born in 1936, Yokoo's childhood experience of World War II had a great impact on his art. His ...

June 1-July 13 Sachiko Kazama's monochrome woodcut prints are an exploration of the past from the viewpoint of the present. Her works, which often feature historical motifs within present-day landscapes, also allude to ominous possible futures. A graduate of the Musashino Art School, Kazama first began ...

Closer Shota Nakazaki steered the Hiroshima Carp through a nail-biting ninth-inning as the Central League leaders held on to beat the Tokyo Yakult Swallows 8-7 on Tuesday. Tsubasa Aizawa homered twice to lead the offense as the visitors racked up 16 hits at a drizzly ...

Dale Steyn has been ruled out of South Africa's Cricket World Cup opener against England on Thursday. The 35-year-old paceman injured his shoulder during the recent Indian Premier League and will not be risked at the Oval. "He's not quite ready yet, not far away but ...

Juan Martin del Potro fired up his power game after a sluggish start to ease past Nicolas Jarry in an all-South American first-round clash at the French Open on Tuesday. The eighth seed, a semifinalist last year, won 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, the four sets ...

Marcelo Bielsa will remain in charge at Elland Road after Leeds United extended the Argentine coach's contract for a second season and said it had "unfinished business" after narrowly failing to win Premier League promotion. Bielsa oversaw attractive pass and move soccer at Leeds as ...

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant will not play in the opening game of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday because of a calf injury, coach Steve Kerr reiterated on Monday. Durant injured his right calf on May 8 in Game 5 ...

Tottenham Hotspur forward Harry Kane is adamant he's "ready to go" for Saturday's Champions League final against Liverpool in Madrid after returning to full training. The England captain has been out of action since suffering an ankle injury during the first leg of the quarterfinal ...