Ride the Seibu Shinjuku Line to Iriso Station in the city of Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, and you can enjoy shopping at Japan's oldest franchise convenience store, a Family Mart that opened in September 1973. The following May, the nation's first 7-Eleven outlet was opened ...

On May 30, three people held a news conference in Tokyo to speak out against a documentary titled "Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue," which focuses on the rhetorical battle over the women who sexually serviced Japanese soldiers before and during ...

The communications ministry is planning to lower penalty charges imposed by mobile phone service providers for early contract termination to ¥1,000 or less.

Finance leaders from the Group of 20 nations kick off a meeting in Fukuoka and discuss measures to guard against economic risks.

With the popularity ratings of Angela Merkel's favored successor plunging and the center-left SPD in disarray, speculation is growing that Germany's next chancellor might hail from the Greens. The environmental group recorded rocketing support in European elections in late May, boosted by the youth-led Fridays ...

Flowers are laid and prayers are offered at an intersection in the Akihabara district of Tokyo as people remember the deadly stabbing spree which took place 11 years ago.

Foreign policy and defense are among the six pillars of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s set of campaign pledges for this summer’s Upper House election.

U.S. billionaire Michael Bloomberg pledged half a billion dollars on Friday to fight climate change, saying "our lives and our children's lives depend on it." The former New York mayor and philanthropist said the money will go toward closing coal plants — through lobbying state ...

Boeing Co. learned that a cockpit warning light on its 737 MAX jetliner was defective in 2017 but decided to defer fixing it until 2020, U.S. lawmakers said on Friday. The defective warning light alerts pilots when two sensors that measure the angle between the ...

The free flow of data, artificial intelligence and reform of the World Trade Organization are high on the agenda of the G20 ministerial meeting.

Forcing rich countries to keep and process all of their own recycling isn't the best way to protect the environment.

Men in straw capes wearing ferocious horned masks with gleaming eyes and long, pointed fangs stare down at a group of reporters. Others donning masks of a devil, monkey and a long-nosed tengu birdman squat as they pose for photographs during a news conference ...

Art, says New Zealand-based Jun Arita, is not about the money, it's about making connections and creating something meaningful.

The rise in South Korean solo dining culture and a desire to seek out authentic experiences is driving up the popularity of Japanese food.

Though many shops still have a "no food or drink" rule, there are a growing number in Tokyo that offer high-quality coffee alongside curated retail products, so you can keep your shopping energy up.

Yummy Sake Collective has a solution for people who struggle to identify what sake they like: An AI-powered app, used in conjunction with a blind tasting, to help determine flavor preferences.

As summer sets in, convenience stores are filling their shelves with cans of limited-edition and refreshing chūhai cocktail flavors, though not all of them are winners...

Once an anatomical model maker, always an artist, Freyja Dean's work is inspired by science and mythology — and a little prog rock.

Years of extensive research and interviews make Anna Fifield's biography of Kim Jong Un and others in the Kim dynasty a must-read for those striving to understand North Korea's enigmatic comrade-in-chief.

The Washington Post Beijing bureau chief Anna Fifield's new book, "The Great Successor," details the life of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.

In "Three Japanese Short Stories," stories by noted authors Kafu Nagai, Koji Uno and Ryonosuke Akutagawa illustrate a Japan grappling with the wider world.

A classic introduction to the Japanese short story, "Modern Japanese Short Stories" is a literary time capsule of postwar Japan.

Novak Djokovic's dream of becoming just the second man in history to hold all Grand Slam titles at the same time twice was crushed by Dominic Thiem at Roland Garros on Saturday. Thiem downed the world No. 1 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 to set ...

The Chiba Lotte Marines were on the road, missing some key players because of injuries, down a run and three outs away from a loss. But when they got their shot at a win, they managed to make the most of it. Daichi Suzuki drove in ...

Japan midfielder Saki Kumagai has a special reason to look forward to her country's opening match in the Women's World Cup — her adopted home is France. Kumagai has been with Lyon since 2013, and has helped the French side become Europe's pre-eminent force in ...

Mark your calendars. June 20 is the day that officially puts Japan on the global basketball map like never before. The reason? The 2019 NBA Draft will forever change Rui Hachimura's life and, possibly, perceptions about Japanese basketball players. The dynamic former Gonzaga University forward appears to be ...

Sprinter Abdul Hakim Sani Brown set a new national record with a time of 9.97 seconds in the 100 meters at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday. The 20-year-old Sani Brown, finishing third at the event in Texas, trimmed 0.01 ...