UNESCO on Wednesday added the Kobushi mountain region, which straddles part of Tokyo and three other prefectures, to its list of biosphere reserves, Japanese officials said. As of July last year, 686 areas in 122 countries have been designated as biosphere reserves — areas for ...

Ahead of World Refugee Day on Thursday, attention has been turning to just how well Japan — the world's third-biggest economy — has been fulfilling its responsibilities as a signatory of the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention this year. Justice Ministry data shows Japan, a ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seeking to quell speculation he may dissolve the Lower House to coincide with July’s pre-scheduled Upper House poll in a so-called “double election.”

Should Seoul ignore the latest request to move the arbitration process forward, Tokyo will consider taking the dispute to the International Court of Justice.

Nissan will accept Renault’s request for more representation on the Japanese carmaker’s new board committees in a bid to secure approval for its governance reform proposal, sources say.

The Diet enacts a revised law banning parents and other guardians from physically punishing children following several fatal cases of abuse dealt out in the name of discipline.

Two representatives from a Philippines labor union on Tuesday protested what they claim are unfair labor practices and human rights abuses at a banana plantation run by a fruit company affiliated with Sumitomo Corp. Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, Paul John Dizon, president ...

Following Tuesday night's magnitude 6.7 earthquake in northwest Japan, Osaka Prefecture, the host of the Group of 20 summit scheduled next week, isn't planning additional changes to its emergency safety plans, officials said Wednesday. Kazuo Fudo, an assistant chief of the Osaka Prefecture's fire prevention ...

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday called for prioritizing a deal with Japan on agricultural tariff cuts as part of efforts to strike a bilateral trade agreement. "What I have proposed doing is to try to take care of a couple of the issues, ...

Facebook Inc. unveiled plans for a new cryptocurrency Tuesday that the social media giant hopes will one day trade on a global scale much like the U.S. dollar. Called Libra, the new currency will launch as soon as next year and be what's known as ...

As Japanese lawmakers grapple with a landmark same-sex marriage bill, campaigners fear it may die at the first legislative hurdle as lawmakers pander to aging voters and old traditions. While surveys show overwhelming support for gay rights, most people who identify as LGBT say they ...

The U.S. and China said their presidents will meet in Japan next week to relaunch trade talks after a monthlong stalemate, triggering a rally in financial markets. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he had a "very good" phone conversation with Chinese counterpart Xi ...

Germans have voiced shock at the suspected far-right murder of a pro-migrant official, fueling debate on Tuesday on whether the country has failed to take seriously a rising threat from neo-Nazis. Prosecutors on Monday said they suspected an extremist motive in the assassination-style shooting of ...

By prioritizing access to the islands and acknowledging that current negotiations won't lead to their return, Japan will gain a freer hand in dealing with Russia.

The Russian and Chinese regimes are doing something new: not escalating in the face of protest.

One convenient thing about Japanese law for those of us who are professors of it is that it is quite modern. Virtually all Japanese laws and institutions antedate the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and, of those, most have a 20th-century provenance. Compared to Anglo-American ...

If she had to sum up the past couple of years, Sachiko Kanenobu would probably opt for a simple "OMG!" "That's what I've said so many times, repeating over and over and over: 'Oh my God!'" she says, speaking by phone from her home in ...

To talk about the differences between men and women now is to step into a minefield. One rhetorical foot wrong and off goes the tripwire. But Shunsuke Arita's new comedy "Handling Method for Grumpy Woman" strides blithely into this minefield, awkward English title and all. ...

Since his theatrical debut "Mind Game" (2004), director Masaaki Yuasa has been known for warped, psychedelic films and TV series that stretch the limits of the imagination. Over the past few years, though, Yuasa has signaled an interest in making more accessible films. The ...

Daiki Iwashita took a three-hitter into the eighth inning and was backed by four home runs as the Chiba Lotte Marines beat the Hiroshima Carp 6-3 to clinch their interleague series. Iwashita (3-1) struck out five and was tagged with three runs at Mazda Stadium, ...

Urawa Reds, looking to win the Asian championship for the second time in three years, suffered a huge setback in their Asian Champions League round-of-16 opener, a 2-1 home loss to South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai on Wednesday. Hwang Il-su stroked the 80th-minute winner as the ...

Veteran Kazuto Ioka became the first Japanese boxer to capture world titles in four different weight classes with a dramatic 10th-round technical knockout of top contender Aston Palicte of the Philippines for the vacant WBO super flyweight championship at Makuhari Messe Event Hall on ...

"Yeah!" "Yo!" The exact words coming out of veteran fencer Kenta Tokunan's mouth were unclear. But this much is certain: he was fired up during the saber team competition. As a matter of fact, the 31-year-old shouted every time he scored a point and pumped his fist ...

It's no secret that difficulty in procuring tickets is one of the main hurdles preventing overseas visitors from being able to watch sumo in person. In recent years, third-party agents, some catering almost exclusively to foreign tourists, have provided fans with an alternative means of ...

After a breakout season with Belgium's Sint-Truiden, defender Takehiro Tomiyasu appears set for a blockbuster move to Bologna in the Italian first division. According to journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, Tomiyasu's transfer was indirectly revealed on Tuesday by Walter Sabatini, a longtime technical director for several ...

The governing body of track argued that Caster Semenya is "biologically male" and that is the reason she should reduce her natural testosterone to be allowed to compete in female competitions, according to documents released publicly by sport's highest court for the first time ...

Though their place in the knockout stage is already guaranteed, Nadeshiko Japan are determined to finish on top of Group D at the FIFA Women's World Cup by beating current leader England, forward Yuika Sugasawa said Tuesday. The two sides meet Wednesday in their final ...