The International Olympic Committee sets procurement standards for materials used in conjunction with the games. One of these standards is sustainability, which was first established for the 2012 London Olympics. In terms of meals supplied to athletes and others, ingredients must be produced and ...

One of my recollections from the bubble economy of the 1980s was a passage in a 1987 book titled "Hokokuron" ("The Theory of National Wealth"). Its author, the late economist Taiichi Sakaiya, stood out as one of the bubble era's most fervent cheerleaders. An American ...

Japan has developed a reputation for being a safe country, an image bolstered by recent record lows in reported crime. The reality, though, is that life in Japan can be just as dangerous as it is overseas. A recent viral post on Twitter sparked ...

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Edano has decided, jointly with other opposition parties, on the party's plan to submit a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet during the ongoing Diet session, informed sources said Saturday. The envisaged motion is aimed at ...

The fiancee of slain Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi has called on the Japanese government to bring up the issue of his murder during the Group of 20 summit in Osaka starting Friday in hopes of getting to the bottom of the high-profile case. "I ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday set the win-or-lose bar for the ruling coalition in this summer's House of Councilors election at the majority of seats in the Upper House. The prime minister spoke of the line dividing victory from defeat for the ruling Liberal ...

AFP-Jiji A state of emergency was extended by Sri Lanka's president on Saturday, going back on pledges to relax the tough laws introduced after the Easter Sunday attacks that killed 258 people. Maithripala Sirisena said in a decree he believed there was a "public emergency" in ...

Executive compensation paid to Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Didier Leroy in fiscal 2018 surpassed ¥1 billion for the second straight year, according to the automaker's financial report. In the year that ended in March 2019, Toyota paid ¥1.042 billion to Leroy, up ¥16 ...

Junior high school students have become slightly more open to the use of marijuana, in part due to the influence of the internet, an official survey suggests. In the latest biennial survey by the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 1.9 percent of about 70,000 ...

The “flying object” seen over a Japanese tanker sailing in the Gulf of Oman before it was rocked by an explosion could have been a reconnaissance drone.

An Osaka-based "idol group" made up of women whose average age is 66 has released a rap music video in English to welcome the Group of 20 summit that starts in the city on Friday. The video for "Oba Funk Osaka," uploaded to YouTube, shows ...

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved Friday a suite of labor reforms designed to solve Japan's demographic challenges while creating conditions to promote job growth, particularly for those struggling to find stable work. Under the annual economic policy blueprint, the government wants to ...

Crown Prince Akishino says he does not know whether the marriage between his daughter, Princess Mako, and her boyfriend, Kei Komuro, will take place.

Concerned that a merger could harm Nissan Motor Co., the Japanese government played a role in the breakdown of talks between Renault SA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

NATO aims to recognize space as a domain of warfare this year, four senior diplomats said, partly to show U.S. President Donald Trump that the alliance is relevant and adapting to new threats after he signed off on the creation of a U.S. Space ...

As Tokyo grapples with the best way to arrange a summit with Pyongyang, a close watch is being kept on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s attempts to bolster ties with North Korea.

After a deadly clash between troops and activists at a security post in northern Pakistan, organizers of a rights movement that has unnerved the powerful army say a campaign of intimidation against them has intensified, with many top leaders detained. The military denies a crackdown ...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has accepted China's proposal to jointly investigate allegations that a Chinese fishing vessel abandoned 22 Filipinos after it sank their boat in the South China Sea, his spokesman said on Saturday. But aside from China and the Philippines, Duterte wants a ...

In the coffee shops and bars of Britain's Parliament, the political conversation has already turned to the question that will define the country's immediate future: Can Boris Johnson be stopped from pursuing a no-deal Brexit? The options under discussion for Conservative politicians who want to ...

But acknowledging the role of random bad luck should inspire more testing, research and treatments.

It wasn't so long ago that trail running was considered to be something only nature geeks did in their spare time. I mean, who in their right mind would want to run up a mountain? Cue the sound of crickets chirping ... Things have changed ...

Steeped in local history, Osaka Ikuno Koreatown's 120 shops are a mecca for locals or visitors hankering for some Korean, Japanese or fusion cuisine, as well as shops selling contemporary K-pop merchandise.

A less intense school system of their daughter prompted Shinobu Teraguchi and his wife to leave the Tokyo city life for the countryside of New Zealand.

At Shokudo Marushin, chef Shintaro Nakamura serves up simple fare in a laid-back setting.

A longtime love of bread inspired former professional tennis player Kimiko Date to open Frau Krumm, a German bread bakery in Tokyo's chic Ebisu neighborhood.

After a venture into fruit-flavored chips two years ago, snack maker Koikeya is back with two Hawaii-themed offerings.

Now that technology has made it so easy to get the word out, it's a great time for Japanese brands to join the Asian online marketplace says David Wang of Pinkoi.

Janet Pocorobba's "The Fourth String" reconfigures the typical Japan fish-out-of-water memoir into a meditation on music and mastery, relationships, culture and narrative.

Inspired by her own father's experiences in Japan, in "The Woman in the White Kimono" author Ana Jones pens a bittersweet love story that weaves together Japan's postwar past and present.

Based on a real-life incident in which a 7-year-old boy was abandoned in the woods by his parents, "Backlight" examines the search and rescue operation through a philosophical lens.

The life and works of fashion legend Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was to be celebrated in a new ballet premiering at Moscow's Bolshoi on Saturday that highlights the designer's love of Russia and starring prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova. The one act performance by choreographer Yuri Possokhov ...

Edigar Junio's late goal helped Yokohama F. Marinos overcome their attacking struggles with a 1-0 win over Matsumoto Yamaga on Saturday in the 16th round of the J. League's first division. The result was a welcome one for manager Ange Postecoglou's side, which wasted two ...

It'll essentially be winner-take-all for this season's interleague title. The Yomiuri Giants made sure of that. Shun Yamaguchi remained hot on the mound, Yoshihiro Maru remained hot at the plate and the Kyojin remained in contention for the interleague crown with a 7-2 victory over the ...

Washington Wizards fans can expect to see Rui Hachimura "play hard" every time he takes the floor, the NBA team's first-round draft pick said Friday. Fronting the media for his introductory press conference at Washington's Capital One Arena, the NBA's ninth overall pick said he ...

Roger Federer insisted Friday that Naomi Osaka will bounce back from a string of setbacks and thrive in the spotlight of being world No. 1 and a double Grand Slam winner. Osaka, 21, won a second consecutive major at the Australian Open in January, but ...