"The accused was sitting right there, so close to me, and yet I felt like there was an unbridgeable distance between us." Tomomitsu Shibuya, a 55-year-old pastor from the city of Aomori who served as a lay judge almost 10 years ago, recalls the day ...

For the first time in 36 years, a former refugee reunited with an Okinawan man who rescued him and a hundred others fleeing their home country of Vietnam from a cramped and food-depleted boat sailing on a perilous journey. Masakazu Minami, 50, whose Vietnamese name ...

Toyota Motor Corp. on Friday lowered its outlook for group net profit, operating profit and sales for the business year through March due to a stronger yen, despite posting record sales and net profit in the April-June quarter. The same day, Honda also revised down ...

More than five months after they were detained without charge, dozens of separatist leaders from Indian-administered Kashmir remain imprisoned as the government in New Delhi seeks to marginalize them, according to sources and figures from a rights group. Authorities in New Delhi see the removal ...

The annual total surged 40 percent, the steepest increase on record, as governments drew interest from around the nation with generous return gifts.

India is pitching a Hindu pilgrimage to a snowy cave shrine in disputed, Muslim-majority Kashmir as evidence of peace in a state marred by decades of armed conflict amid popular resistance to Indian rule. The annual yatra (spiritual journey) to the Amarnath shrine, the hallowed ...

North Korea fired two "new-type" projectiles from its east coast, the South Korean military said Friday — the country's third launch in just over a week, but one that U.S. President Donald Trump looked to play down — as a trade and history clash ...

Takemoto, who worked on “Lucky Star,” was one of Kyoto Animation’s leading directors and died along with Futoshi Nishiya, who directed “Free!”

President Donald Trump ruled out giving Beijing advance notice of his intent to slap a new 10 percent tariff on $300 billion in Chinese goods in an Oval Office meeting before he announced the duties, according to several people familiar with the discussion. During the ...

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday made his first visit since 2015 to one of the four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido that are claimed by Japan, despite a request from Tokyo to have the trip canceled, according to Russia's Interfax news agency. Medvedev traveled ...

The temperature near the new National Stadium in central Tokyo, where the Olympic marathon will start and finish, hit 30 degrees Celsius at 6 a.m. on Friday, weather service provider Weathernews said. With exactly one year to go until the 2020 Olympic women's marathon, which ...

The founder of a banned Hong Kong independence party has been arrested in a raid where offensive weapons and explosives were found, a senior police source said on Friday as the city reels from weeks of anti-government protests. In a statement, police said eight people ...

Japanese conveyor belt sushi chain Kura Sushi Inc.'s U.S. unit made a firm debut Thursday on the Nasdaq market, its shares ending above $19 after rising from its initial public offering price of $14. The parent company said Kura Sushi USA Inc. aims to expand ...

A major nuclear arms control pact between the United States and Russia expired on Friday, raising the specter of a new Cold War-style arms race. The move came after U.S. President Donald Trump said last October that he would withdraw the United States from the ...

Foreign Minister Taro Kono urged his new British counterpart, Dominic Raab, on Thursday to achieve an "orderly" exit from the European Union to minimize the impact on the global economy. In their first talks since Raab was named foreign secretary by British Prime Minister Boris ...

The hangings of rapists and murderers Koichi Shoji and Yasunori Suzuki were Japan’s first executions of 2019.

In response, South Korean President Moon pledged countermeasures that might affect military information exchanges with Japan — a key part of their three-way security pact with the U.S.

The success of leftist party Reiwa Shinsengumi marks a turning point in Japanese politics.

From craft goods and antiques to unusual galettes and premium sake, Tokyo's Mon-Naka neighborhood has it all.

Initial reports on the Kyoto Animation fire tagged the alleged arsonist as dealing with mental illness, but his criminal past should have been emphasized more.

After last week's barn-burner of an episode, we needed a little bit of a breather. There are still plenty moments of joy this week, but first, let's get the Kenny-Haruka-Risako love triangle out of the way. The episode begins with Haruka and Shohei checking out ...

Jose Lopez hit a tie-breaking, two-run double off his former team, lifting the second-place Yokohama BayStars to a 4-2 win over the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants on Friday night. Trailing by a run in the sixth, Neftali Soto doubled in Takehiro Ishikawa to tie it ...

A spectacular Andres Iniesta penalty goal and a late Asahi Masuyama header earned a point for Vissel Kobe in a 2-2 home draw with Gamba Osaka on Friday night. Trailing by two, Iniesta was the picture of calm as he scored in the 79th minute ...

Stephanie Frappart on Friday has been appointed as the referee for the European Super Cup between Liverpool and Chelsea, making her the first woman to officiate a major UEFA men's showpiece event. UEFA announced Frappart's appointment on Friday, adding that the Frenchwoman will lead a ...

Bill Bradley, captain of the U.S. gold medal-winning basketball team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, was recently involved in another winning (and historically important) project with ties to Japan. And it has nothing to do with basketball. The weekly satellite radio program "American Voices with Senator ...

Steve Smith scored 144 on his return to test cricket after a ban for ball-tampering as Australia recovered from 122-8 to 284 all out against England on the opening day of the Ashes series on Thursday. England openers Rory Burns (4 not out) and Jason ...

Veteran Brazilian right-back Dani Alves signed a free transfer deal to play for his boyhood team Sao Paulo. The club announced the move Thursday in a video with the 36-year-old former Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain defender. Brazilian media reports the deal is valid until the ...

Japan's first international foe may have been Canada, and its most regular opponent South Korea, but it is Tonga with whom it has the closest rugby relationship, a rapport that would never have existed without one man's love of the abacus. Five players, either born ...

"Kamaishi has the rugby power." About 50 days before the opening day of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, banners can be seen everywhere on the main street in Kamaishi, one of 12 host cities for the event. Traditionally, Kamaishi has been known as a "rugby town" ...

Japan heads into Saturday's clash against Tonga knowing it will be more than a Pacific Nations Cup match, but a chance to test its strength and technique ahead of this autumn's Rugby World Cup. Among the three tests remaining for Japan in the run-up to ...

Arsenal has broken its transfer record to sign winger Nicolas Pepe from Lille as the London club tries to return to the Champions League. The 24-year-old Cote d'Ivoire international is moving to the Premier League in a transfer deal worth a reported €80 million ($89 ...

Jack Flaherty didn't panic. Instead, the St. Louis Cardinals' right-hander simply stayed the course during a lengthy stretch without a victory. That patience paid off Thursday. Flaherty struck out nine in seven strong innings and catcher Matt Wieters hit a three-run homer as the Cardinals beat ...

Tatsunori Hara moved into rarefied air when his Yomiuri Giants beat the Hiroshima Carp on Tuesday night, becoming the 13th NPB manager to reach 1,000 career victories. It's easy to look back and see how he got there. Hara has managed a number of strong ...

Former Olympian Ashley Wagner says she was sexually assaulted by another figure skater in 2008 when she 17. The three-time national champion wrote in USA Today on Thursday that John Coughlin climbed into her bed after a party at a skating camp and began kissing ...