Japan is making arrangements for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to pledge about $8.55 billion at a U.N. meeting next month in New York as part of the country's contribution to attaining development goals set by the body, government sources said Tuesday. Of the total sum ...

Up to 3.41 million people, accounting for about 5 percent of Japan's total labor force, are estimated to be working as freelancers, according to a recent survey conducted by the government. Analysts expect the number of freelancers to grow amid the government's push for more ...

Ever since a section of a public art exhibition in Nagoya was closed after coming under a barrage of complaints and threats, Japan has been in a state of introspection over its freedom of expression. Amid the intense debate, two fundamental questions remain: In the age ...

South Korea and Japan have toned down the rhetoric but show little sign of compromise in a bitter political and economic dispute as their foreign ministers prepare to meet in China this week. Relations between the two neighbors are at their worst in years, with ...

People who traveled in Japan by rail, air and road decreased from a year earlier during the Bon summer holidays due to a heavy storm. The six passenger service companies of the Japan Railways Group said 13.56 million people used bullet and other express trains ...

Japan has approved shipments of the material to South Korea for the second time since imposing tighter export restrictions last month, sources said Tuesday.

In a move to counter the ruling bloc, Yukio Edano and Yuichiro Tamaki agreed Tuesday to merge their kaiha parliamentary groups in both houses of the Diet.

Hiroshima marked the fifth anniversary on Tuesday of landslides that claimed 77 lives, with residents in the affected areas holding a memorial service to mourn the victims. The memorial was attended by the bereaved families, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and others. Flowers were left at various ...

A major cultural and technological complex to be built near Tokyo's Haneda airport has a name: Haneda Innovation City, or HICity for short. Haneda Future Development Co. announced plans in May 2018 for the complex, which will be located near the airport's international terminal. Some ...

The U.S. military has conducted a flight test of a type of missile banned for more than 30 years, under a treaty from which it bolted earlier this month, the Pentagon said Monday, in a move experts said was likely to have been closely ...

Sony Corp. agreed to buy Insomniac Games Inc., the studio behind last year's hit, Marvel's Spider-Man, as part of a push to stay competitive by acquiring independent game studios. The studio, based in Burbank, California, and Durham, North Carolina, was founded 25 years ago by ...

Crown Prince Akishino, Crown Princess Kiko and their 12-year-old son Prince Hisahito met Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and his wife Jetsun Pema on Monday and spent time together in the capital city of Thimphu. A classical Bhutanese dance was performed and a band ...

When Japan decided to pick a fight with South Korea last month, it dug deep into the supply chain to impose sanctions on three obscure materials made by a handful of Japanese companies few have ever heard of. The most powerful weapon in Tokyo's campaign ...

A 43-year-old man was referred to prosecutors Tuesday for allegedly punching a man after forcing him to pull over on an expressway in Ibaraki Prefecture in a road-rage incident that has captured national attention. Fumio Miyazaki, a company executive from Osaka, has admitted to the ...

The plan to stop short of issuing a communique reflects the wide rift between the U.S. and Europe over issues such as free trade and climate change.

The Muslim convert dubbed "Jihadi Jack" who is being held in northern Syria after joining the Islamic State group on Monday said Britain's decision to revoke his citizenship was "not something I recognise." Jack Letts, 24, a dual U.K.-Canadian national, was captured by Kurdish forces ...

While organizers are striving to mitigate heat risks for visitors, it is also seen as necessary to plan for a large number of people requiring medical attention.

The operator of a global network of radioactivity sensors said Monday its two Russian sites closest to a mysterious explosion on Aug. 8 went offline two days after the blast, raising concern about possible tampering by Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry, which operates the two ...

A study published Monday linked consumption of fluoridated tap water during pregnancy to lower IQ scores in infants, a finding at odds with decades of public health messaging extolling the mineral's benefits in reducing cavities. Several outside experts expressed concern over the research's methodology and ...

A man claiming to be Chinese was arrested for throwing a black ink-like liquid on a curtain at one of the buildings of Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, the Metropolitan Police Department said. Immigration authorities said the man, Hu Daping, 53, entered ...

E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. and Philip Morris USA Inc. were sued for illegally marketing nicotine-delivery devices to minors and deceiving consumers about the risks of vaping. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a 19-year-old, Christian Foss, who says he became addicted to nicotine ...

The U.S. Defense Department announced on Monday the test of a medium-range ground-launched cruise missile, just weeks after tearing up the Cold War-era pact with Russia that eliminated such nuclear-capable weapons. The missile was launched on Sunday from the U.S. Navy-controlled San Nicolas Island off ...

By continuing to freeze the bilateral relationship, the two countries prevent themselves from pursuing policy issues that are critical to their futures, including the endgame for the denuclearization of North Korea.

As droughts become more frequent and severe, China's dam network gives it increasing leverage over downriver countries.

Yoshio Toyama and his wife, Keiko, have spent most of their lives as unofficial musical ambassadors between Japan and the American city of New Orleans. In New Orleans, Toyama, a trumpeter and singer, is known as the "Satchmo of Japan" for his skillful ability to ...

It's 100 years since the Bauhaus art and design school first opened in Weimar, Germany, and the new Muji flagship store in Ginza is as good a venue as any to hold an anniversary exhibition celebrating the values of simple, affordable modernist design.

Shogo Akiyama drove in two runs to give the Seibu Lions the lead in a 4-2 victory over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Tuesday. Akiyama turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead in the bottom of the fifth on a bases-loaded single off ...

Olympic favorite Janja Garnbret defended her world title, while Akiyo Noguchi secured a spot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a runner-up finish in the women's combined event at the IFSC World Championships at Esforta Arena Hachioji on Tuesday. Garnbret, a 20-year-old Slovenian, secured the ...

Now is the time for accomplished junior Nana Araki to shine. The 17-year-old from Higashiura, Aichi Prefecture, will begin her third season on the Junior Grand Prix circuit on Thursday at the season-opening event in Courchevel, France. Araki, a senior in high school, has finished in ...