Dozens of top African leaders are due to visit, but Tokyo is worried that some may cancel their trip because of pressure from China.

Foreign Minister Taro Kono hopes to make diplomatic efforts to reduce tension in the Middle East, he said on Tuesday, as he began a meeting with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. "We are worried about tension in the Middle East and we hope to make ...

The move will put further strain on a crumbling bilateral relationship in which everything from cultural exchange and tourism to security cooperation is now in jeopardy.

U.S. President Donald Trump left the G7 summit Monday taking a softer tone toward China, just days after spooking financial markets with another escalation in their trade war. Yet amid all the soothing words, Trump made it clear that he wasn't abandoning his rough-and-tumble ...

Following a heated online debate on ways to combat groping and similar behaviors on trains, a name stamp-maker on Tuesday released a new product that can be applied to the offender's hand — leaving the seal mark of an open palm to identify an ...

American farmers on Monday welcomed a trade agreement reached in principle between the United States and Japan, saying the tariff-cutting deal would help them gain competitiveness instead of continuing to lose ground to foreign rivals. "We are very happy that this agreement will end the ...

Consumers got a glimpse of the future this week when an unmanned delivery drone jointly developed by Yamato and a Textron unit made its first successful flight.

Violence in Hong Kong's anti-government protests is becoming more serious but the government is confident it can handle the crisis itself, the embattled leader of the former British colony said on Tuesday. Carrie Lam was speaking in public for the first time since demonstrations escalated ...

South Koreans are at their gloomiest in more than 2½ years as trade battles and an export slump cast clouds over the economic outlook. A monthly consumer sentiment index issued by the Bank of Korea dropped to 92.5 in August from 95.9 the previous month, ...

While some Johnson & Johnson investors were relieved that the company's $572 million penalty for fueling Oklahoma's opioid epidemic wasn't as high as feared, lawyers for other U.S. states, cities and counties could hardly contain their glee. That's because the ruling by Oklahoma Judge Thad ...

There are indications that Japan, the only Asian member of the Group of Seven nations, has begun to doubt the influence of the 44-year-old organization of mainly Western nations, as it has proved largely ineffective in resolving issues surrounding the East Asian region. With U.S. ...

Transportation authorities found a 10-centimeter crack on the undercarriage of a train car belonging to Osaka-based Nankai Electric Railway Co. on Tuesday, following the discovery of a similar 14-cm crack on the undercarriage of a train of the same model on Saturday. The authorities also ...

The Personal Information Protection Commission on Monday urged job data provider Recruit Career Co. to take corrective measures after it was found to have sold the web-browsing data of nearly 8,000 job seekers to client firms without their consent. The data described the probability of ...

Thailand's palace website crashed Monday after it published unprecedented pictures of the king's consort in a fighter jet, wearing a crop top and dressed in combat fatigues with him and the royal poodle. The unusually candid pictures of King Maha Vajiralongkorn's consort, 34-year-old Major-General Sineenat ...

U.S. President Donald Trump signaled he's open to making a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Iran, extending his most expansive offer yet to meet with President Hassan Rouhani and perhaps to ease restrictions so the Islamic Republic can use some of its oil ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday clarified his intention to reshuffle his Cabinet and the leadership team of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party in September. "I want to create powerful lineups for realizing stability and taking on challenges," he said at a news conference held ...

In an unusually strong statement by the Pentagon, the U.S. has accused Beijing of employing "bullying tactics" in the disputed South China Sea, citing what it said was "coercive interference" in oil and gas activities in waters claimed by Vietnam. "China will not win the ...

A majority of companies where in-person customer service plays a major role in their business, such as banks and airlines, have dress codes requiring women to wear high-heeled shoes, according to a survey by Kyodo News. While the sample size is small, at 28 companies, ...

The Fisheries Agency plans to seek ¥5.1 billion for commercial whaling from the government in fiscal 2020, according to a draft of its budget request submitted to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday. The LDP approved the draft. The amount to be sought for ...

Japan signaled it wanted to lay to rest the threat of new auto tariffs before agreeing to a final trade deal, after Trump left the possibility open.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe got assurances Monday from his British counterpart Boris Johnson that he will aim for a smooth Brexit. In his first meeting since Johnson became prime minister in July, Abe called for an "orderly" departure from the European Union as Tokyo has ...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he thinks the United States will be able to reach a fair trade agreement with the European Union without imposing threatened tariffs on car imports, offering a potential lifeline to German carmakers. Trump said it had been difficult ...

President Donald Trump said Monday he could host next year's G7 summit at his own golf club in Miami, drawing immediate criticism that he is profiteering from his presidency. Speaking on the last day of this year's summit of seven leading democracies in Biarritz, France, ...

Melania Trump has never met Kim Jong Un, or even spoken to him, but U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that his wife has "gotten to know" the North Korean leader and, like him, believes in the reclusive country's potential. Trump, who has met ...

A deal on forming a government in Italy between the 5-Star Movement and the opposition Democratic Party (PD) looked close on Monday after the PD indicated it had dropped a veto on Giuseppe Conte serving another term as prime minister. Conte, who belongs to no ...

China's Huawei has begun talks with Russia about installing the Russian operating system (OS) Aurora on 360,000 of its tablets to conduct Russia's population census next year, two sources told Reuters. Huawei has been seeking alternative operating systems to Google's Android OS after Washington put ...

Hundreds of new fires have flared up in the Amazon in Brazil, data showed Monday, even as military aircraft dumped water over hard-hit areas and G7 nations pledged to help combat the blazes. Smoke choked Port Velho city as fires raged in the northwestern state ...

A coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia, led by California and Massachusetts, said on Monday they will sue the Trump administration to stop a sweeping new rule to indefinitely detain migrant families seeking to settle in the United States. The lawsuit, which ...

France and the United States reached a deal to end a standoff over a French tax on big internet companies, though U.S. President Donald Trump declined to say whether his threat of a retaliatory wine tax was off the table as a result. The compromise ...

More than 85,000 Venezuelan migrants crossed into Ecuador from Colombia in the last month, ahead of new visa restrictions from Quito that took effect on Monday, the Colombian government said. The number of migrants entering Ecuador at the Rumichaca border crossing reached 11,000 over the ...

Cybersecurity's talent gap is exacerbated by low numbers of women in the field.

The international community must proceed with care in exploiting the seabed's riches to avoid triggering an environmental catastrophe.

Michael Howes claims his job is "no more dangerous than driving a car." "If you make a mistake driving a car, is it going to be a slight accident or a life-changing accident?" asks the 49-year-old Englishman. "It all comes down to the mistakes you ...

In August, the streets of Japan are filled with the sounds of music and dance. In Tokyo, one of the monster events is the Harajuku Omotesando Genki-sai Super Yosakoi, for which more than 100 teams gather to perform on streets and stages in the ...

Robert Millis has been playing guitar, making music from field recordings and old records, and making compilations of music from all around Asia for decades. The musician and sound artist has also written books and made movies and sound installations about music and old recordings. ...

The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art presents Tokutaro Yamamura's full collection of Japanese postwar avant-garde art collection for the first time in two decades.

Zach Neal tossed six solid innings on Tuesday and picked up his eighth win of the season as the Seibu Lions' offense ignited late for an 8-2 win against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. The former major leaguer struck out three while holding the Fighters ...

Reigning Olympic champion Shohei Ono won his third title in the men's 73-kg division at the World Judo Championships on Tuesday, while fellow Tsukasa Yoshida settled for silver in the women's 57-kg class. Ono defeated Azerbaijan's Rustam Orujov in the final with an uchimata inner-thigh ...

Brazilian striker Hulk scored twice from the penalty spot to rescue Shanghai SIPG in a 2-2 stalemate against Urawa Reds in the Asian Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday. J. League side Urawa will go into its home second leg as the slight favorite on the ...

Former Manchester United forward Eric Cantona will be presented the 2019 UEFA President's Award in recognition of his playing career and commitment to charitable causes after it, European soccer's governing body said on Tuesday. The 53-year-old Frenchman will receive the award in Monaco on Thursday ...

After successfully defending their women's doubles crown at the Badminton World Championships on Sunday, Wakana Nagahara and Mayu Matsumoto were lauded by the first women to claim the title at the inaugural tournament in 1977. Retired badminton players Etsuko Toganoo and Emiko Ueno congratulated their ...

Yuma Kagiyama opened the Junior Grand Prix season with a bang. The 16-year-old put on a dominant performance in winning the JGP in Courchevel, France, on Saturday by a huge margin. The victory was Kagiyama's first on the JGP circuit, but what resonated was the manner ...

That the Japan men's national team won eight games in a row after a 0-4 start in the Asian Qualifiers to secure a spot in the FIBA World Cup was one of the best things that have ever happened to the country's hoop scene. But ...

Historically, the Japan men's national basketball team has had limited opportunities to compete on the global stage. For example, the team qualified for the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics and the 1998 FIBA World Championship, which was held in Athens. But the upcoming FIBA World Cup ...

Making its fifth-ever appearance at the FIBA World Cup, Japan will dispatch arguably its best-ever squad on the global stage. While rough challenges are awaiting the team, which will face some of the world's elites in the 32-nation tourney in China, the Akatsuki Five are ...

Japan's Uta Abe defended her title in the women's 52-kg division at the judo world championships on Monday. Joshiro Maruyama won the men's 66-kg class in his world championship debut on the second day of the weeklong tournament. He defeated Abe's brother and two-time defending ...

Kei Nishikori advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open on Monday after Marco Trungelliti retired with an injury in the second set of their match. The seventh-seeded Nishikori had a trouble-free start to his campaign for a first Grand Slam title as he ...

It was a historic weekend for sumo in Japan as the first-ever Wanpaku national championships for elementary school-age girls took place at Okudo Sogo Sports Center in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward on Sunday. Previously, girls who had won through regional qualifying events were unable to take ...