For the past several weeks, media organizations in Japan have been obsessed with a road rage incident that happened in Ibaraki Prefecture on Aug. 10, when a 43-year-old man forcibly stopped another driver on the Joban Expressway and assaulted him as he sat in ...

"To be wronged is nothing," said Confucius — "unless you continue to remember it." Forgetting is not forgiving. Forgiveness is Christianity's noblest quality. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Not everyone is Christian. Revenge, too, has ...

Social media users are fueling a burgeoning appetite in Japan for acquiring wild otters and other endangered animals as pets, conservationists say, warning the trend could push species toward extinction. Popular Instagrammers posting selfies with their pet otters may simply be seeking to warm the ...

Thousands of young men and women turned out to dance on the last night of a farewell festival at Juliana’s Tokyo, an early ’90s phenomenon characterized by skin-tight dresses, sensual moves on stages and “techno” music.

With Sunday's partial entry into force of a Tokyo Metropolitan Government ordinance against passive smoking, related regulations will start at various facilities in the capital, including a rule obliging restaurants to put stickers to show whether indoor smoking is allowed or not. The move comes ...

A group of South Korean lawmakers on Saturday visited the disputed Takeshima islets in the Sea of Japan, adding fuel to ongoing spats over trade and historical issues between Tokyo and Seoul. South Korea's YTN television network broadcast the visit to the islets, known as ...

A top North Korean official has said expectations for talks with the United States over its nuclear weapons program "are fading away" after "offensive" remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "To avoid terrible regrets, the United States should not test our patience with ...

The oceans are poised to unleash misery on a global scale unless the carbon pollution destabilizing Earth's marine environment is brought to heel, warns a draft U.N. report. Destructive changes already set in motion — some irreversible — could bring a steady decline in fish ...

Thousands of protesters for democracy defied a police ban on rallying in Hong Kong on Saturday, a day after several leading activists and lawmakers were arrested in a sweeping crackdown. Police banned a planned demonstration on security grounds after last weekend saw some of the ...

The Foreign Ministry hopes to more than double its budget for activities related to the World Trade Organization in fiscal 2020 after losing a dispute over a South Korean ban on imports of Japanese seafood.

The Financial Services Agency will conduct on-site inspections of Japan Post Co. and Japan Post Insurance Co. in September over the insurance sales scandal involving the Japan Post Holdings Co. units.

African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina has called on Japanese companies to be "bolder" about making investments in Africa. There are major business opportunities for Japanese firms in Africa in such fields as energy, medicine and digital industries, Adesina suggested in an interview Friday. "I recognize ...

The culture ministers of Japan, China and South Korea on Friday adopted a declaration calling for the promotion of cultural exchanges among them despite tense Tokyo-Seoul ties due to trade and wartime labor issues. The Incheon Declaration, endorsed at a ministerial meeting in the South ...

With a focus on Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai and rising star Shinjiro Koizumi, sources say Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may reshuffle his Cabinet and Liberal Democratic Party leadership team on Sept. 10.

As negotiators work to nail down an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, misgivings have grown among some Trump administration officials and lawmakers that it will erode the United States' ability to thwart attacks from there, U.S. officials said. Their concerns ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Thursday in Vladivostok, in Russia's Far East, on the fringes of an economic forum, the Russian presidential office has said. The issue of a Russia-Japan peace treaty will be one of the topics to ...

The first step toward solutions is to admit people caused the problem.

Founder of Tokyo-based fashion PR company explains how she could move from the bustling metropolis to the U.K. countryside without compromising business.

Sendai Dango Ichifuku, a sushi shop-turned-sweets purveyor, has been making its dango dumplings with Sasanishiki sushi rice since the 1980s, but recently its online presence has been attracting new fans to the small Tohoku shop.

In November 2014, traditional washi papermaking techniques were included on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Over the next few weeks, we shall visit three of the nation's most prominent washi-making sites, largely unchanged for centuries, to discover the charm and potential inherent in handmade ...

"Not Vietnamese, but Vietnamese." The mission statement at Stand Banh Mi is nothing but enigmatic. That is, until you actually arrive, sit down and order at this buzzy little counter restaurant on the residential fringe of Meguro Ward. Then it all starts to make ...

Had enough of bubble tea, whether Thai or Taiwanese? Bored with the kakigōri (shaved ice) boom? Perhaps it's time to investigate the Vietnamese alternative, known simply as che, which combines tropical fruit, nuts and jellies with plenty of coconut milk in colorful, refreshing blends. That's ...

In its first 25 years, Japanese craft beer has faced its share of challenges. Cultivating Craft wraps up with a look at how far the craft beer boom has come, but also what industry experts say needs to improve.

Seven-Eleven's packaged fish and chips may be a little too light and soft, but makes for a great U.K.-inspired snack when paired with a beer or two.

"Life for Sale" — first serialized in Weekly Playboy in 1968 — was, for long years, dismissed as mere "entertainment." Yet the surprising bestseller is a terrific example of Mishima's fecund imagination at its most free-wheeling and unfettered best.

In his classic treatise on go, the late Toshiro Kageyama elucidates the difference between amateurs, who merely "play at the game," and professionals, who "labor at it."

"Half of Each Other," the newest novel from the prolific author and director, Roger Pulvers, considers how love, desire and grief intertwine in the aftermath of tragedy.

Tens of thousands of fans of Cote d'Ivorian singer DJ Arafat, star of the hugely popular musical style "coupe-decale" who died earlier this month in a motorbike accident, gave him a spectacular sendoff at the country's main stadium early Saturday. The overnight funeral concert at ...

Czech giant Lukas Krpalek beat Hisayoshi Harasawa to capture the world heavyweight title on Saturday and fire a warning for next year's Tokyo Olympics. The hulking 28-year-old won half-heavyweight gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and looked ominously strong after stepping up to the over-100-kg ...

For Yokohama F. Marinos defender Theerathon, a season and a half was long enough of a wait. The Thailand captain scored his first goal since arriving in the J. League last season as Yokohama notched a 3-1 win over struggling Gamba Osaka on Saturday night. With ...

The challenge that awaits the Japan men's national team is certainly big. But the players are filled with positive energy and are ready for it. One day before Japan competes in its first 2019 FIBA World Cup game, the squad wrapped up its final practice ...

Tetsuto Yamada broke a 10th-inning tie with a three-run home run, lifting the Tokyo Yakult Swallows to a 5-2 victory over the Chunichi Dragons on Saturday afternoon. Yamada, who this year became the first player in Nippon Professional Baseball to steal 30 bases and hit ...

Paris St. Germain is not close to reaching a deal with Barcelona that would take Neymar back to the Spanish champions as the Catalans have not met the French club's asking price for the Brazil forward, PSG's sporting director Leonardo said on Friday. Barca's attempt ...

Kei Nishikori crashed out of the U.S. Open on Friday, losing his third-round match against Australia's Alex de Minaur. The seventh-seeded Nishikori, still searching for his maiden Grand Slam title, suffered a 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 defeat to world No. 38 de Minaur in the ...