Pope Francis' trip to Japan this weekend might fulfill a wish he gave up on decades ago as a young man in South America. The 82-year-old pontiff is set to start a four-day tour Saturday, visiting Nagasaki and Hiroshima on Sunday, followed by Mass at ...

Organizers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games unveiled the inside of two major venues to the media Thursday as they near completion, touting them as world-class facilities. Four out of six permanent venues for the games have been completed. The Tokyo Aquatics Centre, located ...

While a South Korean consumer boycott of Japanese products continues in the wake of a prolonged dispute over wartime history and trade, economists say Japan has already seen the worst of its economic repercussions. Concerns had grown among businesses as moves to shun Japanese brands ...

LDP sources have said the party has all but given up hope of passing the bill this year, reports have said.

The school consulted the police about the incident in late September and held an emergency meeting for parents to explain what happened, the sources said.

A subcommittee of a labor ministry panel on Wednesday gave its approval to draft guidelines on preventing power harassment in workplaces, requiring companies to clearly ban such practices. The draft, approved by the Labor Policy Council subcommittee, lists detailed examples of problematic actions, such as ...

Analysts have doubts about the ability to spend such a large amount given the government debt.

The Financial Services Agency proposed on Wednesday realigning the Tokyo Stock Exchange into three trading markets from the current four. The proposal also sought to revamp the Topix index of all issues listed on the TSE's first section into a new index covering fewer actively ...

SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks with partner financial institutions including Mizuho Bank to secure loans totaling ¥200 billion to ¥300 billion to support The We Co., operator of the WeWork office-sharing business, sources with knowledge of the matter said Thursday. SoftBank plans to provide ...

Firefighters battled nearly 200 bush fires across Australia on Thursday as authorities issued a Code Red alert for parts of Victoria state and Sydney was blanketed in hazardous smoke for the third consecutive day. Officials imposed a total fire ban across Victoria where temperatures were ...

A former executive in charge of accounting at loss-making panel-maker Japan Display Inc. embezzled some ¥578 million ($5.3 million) over a four-year period from 2014, and was dismissed last December, the company said Thursday. The Apple Inc. supplier filed a criminal complaint against the former ...

City dwellers tend to live longer if they are in leafy neighborhoods, according to a study published earlier this week that linked green areas to lower rates of premature death. Trees in cities are already credited with cooling and cleaning the air, and absorbing planet-warming ...

How should and how can Japan navigate the world's emerging transformative and chaotic landscape?

A proliferation of upstream dams is beginning to impose costs across much of Asia.

On Nov. 21 and 22, the city of Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture will host the 6th World Heritage Summit coinciding with the commemoration of the Shrines and Temples of Nikko being added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage ...

The city of Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture is one of the brightest lights in the Japanese sightseeing firmament, which is apt, given that its name literally translates to "sunshine." With some amazing attractions from World Heritage sites dating back to the eighth century to ...

Yoshihiro Nakamura's "The 47 Ronin in Debt" aims to humanize "Chushingura," Japan's best-known samurai story, by weaving in period financial figures

An adaption of a 2001 novel by Susanna Jones, "Earthquake Bird" looks at Tokyo in 1989 and tells the story of an explosive love triangle

The French actress discusses her love of Japan and her work with Japanese film directors, as well as her recent stint as a performing arts judge

Jon Rahm made the best start of the five players still in the running for the Race to Dubai title, shooting 6-under 66 to be three strokes off the first-round lead at the season-ending World Tour Championship on Thursday. Mike Lorenzo-Vera led the tournament after ...

With six games left in his second season as coach of the New York Giants, Pat Shurmur doesn't have a lot to show for his tenure. His record is 7-19 and the Giants (2-8) are going into their bye week on a six-game losing streak. ...

The Japan Rugby Football Union said Thursday the Brave Blossoms will take part in a parade in Tokyo on Dec. 11 to express their appreciation to their fans following their successful Rugby World Cup campaign. The JRFU said it is coordinating with the 31 players ...

Yuzuru Hanyu came through his first NHK Trophy practice session in two years with flying colors on Thursday. The two-time Olympic champion, who injured the lateral ligament in his right ankle in 2017 at an NHK Trophy practice in Osaka, looked sharp this day, tearing ...

About five years ago a sumo video went viral online and was widely shared on websites dedicated to other fighting sports. The video itself was a low resolution (360p) poorly-edited effort with ill-fitting music, featuring a rikishi that spent only five tournaments in the top ...

Yokozuna Hakuho extended his lead at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament with a win over Endo on Thursday as new komusubi Asanoyama suffered his third loss and fell two wins off the pace. Hakuho (11-1) blasted Endo (5-7) with his right forearm and issued a ...

Japanese Olympic Committee Secretary General Tsuyoshi Fukui has been tipped to take on the role of the Japanese delegation head for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, sources familiar with the matter said late Wednesday evening. According to sources, Mitsugi Ogata, head of training with the JOC, ...

With Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Lou Williams on the court, the Boston Celtics had to pick someone to leave unguarded. They chose Patrick Beverley and he made them pay. Beverley shone on both ends, playing his usual ornery defense while scoring 14 points and grabbing ...

Centuries before basketball was invented, William Shakespeare reflected on the subject of greatness. The Great Bard once summed it up this way: "Be not afraid of greatness: some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them." It's already obvious ...

Brady Tkachuk finished what Jean-Gabriel Pageau started, and the Ottawa Senators feel like they have the struggling franchise moving in the right direction. Tkachuk went five-hole on Carey Price 38 seconds into overtime, Pageau scored for the second straight game and the Senators beat the ...

The underperforming Toronto Maple Leafs fired coach Mike Babcock on Wednesday and replaced him with Sheldon Keefe. Babcock had a record of 9-10-4 this season for the struggling Leafs, who are 0-5-1 in their last six games, including five straight losses in regulation. "Over parts of ...

Ousted from previous jobs for fomenting friction, Jose Mourinho is returning to coaching trying to show he is rejuvenated with the smile back. Will Tottenham be getting a mellowed manager, rather than the one who stoked internal feuds at Chelsea and Manchester United? Mourinho's exile from ...

Japan bowed out of the Davis Cup Finals on Wednesday, going down to Serbia a day after opening its Group A campaign with a loss to France. Filip Krajinovic beat Yuichi Sugita 6-2, 6-4 in the opening singles rubber at Madrid's La Caja Magica before ...

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph wanted to get away from Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. The way Rudolph went about it — a process that contributed to a brawl that culminated with Rudolph getting smacked in the head with his own helmet and led ...