The government has started paying out on compensation claims for those killed in the Kyoto Animation Co. studio arson attack after the agency recognized the deaths as work-related.

Top diplomats from the three nations urged North Korea to refrain from military provocation and continue denuclearization talks, but ruled out any easing of crushing economic sanctions.

Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said he will take paternity leave later this month, a rare move in a country where most men do not take the time off.

A Tokyo-based Australian journalist and father was given a suspended prison term of six months by the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday for illegally trespassing into a building complex where his in-laws live in Tokyo's Suginami Ward in October, in what the journalist said ...

Japan, the United States and the European Union on Tuesday proposed expanding a ban on market-distorting subsidies under World Trade Organization rules, a measure apparently targeted at China. The three economies hope to win support for the proposal from a wide range of WTO members ...

Human Rights Watch released a scathing report Wednesday slamming the Chinese government for crafting an "Orwellian high-tech surveillance state" at home and deploying its growing economic clout to silence its critics overseas, while an official with the group criticized Japan's response to alleged rights ...

The Bank of Japan on Wednesday downgraded its economic assessments of three out of the country's nine regions, citing slowing production due to weak demand from overseas. In its quarterly Sakura report, the BOJ revised down its views on Hokuriku and Tokai in central Japan, ...

The state-run University of Tokyo said Shohei Osawa, an artificial intelligence researcher, “grossly damaged the honor and reputation” of the institution with controversial comments about hiring Chinese.

Shikoku Electric Power Co. has started removing nuclear fuel, including spent mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel, from a nuclear reactor in western Japan. The work at the No. 3 reactor at the company's Ikata nuclear plant in Ehime Prefecture, which began late Monday night, is the first ...

Iranian social media posts urged citizens to take to the streets for a fifth day on Wednesday, after public anger erupted following the belated admission by the authorities that they had shot down a passenger plane in error last week. Protesters, with students at the ...

China must rethink its hard-line stance toward Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen said Wednesday, as she warned the island was already independent and that any invasion would be "very costly" for Beijing. Tsai won a second term over the weekend with a record 8.2 million votes, ...

Midori Ogino champions breastfeeding as a biological gift that helps newborns survive and thrive. Making it a cultural norm and erasing societal taboos over breastfeeding in public is an investment that pays back many times over. Ogino is a so-called lactivist not because she pushes ...

A woman was released unharmed Wednesday morning after being held hostage for 18 hours by a man at the headquarters of a transport company in Shimane Prefecture, police said. Kaisei Nakao of Chiba Prefecture, who had wielded a sharp object, was arrested on the spot ...

The incident leaves lingering questions and contending perceptions that have yet to be addressed.

Far from countries outside the EU undercutting EU standards by divergence it may be that it is the central EU authorities who are now the drag on progress and competition.

Japanese actor Aoi Okuyama makes her debut in BBC-Netflix yakuza series 'Giri/Haji,' earning acclaim from the British media.

More than 100 pieces, documents and designs have been selected for the Nino Caruso exhibition "Forms of Memory and Space — the world's first retrospective of the Italian ceramist-cum-sculptor's work since his death in 2017.

Qualifying rounds for the Australian Open were delayed Wednesday as toxic smoke from widespread bushfires continued to choke Melbourne, throwing the Grand Slam's schedule into chaos. The decision to suspend the action followed heavy criticism when players were affected by hazardous conditions after play was ...

Titans safety Kenny Vaccaro listened to how coach Mike Vrabel praised his performance in Tennessee's wild-card win with the hint of a smile. "I know how Vrabel is," Vaccaro said. "He's tough. He wants you to be physical, gritty, grindy, and he just likes guys ...

Former Japan midfielder Keisuke Honda has said he plans to establish an amateur soccer club in Tokyo following a failed venture in Austria. The 33-year-old will have to register the team, named One Tokyo, in the fourth tier of the Tokyo Shakaijin Soccer League under ...

As a baseball-crazed kid growing up in Miami, Danny Valencia dreamed of playing in MLB. The thought of heading to the Olympics, for a foreign country no less, never crossed his mind. But after nine years and nearly 100 homers in the big leagues, that's ...

Top-ranked doubles player Robert Farah says he tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid. Farah made the announcement on social media hours after he pulled out of the Australian Open for what he initially said were personal reasons. Farah said the International Tennis Federation had ...

When newly minted FC Cincinnati striker Yuya Kubo makes his MLS debut in March, few will be more eager to welcome him than Tsubasa Endoh. The Toronto FC midfielder, who in 2016 became the first Japanese player selected in the MLS SuperDraft, told From the ...

If Major League Baseball really wants to stop its teams from electronically stealing signs, it might consider fighting technology with more technology. In a sport that's increasingly driven by analytics and advancements, the majority of signs between players and coaches are still transmitted by low-tech ...

Tuffy Rhodes could be tough to figure out. Sometimes, he'd flash a big smile and crack jokes. Catch him in a good mood, and you might forget you weren't actually an old friend. Other times, Rhodes gave off an aura that said it'd be best ...

In terms of sumo's vintage years, 1976 was one of the best. The bumper crop included three-time champion Chiyotaikai, fellow ozeki Kotomitsuki (also a title winner), long time sanyaku (the three ranks below yokozuna) occupant Wakanosato and several other top-division stalwarts. A third ozeki, Tochiazuma, was ...

New sekiwake Asanoyama took his first loss of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Wednesday, while yokozuna Kakuryu fell to his third defeat. Asanoyama fell down the leaderboard along with top-ranked maegashira Endo after getting brushed aside by komusubi Abi on Day 4 at ...

Tottenham held off a late fightback from second-tier Middlesbrough to win 2-1 in their F.A. Cup replay and advance to the fourth round on Tuesday. Newcastle was a much more comfortable winner, scoring three times in the first 26 minutes on the way to a ...

Manchester United has scrapped a planned midseason training camp in the Middle East amid high tensions in the region, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Tuesday. "If there's one thing that worries me, it's not on the football pitch," Solskjaer said. "It's other things that worry ...

The WNBA and its union announced a tentative eight-year labor deal Tuesday that will allow top players to earn more than $500,000 while the average annual compensation will surpass six figures for the first time. The contract, which begins this season and runs through 2027, ...

The Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora on Tuesday, a day after baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred implicated him in the sport's sign-stealing scandal. Cora was the bench coach for the Houston Astros when they illicitly stole signs and won the 2017 World Series. Baseball ...

Men's badminton world No. 1 Kento Momota returned to Japan on Wednesday after being injured in a car crash in Malaysia earlier this week. Momota left a hospital in Putrajaya, Malaysia's federal administrative capital, on Tuesday evening, according to a hospital source. He landed at Narita ...

Hakuho, winner of the Kyushu basho in November and one of two yokozuna on the banzuke for the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament, withdrew from the first meet of the year on Wednesday. The 34-year-old began his quest for a record-extending 44th career championship on ...