The hay fever season is set to begin earlier than usual in Japan this year due to a warmer-than-average winter, a weather information provider said Wednesday. According to Weathernews Inc., Japanese cedar trees, which along with Japanese cypress trees are one of the most prominent ...

Free messaging app provider Line Corp. on Wednesday reported a group net loss of ¥46.9 billion for the business year that ended in December last year, the biggest such loss at the firm since its stock market debut in 2016. The result, against the net ...

A charter jet evacuating the first group of Japanese nationals from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of a deadly virus outbreak, arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday morning.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission has started investigating online mall operator Rakuten Inc.'s plan to make marketplace merchants shoulder the costs of its proposed free shipping service, a source close to the matter said Wednesday. The source said the antitrust watchdog has begun hearing from ...

French auto giant Renault SA on Tuesday named former Volkswagen Director Luca de Meo its chief executive as it seeks to regain its footing after a year of turmoil sparked by the November 2018 arrest of then-Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn. The 52-year-old Italian, credited ...

Kansai Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it would suspend operations at two nuclear reactors after missing a deadline set by the industry regulator to build counterterrorism facilities. Under stricter rules implemented after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, utilities are now required to build emergency off-site control ...

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday criticized exhibits displayed at Japan's National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty, which reopened last week. Summoning a representative from the Japanese Embassy in Moscow, Russia conveyed the criticism about the exhibition of items related to four Russian-held islands off ...

The United States and Japan flew citizens out of the Chinese city at the epicenter of a new virus outbreak on Wednesday, as the death toll rose sharply to 132 and the first case appeared in the Middle East. The World Health Organization has said ...

The new Harajuku Station building in Tokyo's pop-culture hub, which is set to open on March 21 in time for the Tokyo Olympic Games, was unveiled to the media Wednesday by East Japan Railway Co. The new station facility, which is on the capital's busy ...

People from around Japan have begun offering support to the residents that remain in locked-down Wuhan, a major Chinese city at the center of a coronavirus outbreak. Inagora Inc., an e-commerce operator based in Tokyo, launched a campaign Monday to ship face masks, free of ...

Toyota Motor Corp. is halting operations in China at least until Feb. 9, joining a growing list of global companies that have cut back on business activities in China as a new coronavirus infection spreads. "Given the various factors including the guidelines by the local ...

A research team including Tokyo Institute of Technology members has developed a photocatalyst material that can convert methane and carbon dioxide into a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide with only light irradiation. A research paper on the development was published in the online edition ...

All Nippon Airways Co. said Wednesday it will extend throughout February the suspension of all flights between the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak of a new deadly coronavirus began last month, and Narita Airport. The move comes after ANA decided on Jan. 24 ...

The Village Plaza, which will serve as a key facility within the Athletes Village during the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, was unveiled Wednesday ahead of its planned completion in April. The wood used to build the structure was donated by 63 municipalities across the ...

The municipal government of Sano, Tochigi Prefecture, has launched a project to help potential settlers open ramen noodle shops in the area. The city has already received inquiries from over 30 people wishing to move to Sano, the key local specialty of which is ramen. ...

With the clock ticking on South Korea's withdrawal from a security pact with Japan in November, President Moon Jae-in sent a blunt-speaking aide on a secret mission to Washington. The aide, deputy national security adviser Kim Hyun-chong, was a curious choice to broker a truce ...

Tokyo prosecutors Wednesday searched the office of a lawyer who used to represent Carlos Ghosn, in connection with the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman's recent escape from Japan to Lebanon. Junichiro Hironaka had earlier refused to hand over to prosecutors a computer Ghosn used at ...

Adidas will launch new fabrics made from recycled polyester and marine plastic waste and expand the product lines that use them after the success of shoes made with the Parley for the Oceans initiative, the sportswear firm said Tuesday. Adidas first teamed up with Parley ...

In a move likely watched closely by Japan, the U.S. military has begun issuing furlough warnings to almost 9,000 civilian South Korean employees as Washington and Seoul remain at loggerheads over President Donald Trump's demand that its ally pay more for its hosting of ...

Japan's Nippon Travel Agency Co. has launched a crisis management center for travelers and expats in the capital of Malaysia, to cash in on an increasing awareness of crisis management among overseas Japanese firms. The travel agency and its Singaporean arm, NTA Travel (Singapore) Pte. ...

U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment trial is shifting to questions from senators, a pivotal juncture because Republicans lack the votes to block witnesses and face a potential setback in their hope of ending the trial with a quick acquittal. After Trump's defense team rested Tuesday ...

Many years from now, far from the spray of water cannons and the unmistakable smell of tear gas, they will look back on their season of protest and remember exactly how they felt. On this winter day, the march was called off early by police. ...

Nissan is planning aggressive cost cuts to deal with an unexpected slump in sales as the expansionist strategy it inherited from fugitive former Chairman Carlos Ghosn flounders, four people familiar with the plans said. Japan's second-biggest carmaker is set to eliminate at least 4,300 white-collar ...

Africa is on the frontline of climate change, and it is crucial to listen to voices from the continent in global discussions about the crisis, Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate told said Tuesday. Nakate was at the heart of a viral debate that erupted at the ...

Republican leaders do not yet have the votes to block Democrats from summoning John Bolton or other witnesses at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded to fellow GOP senators late Tuesday. It could be a major hurdle for Trump's ...

A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck in the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and eastern Cuba on Tuesday. Witnesses reported strong shaking but there was no immediate word of casualties or heavy damage. The quake was centered 139 km (86 miles) northwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica, ...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said "a thousand no's" Tuesday to the Mideast peace plan announced by President Donald Trump, which strongly favors Israel. "After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand no's to the Deal of The Century," Abbas said at a ...

This should be peak season for a 12-room hotel near the train station in the Chinese industrial hub of Wuhan. The Chinese New Year usually brings in plenty of travelers and delivers profits of around $3,000 a month. But the place is empty. Wuhan, the ...

Syrian government forces Tuesday entered a key rebel-held town in the country's northwest after surrounding it on three sides, sending thousands of people fleeing to safety in areas farther north, opposition activists and pro-government media said. The push into the town of Maaret al-Numan in ...

A German court ruled on Tuesday that a hostel situated on the grounds of the North Korean Embassy in Berlin must close as its operation breaches sanctions aimed at stopping the flow of hard currency to Pyongyang. The embassy, a Cold War legacy of North ...

Airbnb is giving a few people a chance to spend a two-month sabbatical in the Bahamas in an attempt to boost the Caribbean island damaged last year by Hurricane Dorian. At least 67 people were killed and more than $3.4 billion in damage was caused ...

After nearly 11 months in orbit, the astronaut holding the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman can't wait to dig into some salsa and chips, and swim and surf in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA astronaut Christina Koch told The Associated Press on ...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was Tuesday formally charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, the justice ministry said, shortly after the embattled politician dropped his request for parliamentary immunity. The indictment came as Netanyahu was in Washington for a meeting with President Donald ...

Britain decided Tuesday to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to supply new high-speed network equipment, ignoring the U.S. government's warnings that it would sever intelligence cooperation if the company was not banned. Britain's decision is the first by a major U.S. ally in Europe, and ...

The Constitution's Article 9 has shaped the SDF in ways that are deeper than most observers, analysts and policymakers realize.

China continues to undermines its own and the world's safety in order to bolster the CCP's authority.

The U.S. and its allies have become used to being able to use whatever devices and communications they wished since the Berlin Wall fell. Those days are ending fast.

Why climb Mount Everest during the winter off-season? To have the most majestic vista on Earth all to yourself.

Alexander Zverev began 2020 with three consecutive losses, which meant he had plenty of problems — and plenty of time on his hands ahead of the Australian Open. So he showed up early and got to work, spending up to seven hours a day practicing ...

The Japan Olympic Committee has given Sapporo the green light to enter the dialogue stage of the 2030 Winter Games bid process with the International Olympic Committee, a JOC official said Wednesday. The JOC formally voted to allow the northern Japan city to move forward ...

Fans call it The House that Kobe Built, and since Kobe Bryant's death in a helicopter crash mourners by the thousands have gathered daily outside the arena where the Los Angeles Lakers' legend made basketball history. Admirers, including some from as far away as China, ...

Christen Press scored the opening goal off a shoeless assist from Lynn Williams and the United States beat Haiti 4-0 on Tuesday in its opening match of the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament. The U.S., which won the Women's World Cup last summer, extended its ...

Amid growing concern at the spread of a new virus outbreak in China, international sports have been postponed and Olympic qualifying tournaments are being taken elsewhere. The decision on Tuesday by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to postpone Pro League games in China follows qualifiers ...

It's not even February, and a J. League team has been eliminated from the Asian Champions League. Following Melbourne Victory's 1-0 win at Kashima Stadium on Tuesday, Kashima Antlers became the first Japanese team ever to bounce out of the continental competition's playoff stage. While the ...

Retiring sumo wrestler Goeido said Wednesday there were no questions about his choice to hang up his mawashi, because he had failed in a do-or-die promise to himself. He said he made the decision the day he suffered his eighth loss at the New Year ...

January 2020 served up one of the best sumo tournaments of recent times. After both yokozuna pulled out in the first few days — having managed just a solitary win apiece — several lower rankers stepped into the breach and took fans on a rollercoaster ...

Yuki Kawamura has been one of the best players in Japanese high school basketball in the last couple of years. He lived up to fans' lofty expectations by guiding Fukuoka Daiichi to the All-Japan High School Tournament titles two years in a row from ...

Japan coach Jamie Joseph put the cat among the pigeons Wednesday when he said the Brave Blossoms could not hope to remain a top eight nation if the current domestic structures remain in place. Speaking to the media for the first time since he agreed ...

Zion Williamson's NBA road debut didn't have much flash or any fireworks. It wasn't a show, and that was just fine with the hyped rookie. Check off another box. Williamson scored 14 points — all inside — in his first pro game outside New Orleans and ...

Renovation work on Olympic and Paralympic venues in Tokyo has been making it difficult for people to find places to play tennis and for companies to hold exhibitions. At the sprawling Ariake Tennis Park in Koto Ward, where Olympic tennis and Paralympic wheelchair tennis events ...

While some are looking for big rewards from the swell of interest to come from the Tokyo Paralympics, Toshiro Ueda is convinced a brighter future for people with disabilities — and society as a whole — is built through the acts of one individual ...

AC Milan and its fans paid tribute to Kobe Bryant with lights and applause before and during Tuesday's Italian Cup game against Torino at the San Siro stadium. Bryant, who grew up in Italy between the ages of 6 and 13, was a devout Milan ...

Manchester United on Tuesday condemned what the club called an "unwarranted attack" by vandals on the home of its executive vice chairman, Ed Woodward. Footage posted on social media late Tuesday showed red flares being thrown over the gates of Woodward's property. A message at ...

Melbourne Victory denied Kashima Antlers a place in the Asian Champions League group stage on Tuesday, upsetting the J. League club 1-0 in a playoff. With the loss, the 2018 ACL champions earned the unwanted distinction of being the first J. League side to fail ...

Rugby World Cup star Kotaro Matsushima will join French side ASM Clermont Auvergne from July, the winger's Japan Top League club Suntory Sungoliath confirmed Tuesday. The 26-year-old will link with the club in the Top 14, the premier tier of French rugby, following the Top ...