Major department store operators in Japan reported a drop in duty-free sales during the Lunar New Year holiday amid China's ban on all outbound group travel to stop the spread of a deadly coronavirus. Three out of the nation's four major operators, including Takashimaya Co., ...

Police on Sunday arrested a man for allegedly firing several shots with a handgun at a home belonging to the second-in-command of the Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation's largest yakuza group, in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture. No injuries were reported in the shooting. The man — believed to be ...

A number of companies across Japan have disclosed in turn moves to try and prevent further spread of 2019-nCoV, the new coronavirus that originated in China, with the postponement of celebrity meet-and-greet events and suspension of services such as makeup application at cosmetics stores. Oriental ...

The new facility will be a departure from the Harry Potter attraction in Osaka.

A lawmaker at the heart of a bribery scandal involving a Chinese gambling operator seeking to enter Japan's forthcoming casino market was indicted Monday on a fresh bribery charge. Tsukasa Akimoto, 48, is alleged to have received ¥2 million ($18,450) from the Chinese firm, 500.com ...

Both opposition and ruling party lawmakers have chided the government, saying that its initial response has been slow.

Embassy officials from nearly two dozen countries are told about the plan to release tritium-tainted water from Fukushima No. 1.

A former assistant nurse convicted of murdering a patient in 2003 was set to be exonerated Monday after prosecutors chose not to contest new evidence presented by her defense team during the first hearing of her retrial. Mika Nishiyama, 40, was found guilty in 2005 ...

The iconic “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” as well as other pieces from the series “Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji” will be printed onto the pages as an anti-forgery measure.

Hiroshima-based Liberal Democratic Party Diet member Anri Kawai admitted in January to receiving ¥150 million from LDP headquarters prior to the July 2019 Upper House election. Kawai, a novice in national politics, is also the wife of disgraced former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai, who ...

Aircraft flew low-altitude routes Sunday over central Tokyo, that are set to be introduced for flights into and out of Haneda Airport, the transport ministry has said. The flights operated between 4:20 p.m. and 6 p.m., to test out conditions for the new routes that ...

As a shortage of face masks continues in Japan amid the spread of the new coronavirus originating in China, their prices are shooting up on online flea markets. Some people are apparently cornering masks at drugstores and other shops and selling them at excessively high ...

A volcano on an island in Kagoshima Prefecture erupted early Monday, the Meteorological Agency said, with no immediate reports of injuries. Pyroclastic flows — observed there for the first time since Jan. 29 last year — reached around 900 meters southwest of the crater, while ...

Chinese shares tumbled and the yuan weakened as traders returned from an extended holiday amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak. Support measures from China's government helped stem losses somewhat in Asia, while U.S. futures rose and Treasuries slipped. Stocks in Shanghai opened almost 9 percent lower, ...

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison will on Tuesday front parliament for the first time in three months as he seeks to repair his standing with voters angry by his response to the country's bush fire crisis and a scandal over sports funding. Morrison secured re-election ...

Since taking power, Chinese President Xi Jinping has effectively made himself "chairman of everything." The coronavirus scare is showing all the risks involved with that strategy. Xi last week took direct control of the response to the outbreak, showing the high stakes in a crisis ...

Nidec Corp. plans to more than triple its revenue over the next five years by focusing on electric vehicle powertrains and buying specialists in motor technologies, according to two people familiar with the matter. The world's leading maker of precision motors and a supplier of ...

Thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, working from home is no longer a privilege, it's a necessity. While factories, shops, hotels and restaurants are warning about plunging foot traffic that is transforming city centers into ghost towns, behind the closed doors of apartments and suburban homes ...

Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. has drafted a contingency plan to focus on its Sunderland plant in the U.K. and cut European production if a hard Brexit leads to tariffs on car imports from the continent, the Financial Times reported, citing two people involved ...

Boris Johnson plans to say he's prepared to quit talks over the U.K.'s future trade relationship with the European Union if he doesn't get what he wants. In his first speech since Britain formally left the EU, the prime minister will spell out to business ...

Somalia declared the worst desert locust invasion in a quarter-century a national emergency that's posing a major threat to an already fragile food situation. Swarms of the insects are breeding in Djibouti, Eritrea and Sudan and have also spread to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, where ...

Twitter Inc. has banned financial market website Zero Hedge from the social media platform after it published an article linking a Chinese scientist to the outbreak of the fast-spreading coronavirus last week. Zero Hedge said it received a notification from Twitter on Friday, accusing it ...

The risk of further contraction in the Hong Kong economy, which was buffeted by anti-government protests last year, has increased due to the coronavirus epidemic, Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Sunday. "As it (the economy) enters 2020, it has not shaken off the risk of ...

The real test is how countries adapt to the realities of a 5G world, a world in which Huawei is just the most obvious and immediate risk.

Sometimes strong mandatory but temporary measures are needed to protect the collective interests of a democracy.

Will China be forced into 'hibernation' amid the epidemic?

The U.S. president's peace plan is a shameless ploy to violate international law, Palestinian human rights and basic principles of fairness.

Comparisons between Beijing's handling of the coronavirus and the Soviet response to the world's worst nuclear disaster are tempting, but misguided.

Countries will be more resilient if they stick together.

The DualShock 4 gets extra buttons; Persona 5 faces a Dynasty Warriors makeover; while Street Fighter V remains a champ of fighting games.

Hilmneh Tegegn came to Japan from Ethiopia 11 years ago seeking refugee status here and seemed to do everything right. After more than a decade of waiting, he finally got a visa — to the United States.

Frostini is a pretty fellow who came to ARK when he was still tiny, almost seven long years ago. He was extremely timid at first, a trait that can have dire consequences at a shelter. "Frosty," as staff affectionately calls him, had friends that fought ...

Japanese manga artist Yoshiharu Tsuge was honored at the Angouleme International Comics Festival in France on Saturday. Tsuge, 82, received a standing ovation at an award ceremony and said he was very honored, according to a post from the festival's official Twitter account. A special exhibition ...

One Japanese major publisher and producer is seeking to capitalize on YouTube influencers with a highly unusual approach: inviting non-Japanese anime YouTubers to live and produce content within Tokyo.

Refusing to be bound by tradition or convention, Hokusai bent rules and sought inspiration from all corners — but how did such audacity influence his own students and followers?