As Japan struggles with a daily increase in the number of domestic cases of the COVID-19 virus, eight people in Tokyo are found to be infected.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party submitted an amendment to the Diet in January to expand the "widow's deduction" to cover single parents who have never been married. This system allows single parents who have lost spouses to death or divorce to deduct a certain ...

Since mid-January, the name on the lips of increasing numbers of TV news announcers and commentators has been "Bukan," which is how the Chinese city of Wuhan is pronounced in Japanese. The contagion that is believed to have originated from that city, COVID-19, is said ...

The outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, now officially named COVID-19, has sparked plenty of concern online — some valid, others more hyperbolic in nature. Like many global events in the social media age, the outbreak has also resulted in no shortage of ...

The U.S. government will send a chartered aircraft to evacuate its citizens from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship which is currently quarantined in Yokohama port.

A tearful reunion between a mother and her dead daughter via advanced virtual reality for a South Korean television has become an online hit, triggering fierce debate about voyeurism and exploitation. The footage began with the girl — who died of leukemia in 2016 — ...

Brussels set the stage Friday for a fierce budget battle at the coming week's extraordinary EU summit, with a trillion-euro plan that meets no one's demands. The summit's host, European Council President Charles Michel, is seeking a compromise to clear a path to agreement on ...

Since Kansai International Airport opened in 1994, business and political leaders in Osaka have touted the region as the gateway to Asia. Often showing little interest in other parts of the world, they would tell each other in conference rooms, cocktail parties, symposiums and ...

A former SoftBank Corp. employee was indicted Friday on a charge of illegally acquiring corporate secrets, a violation of the law on preventing unfair competition, prosecutors said. Yutaka Araki, 48, allegedly obtained the proprietary information from a SoftBank server on Feb. 18 last year and ...

Amid deepening concerns over climate change, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization agree to cooperate on monitoring forests and mangroves around the world by using data from observation satellites.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Friday accused Japan Atomic Power Co. of modifying the original geological data used to determine whether a fault under the Tsuruga power plant's controversial No. 2 reactor is active or not. The nuclear watchdog is screening the safety of the ...

Iran would be willing to move back toward the 2015 nuclear deal if Europe provides "meaningful" economic benefits, the country's foreign minister said Friday. Britain, France and Germany, the European parties to the Iran nuclear deal, have been battling to save it since U.S. President ...

With just over a month until the Olympic flame arrives, organizers of the Tokyo Games held a dress rehearsal Saturday for the Japan leg of the torch relay. Four runners carried unlit Olympic torches for around 200 meters each in Hamura, western Tokyo, on Saturday ...

Tsukasa Akimoto, the lawmaker charged with bribery, asserts his innocence and says he did not take any bribes from a Chinese company interested in Japan’s casino market.

After nearly two weeks cast away in search of a port that would take them, passengers aboard the MS Westerdam cruise ship spoke of an ordeal that was anything but harrowing. "Everyone says 'poor you.' But there was no poor you. We had free internet ...

The United States and the Taliban have agreed to a temporary truce that, if successful, would open the way for a deal that would bring American troops home from Afghanistan and end 18 years of war. The peace deal would call for negotiations between Afghans ...

The United States is increasing tariffs on Airbus planes imported from Europe to 15 percent beginning March 18, authorities announced Friday. The duties have been at 10 percent since October, when Washington hit $7.5 billion in European products with tariffs. The announcement from the Office of ...

Global defense spending saw its biggest jump in a decade in 2019, driven by the U.S. and China, a study said Friday, as rivalries and conflicts stoke military investment. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said the 4 percent rise, compared to a year ...

The condition of the world's second-largest coral system, the Mesoamerican Reef stretching from Mexico to Central America, has taken a turn for the worse and faces further threats from climate change, according to a report by a group of scientists. Extending nearly 1,000 km (620 ...

More than 2,600 new cases were confirmed from a coronavirus outbreak in mainland China, the National Health Commission said on Saturday, a day after people returning to the capital from holidays were ordered to quarantine themselves for 14 days to try to contain its ...

In just a few short months there will be two Olympics in Tokyo, but only one has the potential to establish Japan as a leader in the next generation of sports.

Gyōza are fun, easy-to-make and absolutely delicious

The Sogetsu school of ikebana encourages a more liberated approach to the Japanese art of flower arranging. Akane Teshigahara, the fourth head of the school, matches selected items from the Spogetsu Collection with arrangements celebrating spring.

Determined to give back to Australia's Gold Coast community, Nao Hirano's acheivements rank high — from senior police liaison officer to founder of Japan Community of Queensland Inc.

All good meals incorporate elements of theater, whether in the table setting, the waiters' movements or the way each dish is unveiled. Dining out in Tokyo often adds an extra dimension: watching the chefs at work on your meal from a kitchen-front seat. At ...

A queue of people snakes alongside a shiny glass cafe, with many resigned to a two-hour wait. Their goal: some simple yet famously fluffy pancakes. This could be a typical scene from the trendy Harajuku neighborhood in Tokyo. Except this cafe is surrounded by ...

Dessert Watch doesn't play favorites, but recently McDonald's Japan has been on a roll that's hard to ignore. The once besieged fast food chain has been scoring sweet hits (and online buzz) in the past few months, and its latest continues the streak. After the ...

Alvin Cheung talks about the caffeine-charged world of entrepreneurism, design and "coffee terroir."

The audience, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s, wave glow sticks and holler as the lights go down for the start of the show. Above the stage, a frame of blue lights throbs and pulses like a circuit board before the ...

An introduction to Zen practice, by one of Japan's leading practitioners.

The best in children's literature earns devout adult fans too, and perhaps no other Japanese writer embodies such cross-generational popularity than Shuntaro Tanikawa. Frequently touted for the Nobel Prize in literature, Tanikawa was born in 1931 to a philosopher father and began writing poetry and ...

Matt Kuchar was not at his best but did enough to maintain the lead in the second round at the Genesis Open on Friday, as Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott loomed large in the rear view mirror in perfect winter conditions. On a day when ...

The Ryukyu Golden Kings stepped to the free-throw line for 30 shots on Saturday night. The Golden Kings made 25, eight more than the Akita Northern Happinets did, and that proved to be a key factor in their hard-fought series opener. Ryukyu earned an 80-76 victory ...

A late brace by substitute Taiki Koyama earned the Panasonic Wild Knights their fifth bonus-point win of the season, a 46-27 victory over the Toshiba Brave Lupus on Saturday. The late charge at Kumagaya Sports and Culture Park, enabled by a steady stream of defensive ...

Caster Semenya ran her first public race in eight months and broke the national 300-meter record at a low-level meet at a South African university before proclaiming: "I'm here to stay." The Olympic 800-meter champion said the race Friday night at the University of Johannesburg, ...

The Sunwolves suffered their first loss of the Super Rugby season Saturday, losing 43-17 to the Chiefs. In an entertaining game in front of 18,708 at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground, the rugged, hard work of the Chiefs pack and the mercurial skills of Damian ...

Washington Wizards rookie Rui Hachimura showed off his dazzling handles in the Rising Stars Challenge, but his big night for Team World was spoiled by Team USA's 151-131 victory in the event that tipped off the NBA All-Star weekend. On Friday night, when the NBA's ...

Two-time Grand Slam singles winner Naomi Osaka will be featured in an upcoming documentary series to air on Netflix, and the project has the backing of one of global sports' most prominent individuals. The Uninterrupted, the media brand founded by NBA superstar LeBron James and ...

Yoshihito Nishioka didn't mince words when asked about his goals for the 2020 tennis season. "My first goal is making the Olympics," he told The Japan Times last week. "To play in the Olympics in my home country ... I don't want to miss it." In ...

English Premier League champion Manchester City was banned from the Champions League for two seasons by UEFA on Friday for "serious breaches" of spending rules and failing to cooperate with investigators in a seismic ruling against one of world soccer's wealthiest clubs. The Abu Dhabi-owned ...

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jason Zucker is settling in nicely after two games with his new team. Zucker scored his first two goals with the Penguins during a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night. "To me, it was about the win," Zucker said. "It ...

The Wolverhampton Wanderers had a goal controversially ruled out by VAR as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Leicester City, which finished with 10 men, in the Premier League on Friday. The result leaves Leicester in third place on 50 points, ...

The list of finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is considerably shorter than usual. The voters really didn't need more this year. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett — 48 All-Star nods between them — headlined the class of eight finalists announced ...

The Japan women's trio, sisters Miho and Nana Takagi and Ayano Sato, won the team pursuit in a world-record time on the opening day of the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships on Friday. The team crossed the finish line at the Utah Olympic ...

The Minnesota Wild fired coach Bruce Boudreau on Friday with the goal of correcting some inconsistencies and making a late-season push for a playoff spot. First-year general manager Bill Guerin said he felt the timing was right to move on from Boudreau and replace him ...