One is a preschooler in Saitama who returned from Wuhan with his dad, who tested positive earlier, and the other two are brothers in Hokkaido.

Prime Minister Abe’s softer reaction to China’s handling of the virus has won praise in Beijing, but what will he say when those problems are exposed?

A Chiba Prefecture man on Friday partially denied charges that he assaulted his 10-year-old daughter, who died in January last year in a high-profile abuse case. "I never starved her or weakened her. Nor did I keep her standing, or shower her in cold water," ...

The Defense Ministry has bolstered protective measures for its medical staff on the Diamond Princess, applying a stricter protocol for using gear on the infected cruise ship, Defense Minister Taro Kono said Friday. About 50 staffers from the Self-Defense Forces are working on the vessel ...

The government’s final plan to tighten scrutiny of foreign investment will affect about 400 to 500 listed Japanese firms, sources say.

An influx of Chinese that some Cambodians once resented for bringing noise, dust and chaos to the port of Sihanoukville is the cause of more pain now that it has gone into reverse. The new coronavirus has meant yet another setback for Sihanoukville after the ...

As bush fires and floods fuel public concerns in Australia about global warming, the country's powerful mining lobby is facing increasing pressure from investors to drop support for new coal mines, according to a dozen interviews with shareholders in global mining companies. Nearly a third ...

Asia's biggest economies are already feeling the brunt of new coronavirus COVID-19. Key gauges for manufacturing in Australia and Japan have fallen while early export orders for South Korea show a slump in Chinese demand. The warning signs come as finance chiefs from the Group of ...

Hakuba, a northern Japan Alps village in Nagano Prefecture at the foot of some of the country's most popular ski resorts, has a problem: Global warming could leave the area without the powder snow that has long been its lifeblood. Famed for its abundant "J-pow," ...

Nearly 900,000 pangolins are believed to have been trafficked worldwide in the past two decades, a wildlife watchdog said Thursday, highlighting the challenge in tackling the illicit trade. As the world's most heavily trafficked mammal, the creatures are targeted for their body parts which are ...

Morgan Stanley said Thursday it will buy discount brokerage E-Trade Financial Corp. in a stock deal worth about $13 billion, the biggest acquisition by a Wall Street bank since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Part of a broader consolidation in the discount brokerage sector, the move ...

L Brands Inc. said Thursday it will sell a controlling stake in its Victoria's Secret unit to investment firm Sycamore Partners, valuing the lingerie brand at $1.1 billion (¥123 billion), as it focuses on its core Bath & Body Works brand. The private equity firm ...

As the novel coronavirus continues to spread across Japan, event organizers are increasingly hitting the cancel button out of concern they might inadvertently contribute to the spread of COVID-19. Although the surge in cancellations has raised concerns about the economy and tourism, it is winning ...

A day after Jeanhee Kim learned of a coronavirus case in her Singapore apartment block, she was visited by a distinguished-looking man she later learned was a senior government minister. Kim, a 51-year old American who had just relocated to the island as the outbreak ...

The Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to realign its current four trading markets into three in April 2022, sources familiar with the matter have said. Of the three, the top-tier "prime" section will have the most rigorous listing standards. Companies that do not meet them will ...

Following two cases of backcountry skiers being killed by avalanches in Hokkaido since the beginning of this year, safety experts in the prefecture are working to fully enforce the so-called Niseko Rules to keep skiers safe. The recent accidents — one in the village of ...

Earlier this month, Copro-Engineered Co., a Nagoya-based firm specializing in the staffing of construction engineers, hosted a party at a Nagoya hotel for students who are expected to join the firm after graduating from university in spring — and their parents. Seventy-six students in dark ...

Last year developers in Japan put the lowest number of condominium units on the market in 43 years as elevated prices, reflecting higher labor costs amid a labor shortage, plus rises in materials and land prices affected demand, a research firm has said. The number ...

A Japanese Peruvian sued the state on Thursday, alleging that security guards broke his arm while detaining him at the Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau in 2017. The man, 46, filed the suit with the Osaka District Court, demanding about ¥2 million ($18,000) in damages. According to ...

Infections linked to a religious sect in Daegu have made South Korea the worst infected country outside China, if the Diamond Princess cases are excluded.

China reported an uptick in new cases of coronavirus on Friday, although the rise in infections remained at its slowest pace since January, a downward trend that the World Health Organization has called encouraging. The epidemic is set to be a major focus of discussion ...

Oil-rich South Sudan's former rebel leader and its president will form a unity government by Saturday's deadline, they announced on Thursday, quashing fears the deadline would be pushed back again. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 but plunged into a civil war in ...

Democratic presidential contenders began a frantic dash for votes on Thursday, as big-spending billionaire Michael Bloomberg sought to move past a bruising debate debut and several of his rivals jockeyed to be the moderate alternative to liberal front-runner Bernie Sanders. There are just two days ...

Washington state lawmakers moved on Wednesday to remove a key tax break for Boeing Co. and other aerospace firms in a bid to head off possible European tariffs on U.S. goods and ease a transatlantic trade dispute over aircraft subsidies. The United States last week ...

This year's U.S. presidential election could serve as an existential shock that Japanese politics may desperately need to revitalize itself, forcing a generational change in political leadership that is long overdue.

Shutting down nuclear power plants makes no sense if it means burning more coal.

The U.S. president must navigate difficult swing states and hope infighting hobbles the Democrats

Masahiro Nakai, the former leader of disbanded all-male idol group SMAP, said Friday he will leave talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. in late March, ending a relationship that has lasted over 30 years. The 47-year-old said at a news conference in Tokyo that he ...

Official couple alert!! It has taken 33 episodes but we finally have our first pairing in Emika and Tupas. I'm not counting Risako and Kenny because ol' Riri insisted they were still in the "talking" phase of their relationship when they moved out of ...

Six-time world champion yo-yo performer Shu Takada wants to take the yo-yo mainstream and show his tricks to the world

Evan Lysacek glided across the ice so effortlessly you could forget he was doing it on a bum ankle. Skating around Yokohama Bank Ice Arena during a skating clinic Thursday morning, Lysacek was doing simple movements, stuff you start out with when you get to ...

The Urawa Reds, coming off a 14th-place finish last year and without some of their big names, opened the J. League season by beating Shonan Bellmare 3-2 on Friday. Despite missing several big players and with defensive linchpin Tomoaki Makino starting on the bench, the ...

The Japan Table Tennis Association has agreed to take in about 50 members of China's national table tennis team who are unable to return home in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, sources said Friday. According to the sources, the JTTA is arranging to bring ...

England coach Eddie Jones apologized to a reporter who he suggested could not tell half-Asians apart in a barbed answer to a question on Thursday. Jones, the son of a Japanese-American mother and an Australian father, was speaking during a news conference at England's training ...

Consadole Sapporo said Friday they will postpone the general sale of tickets for J. League home games because of concerns over the fast-spreading COVID-19. The move comes after health minister Katsunobu Kato urged caution over holding large-scale events across the country in the wake of ...

When records are set in baseball, they so often occur at the confluence of favorable circumstances, the right player in the right place at the right time. Pitcher Carter Stewart may not have set any records last year, but by signing with the Fukuoka SoftBank ...

Having won four qualifying tournaments to date, including the world championships in September, the maiden Olympic gold medal in women's park looks well within the grasp of 13-year-old skateboarder Misugu Okamoto. Likely to be Japan's youngest athlete at the Tokyo Games at age 14, Okamoto ...