This isn't your modest highway truck stop with parking, public toilets, a few vending machines and a kiosk. Occupying 5 hectares of land by Route 64, a road that makes its way through the scenic hills and pastures gracing the mountains of northern Gunma Prefecture, ...

Last month, MUFG Bank Ltd. started offering ¥1,000 to each of its first 100,000 customers willing to give up their paper passbooks. MUFG wants people to switch to online banking, which is cheaper for banks — and not just because they can save on ...

Fake news times fake news is fake news squared — which is to say, it goes viral. It multiplies like a virus, which multiplies like fake news. Then the equation gets complicated. What's fake news times a viral epidemic? "Unfortunately," says Weekly Playboy magazine this month, ...

For the first time since … never, the ojisan (middle-aged man) is on a roll.  Until recently, many have treated middle-aged men in Japan with a sense of dismissiveness, if not outright contempt.  Mainstream media have always portrayed middle-aged men as being overbearing and clueless at ...

South Korea said on Saturday that the number of new coronavirus cases in the country had doubled to 433, and officials suggested the tally could rise significantly as more than 1,000 people who attended a church at the center of the outbreak reported flu-like ...

Passengers on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, currently quarantined in Yokohama, who shared cabins with COVID-19-infected people disembark. They will be kept for another two weeks of medical observation at a public institution in Saitama Prefecture.

As bilateral tensions linger over wartime issues, Japan presses its claim to Takeshima, a tiny pair of South Korea-held islets, during an annual ceremony held in Shimane Prefecture.

The Finance Ministry, Financial Services Agency and Bank of Japan have met to promote research on digital currencies for possible issue by central banks, it has been learned. Issues related to such potential currencies are expected to be on the agenda for a meeting in ...

A survey shows that more than 200 port calls by international cruise ships have been canceled since the beginning of February because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Olympic organizers have dropped a dance by Japan's indigenous Ainu people from the opening ceremony of this year's Summer Games, a representative of the minority group said on Friday. "Ainu dancers will not be included in the opening ceremony in Tokyo," said Kazuaki Kaizawa, an ...

The coronavirus poses a global health risk that's more important than appeasing a major donor to the agency.

Next month the Olympic torch will arrive in Japan for a four-month relay to launch the opening ceremonies for the Tokyo summer games. But rather than anticipating the sight of Olympic torchbearers, much of Japan is fixated on a different relay: hundreds of masked ...

There's no need to overspend to eat well in Tokyo. Here are The Japan Times' picks of Tokyo's best affordable Michelin restaurants, all under ¥3,000.

Moving to Silicon Valley was a no-brainer for Naito — it was where Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook, and where he knew he'd be inspired to start a business.

The parks surrounding Japan's historic castles are among the best spots to enjoy cherry blossoms. For a brief period every year, the cherry blossoms conspire with the regal architecture to create a spectacular sight.

Part beer, part music and full of local charm: Kyoto Beer Lab has perfected the formula for what makes a successful neighborhood bar.

Japanese snack makers are constantly looking to improve the classic potato chip. But do they succeed?

Theater scholar and director Salz on Beckett, kyogen and teaching in Japan.

Still off the beaten tourist trail, Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, is a untapped wealth of natural splendor, mysticism and fresh, organic cuisine.

With the "33⅓ Japan" series, music aficionados bring classic Japanese albums and artists to life in nerdy, but accessible, prose.

Journalist Pete Hamill's anthology of 13 Tokyo-based stories bring a cast of multicultural characters, united by their lives in the metropolis, to life.

In "The Japanese Discovery of Chinese Fiction," William C. Helberg delves into Japan's fascination with "The Water Margin," and how its influence spread beyond the confines of pure literature.

The Queensland Reds overwhelmed the visiting Sunwolves at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, winning 64-5. The Sunwolves are 1-2 in this year's Super Rugby competition. Starved of possession, Naoya Okubo's team wilted defensively to allow the young Reds team, whose average age was just over 23, ...

The Panasonic Wild Knights maintained their perfect start to the Japan Rugby Top League season Saturday, beating the NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes 40-3 at Hanazono Rugby Stadium. On a rainy day, it took the Wild Knights a while to get going after falling behind to ...

With the wind at their backs and a dynamic goal-scoring duo in front, Kashiwa Reysol started the season exactly how they wanted — with a win. The J. League's first division returned to Sankyo Frontier Stadium in fine form on Saturday as Reysol rode braces ...

Japan won three gold medals Friday on the opening day of the Dusseldorf Grand Slam, with siblings Uta and Hifumi Abe both topping the podium. Nineteen-year-old sensation Uta claimed the women's 52-kg division gold with victory over French rival Amandine Buchard, while 22-year-old Hifumi won ...