The Universal Studios Japan movie theme park will prohibit visitors from giving high-fives or hugs to staff members in character costumes when it reopens Monday, the operator said Thursday. The park in Osaka will also urge customers to avoid being too close to each other ...

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi agreed with his New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters on Thursday to proceed with discussions on resuming travel between the two countries as the coronavirus pandemic begins to subside. In a 15-minute telephone talk, the two "confirmed that preventing the spread of ...

Whether a same-sex partnership could be considered a de facto marital relationship was a major point of contention in the trial.

In May, Honda Motor Co. saw new car sales drop 1.7 percent to 134,230 units in China, the automaker said.

The Chinese government has stepped up the number of visas being issued to Japanese citizens after limiting them for months following the coronavirus pandemic, a diplomatic source said Wednesday. The move is apparently aimed at bringing business exchanges between the two countries back to normal, ...

The governors plan to launch a team by this summer to jointly compile measures to fight the pandemic.

Pro-democracy campaigners say timing of such a trip would be inappropriate given current international criticism over the human rights situation in the city.

Low-cost carrier Zipair Tokyo's first flight took off with only cargo on board instead of people due to the dearth in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. For the time being, the carrier, set up by Japan Airlines, will run four round-trip flights per week ...

The government says it has softened its stance on humanitarian grounds and will now allow foreign residents to re-enter the country regardless of their visa status.

The coronavirus pandemic is giving Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte a reason to reduce overcrowding in Manila, which in recent decades has swelled into one of the most heavily populated areas on Earth. Duterte is offering cash and goods to induce city-dwellers to move out of ...

A 23-year-old university student was arrested Thursday on suspicion of killing two women with arrows fired from a crossbow at his home in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, police said. Suspect Hideaki Nozu, who was arrested at the scene, is believed to have deliberately shot his mother ...

Tokyo confirmed 28 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, two days after Gov. Yuriko Koike issued a Tokyo Alert in a sign of a possible resurgence of infections in the capital. The alert serves as a call for caution. But if the number further increases, the ...

A team of the University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science and other organizations have begun testing a wave power generator at a fishing port in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. The equipment can generate electricity efficiently as it uses not only incoming waves but those bouncing ...

China completed construction of a 22.6 billion yuan ($3.17 billion) ultra-high voltage electricity line that for the first time will transport only clean energy. It’s the first UHV line in the world built to transmit only carbon-free electricity, its developer, State Grid Corp. of China, ...

When the coronavirus lockdown started in Germany, all Marco wanted to do was get drunk. The musician from Berlin, 38, was downing roughly a bottle of gin every night. "I was like, why not, come on! It's quarantine, let's party!" But as the days went on, ...

Qualifying foreign carriers will be allowed once-per-week flights into a city of their choosing starting June 8.

South Korean prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant against Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee, they said on Thursday, in the investigation of a controversial 2015 merger and alleged accounting fraud in a suspected bid to aid his succession plans. The move spells fresh trouble ...

Each shop will offer the small reusable masks to schools, nurseries and care homes in their communities to help out those in need.

With cash flow drying up at Thailand’s popular beach resort of Phuket, hotels are racing to restart tourism — starting with local travelers. "If nothing changes in the next three months, we won’t be able to afford paying for staff,” said Angkana Tanetvisetkul, president of ...

Three major convenience store operators will charge customers ¥3 for each plastic shopping bag at all domestic outlets from July 1, it was learned Thursday. This comes in line with the government's plan to oblige retailers across the country to charge fees for plastic bags ...

The nation's ¥230 trillion stimulus is falling short of sufficient support for small businesses.

The effort stems from U.S. and international disgust with the death of George Floyd, who died after a white Minneapolis cop knelt on his neck for over eight minutes.

Late last month, the Diet passed a revised bill paving the way for so-called “super cities” or “smart cities.” Supporters tout them as high-tech marvels where artificial intelligence and big data are to be used to provide more efficient and cost-effective solutions to social ...

Tokyo has signaled it will not simply "cut and paste" the terms from its European Union trade agreement.

The demonstrations are a new challenge in efforts to test and trace new infections, a key step to swatting down new clusters of cases.

Many in Hong Kong plan to commemorate the bloody 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Tiananmen Square by lighting candles across the city on Thursday evening, circumventing a ban on large public gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic. The anniversary strikes an especially sensitive ...

Prosecutors seeking to put a former Minneapolis police officer in prison for the death of George Floyd bolstered allegations on the use of force but stopped short of calling the killing intentional in a move legal experts said could ease the path to a ...

In July last year, Japan placed tougher restrictions on South Korea-bound exports of three key materials used to manufacture semiconductors and display panels.

Many students have suffered drops in income due to losing their part-time jobs or having their shifts reduced amid the crisis.

The education ministry has warned elementary schools nationwide to be on alert for traffic incidents as schools reopen following the full lifting of the country's coronavirus state of emergency last week. Police are stepping up activities to watch over children walking to school or back ...

More effective measures needed to resolve Japan's 'national crisis'

A smart China strategy must aim to hold China to its own principles when dealing with all other states.

Mass incarceration and other social ills made the world more vulnerable.

With bars and restaurants largely empty of revelers during the outbreak, craft beer consumption dried up and left owners needing a near-miracle.

The four-piece band marks 10 years of bucking expectations and musical risk-taking.

Bullying is an evergreen theme of Japanese films centered on teens, with the focus typically on the victims. But in "Forgiven Children," Eisuke Naito’s clear-eyed, hard-hitting drama, a bullying incident results in a death that ruins the lives of the perpetrator and his family. Based ...

Even in the age of COVID-19, the show must go on, and go on it will. Theater lovers suffering from withdrawal symptoms as a result of cancellations prompted by the coronavirus will be relieved to learn that a number of companies are busily formulating plans ...

The Japan Cycling Federation on Thursday named six athletes who will represent the host nation in track cycling at the postponed Tokyo Games, including keirin gold medal hopefuls Yuta Wakimoto and Yudai Nitta. Wakimoto booked his spot for the second straight games and will be ...

Japan could cut the number of spectators as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.