In modern Japan, every emperor's era has its own name — appearing in places such as coins, official paperwork and newspapers — and with a rare abdication coming at the end of April, there was much speculation about what the new gengō would be. On ...

Shinichiro Tsukada says his small plastering company in Tokyo wouldn't survive without the 22 Chinese and Vietnamese workers who make up half his payroll. "They're treasures, real treasures," he said. "Workers are disappearing as our population ages. Buildings cannot be built because there aren't enough ...

Paro the furry seal cries softly while an elderly woman pets it. Pepper, a humanoid, waves while leading a seniors' exercise group. The upright Tree guides a disabled man taking shaky steps, saying in a gentle feminine voice, "right, left, well done!" Robots have the ...

Japan Inc. has little faith in the central bank's latest shift in monetary policy, with companies saying it will not generate long-desired inflation, spur further business investment or have an impact on the economy. The findings of the Reuters Corporate Survey — the first broad ...

Dawn's golden light caught the tops of the snowcapped Himalayas and gradually crept downward as the rising sun lit up a sweeping arc of soaring peaks, at once forbidding and starkly beautiful. The stunning vista from the top of Poon Hill — at 3,193 meters, ...

When Chinese textile worker Wang Mingzhi heard he could more than triple his income by apprenticing in Japan, he paid a broker $7,300 to find out. Boy, was he disappointed.

NISEKO, Hokkaido — A new language can be heard on the slopes of this popular ski resort in northern Japan: Chinese. Foreign tourists and investors have flocked to scenic Niseko in recent years, giving this rural region a badly needed economic jolt. It is a ...

Japan has been overtaken by China as the world's No. 2 economy. Its flagship company, Toyota Motor Corp., recalled more than 10 million vehicles in an embarrassing safety crisis. Its fourth prime minister resigned in three years, and the government remains unable to jolt ...

When Mio Honzawa starts fifth grade next April, her textbooks will be thicker. Alarmed that children here are falling behind the kids in rivals such as South Korea and Hong Kong, the education ministry is adding about 1,200 pages to elementary school textbooks, bringing the ...

Normally, proposing a tax hike is considered a sure way to lose an election. But Prime Minister Naoto Kan is saying that's what Japan needs to rein in its bulging national debt in the campaign leading up to this Sunday's Upper House election. The poll, in ...