Recent signs that Japan and South Korea are making subtle overtures to each other have raised hopes that they are moving toward de-escalating their diplomatic feud. But while their foreign ministers agreed Wednesday to continue dialogue, it remains unclear what a compromise that would satisfy ...

Iran's foreign minister says he is not interested in negotiating with the United States after it pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal and reinstated stifling economic sanctions on Tehran. "No, there is no possibility for negotiations," Mohammad Javad Zarif said when asked in an ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely be eager to take advantage of Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Japan to flaunt his diplomatic clout, especially in an election year. But Abe will need to play a careful balancing act between cozying up to China ...

A recent spate of warning signs that the economy is headed for a downturn means the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may need to take corrective action sooner rather than later. Worsening conditions — and upcoming elections — could push Abe to beef up ...

More and more women in Japan are abandoning the tradition of giving obligatory chocolates to male coworkers on Valentine's Day, instead using the occasion to treat themselves. The trend reflects shifting societal norms and consumer attitudes in the country, creating new opportunities and challenges for ...

The trick will be to keep household spending steady.

It's a familiar scene on the evening news: A wild boar ventures out of the woods looking for food and wreaks havoc on a countryside town, spurring local authorities to arm themselves with nets to catch the rogue animal. Boar populations in the country have ...

The budget shows Abe’s desire to prevent a tax hike from putting the brakes on the economy by triggering a plunge in demand.

With trade issues at the forefront of last week's meeting of the Group of 20 finance leaders, another topic seemed to get less play but deserves equal attention: monetary policy normalization. The consensus among the attending finance ministers and central bank governors was that the ...

The Group of 20 finance chiefs and central bankers conclude their annual meetings in Washington united against trade wars but baffled on how to prevent them.