Every few meters along a shopping street near towering Tokyo Skytree, signs with the words "PayPay used here" can be seen promoting the availability of an electronic payment option, an option that remains a relatively uncommon offering in cash-obsessed Japan. Despite its reputation as one ...

On a farm employing a sophisticated technique to develop special bananas in Okayama Prefecture, people with disabilities play a major role in the routine work of watering, fertilizing and removing yellowing leaves from the plants. Every morning, several mentally disabled workers come to the banana ...

Every spring, hordes of young people dressed in matching dark business suits descend on workplaces across the country. They have not yet joined the ranks of the country's ubiquitous salarymen and women but rather are university students beginning a monthslong job hunt. But as companies ...

Working late, falling asleep on trains due to exhaustion and getting drunk to release tension from work might still be the typical image of the "salaryman." This country is notorious for a culture of overwork. Employees who stay late are still praised for hard work ...

The new law enables private homes to be offered as accommodation only if the owners submit the necessary paperwork to prefectural governments or designated municipalities.

Optimism over the Japanese and U.S. economies has lifted the Nikkei 225 stock average above the 20,000 line, but lingering uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's economic policies may prevent investors from chasing higher ground. The benchmark average hit the threshold for the first time ...

While traditional investment wisdom holds that the market will be volatile in 2017, Tokyo stocks will likely continue the current "Trump rally" this year, although at a mild pace, supported by a weaker yen and solid corporate earnings. The course of the stock market in ...

With an eye on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Japan Sumo Association, in coordination with a government initiative, is taking steps to make this ancient sport more accessible to foreign visitors and the disabled. At a recent event in Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan ...

Every Sunday afternoon, rain or shine, a group gathers at a park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, where Japanese studying Chinese and Chinese living in Japan can engage in lively conversation. The gathering is a Chinese-language circle called Hanyu Jiao, which translates as "Chinese chat session." ...

While Natt Navachai, a Thai restaurant owner in the United States, has visited many regions in Japan, he is hoping to become one of a select few to win a one-month tourism experience in the disaster-hit Tohoku region. Dubbed the "Tohoku 365 Project," up to ...