JAPAN

Japan look poised to reach the final stage of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup without kicking a ball after FIFA said their match at North Korea will not be rescheduled.

North Korea's home World Cup qualifier against Japan was called off on Friday, the Asian Football Confederation said, hours after announcing it would be moved to a neutral venue.

A plastic statue of Kentucky Fried Chicken's founder Colonel Sanders that was a lucky charm for superstitious Japanese baseball fans has been "disposed of" 15 years after being dredged out of an Osaka river, the firm said.

McDonald's grapples with a global system failure, causing disruptions in operations across various countries.

Six couples sued the Japanese government on Friday seeking the right to use different surnames after marriage, filing the case to coincide with International Women's Day.

Google on Thursday launched a new cybersecurity hub in Japan, aimed at helping to upgrade defences in the Asia-Pacific.

Visitors will be banned from entering private alleys in Kyoto's famous geisha district, a local representative said on Thursday, as the ancient city tackles overtourism after the pandemic.

Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani revealed on Thursday that he is now married but kept the identity of his wife a mystery.

A steam of sweat rose as hundreds of naked men tussled over a bag of wooden talismans, performing a dramatic end to a thousand-year-old ritual in Japan that took place for the last time.

Amid recession fears in Japan and the UK, the US economy stands resilient, buoyed by strong consumer spending and pandemic relief measures.

Wrapped in seaweed and stuffed with delicious fillings, "onigiri" rice balls are shaking off their reputation as a cheap and uninspiring snack in Japan -- and enticing hungry converts abroad.

Japan's space agency on Tuesday postponed the launch of its next-generation rocket planned for this week due to expected bad weather, after two previous attempts ended in failure.

Two broken fingers in a rugby match changed everything for Seiji Ozawa, the celebrated Japanese conductor who blazed a trail in classical music, connecting Eastern traditions with the West.

China's slide into deflation came when Japan was snapping out of it. In the third quarter of 2023, Japan's residential property price index rose at an annual rate of 2.4%, following an even more significant rise in the previous two quarters.

Long hair, youthful smile, thick glasses slightly askew: for decades, the black-and-white photo of one of Japan's most wanted fugitives has been a ubiquitous sight at police stations nationwide.

Japan's Moon lander has come back to life, the space agency said Monday, enabling the craft to proceed with its mission of investigating the lunar surface despite its rocky start.

Asian investments are undergoing a seismic shift as Japan's stock markets surge and China's make a steady retreat.

The cost of the damage wreaked by a huge New Year's Day earthquake that killed at least 236 people in central Japan could reach $17.6 billion, a government official said Friday.

Behind the global success of Japanese video games lies a delicate task: appealing to overseas players whose expectations on issues such as sexism are increasingly influencing the content of major titles.

Japanese consumer inflation slowed again in December due to lower electricity and gas bills, government data showed Friday, ahead of a Bank of Japan policy decision next week.

Trading at around 36,000, the Nikkei is less than 15% below its old-time high of the late 1989s when Japanese equities were among the hottest in the world.