JAPAN

Japan's SLIM space probe entered the Moon's orbit on Monday in a major step towards the country's first successful lunar landing, expected next month.

Japanese officials on Thursday started an on-site inspection at the headquarters of Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu, the transport ministry said, after an investigation found it had rigged safety tests and was forced to suspend all shipments of its vehicles.

Growing up, Mirai Kisaragi fled her abusive parents, survived homelessness and contemplated suicide.

A second-hand pop-up store in Tokyo by casual clothing giant Uniqlo was a first for the Japanese firm, but also a sign that a local aversion to used garments may finally be fading.

Three Japanese ex-soldiers were found guilty Tuesday but given only suspended jail sentences for sexually assaulting a female colleague who won praise but also online hate for going public with her accusations.

A Japanese zoo has launched a probe after apparently massacring 31 of its 40 squirrels by mistake with treatments meant to kill parasites, officials said.

A US Osprey military aircraft with eight crew on board crashed on Wednesday off a Japanese island, the coastguard said, in the latest accident involving the tilt-rotor military aircraft.

The United States on Friday approved Japan's request to buy 400 Tomahawk missiles, part of Tokyo's bid to bolster defenses despite fresh dialogue with China.

In the hurly-burly outside one of Tokyo's main train stations stands a statue of a dog whose true story of loyalty has made him a beloved mascot for generations.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Japan on Tuesday for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers set to seek a common line on Gaza as calls mount for a ceaefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Philippine Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said Manila is working with other countries for financial assistance but did not provide further details.

Dozens of baseball fans in Osaka hurled themselves into a filthy city-centre river and partied long into the night after the Hanshin Tigers won the Japan Series for only the second time in their history.

Fading photos of smiling children still adorn the staircase walls at the Ashigakubo primary school, one of thousands that have shut in ageing Japan over the past 20 years.

Landmark energy legislation passes in the UK, paving the way for expanded nuclear capacity. Nuclear energy might finally be making a comeback in the West.

India Electronics and Semiconductor Association and global industry analysis firm Counterpoint Research said earlier this year that the country's current trajectory poses the semiconductor market to rise to $64 billion by 2026. In 2019, it was valued at $22.7 billion.

South Korea, Japan and the United States "strongly condemn" North Korea supplying arms to Moscow, the allies said in a joint statement Thursday, adding that "several" such deliveries have been made by Pyongyang.

Researchers have developed a new electric vehicle battery design without the use of cobalt, one of the rarest and most environmentally destructive EV battery components.

A recent open day at a Japanese military base near Tokyo was a fun family outing but, despite the games and snacks, the army recruitment stand was bereft of visitors.

The Bank of Japan stuck to its ultra-loose monetary policy Friday, though officials face increasing pressure to turn more hawkish as the yen weakens and after fresh data showed inflation remained stubbornly high.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday he was willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seeking a diplomatic path as tensions soar over Pyongyang's weapons programs.

The mission is called the "moon sniper" because it aims at landing within 100 meters (roughly 330 feet) of its target on the lunar surface. If successful, this could be a game-changer because it is far less than the conventional range of several kilometers.