Motive in Japanese Stabbings: A Dead Dog

The Japanese police say the motive in last week’s stabbing deaths of a former health ministry official and his wife appeared to be anger over a long-dead dog.

Tokyo Killings May Be Tied to Scandal on Pensions

The grisly knifing death of a former health ministry official and his wife by an unknown assailant has thrown this normally low-crime nation into an unusual uproar.

Mexico: Man Makes One Long Layover

A Japanese man has been living in a layover at the Mexico City airport for nearly three months, and he has no plans to leave.

Japanese Are Irked by U.S. Interest in Pitcher

As the first high-profile Japanese baseball prospect to spurn his nation’s leagues to entertain offers from the U.S., Junichi Tazawa has strained relations between leagues on two continents.

Japan’s Economy, World’s Second Largest, Is in Recession

Japan’s economy has been hurt by weak export growth and steep cuts in corporate spending amid the worsening global slowdown.

Neighborhood in Japan Files Lawsuit in Bid to Oust Mafia

Organized crime, considered a necessary evil, is tolerated by, and sometimes allied with, the authorities in Japan.

Panasonic and Sanyo Aim to Merge by End of Year

The deal would bring together two well-known brands with combined annual sales of more than $111.5 billion.

Small Investors in Japan Jump In

Tens of thousands of household savers — many of them first-time investors — are pouring into the market, seizing the world financial crisis as the greatest buying opportunity in a generation.

An Enclave of Brazilians Is Testing Insular Japan

Japanese-Brazilians pose an elementary test case for a difficult transformation in Japan, which is notoriously unwelcoming to immigrants but facing a demographic squeeze.

Japan Fires General Who Said a U.S. ‘Trap’ Led to the Pearl Harbor Attack

A high-ranking Japanese military official was dismissed for writing an essay stating that the United States had ensnared Japan into World War II.