Japan names North Korea and China as security concerns

Japan kept up the pressure on North Korea over its nuclear weapons and missiles and expressed concern about the lack of transparency on China's burgeoning military spending.

Japan Defense Chief Resigns Over Bomb Remark

Four weeks before a crucial parliamentary election that could decide Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s political fate, his gaffe-prone defense minister was forced to resign.

Japan: Scolding Over Atomic Bomb Remarks

Japan’s defense minister was warned by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to be more careful, after he made comments justifying the use of atomic bombs during World War II.

Kiichi Miyazawa, Japan Premier in the ’90s, Dies at 87

The former prime minister and holder of many other top government posts helped guide Japan from postwar ruin to economic superpower.

Asked for Apology, Japan Plays for Time in Sex Slavery Standoff

Even before a U.S. Congressional panel passed a resolution urging Japan to apologize for its wartime sex slavery, the Japanese government said it would have no comment.

NY Times Editorial: Japan’s Tuna Crisis

Along with sharks and other ocean-dwelling species, tuna have been in free fall for decades, in part from rapacious overfishing by big industrial fleets.

A doughnut by any other name

In Tokyo, an American journalist waits in line for two hours for a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

Waiter, There’s Deer in My Sushi

Japanese chefs are considering extreme alternatives as shortages of tuna threaten to remove it from sushi menus.

As Japan Ages, Universities Struggle to Fill Classrooms

Japan has one of the oldest systems of higher education in Asia, but its universities are scrambling to find new ways to attract students.

Japan: Battle of Iwo What?

Japan has changed the name of the island of Iwo Jima, the site of one of World War II’s most horrific battles, to its prewar name at the urging of its original inhabitants, who want to reclaim an identity they say has been hijacked by high-profile movies like “Letters From Iwo Jima” and “Flags of Our Fathers.” The name Iwo Jima was a mispronunciation by Japanese Naval officers of Iwo To, which uses the same characters. The misnomer stuck, much to the islanders’ dismay. The revision may have little effect among nonislanders, however. “It was Iwo Jima to us when we took it,” said Maj. Gen. Fred Haynes, 87, a retired marine who was in the regiment that raised the American flag on Mount Suribachi in 1945, a moment immortalized in a photograph by Joe Rosenthal. “We’ll recognize whatever the Japanese want to call it but we’ll stick to Iwo Jima.”.