Japan’s lack of public trash cans often surprises visitors, but cultural norms and safety concerns explain why travelers carry their trash all day.

China has escalated its trade tensions with Japan by launching an investigation into imported dichlorosilane, a chemical gas used in making semiconductors.

Lately a diplomatic spat with China has begun depressing the number of people coming to Japan from that country—but even this does not seem to have much deterred Japan’s leaders from their course. Three related trends have fuelled what anxious Japanese have come to call the “foreigner problem”.

Over recent years, the chewy rice cakes have killed and hospitalized hundreds of people in Japan, where it is eaten to celebrate the new year.

Japan's service sector expanded at its slowest pace since May in December, as softer overall demand countered a rebound in new export businesses, a private sector survey showed on Wednesday.

An employee at Japan's nuclear safety agency lost his work phone containing sensitive information during a personal trip to China, Japanese media report.

For a decade, Vietnamese worker Minh did tough jobs like sandblasting ships and welding steel, helping address rapidly ageing Japan's dire labour needs.He considers his internship a success, despite his "extremely dirty" task of sandblasting rust off ships,

As of the end of November, 235 bear attacks had killed 13 people across Japan this year, both the highest figures since records began in 2006, according to official data.