Young men and women in northeastern Japan have talked about their hopes for rebuilding towns that were devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Many local governments in those areas held Coming of Age ceremonies on Sunday, one day before the national holiday to celebrate the occasion.
Two elderly sisters of a Japanese woman abducted to North Korea nearly 40 years ago have called for her early return to Japan.
Keiko Arimoto was abducted by North Korean agents while she was traveling in Europe after she completed a study program in London in 1983. She was 23 years old. She turns 60 on Sunday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has left Japan on a 3-nation Middle East tour amid growing tensions in the gulf region.
Abe said "Based on the friendly relations Japan has built with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, I will call on the leaders to seek stability in the region through talks and rational measures."
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will leave Japan on a three-nation Middle East tour amid growing tensions in the region.
Abe plans to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman from Saturday through next Wednesday.
A local assembly in western Japan has come up with a measure to prevent minors from becoming addicted to the Internet and computer games.
Kagawa prefectural assembly has presented a draft ordinance that suggests limiting the use of smartphones, PCs and game apps by children under the age of 18 to 60 minutes on a weekday and up to 90 minutes on Saturday, Sunday and national holidays.
Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games say hydrogen will be used to light the Olympic flame cauldron.
Tokyo Games' organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto unveiled the plan on Friday at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Two patrol planes of Japan's Self-Defense Forces will leave Japan for the Middle East on Saturday to help ensure the safe navigation of commercial vessels.
Defense Minister Taro Kono ordered the dispatch of the aircraft and one destroyer at a meeting with senior ministry and Self-Defense Forces officials.
Former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn has again criticized Japan's justice system as unfair.
Ghosn spoke to NHK and other Japanese media in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday, reiterating what he said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono has issued an order to send an intelligence-gathering mission to the Middle East to help ensure the safe navigation of commercial vessels.
Kono ordered the dispatch of two patrol planes and one destroyer at a meeting with senior ministry and Self-Defense Forces officials on Friday.
NHK has learned that Japanese investigators have asked for Interpol's cooperation in arresting the wife of former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Ghosn has been indicted in Japan in relation to alleged financial misconduct. He skipped bail and illegally left Japan for Lebanon late last year.
The foreign ministers of Japan and Indonesia have agreed to expedite preparations to hold a joint meeting of their foreign and defense ministers soon this year.
Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi met Indonesia's Retno Marsudi in Jakarta on Friday. The two countries last held a so-called "two-plus-two" meeting in 2015.
Japan's Defense Minister Taro Kono will order the dispatch of a Self-Defense Force mission to the Middle East on Friday amid heightened tensions in the region.
The move is aimed at increasing intelligence-gathering capability to ensure that commercial ships with links to Japan can safely navigate waters in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears to have decided to go ahead with his three-nation Middle East tour.
Abe plans to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman starting on Saturday.
A group of researchers says global warming could slow down the speed of typhoons passing over or near Japan, leading to greater damage.
The group is led by Munehiko Yamaguchi, a senior researcher at the Japan Meteorological Agency's Meteorological Research Institute.