TOKYO (Dow Jones)–Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Monday proposed cutting the nation’s 40% corporate tax rate by five percentage points from the fiscal year beginning in April, ending weeks of debate among ministers over the scale of...

TOKYO—Japan’s justice minister announced his resignation on Monday following a week long furor over comments he made disparaging his job—the latest in a series of scandals undermining the government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan will keep his job after an unexpectedly decisive victory in a ruling party leadership vote Tuesday, but must now unify his party and forge deals with the opposition in a divided parliament. Kan, 63, who has pledged to...

China has detained a man suspected of poisoning frozen dumplings that were exported to Japan two years ago, sickening 10 people and causing tension between China and Japan. The suspect, Lu Yueting, 36, put a poisonous substance in the frozen dumplings...

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Hong Kong to demand full democracy in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Police said some 4,600 people took part in the New Year’s Day protest on Friday, which saw demonstrators marching to the...

Japan announced Thursday it would freeze assets of North Koreans in compliance with new UN sanctions for their links to Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, an official said Thursday. The action against five individuals, four companies and one...

The stigma attached to walking down the aisle even very late into a pregnancy is evaporating in Japan, with dekichatta-kon weddings accounting for almost one third of the total. “Being pregnant on your wedding day had a very bad image a few years...

Japan’s Kaguya spacecraft has relayed the very first Full Earthrise movie in high definition (HD) video, giving humans a uniquely beautiful view of our small blue planet just in time for Earth Day.

Housewife Miyuki Yanagisawa cannot recall the last time she had sex with her husband. She is certain, though, that their physical estrangement can be measured in years, not months. While she shares a room with the couple’s two young daughters,...

As the world’s most famous Buddhist, the Dalai Lama is a monk juggling two jobs. One is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, and the other is the political head of his government in exile. He was chosen to serve these dual callings through...