An attractive companion will send you text messages throughout the day to ask how you are, and welcome you home with a kind word in the evenings.

Worlds with the mass of Neptune are the most likely planet to form in the icy outer realms of planetary systems, scientists have found in a pioneering new study co-authored by Kiwi researchers.

If you've been to Tokyo, you know the garbage collection system is no joke. Now there's an app to help foreigners understand it.

Sony has quietly dispatched a rival game to Pokemon Go with a popular mobile game called Fate/Grand Order.

Competition in Japan's online shopping market is intensifying.

Linda Lombardi savours oodles of noodles at museums devoted to Japanese obsession.

New Zealand students are performing below the international average when it comes to maths, a new study shows.

WATCH: If you've ever dreamed of combining a heart-racing roller coaster ride with a relaxing soak in a hot spring, Japan's latest theme park idea could be right up your alley.

A Japanese amusement park billed it as not only a unique game-changing tourist attraction for Japan, but "undeniably a world-first".

Thanks to this research, there has never been a better excuse to eat ice cream for breakfast.

A participant at a speed-eating contest has choked to death.

Yesterday's earthquake off the coast of Japan brought back memories of the 2011 disaster for many locals.

Residents were urged to "evacuate immediately" after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Fukushima prefecture in Japan, sparking a tsunami warning.

Victoria University earthquake scientist Dr John Townend says Kiwis shouldn't draw any connections between the Japan quake and last Monday's 7.8 Kaikoura quake.

'Early wake-up call' for former All Black Cory Jane as quake hits Japan.

WATCH: Tsunami warning lifted in Japan after major earthquake hits same region devastated by 2011 quake.

Here I am more than halfway into my trip and Tokyo greets me with bright lights and people everywhere.

While motorists around the world endure the misery of pothole damage, authorities in Japan fixed a huge sinkhole in just one week.

The shrines of Tokyo work wonders for the Warriors and Leicester, but not the locals, writes Dean Parker.

A young Kiwi entrepreneur has put his study skills to the test and set up a business to help other students pass their exams.

Two Japanese tourists were attacked in Rotorua by three men on Saturday.

For as far back as people can remember, they've been there in boardrooms across Japan, the lingering ghosts of past regimes.

Expoland was once a must-see theme park, but everything changed when a woman died there. Look at it now.

Thought you worked long hours? Try moving to Japan, where the work culture is so intense it can cost you your life.

Hot sand presses down on my chest and legs causing a tingling hot sensation to pulse through my legs, arms and back.

Japanese police are investigating the possibility that an "angel of death" killer may have been behind the suspicious deaths of 48 elderly patients at a hospital in Yokohama.

High-school coaches focus on technical rugby skills rather than personal development, study finds.

Imagine confining yourself to your bedroom every moment of your waking life. For a huge number of young Japanese men, it's their reality.

An increasing number of foreign tourists are visiting Japanese distilleries, as the country's whisky exports grow.

Japanese food is one of our favourite cuisines so we were really looking forward to visiting the country.