Eleven ghost ships, some with decaying corpses on board, have turned up off the coast of Japan.

The New Zealand Government has hit out at Japan's decision to resume Southern Ocean whaling - a move which defies the International Whaling Commission.

The Japanese government has drafted an outline of comprehensive policies related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact.

The Japanese government is planning to establish about 10 centers in fiscal 2016 to help develop nursing care robots to help elderly.

Tokyo's Hato Bus is proving to be one of the bright lights in Japan's tourism industry.

A night at the sumo stadium is strangely reminiscent of a job at the freezing works, writes Dean Parker.

Learning slurping skills keeps Kevin Pilley busy as he dries out amid the world's largest collection of pot noodles.

There is a race taking place between some of the big names of car making - Japan's Toyota and Honda and their Asian neighbour Hyundai - and a smaller camp led by the tech visionary Elon Musk.

Children living near the Fukushima nuclear meltdown site have been diagnosed with cancer at a rate of up to 50 times that of children elsewhere.

Why are toilet paper sales soaring in Japan despite a falling population?

Authorities are grappling with the aftermath of massive flooding that killed at least three people, as thousands of rescuers search for the missing.

After almost four years of delays, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet will make its debut flight in the second half of October.

Above a road through a forest hangs a long, thin suspension bridge resembling a power line.

Foreigners don't have all the answers, but they are responsible for Japan's biggest corporate governance successes this year, writes William Pesek.

The crowd sat entranced as 78-year-old Emiko Okada recalled the horrifying events of August 6, 1945, a day that started hot and cloudless.

Seventy years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, New Zealand must take the lead on banning lethal weapons, writes Dita De Boni.

Seventy years on, the feared nuclear Armageddon has been kept in check - but a new threat is mounting, writes Alexander Gillespie.

It was a warm summer's morning and 5-year-old Yukiko Nakabushi was the first to arrive at nursery school. She waited for her friends to arrive. Except they never came.

Photo of "mutant" flowers taken near the Japanese nuclear plant that went into meltdown after tsunami .

At a time when more people marry later on in life or stay unmarried, matchmakers, traditionally called nakodo in Japan, have been gaining public attention again lately as the nation's population continues to decline.

Toshiba's CEO and two other top executives resigned after presiding over a US$1.2 billion accounting scandal. Well and good, but when do we see some criminal indictments?

His yukata is comfy but the traditional clogs cause a few problems for Lincoln Tan in Kinosaki.

This cute ginger kitten has obviously never heard of the phrase “curiosity killed the cat”.

A brooding expression, rippling muscles, a lingering gaze ... and, er, a habit of beating his chest.

Japan lacks safety nets for its urban drifters, even in Tokyo’s most glamorous districts, writes Simon Scott.

A Japanese robot capable of interpreting human emotions will go on sale for the first time this weekend.

Eat your fill in Osaka where food is a 24-hour obsession, recommends Lincoln Tan.

When it comes to corporate governance, Japanese companies Takata, Toshiba, Sharp and Toyota are acting as if it's 1985.