The old Sony factory in Japan's Miyagi Prefecture is up and running again. But this time it's an indoor farm that is the largest of its kind.

The Japanese consumer lender at the centre of a scandal over loans to gangsters that engulfed Mizuho Financial Group sold debt at about a fifth of the premium global companies pay, as investors search for yield.

Sumo wrestlers come in all sizes, finds Brett Atkinson, but the man mountains are the most fascinating.

Furuno Electric Co, best known for its fish finder systems, has purchased a 10 per cent stake in Electronic Navigation, owned by the Hodson family.

Companies in Japan are among the world's most vulnerable to cyber attacks, and threats against state entities have more than doubled since 2010 to one every 30 seconds.

The pachinko industry in Japan wants casinos, driven by attendance that has sunk more than 60 per cent since the mid-90s and an uncertain legal status.

When I was 16 - that's (ahem) 25 years ago now, right before Japan spiralled into economic stagnation - I stayed a year with a Japanese family as an AFS exchange student.

Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, must have noticed a striking difference between New Zealand and Australia when he visited the countries on consecutive days this week.

Shinzo Abe didn't quite throw his weight around when he met John Key at Government House in Auckland this week.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is unabashed by criticism of Japan's role in the Trans Pacific Partnership trade negotiations.

John Key will have to pick his way through a diplomatic minefield when he hosts Japan PM Shinzo Abe in Auckland on Monday during his first formal visit to New Zealand.

Japan's cultural barriers may seem immense but Sarah MacDonald finds getting to know the locals in the busy city can be easy.

Thousands of flights in Japan could be cancelled this summer as the country's rapidly ageing population leads to a nationwide shortage of airline pilots.

Hayden Donnell discovers the dangers - and exhilaration - of Sapporo Beer Garden.

Can a Kiwi cyclist out-sprint a hungry brown bear? In Japan Victoria Clark fixates on this point while pedalling through Hokkaido's forests. She need not have worried.

Rugby players from a top school have been caught shoplifting at a world championship in Japan.

New Zealand has a rival for the world's most breathtaking landscapes, writes Hayden Donnell, after taking in the view from Mt Annupuri during a skiing trip to the resort of Niseko on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Australia is on track to notch what experts are calling an "Asia Inc" trade trifecta.

Japan, the world's third-biggest economy, has a long and notorious history of protectionism.

Japan expects its whaling programme in the Southern Ocean will resume next year, court documents indicate.

Much hangs on whether the Japanese Government sides with its future-focused Foreign Ministry or its inwards-looking pro-whaling fisheries agency, writes John Armstrong.

China carries out more executions than any other country, a new report has estimated.

A Japanese court has decided to release a man who was sentenced to death in 1980 in a high-profile murder case based on new DNA evidence.

Scientists are to check whether NZ muttonbirds that spend the winter off the coast of Japan have been exposed to radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Ian D. Robinson dresses in traditional clothes to watch equally traditional Japanese theatre.

Toyota has agreed to increase base wages in Japan for the first time since 2008 as the nation's largest carmaker heads for record profits.

The control room for the crippled No 1 and No 2 reactors is coated in pink plastic sheeting. The lights on the monitoring panels are all out.