Japan’s lack of public trash cans often surprises visitors, but cultural norms and safety concerns explain why travelers carry their trash all day.

China has banned exports to Japan of dual-use goods for military purposes. The move comes at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Tokyo.

Lately a diplomatic spat with China has begun depressing the number of people coming to Japan from that country—but even this does not seem to have much deterred Japan’s leaders from their course. Three related trends have fuelled what anxious Japanese have come to call the “foreigner problem”.

Japan's real wages fell in November at the fastest pace since last January, dragged down by a sharp drop in one-off bonus payments, preliminary government data showed on Thursday.

Over recent years, the chewy rice cakes have killed and hospitalized hundreds of people in Japan, where it is eaten to celebrate the new year.

For a decade, Vietnamese worker Minh did tough jobs like sandblasting ships and welding steel, helping address rapidly ageing Japan's dire labour needs.He considers his internship a success, despite his "extremely dirty" task of sandblasting rust off ships,

An employee of Japan's nuclear regulator lost his phone containing highly sensitive information in China while on a personal trip in November. The phone had the name and contact details of staff in charge of nuclear security.

China did not stipulate covered items, but experts believe the restrictions could affect rare earth minerals, a potential Achilles' heel for Japan.