TOKYO, June 9 Kyodo - The government must raise Japan's consumption tax rate to 12 percent from the current 5 percent if it is to achieve a newly proposed fiscal discipline target, an official esti

TOKYO, June 9 Kyodo - The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Tuesday released an English guidebook on local cuisines as part of efforts to promote tourism in Japan's countryside.

TOKYO, June 9 Kyodo - Japan's lower house is set to hold a vote next week on four different bills to amend the contentious organ transplant law that have reinvigorated discussions on whether brain

TOKYO, June 9 Kyodo - The government will not appeal a Tokyo High Court ruling ordering the state to certify 29 of 30 plaintiffs as suffering from illness caused by radiation from the atomic bombin

TOKYO, June 9 Kyodo - The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday embarked on procedures to map out its campaign platform for the House of Representatives election, which could be called anytime

TOKYO, June 8 Kyodo - Tokyo's Akihabara district, a popular electronics area which attracts both
Japanese and foreign comic and animation fans, marked the first anniversary

TOKYO, June 8 Kyodo - Japan's key money supply gauge rose 2.7 percent in May from a year earlier,
marking the sharpest increase in six and a half years due partly to the

TOKYO, June 8 Kyodo - Japan's current account surplus shrank 54.5 percent in April from a year
earlier, while signs are emerging to suggest the pace of decline in exports has

TOKYO, June 8 Kyodo - Blind Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii shared first prize with Chinese pianist
Zhang Haochen at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition on

TOKYO, June 8 Kyodo -
The Japan Coast Guard issued an alert to ships Monday as North Korea has banned
vessels from passing through part of the Sea of Japan, a move that could