NAGOYA, June 6 Kyodo - Enthusiasm for the relocation of some central government functions from the capital to local regions is fading as Diet debate on the issue has reached a stalemate, prompting

TOKYO, June 6 Kyodo - Japan and North Korea will hold unofficial working-level talks in Beijing on Saturday on Pyongyang's past abductions and other issues in preparation for a possible resump

TOKYO, June 7 (Kyodo) - Among about 170 prefectural hospitals nationwide, 61 of them, or more than 30 percent, have closed some consultation and diagnostic departments or downsized their service

TOKYO, June 6 Kyodo - The Finance Ministry said Thursday a total of 383 ministry officials have admitted to receiving favors from taxi drivers when taking rides home late at night on taxpayers' mon

TOKYO, June 5 (Kyodo) - Finance ministers of the Group of Eight major countries will put their heads together during a meeting in Osaka next week to work out solutions to the current surges in ene

TOKYO, June 5 (Kyodo) - A ruling Liberal Democratic Party panel discussing ways to tackle climate change agreed Wednesday on the need for Japan to set its own long-term target to reduce greenhouse

Tokyo, June 5 Kyodo - The U.S.

Rome, June 5 Kyodo - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda expressed caution Wednesday about announcing Japan's medium-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets before next month's Group of Eig

Tokyo, June 4 Kyodo - The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has decided to launch a satellite in 2013 jointly with the European Space Agency to study the effects of clouds in trying to accurately

ROME, June 4 Kyodo - A U.N.