Mentor fully understands how difficult it is to raise today's young girls to full-fledged maiko.

If perfect ski snow is your passion this is the Japanese destination for you, but don't count on admiring the scenery, writes David Lewis.

Fish passengers have been found off the Oregon coast in the wreckage of a boat that appears to be debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami.

Ninja, anime, and colourful customs collide at Japan Day, where old and new meet, finds Sarah Ell.

A university museum in Japan has broken a seven-decade taboo on discussing the dissection of live American prisoners of war by medical personnel.

On the fourth anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, Isaac Davison finds a community that's battered but unbowed.

Twentieth-century tragedy provides a moving lesson in post-war recovery during a visit to Japan's Hiroshima, writes Josh Martin.

Government ministers, foreign press and ambassadors including New Zealand's Mark Sinclair are sitting in a glitzy conference room in downtown Tokyo, looking at stunning photographs on powerpoint of a....

Thirty years after he fell in love with Japan, author Edmund de Waal returns to take his family on an intense tour of its urban and rural charms.

The softness of Japan's rebound shows PM Abe's challenge to revive the economy from two decades of stagnation.

Japan's economy expanded less than economists estimated in the fourth quarter, underlining the difficulty in stoking growth while export gains are undermined.

Disturbing images appear to show a man charged with having a homosexual affair being stoned to death after he survived being thrown off a building.

Japan says the death of journalist Kenji Goto is an 'atrocious act' as Isis threatens to kill a Jordanian pilot if a female prisoner isn't returned by Friday.

Japan's deputy foreign minister has said negotiations with Isis have become "deadlocked".

In the midst of one of the world's greatest metropolises, Sarah MacDonald goes on a quest for the ultimate urban sanctuary - Tokyo's natural hot spring.

The liquidators of a New Zealand bitcoin trading platform will soon be able to make a claim for $23 million worth of the digital currency that was being held with a now-bankrupt Japanese exchange.

Japan is vowing to "never give up" its struggle to save two hostages held captive by Islamic State (Isis) militants.

Follow the locals' instructions and this Unesco World Heritage-listed walking trail in the Kii Mountains could make your dreams come true, writes Kate Hodal.

HSBC has warned that Japan's barely disguised attempt to drive down the yen is becoming dangerous and may spin out of control, leading to an exchange rate crisis next year and a worldwide currency....

Jiro Ono fears for the future of his country's traditional food

The confidence of Japan's large manufacturers declined in the fourth quarter as a recession offset a boost from a weaker yen, underlining the challenges facing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after his....

For several years, Michael Hendry made himself at home on the golf courses of Australia. The burly New Zealander was a regular at the pointy end of leaderboards across the Australasian tour.

Japan is set to launch a space probe on a six-year mission to mine a distant asteroid after the event was postponed because of bad weather, officials said.

The global halal industry excluding financial services is estimated to exceed $2 trillion and will grow 4 per cent to 5 per cent annually.

In a big blaze of neon lights, Brett Atkinson discovers Tokyo's best watering holes.

When an election is called in Japan, candidates with megaphones roam streets in minivans, party leaders speak outside Tokyo train stations, and stocks gain until polling day.

A year ago, Typhoon Haiyan created a series of storm surges that left several thousand people dead and around four million homeless.

Tech is part of everyone's life in Japan, but doesn't appear to have supplanted their livelihood, even for menial tasks.