Two apparent explosions have hit the Japanese city of Utsunomiya, killing one person and injuring three others.

A suspect in a rare fatal shooting in Japan has reportedly died after ending an 18-hour stand-off with police by shooting himself in the stomach.

North Korea has declared plans to launch an Earth observation satellite on a rocket later this month.

Floodwaters have swamped a city near Tokyo, washing away houses and forcing dozens of people to rooftops, from which they had to be rescued by helicopters.

Swiss police have identified the remains of two Japanese climbers who went missing 45 years ago, months after their bones were found on a glacier under the Matterhorn mountain.

Nearly one million people have been evacuated as Typhoon Chan-hom hit the Chinese coast south of Shanghai with winds of up to 100mph.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes the focus of football is turning from teams to individuals.

Japanese officials are investigating a purported message from the extremist Islamic State group about the two Japanese hostages it holds.

Japanese media are reporting that a man has died after setting himself on fire in a public park in apparent protest over the country’s military policies.

A powerful typhoon that has killed at least one US airman slammed central Japan, disrupting transport and triggering mudslides, before swerving to the Pacific Ocean.

The Mt Gox bitcoin exchange in Tokyo has filed for bankruptcy protection, acknowledging that a significant amount of the virtual currency had gone missing.

A 5.3-magnitude earthquake has hit the Japanese prefecture that is home to the nuclear power plant crippled in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

A volcano has erupted in south-west Japan and coated a nearby city with a layer of ash.

Strong retail sales and a better-than-expected jobs report from the US helped boost Asian stock markets.

The Japanese government has agreed to buy several privately owned islands in the East China Sea that are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China, media reports said.

Thousands of people formed “a human chain” around Japan’s parliament complex yesterday to demand the government abandon nuclear power — the latest in a series of peaceful demonstrations that are on a scale not seen for decades.

Thousands of people formed "a human chain" around Japan's parliament complex today to demand the government abandon nuclear power - the latest in a series of peaceful demonstrations that are on a scale not seen for decades.

Thousands of people in southern Japan remained cut off by floods and mudslides triggered by torrential rains that have killed at least 28 people.

A lost budgie in Japan has been taken back home after it recited its whole address to a police officer.

Iran’s “terrorist activities” have been exposed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, after a spate of blasts in India and Thailand sparked a dramatic rise in tension between the arch foes.

Japan’s economy shrank 2.3% in the fourth quarter as manufacturers were battered by the strong yen, weak export demand amid the European debt crisis and flooding in Thailand.

Japan’s Emperor Akihito has been taken to hospital for tests.

Asian stock markets slumped today amid new signs of pressure on Europe’s banking system and a downturn on Wall Street.

Japan has selected the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter to bolster its ageing air force and is likely to announce the multibillion-dollar deal by the end of the week, media reports said.

Radioactive water leaked inside a nuclear power plant in south-western Japan but did not escape into the environment, the government said today.

A powerful typhoon is bearing down on Japan’s ravaged north-eastern coast today, approaching a nuclear power plant crippled in the tsunami disaster and prompting calls for the evacuation of more than a million people.

Rescuers in Japan dug through mud-caked debris and searched the banks of swollen rivers today for those missing in a powerful typhoon that left at least 25 people dead.

Heavy rains and mudslides from powerful Typhoon Talas have killed at least 15 people in Japan as the storm moved north today past the country’s western coast.

Japan's economy contracted for a third straight quarter as consumer spending and factory production continued to suffer in the aftermath of the March earthquake and tsunami.

Asian stock markets rose today as data showed the economy of earthquake-battered Japan shrank less than expected.

More than 200,000 coastal residents in eastern China have been evacuated and thousands of ships called back to shore today as Typhoon Muifa bears down on the country after battering the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan.

Toyota has told its suppliers in Japan to prepare for ramped-up production in 2012 and following years, signalling that the troubled car maker is confident it is back on a growth track after being hit by massive recalls and the tsunami disaster.

RADIATION fallout from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant poses a growing threat to Japan’s food chain as unsafe levels of cesium found in beef on supermarket shelves were also detected in more vegetables and the ocean.

Japan’s new disaster reconstruction minister resigned today after his widely criticised behaviour during a visit to the quake-devastated north east coast, where he refused to shake a governor’s hand, scolded the official and threatened to withhold aid.

Japan’s economy contracted sharply in the first quarter, veering back into recession as factory production and consumer spending wilted in the aftermath of March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

JAPANESE Prime Minister Naoto Kan said yesterday he was ready for a long fight to bring a quake- hit nuclear plant under control but was convinced Japan would overcome the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

GROWING up in this small fishing town on Japan’s northeastern coast, 16-year-old Minami Sato never took the annual tsunami drills seriously.

Dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors today after an explosion and fire dramatically escalated the crisis spawned by the earthquake and tsunami four days ago.

Miles from the ocean’s edge, weary, mud-spattered survivors wandered streets strewn with fallen trees, crumpled cars, even small planes. Relics of lives now destroyed were everywhere – half a piano, a textbook, a soiled red sleeping bag.

CAR plants, electronics factories and refineries shut across large parts of Japan as the earthquake rocked the country, buckling roads and knocking out power to millions of homes and businesses.

Japan’s industrial production rose in November for the first time in six months, easing worries that the country’s recovery might veer off track.

An unemployed Japanese man armed with a knife attacked school children and other passengers waiting on two buses outside a train station today in an incident that left 13 people injured.