Science-driven economy is impossible without an effective education system: Nazarbayev
Kazakhstan is going to focus on hard sciences to further enhance the country's growing economy.
Biden says US 'pivot' to Asia cannot be derailed
US Vice President Joe Biden said Friday there should be no doubt about US commitment to its strategic shift to Asia as he started the final leg of a regional tour dominated by security concerns.
Japan, SE Asia in talks to expand currency swap
Japan and Southeast Asian countries are in talks over expanding currency swap arrangements to help cushion their economies in financial emergencies, an official said Thursday, ahead of a Japan-ASEAN summit next week.
Tokyo to launch $53.8 bn stimulus package
Tokyo will announce a spending package worth almost $54 billion on Thursday, media reports said, in a bid to offset a tax hike that comes into effect next year and which critics fear will derail Japan's economic recovery.
Japan Tobacco and Philip Morris buy 40% of Russian distributor
Japan Tobacco (JT) and Philip Morris will each buy a 20 percent stake in Russian distributor Megapolis for a total of more than $1.5 billion, as the rivals move to tap the world's second-biggest cigarette market.
Haruki Murakami novel Japan's 2013 best-seller
The new novel by literary superstar Haruki Murakami was Japan's biggest-selling book of 2013, the nation's largest distributer said.
Biden calls for tough choice to strike Pacific trade deal
Thousands of ageing farmers took to the streets of Tokyo Tuesday, underscoring opposition in Japan to an ambitious free trade deal, as US Vice President Joe Biden called on countries to make "tough choices".
Japan police find 80 reptiles in one-room apartment
Venomous lizards and snakes up to three metres (nine feet) long were among 80 reptiles police found crammed into a one-room apartment in Japan.
Japan director turns to crowdfunding for anti-nuclear film
Japanese film director Takafumi Ota had a problem. He needed studio financing for a film that was harshly critical of the nuclear industry in the aftermath of Fukushima, but no one was interested in funding his project the traditional way.
Japan's top drugmaker appoints first foreign boss
Japan's top drugmaker said Saturday it had picked a GlaxoSmithKline executive as its next president in a rare example of overseas head-hunting by a major Japanese firm.
Japan 'human zoo' defamed indigenous Taiwanese: court
A Japanese court has ordered public broadcaster NHK to pay $10,000 in damages to an indigenous Taiwanese woman for defaming her by using the term "human zoo" in a programme, officials said Friday.
China media urges countermeasures against Japan planes
China's state media called Friday for "timely countermeasures without hesitation" if Japan violates the country's newly declared air zone, after Beijing sent fighter jets to patrol the area following defiant military overflights by Tokyo.
Japan's Abe appoints first ever female PM aide
Japan's Shinzo Abe on Friday named the country's first ever female aide to the prime minister, just weeks after Caroline Kennedy arrived as the first woman US ambassador to Tokyo.
Japanese switched at birth would like to 'roll back clock'
A 60-year-old Japanese man switched at birth says he would like to "roll back the clock", days after winning a lawsuit against the hospital that mistakenly cast him into a life of poverty.
'Smart' wig navigates by GPS, monitors brainwaves
Are you both bald AND lost? Then the new "SmartWig" from Japan might be just what you need.
Tamagotchi virtual pets to return to Europe, N. America
Tamagotchi, the egg-shaped virtual pet beloved of schoolchildren in the 1990s, is making a comeback and is set to hit the shelves of European shops in time for Christmas.
China 'monitored' US B-52 air zone flights: ministry
China "monitored" US B-52 bomber flights in its newly-declared air defence identification zone, the defence ministry said Wednesday, in an assertion of its authority that stopped short of threatening direct action.
Japan's Panasonic to sell chip plants to Israeli firm: report
Japan's Panasonic is nearing a deal to sell three domestic semiconductor plants to an Israeli company as it presses ahead with a move to cut money-losing operations, a report said Wednesday.
Japanese airlines say will obey China's air zone rules
Japanese airlines on Tuesday said they would follow rules set by China when it declared an air control zone over the East China Sea, even as Tokyo said they should ignore them.
China creates air defence zone over Japan-controlled islands
Beijing on Saturday announced it was setting up an "air defence identification zone" over an area that includes islands controlled by Japan but claimed by China, in a move that could inflame the bitter territorial row.