AFP - Japan's central bank left its super-low interest rates unchanged on Friday as the government declared for the first time in more than three years that Asia's biggest economy is in a phase of deflation.

AFP - Japan's central bank left its super-low interest rates unchanged on Friday as the government declared for the first time in more than three years that Asia's biggest economy is in a phase of deflation.

AFP - Japan's finance minister voiced strong concern Friday about deflation in the world's number two economy, saying the price drops are a major challenge for policymakers.

AFP - The foreign ministers of Japan and China agreed Thursday to advance political and military exchanges in a bid to foster mutual trust, a Japanese diplomat said.

AFP - A US-Japan row became more complicated Thursday when a junior partner in Japan's coalition government said an American airbase should be moved off southern Okinawa to a more remote islet or to Guam.

AFP - Smoke rose on Thursday from the world's largest nuclear power plant in Japan, which was shut down by an earthquake two years ago, but the operator said no-one was injured and there was no radiation leak.

AFP - Japanese whaling ships left port Thursday for Antarctic waters for their annual hunt of the ocean giants, Greenpeace said, setting the stage for high-seas confrontations with anti-whaling activists.

AFP - Fire-fighters trained to cope with biochemical terrors were rushed to a Tokyo metro station on Wednesday when a male passenger dropped a bottle filled with an industrial acid onto the floor of a train.

Reuters - Several people were injured when a stone worker riding on a Tokyo subway train accidentally broke a container of hydrochloric acid he was carrying, the fire department and media said Wednesday.

AFP - Japan's biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial announced plans Wednesday to raise billion of dollars from investors, joining a scramble by firms to boost finances ravaged the global financial crisis.

AFP - Japan Airlines was offered a billion-dollar financial lifeline on Wednesday from Delta Air Lines and its SkyTeam alliance partners, as Tokyo refused to rule out allowing the carrier going bankrupt.

AFP - US financial giant Morgan Stanley plans to keep control of part of its brokerage operation in Japan, revising a merger plan with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), news reports said Wednesday.

AFP - President Barack Obama's deep bow to the Japanese emperor last week was a simple show of respect, the State Department said Tuesday in response to US critics who decried the move.

AFP - The United States and Japan held talks on Tuesday over relocating an American military base but made little progress on resolving a row that has strained ties between the allies, officials said.

AFP - NASA is ready to cooperate with China in space exploration, the head of the US agency said on Tuesday, as Beijing aims to send a manned mission to the moon by around 2020.