Weeks after Tokyo announced a doubling of military spending, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida traveled to Washington to boost security ties. The rising threats of China, North Korea and Russia topped the agenda.

Organisers of the 2024 Olympics are racing to get the French capital ready for the event. For athletes it's a chance to win gold, while for Paris it's a golden opportunity to shine. But as construction work continues, making the necessary changes to an already troubled transport system is proving problematic.

Public anger is growing after a Tokyo court ruled that despite seismologists' warnings, TEPCO officials could not have anticipated the powerful earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

Although Japan is the only G7 country where same-sex marriages are illegal, there have recently been some positive changes for the LGBT community. Last November, Tokyo's metropolitan government introduced partnership certificates that entitle gay couples to certain public services that were once reserved for straight couples.

Japan faces an existential threat with its birth rate at an all-time low, yet the island nation has still to fully embrace immigration as a solution to the population decline. To tackle the problem, the government has slowly turned to bringing in foreign workers. We take a closer look.

Police are trying to confirm the identities and nationalities of the two men. They were caught in an avalanche in the Nagano region.

With looming threats from China and North Korea, Japan has approved a military buildup that's one of its largest defense shakeups since World War II. East Asian countries are responding to the challenges of the changing status quo in the region.

The International Olympic Committee are making plans to reintegrate Russia and Belarussian athletes. Polish sports minister Kamil Bortniczuk has claimed that up to 40 countries could boycott the 2024 Olympics in protest.

A Tokyo court upheld a ban on same-sex marriage. However, it also deemed the lack of a legal system for same-sex couples "unconstitutional" and a human rights violation.

Starting in April, wide-eyed delivery robots will be allowed to use Japan's roads to deliver food and parcels. FRANCE 24's Solange Mougin explains how this could help the country's ageing workforce. But first, Disney cuts 7,000 jobs in a bid to make its streaming business profitable. Plus, Alphabet's stock tumbles as its newly presented AI-powered search bot makes a mistake in a demo video.

The two island nations have taken a first step in what could become a wide-ranging defensive cooperation. It comes amid rising tensions and Chinese influence in the region.

The IOC faces growing criticism over plans to let Russians and Belarusians into the Paris Olympics. But athletes from Belarus who openly oppose President Alexander Lukashenko risk being left behind, whatever happens.