Michael Woodford, the British whistleblower sacked from Japanese cameras and endoscopes giant Olympus, begins his multi-million-pound unfair dismissal case against the company at a London tribunal today.

The world's tallest tower and Tokyo's biggest new landmark, the Tokyo Sky Tree, has opened to the public.

After Penguin Number 337 made a daring bid for freedom from a Tokyo aquarium and vanished into the waters of Tokyo Bay two months ago, many feared the worst for the adventurous feathered fugitive.

If only there were a well-worn idiom about people living in glass houses. Perhaps "people who live in glass houses... really shouldn't live in glass houses"? Or at least not this one.

Activists celebrate as Japan is nuclear-free for first time in 42 years

New hopes of a cure for baldness have been sparked after Japanese researchers claimed to have successfully grown hair on hairless mice.

It reads like a dispatch from the pages of Godzilla, who was a fictional metaphor for nuclear weapons, wreaking destruction with a blast of radiation from his mouth: the world's most populated metropolis is threatened with fallout from an out-of-control nuclear power plant.

The nation hopes to rise from the tsunami's devastation, just as it did from the ravages of war. Mark Leftly reports from Tokyo

Tomorrow: The World Ski and Snowboard festival is under way in the Canadian resort of Whistler, with freelate-night music events, art and fashion exhibitions, and extreme sports bringing the season to a jubilant close until 22 April (wssf.com).

The father of a English teacher murdered in Japan today spoke of his relief after her killer lost an appeal against his life sentence.

The scandal at Olympus took another twist yesterday when a major investor advisory group told shareholders to reject the camera company's newly restated accounts, and vote against two new board nominations in case they decide to sue the firm in the future.

Fugu's active ingredient is tetrodotoxin, a poision many times more poisonous than cyanide

Japanese fashion designers first made a splash in Europe 30 years ago, but Tokyo’s talents and streetwear styles are the next big thing in modern menswear. Adam Welch reports

It's not the easiest matter for a producer to step out front as an artist in his or her own right, as can be confirmed by anyone who's searched in vain for a glimmer of personal, defining character on a Mark Ronson album.