Rachel Mealey is an ABC reporter based in Japan.
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The unlikely artist behind emoji, Shigetaka Kurita, didn't have any experience in design or programming when he designed the first set of tiny icons in the late 90s.
Topics: human-interest, arts-and-entertainment, art-history, information-and-communication, mobile-phones, science-and-technology, united-states
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| UpdatedUS Defence Secretary James Mattis has started his first trip abroad by reassuring a key Asian ally, South Korea, of the United States' continued support.
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, korea-republic-of, united-states
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| UpdatedUS Defence Secretary James Mattis starts his first trip abroad by reassuring a key Asian ally of the United States' continued support.
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, foreign-affairs, unrest-conflict-and-war, united-states, japan, korea-republic-of
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| UpdatedNinety-seven-year-old Australian war veteran Jack Hopgood, who considers himself "one of the lucky ones", returns to Japan to confront his memories as a prisoner of war during WWII.
Topics: world-war-2, history, unrest-conflict-and-war, veterans, defence-and-national-security, japan
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| UpdatedA Japanese man is crowned grand champion in the sport of sumo for the first time in almost two decades, after being stuck in the second-highest ranking for five years.
Topics: international-competitions, japan
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| UpdatedAn Australian woman and her three sons reported missing at a Japanese ski resort after failing to return from a day of skiing are found safe and well.
Topics: missing-person, japan, australia
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| UpdatedJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds informal talks with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney ahead of official engagements to discuss trade and strengthen ties within the region.
Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, foreign-affairs, defence-and-national-security, australia
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Japan's 83-year-old Emperor Akihito looks like having two more years in the top job before handing over to his son Crown Prince Naruhito.
Topics: world-politics, royal-and-imperial-matters, japan, asia
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| UpdatedJapan is known around the world for its vast network of modern, efficient and clean trains. But train travel in some of the world's most crowded cities holds a sinister threat for women and girls who ride the rails — the risk of groping.
Topics: sexual-offences, community-and-society, japan, asia
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| UpdatedJapan is grappling with the question of whether to restart its fleet of idle nuclear reactors to meet future energy needs, nearly six years after the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, nuclear-accident, nuclear-energy, nuclear-issues, japan, asia
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| UpdatedWhile Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning a historic visit to Pearl Harbor, one 95-year-old Japanese WWII veteran remains angry his young life was wasted.
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, government-and-politics, world-politics, foreign-affairs, world-war-2, community-and-society, japan
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The total cost of decommissioning the stricken nuclear power plant at Fukushima and providing compensation to victims nearly doubles, with a new estimate placing the cost at $250 billion.
Topics: nuclear-accident, nuclear-energy, disasters-and-accidents, science-and-technology, japan
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| UpdatedA long-awaited meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been dubbed the "onsen summit", but whether a Japanese hot tub will heal the nation's rifts remains to be seen, writes ABC reporter Rachel Mealey.
Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, japan
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A bill to lift a ban on casinos passes through the lower house of the Japanese Parliament bringing the country one step closer towards legalising casinos.
Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, gambling, community-and-society, japan, asia
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| UpdatedThe plight of a schoolboy from Fukushima focuses attention in Japan on the problem of bullying in schools.
Topics: bullying, schools, education, disasters-and-accidents, human-interest, japan
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| UpdatedJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe becomes the first foreign leader to shake Donald Trump's hand since the US election, in a meeting at Trump Tower attended by the President-elect's daughter, Ivanka.
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, apec-economic-leaders-meeting, united-states, japan
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A Dutch art historian says he has discovered evidence that six unattributed paintings held in storage in a museum in the Netherlands were actually painted by the famed Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai.
Topics: art-history, visual-art, japan
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| UpdatedFormer motorcycle world champion Wayne Gardner is released from custody in Japan after being accused of assaulting three men during a road rage incident.
Topics: sport, motor-sports, law-crime-and-justice, japan, australia
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Former world Grand Prix champion Wayne Gardner is still being held in Japanese custody after 12 days, officials say, after being accused of assaulting three men during a road rage incident.
Topics: sport, motor-sports, law-crime-and-justice, japan, asia, australia
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| UpdatedFormer world champion Wayne Gardner will not be watching this weekend's Moto2 GP at Phillip Island, as he remains in a police cell in Japan.
Topics: sport, motor-sports, japan, australia
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| UpdatedFormer motorcycling great Wayne Gardner's son Remy is released from jail and is free to leave Japan, local police confirm.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, motor-sports, sport, japan, australia
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The organisation of the Tokyo Olympic Games has been put on hold, while the newly elected Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike goes through the books to try to prevent a cost blowout.
Topics: olympics-summer, foreign-affairs, sport, japan
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Former motorcycle world champion Wayne Gardner remains in a police cell in the town of Shimotsuke, where he was taken after an alleged scuffle at the Motegi racetrack on Sunday.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, motor-sports, sport, japan, australia
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| UpdatedAustralian motorcycling champion Wayne Gardner is questioned by police in Japan over an alleged road rage incident.
Topics: motor-sports, sport, japan
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| UpdatedMore and more young women in Japan are being forced against their will to appear in pornographic videos every year, a new report finds.
Topics: women, pornography, law-crime-and-justice, sexual-offences, japan