Japan is now the fifth country to pull off a soft landing on the moon. A Japanese space agency manager earlier called the landing "a breathless, numbing 20 minutes of terror!"

Middle- and upper-class Chinese are joining a migration wave to Japan.

Officials say 1,370 homes were completely or partially destroyed. Many of the houses in that western coastal region of the main island are aging and wooden. Some 30,000 people are in shelters.

All 379 occupants of the Japan Airlines plane escaped safely after colliding with a Japan coast guard aircraft carrying earthquake relief supplies. Five coast guard crew members died.

Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas on Tuesday, a day after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the region on Monday afternoon.

Japan dropped its highest-level tsunami alert, issued following a series of major earthquakes, but told residents of coastal areas not to return to their homes as deadly waves could still come.

Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party replaced two of its top executives as part of a purge related to investigations into alleged political slush funds.

Leaders from Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations adopted a joint vision that emphasizes security and economic cooperation, amid growing tensions with China.

Some of these traditions' origin stories and how they are implemented can vary by region or households, but they nonetheless help bring holiday cheer to those who celebrate.

The decision to release the movie profiling the American scientist follows criticism that the film largely ignored the impact of the bombings that killed more than 200,000 people in Japan.

Air Force Special Operations Command has identified the eight service members lost when their Osprey aircraft crashed off the coast of Japan last week. The crew ranged in ages from 24 to 36 years old and came from eight states, including U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jake M. Turnage, 25, of Kennesaw, Georgia.

The CV-22 Osprey carrying eight American personnel crashed last Wednesday off Yakushima island during a training mission.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that rescuers found three people near the crash site, but their condition is unknown.

The court ruled unanimously that compulsory sterilization surgery for people who seek to legally change their gender is unconstitutional.

Japan's government has asked a court to remove the legal standing and tax breaks of the Unification Church, which was tied to the shocking assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year.