The festival has struck a multi-year deal with the Japan Foundation’s recently created Asia Center to help it bring in Asian films and film-makers to Tokyo and also to expand Japanese cultural influence in Asia.

Australia, Indonesia and South Korea skipped the launch of a China-backed Asian infrastructure bank on Friday as the United States said it had concerns about the new rival to Western-dominated multilateral lenders.

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker recently returned from Ukraine and Turkey, and she heads next to Japan and South Korea. NPR's Scott Simon talks to her about practicing commercial diplomacy.

 The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday lodged a protest with Japan’s embassy in Beijing over the visit by three Cabinet ministers to Yasukuni Shrine, Japanese diplomats said.

As the biennial Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit is to kick off here Thursday afternoon, closer Asia-Europe connectivity, practical cooperation and coordination on global issues are expected to garner world attention.

Malaysia will lead ASEAN as it sits on the so-called top table of the world, the powerful UN Security Council

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou wants to lock in a legacy before leaving office in 2016. He will be remembered for opening talks with Taiwan’s arch-rival China in 2008 after six decades of chill that hobbled the half trillion-dollar economy and sparked threats of war. 

The recent Mars orbit caps an impressive track record for the country’s space agency.