Japan
Bunch of grapes sells for $15,000
A single bunch of grapes has sold for a record-breaking price of more than 1.1m yen ($NZ15,000) in Japan.
Lighting up the sky with fake shooting stars!
A Japanese start-up wants to create a 'sky canvas' by shooting pea sized metal spheres into the upper atmosphere to create artificial meteor showers. Rie Yamamoto is the company spokesperson based in… Video, Audio, Gallery
Flooding, landslides kill six in Japan
At least six people are dead as record-breaking rains batter parts of south-western Japan, setting off flooding and landslides.
The Kiwi who brought Sudoku to the world
Wayne Gould found a puzzle book in Japan and set about bringing it to a wider audience, now it's in every major newspaper in the world. Wayne Gould was the first to mass produce the games with a… Audio
Missing Japanese boy found alive
A boy missing in remote woods in Japan for six days after being left alone by his parents as a punishment has been found alive and well. Audio
Boy missing in Japan found alive
A 7-year-old boy who's been missing for six days in northern Japan has been found alive. Audio
Abandoned boy still missing in Japan
A 7-year-old Japan boy is still missing five days after his parents abandoned him on the side of the road in an area where wild bears are known to roam. Audio
600 tonnes of melted reactor fuel missing from Fukushima
The operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant has admitted 600 tonnes of melted reactor fuel is still missing five years on from the disaster. Audio
More US marines due in Guam in 2021
About 2,500 US Marines are expected to move to a proposed base in Guam in 2021.
Cory Taylor : writing about dying
Kim Hill talks to Australian writer Cory Taylor who wrote her last book, Dying: a Memoir, while dying of melanoma-related brain cancer. Audio
Obama to become first president to visit Hiroshima
Barack Obama is to visit Hiroshima this month - the first serving US president to travel to the Japanese city since it was hit by a US nuclear bomb in 1945.
Shoes cost more than the latest tech gadget
How much attention do you pay to your feet and what is the cost of wearing bad shoes? Footwear designer Takano Keitaro says he sees more damage today to people's feet than ever before. Audio
Scarlet Johansson playing a Japanese character
The casting of Scarlet Johansson as a Japanese character has been branded as Hollywood white-washing. Audio
Health fallout from Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown
Five years on from the Fukushima nuclear disaster a true picture of the catastrophic health fallout is emerging. Audio
Live snake arrives in Auckland in a Nissan Leaf
An Auckland used car salesman got a nasty surprise when he discovered an unwelcome passenger in one of his yard's new imports. Audio
New Zealander reports from quake hit Japanese city
New Zealander Elley Stanton is in the Japanese city of Kumamoto teaching English. Audio
After a weekend of quakes, is there any link?
The earthquake in Ecuador is the latest of a series of large quakes in the seismically active ring of fire. Audio
Search continues after Japan's quakes, as death toll rises
At least 41 people are dead after the quakes measuring 6.4 and 7.3 on the southern island of Kyushu. Audio
New Zealander in Japan caught up in earthquake
The death toll from severe earthquakes in Ecuador and Japan have continued to rise overnight. Audio
6.0 quake kills nine in Japan
A 6.0 magnitude quake in Japan's Mashiki has killed at least nine people. The Washington Post's Tokyo bureau chief Anna Fifield joins Checkpoint. Audio
