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April 01, 2025
 

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TOURISM

As peckish deer chase delighted tourists in Japan's temple-dotted Nara Park, a quiet but dedicated team of litter-pickers patrols the stone paths, collecting plastic waste that threatens the animals' health.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 15, 2025
New street patrol helps Nara's deer clean up their act
Garbage dropped by tourists can pose a serious risk to Nara's famous deer, but a new group is cleaning up the town.
Travel officials from the Middle East experience test cutting for Japanese swords in Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture, in January.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2025
Government touts exchanges with nations participating in Osaka Expo
Local governments expect their plans to boost youth exchanges, accelerate overseas expansion and promote tourism.
Tourists carry their luggage as they leave the village of Fira, following increased seismic activity on the island of Santorini, Greece, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Feb 5, 2025
Thousands leave as fresh tremors shake Greece's Santorini
Some 750 earthquakes have shaken the island and the surrounding 1,000 square kilometers since Jan. 24.
Japan aims to attract more digital nomads from abroad, who are expected to stay longer in the country than tourists.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2025
Japan to support efforts to attract digital nomads
The tourism agency will provide subsidies to cover part of the expenses for preparation of workplaces and accommodation for such workers.
English-language signs and other materials seized from men’s aesthetic salon Sparaku by the Metropolitan Police Department on Tuesday in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2025
Tokyo police arrest brothel operator catering to foreign tourists
About 60% of the brothel's customers were non-Japanese, drawn in by promotions on its English website, introduction videos and street touts.
The Hyatt Regency hotel in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2025
KKR and Gaw look to sell Tokyo Hyatt Regency for over ¥100 billion
The two investment firms bought the hotel in the Shinjuku area for an estimated ¥60 billion less than two years ago.
Branded bags are displayed at a secondhand store in Tokyo in December.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2025
Secondhand shops rush for branded goods in Japan
Some operators have partnered with department stores, while others have use AI to determine the value of vintage luxury goods.
The Japanese government is considering allowing foreign workers under its specified skilled worker program to take orders and serve and cook food at restaurants within inns and hotels.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2025
Japan to ease foreign worker rules for hotel restaurants
The government is considering allowing foreign workers under the program to take orders and serve and cook food at restaurants at inns and hotels.
France's President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech at the Louvre Museum, which he referred to as a "source of French pride."
CULTURE / Art
Feb 1, 2025
Louvre opens first fashion exhibition after shock memo about decay
In leaked correspondence with Culture Minister Rachida Dati, director Laurence des Cars said the museum was falling below international standards.
The first official government survey of Hokkaido backcountry skiing could spell changes for trails in the northern prefecture.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 1, 2025
First official survey set to change backcountry Hokkaido skiing
From October 2024, the land ministry has been gathering opinions on Hokkaido’s alpine adventurers with an eye toward increased support and safety for off-piste enthusiasts.
An ocean vista at a resort in Thailand on Dec. 26
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2025
'The White Lotus' is already driving a travel boom in Thailand
Ahead of the HBO show’s third season premiere, Thai tourism authorities, hoteliers and travel agents are readying for a surge in visitors.
Rock patterns formed by crystalized minerals along the Dead Sea shore near Kibbutz Ein Gedi in eastern Israel on Dec. 30. The Dead Sea, nestled where Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian territory meet, has famously been dying for years.
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 29, 2025
Dead Sea an 'ecological disaster,' but no one can agree how to fix it
Tackling cross-border environmental issues is no longer a priority for governments in the region.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from right) at a press event in Tokyo on Junglia Okinawa, a new theme park that will open in northern Okinawa Prefecture in July
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 29, 2025
Junglia Okinawa theme park to open July 25
Junglia will have 22 attractions including "Dinosaur Safari," in which visitors can enjoy the thrill of being chased by a dinosaur.
With abundant rains and formidable humidity in summer, Japan does not seem to be an ideal land for wine, but winegrowers in Yamanashi Prefecture have gradually been able to adapt.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 26, 2025
Of sake and spirits: Indulging in Yamanashi’s best
Visits to Grace Wine’s vineyard and the Suntory Hakushu Distillery turn a tour of the mountainous prefecture into a gourmet treat.
Hokkaido Railway temporarily suspended train services after a 61-year-old Chinese tourist was fatally struck by a train in the city of Otaru, Hokkaido, on Thursday morning.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2025
Chinese tourist fatally struck by train in Hokkaido
The woman entered the Hakodate Line tracks near Asari Station in Otaru to photograph the ocean with her phone.
While Japan deals with so-called overtourism, the rest of the world is just getting back to pre-pandemic levels of visits from international travelers.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 24, 2025
Global tourism is back to pre-COVID highs
Global tourism generated nearly $1.6 trillion (about ¥250 trillion) in 2024, about 3% more than the previous year and 4% more than in 2019.
Tourists visit shops near Kyoto's Fushimi Inari Shrine on Jan. 13. The nation's growing tourism sector, set to hit 40 million visitors in 2025, boosts the economy but is straining the nation's infrastructure.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 23, 2025
Japan has '$100 billion' reasons to welcome more visitors
Japan's growing tourism, set to hit 40 million visitors in 2025, boosts the economy but strains infrastructure, highlighting a need for smarter policies to manage overtourism.
Analysts see the benefits of increased tourism in Japan, already felt in some areas, spreading to more domestic stocks this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2025
Luxury and hotel stocks are all the rage as tourists flock to Japan
Japan welcomed almost 37 million inbound visitors in 2024.
Amid severe labor shortages, the Japan Federation of Service and Tourism Industries Workers' Unions will emphasize the importance of improving working conditions to realize a medium-term annual salary target of ¥5.5 million for industry workers age 35.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 21, 2025
Service and tourism workers to seek 6% pay hike in wage talks
The Japan Federation of Service and Tourism Industries Workers' Unions hopes to secure a medium-term annual salary target of ¥5.5 million for industry workers age 35.
Akan Mashu National Park in Hokkkaido on Dec. 18. A rising number of Hokkaido towns and villages are discussing the introduction of a local accommodation tax for tourists.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jan 20, 2025
Hokkaido areas examine benefits of taxing tourists
Niseko plans to use accommodation tax revenue to strengthen transportation services and increase the number of tourism-related officials.
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination
Zensho Holdings, operator of fast-food chain Sukiya, said it will close all of its stores in Japan, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday and Friday following recent contamination incidents.
Alert raised for volcano in southwestern Japan
Shinmoedake, a volcano located between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, in November 2019
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
Japan, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.
Who among the opposition would join the ruling coalition?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Friday.
Traveling the Three-Star Road, the tourist route made from thin air
Scenes like this snow-covered bridge leading to the village of Shirakawa-go are what make the Three-Star Road worth traveling — its name notwithstanding.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

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