Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Travel Jun 30, 2013
How the Ark of the Covenant got to Ethiopia
by Lesley Downer
According to the Bible, the Koran and several detailed Ethiopian texts, the Queen of Saba/Sheba, named Makeda, visited Solomon in Jerusalem in the 10th century B.C. They had previously exchanged letters full of questions and riddles. When she arrived, bringing gifts of gold, spices, ...
Travel | TRAVEL INSIDER Jun 26, 2013
Air France helps Japanese orphans; Virgin campaign with cruise line; Aeromexico's Dreamliner plans
Air France helps orphans As part of its corporate social responsibility activities, Air France flew 20 children who lost their families in the Great East Japan Earthquake to Paris to attend a public international school. The orphans, ages 12 to 17, joined a program ...
Travel Jun 23, 2013
Taking the long Trans-Siberian road to Japan
by Mads Olrik Berthelsen
In the late summer of 2009, while standing hung over on a pier at Fushiki Port in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, one of those little-visited industrial cities on the west coast of Honshu, I suddenly found myself staring into the eyes of a tiger. This ...
Travel Jun 23, 2013
Mount Fuji has long been an icon
by Ted Taylor
In the land of Yamato, It is our treasure, our tutelary god. It never tires our eyes to look up To the lofty peak of Mount Fuji —Manyoshu This weekend, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is expected to announce its approval of Japan’s Mount ...
Travel Jun 23, 2013
Temples, dragon boats and fireworks in Chinese Nagasaki
by Alon Adika
There was a time when the journey from East China to Nagasaki was a long and treacherous one across an unpredictable sea. Once a ship entered the verdant hill-sheltered bay that led to the city, the passengers thanked the gods for their safe arrival. ...
Travel | HOTELS & RESTAURANTS Jun 21, 2013
Beer garden in Shiba Park; Turkish cuisine at Hilton Nagoya; photo exhibit at ANA Tokyo
Prince hotel beer garden in Shiba Park The Tokyo Prince Hotel’s open-air Beer Restaurant Garden Islands is open through Sept. 27. The beer garden in Shiba Park has 600 seats and offers a barbecue with draft beer and other drinks in a lush green ...
Travel Jun 16, 2013
Sand, sea and stars on idyllic Akajima
by Hillel Wright
Back in 1972 when I first lived on Denman Island in the Georgia Strait of British Columbia between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, I was one of about 300 residents. By the time I left 25 years later for Japan, its population had just topped ...
Travel | HOTELS & RESTAURANTS Jun 14, 2013
Gatsby-inspired cocktail at Swissôtel Nankai Osaka; summer bar at Grand Hyatt Fukuoka; Spanish fair at Royal Park Hotel
Gatsby-inspired cocktail at Swissôtel Timed with the release of the film “The Great Gatsby” in Japan, the Swissôtel Nankai Osaka is offering a special cocktail, through July 14. The hotel is Japan’s only member of the Fairmont Raffles Hotels International group, whose affiliate The ...
Travel | TRAVEL INSIDER Jun 12, 2013
Cathay Pacific special campaigns; KLM summer fare sale; Singapore Airline's new mobile services
Cathay summer specials As part of its destination campaign titled “Hong Kong Style,” Cathay Pacific has launched two summer specials. This campaign is in collaboration with the Hong Kong Tourism Board for the purpose of boosting travel to Hong Kong under the concept of ...
Travel Jun 9, 2013
A world of flowers and willows in Kyoto's geisha districts
by Lesley Downer
"No matter what happens / I am in love with Gion. / Even when I sleep, / Beneath my pillow / The waters ripple."
Travel | HOTELS & RESTAURANTS Jun 7, 2013
Take a sky-high meal at Tokyo Skytree; savory cold noodles for summer; American grill master visits Marunouchi
Tokyo Skytree’s Sky Restaurant 634 One of the capital’s newest landmarks, the 634-meter-tall Tokyo Skytree marked its first anniversary in May. Within the world’s tallest broadcasting tower is the Sky Restaurant 634 (musashi) on the Tembo Deck, 345 meters above ground level. With one ...
Travel Jun 3, 2013
Historic garden hidden in Italy
Rare plants, enchanting ruins and the tinkle of waterfalls: The English-style botanical oasis of Ninfa near Rome is a secret idyll billed as “the world’s most romantic garden.” The exquisite garden dates back to the late 19th century when the aristocratic Caetani family took ...