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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 16, 2022

Thinking of going to Southeast Asia? Here is what to expect.

As the once tourist-dependent region reopens its borders, travelers should expect more paperwork, higher airfares, cheaper hotels and fewer crowds.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 13, 2022

Isabella Bird: Revisiting her intrepid journeys trekking the wilds of Japan

Geographer Kiyonori Kanasaka's extensive knowledge and commentary enrich the works of the 19th-century explorer.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 19, 2022

‘Fortress Australia’ has a new message: Come back

Potential travelers and tourism operators alike are cautiously optimistic about 'Fortress Australia's” reopening, but many wonder if its COVID-19 rules will limit the sector's rebound.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 1, 2021

Thailand and Australia ease international border curbs spurred by COVID-19 pandemic

The eased border controls will offer a litmus test of the demand for Asian travel and tourism following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2021

Business class opens to the masses as affordable refuge from COVID-19

Flush with cash and a record number of air miles after a year on the ground, leisure travelers are splurging on premium seats for their first trips back.
JAPAN
May 27, 2020

Japan quells rumors it will pay for half of visitors' expenses

In tweets, the Japan Tourism Agency said the program under consideration would only cover “a portion of domestic travel expenses.”
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2020

Canceling your trip due to coronavirus? Airbnb refuses scores of refunds

Josh Ostroff had a difficult choice to make: Cancel a trip to Japan in March that he'd been promising his 10-year-old son for three years, or ignore travel warnings and put his family's health at risk amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2019

Sri Lanka's bomb carnage casts pall over tourism revival after island is named top destination

With its capital under curfew following devastating Easter Sunday bomb attacks on churches and upmarket hotels, Sri Lanka is filled with fear, horror and grief and tourists who have been flocking to the Indian Ocean island could cancel in droves.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2017

The hidden side of the Japanese-Russian summit

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's approach to Russia is looking increasingly risky.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 23, 2012

Journeying to the ends of the Earth ...

Travel is an addiction for which there seems no cure. Once under its sway, it is best just to ride out the alternating fevers and chills and see where they take you.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 29, 2008

Having faith in traveling

EXCURSIONS IN IDENTITY: Travel and the Intersection of Place, Gender and Status in Edo Japan, by Laura Nenzi. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2008, 267 pp., illustrations IX, $57 (cloth) During Japan's Edo Period (1603-1867), Dr. Laura Nenzi tells us, "physical mobility (traveling along horizontal...
COMMENTARY
Aug 25, 2007

Battling aviation pollution and congestion

LONDON — The British summer this year has been a nonevent: Rain, clouds and wind. The temptation has been to fly south to the Mediterranean where the sun has been scorching.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Longform
May 1, 2023

A new journey: Reviving Japan’s hospitality industry

In the wake of the pandemic, businesses are looking for ways to engage workers once more and welcome new waves of travelers.
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji temple in Tokyo. This year is expected to bring 33 million travelers to Japan, an unprecedented surge and a 30% increase from last year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 21, 2024

How an arrival tax could stem the overtourism tide

How can Japan ensure that tourism benefits locals and travelers alike? There's no silver bullet but an arrival tax of around $40 could be a good starting point.
Palestinian lightweight boxer Wassim Abu Sal ahead of a training session at a gym in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on June 22
OLYMPICS / Boxing
Jul 2, 2024

First Palestinian Olympic boxer fights hurdles before history

For Waseem Abu Sal, traveling abroad to train or compete comes with its own difficulties.
Shoppers pass food stalls at a night market in Taipei.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 11, 2024

Taiwan turns to Southeast Asian tourists as Chinese stay away

The trend, if it continues, could reshape a tourism sector long reliant on arrivals from China.
More tourists than ever are guided around Japan based on the content they consume online, but can those same creators help direct them to less-populated areas of the country?
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Jul 29, 2024

Influencers helped cause overtourism. Can they help fix it?

“I don't want to use filters or put out content just for the sake of views and followers,” one content creator says. “I want to show people what the real Japan is.”
Surrounded by Iranian lawmakers, Ismail Haniyeh (center), a chief political leader of Hamas, flashes a victory sign at a swearing-in ceremony for President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran on Tuesday. Haniyeh was assassinated hours later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said, a severe blow to the Palestinian group that threatens to engulf the region in further conflict.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

Iran and Hamas blame Israel for killing of top official and vow to strike back

In recent years, Israel has carried out several high-profile assassinations in Iran, rattling the country’s leaders.
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, gestures during a news conference in Kabul on May 26.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2024

Taliban bars U.N. human rights special rapporteur from Afghanistan

Richard Bennett is based outside Afghanistan but has visited several times to research the situation there.
JR Tokai officials send off the Nozomi No. 1 bullet train bound for Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, at Tokyo Station on Tuesday as the Tokaido Shinkansen marked the 60th anniversary of its services the same day.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2024

Tokaido Shinkansen marks 60th anniversary

A commemorative ceremony was held by Central Japan Railway at Tokyo Station to send off the first train of the day.
A man waits for a train at Ebisu Station in Tokyo on Oct. 4.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 29, 2024

Japan's rail fans disapprove of new Seishun 18 tickets

Train enthusiasts are up in arms over changes to the iconic and inexpensive all-you-can-ride pass that will limit how and when it can be used.
Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
BUSINESS / Longform
Nov 11, 2024

A boom for business tourism in Japan?

Japan’s MICE sector is expanding rapidly, adapting with tech upgrades, flexible venues and sustainable initiatives as the Osaka Expo approaches.
Tour guides wait to collect tour groups from Hong Kong outside the Shenzhen Bay border crossing in Shenzhen, China
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2024

Educated young Chinese turn to tour guiding as job market wavers

Tour guiding is becoming an increasingly popular fallback option in a China rife with employment instability as the economy slows.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrives at King Khalid International airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Dec. 9.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 6, 2025

Starmer’s travels outstrip past U.K. leaders, posing ratings risk

The premier has spent 31 days on working trips since he took office following his Labour Party’s landslide win in the July 4 general election.
Transparent Display installed at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
JAPAN / Society
Jan 31, 2025

Smoother communication breaking barriers in Tokyo with Transparent Display

The Transparent Display can translate and project the text in 32 different languages.
Chinese tour groups visit a waterfront promenade in Hong Kong on May 5.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 9, 2025

Can big stars bring higher-spending tourists back to Hong Kong?

Hong Kong, which once billed itself as Asia’s World City, is now seeking to brand itself as the region’s events capital.
The classic red brick arches of Tokyo’s first “gādo-shita,” built in 1910, are what most Japanese people think of when they think about commercial spaces under elevated railways.
LIFE / Style & Design / Longform
Jun 16, 2025

Revitalizing the space under Tokyo’s train tracks

Rail underpasses in big cities are being transformed into vibrant spaces for artisans, foodies and travelers — without erasing their past.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji