Osaka duty-free shop plan scrapped as tourist shopping sprees slow
Kansai Airports said Thursday it has scrapped a plan to open a duty-free shop in central Osaka due to a slowdown in so-called explosive shopping by tourists. Spending by foreign visitors to Japan decreased in the July-September quarter from a year earlier, the first quarterly ...
Is the party over? Spending by overseas visitors drops for first time in 19 quarters
Figures show foreign tourists spent ¥971.7 billion from July to September period, down 2.9 percent from the same time last year.
Chinese 'explosive shopping' boom turns to Japanese cosmetics, supplements
The spending power of Chinese tourists in Japan is so impressive there's a special word for it: bakugai, or explosive buying. While the soaring yen this year has threatened to curb tourists' enthusiasm, the latest figures from the Japan National Tourism Organization show that 731,400 ...
Japanese retailers, manufacturers fine-tune marketing approach to Chinese tourists
Japanese manufacturers and retailers are increasingly targeting big-spending Chinese visitors, with many recently shifting their focus from group tours to independent travelers. While Chinese group tours are known in Japan for bakugai (explosive buying) of Japanese goods, particularly electronics and cosmetics, a growing number of ...
Lack of parking in Tokyo's shopping districts a headache for Chinese tour buses and residents
Stores love them, but the patience of residents is wearing thin. Complaints have been pouring in about tour buses parking where they shouldn't in Tokyo's most popular shopping districts. Police ticket the buses sometimes, but mostly they just field complaints from locals and motorists. A surge ...
No tolerance at the inns for China's shoppers
Last August, Nikkei Business magazine reported the travails of a businessman from a regional city on a sales trip to Tokyo. His company's accommodation allowance covered a maximum of ¥8,000 per night, but he couldn't find a centrally located hotel room for under ¥20,000. After ...
I like Tokyo Tower. I will get used to the Tokyo Sky Tree (public opening due May 22), but for now I feel more for the familiar graceful lines and the more humane proportions of the older tower. It is an architectural icon, and ...
Saudi Arabia's old regime grows older
The contrast between the deaths, within two days of each other, of Libya's Col. Moammar Gadhafi and Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz is one of terminal buffoonery versus decadent gerontocracy. And their demise is likely to lead to very different outcomes: liberation ...
Warding off risks from Iran's nuclear plans
NEW YORK — Iran's development of nuclear power provides an opportunity for reaching an accord on a Middle East nuclear weapons-free zone (NWFZ). Talks between Iran and representatives of the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China can help develop a consensus to ...
