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September 11, 2025
 

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DUTY FREE

The operator of Don Quijote stores has set ¥400 billion ($2.7 billion) in tax-free sales as its 2035 goal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 19, 2025
Don Quijote operator plans 250 new stores in tourism bet
Pan Pacific International Holdings aims to drive tax-free visitor sales and expand in locations of key tourist travel routes.
Data compiled by the Japan Department Stores Association shows that tax-free inbound sales at over 80 department stores across the country fell by 41% in May from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 3, 2025
Japan’s department store shares lag as tourist splurge slows
Tax-free inbound sales at over 80 department stores across the country fell by 41% in May from a year earlier.
Major department stores are doing their best to cater to foreign customers, but it’s unclear if it will lead to more sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2025
Department stores' tax-free sales drop as tourists' shopping patterns change
Greater foreign tourist diversity has led to a change in shopping priorities, the executive of the Japan Department Stores Association said.
Arrows lead to the tax-free counter at a branch of discount retailer Don Quijote in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 4, 2025
Is Japan ready to say goodbye to tax-free shopping?
Amid widespread abuse of Japan’s tax-free shopping system, a group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers are mulling over its possible abolition.
The Ginza shopping district in Tokyo in August
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2024
Japan to overhaul tax exemption system for foreign visitors
The new system is expected to allow foreign visitors to receive tax refunds for products purchased at prices with the tax included when they leave the country.
Passengers walk through the departure lobby of Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2024
Over ¥300 million in taxes not collected from foreign tourists in 2022
In cases where the amount of duty-free purchases exceeds ¥100 million, authorities notify travelers of consumption taxation.
Fast Retailing booked its third consecutive year of record earnings on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 10, 2024
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing posts 31% rise in full-year profit, beats estimates
Operating profit rose 31% to ¥500.9 billion in the 12 months through August from ¥381.1 billion a year earlier.
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2024
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
A revision of the current system is being considered to prevent goods bought tax-free from being resold within the country.
Travelers in front of a Suntory duty-free shop at Kansai International Airport in December
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2024
Duty-free sales at Japan's department stores tripled in May
Record sales were achieved with the help of a significant influx of Chinese tourists and the yen’s weakness.
Foreign tourists at a duty-free counter in a department store in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2024
Duty-free sales at Japan department stores hit record high in 2023
The rise reflected the weak yen, as well as an increase in the number of foreign visitors to Japan.
Welcia Holdings, Japan’s largest drugstore chain, is one of the first Japanese companies to respond to China easing its ban on group tours to a raft of countries last week.
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2023
Japan drugstore chain boosts duty-free counters on China bets
The company plans to offer duty-free services at 1,000 stores, up from about 260 currently, and it expects tourists to travel beyond Japan’s major cities.
Workers say corporate South Korea was warned about questionable U.S. visas before Hyundai raid
Activists holding signs that reads "No one is illegal!" protest against a huge immigration raid last week in the U.S. state of Georgia, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Goldman sells Tokyo office area to JR East for over ¥50 billion
GranTokyo South Tower (center). East Japan Railway has bought the 14th to 18th floors of the office building at a price of more than ¥50 billion from Goldman Sachs Group.
Ed Sheeran teams up with Tokyo’s Oedo Line
The “Oh! Ed! Collaboration Campaign,” launched on Tokyo's Keio Line to celebrate the Friday release of Ed Sheeran’s latest album, “Play,” includes a eight-car train dedicated to the pop star's music and trivia related to his career
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.
Shizuoka farmers fight to preserve sustainable tea method that’s steeped in tradition
As of August 2024, the number of confirmed chagusaba farmers had fallen to 302, just over half the 582 reported in 2015, according to the Shizuoka Chagusaba Farming Method Promotion Council.
Search is on for loopholes in Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick argues that U.S. President Donald Trump has sole authority to invest Japan's promised $550 billion.
In rural Hokkaido, the stops and starts of tourism revival on full display
Redevelopment plans for Kawayu Onsen have hit some snags — an example of how bringing tourists back to declining rural communities is far from easy work.

Podcast

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

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight
By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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