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July 20, 2025
 

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JR WEST

The expansion of the locker-to-hotel delivery service is expected to ease congestion on public transportation.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2025
Locker-to-hotel luggage delivery service expanding in Japan
The service was launched at major stations in Osaka last year and operators have recorded a rapid rise in usage.
Bereaved family members observe a moment of silence on Wednesday at a memorial ceremony for a train collision that killed 42 people in the city of Koka, Shiga Prefecture.
JAPAN
May 14, 2025
34-year memorial held for victims of Shiga train collision
On May 14, 1991, an SKR train and a JR West train collided head-on in Shigaraki, now Koka, killing 42 people and injuring more than 600.
A message using candles is seen during a memorial event held in the city of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, on Thursday ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 2005 Fukuchiyama Line derailment on Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2025
JR West marks 20 years since fatal derailment with renewed vow for safety
The 2005 Fukuchiyama Line derailment in the city of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, claimed 107 lives and injured more than 560 others.
A train station building (front) is assembled from parts printed using 3D printer technology, in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2025
3D printer used to construct train station building in Japan
The station building in Wakayama Prefecture is the world's first to be built with 3D printer technology, West Japan Railway said.
A bullet train at Tsuruga Station on March 16 last year, the day the Hokuriku Shinkansen line was extended to Fukui
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2025
Fukui enjoys visitor boost after shinkansen extension
About 6.42 million people visited Fukui between March 16 last year and Feb. 15 this year, up by about 1 million from a year before.
A little-used section of the JR Geibi Line, which runs through the Chugoku Mountains in Okayama and Hiroshima prefectures, faces a threat of closure.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Feb 10, 2025
Underutilized Hiroshima-Okayama rail route struggles to survive
While the number of passengers has continued to decline, the Geibi Line has served as a lifeline for some residents.
The number of passengers who used express services operated by Japan Railways Group companies during the 10-day period through Sunday was 2% higher than in fiscal 2018, surpassing the level seen before the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025
Number of passengers on JR express services during New Year rose 11%, firms say
The figure for the 10-day period through Sunday surpassed the level seen before the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time.
A train in Nimi, Okayama Prefecture, on West Japan Railway's Geibi Line in September 2023. The line is among those that have seen rail tracks warped by this summer's extreme heat.
JAPAN / Boiling Point
Aug 15, 2024
Japan’s searing summer heat is warping railway tracks more often
West Japan Railway, Kyushu Railway and Shikoku Railway have all been affected.
A 500 series bullet train on the Sanyo Shinkansen line with the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series decoration. The aging 500 series will retire in 2027.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2024
JR West to retire 500 series Shinkansen in 2027
JR West plans to introduce new N700S Shinkansen trains after the 500 series' retirement.
A humanoid robot to be used by West Japan Railway for maintenance operations
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 5, 2024
Japan deploys humanoid robot for railway maintenance
The machine can use various attachments for its arms to carry objects, hold a brush to paint or use a chainsaw.
People observe a moment of silence for the victims of a JR Fukuchiyama Line train crash in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, Thursday morning on the 19th anniversary of the accident.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024
Victims of JR West train crash mourned 19 years on
The president of JR West and other officials observed a moment of silence at 9:18 a.m., the time of the crash, which killed 106 passengers.
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2024
JR passengers up 8% during year-end and New Year's holidays
The combined number of users of bullet trains and other rail services came to around 9,869,000 for the period from Dec. 28 to Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2023
Bullet train lines to nix smoking rooms as health consciousness grows
As of next spring, the smoking rooms will be replaced with areas to store drinking water to be distributed in times of emergency.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2023
Just how green are Japan’s trains?
The nation is famed for its rail network, but despite significant steps to reduce emissions, the sector is still responsible for a substantial amount of carbon dioxide.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 8, 2023
Golden Week express train passengers at 94% of pre-pandemic level
All six Japan Railways Group companies saw their figures increase from the previous year, sending the total to the seventh-highest level since the start of the data in 1990.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2023
Tokyo area train fares raised by ¥10 to fund barrier-free infrastructure
The companies will use increased revenues to install elevators and platform doors and make other efforts to improve barrier-free accessibility at train stations.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2022
The trains in Japan that will — and won't — be running on New Year’s Eve
For those looking to stay out late on New Year's Eve for their first shrine visit of the year or to celebrate the start of 2023, it helps to know which trains are operating all night.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2022
Pressure grows for talks on future of Japan's struggling regional railways
With people living near loss-making train lines concerned about their possible scrapping, operators will need to consider their perspective in presenting plans, pundits say.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2022
In Japan's 'random travel' trend, Lady Luck chooses the destination
In addition to the thrill of leaving plans up to chance, railways and airlines are providing the incentive of affordability.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 9, 2022
Japan's unprofitable local rail lines face threat of cuts amid pandemic
Falling passenger numbers are imperiling the future of unprofitable lines, with some not being reopened after natural disasters.
Japanese markets brace for triple whammy if opposition wins big
A Sanseito campaign van in Shinjuku. The populist party is gaining ground and challenging the more centrist parties.
Sunken WWII Japanese warship Teruzuki found off Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands. A team from the U.S. nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust has discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki on the deep seabed off the Solomon Islands as the 80th anniversary of the war's end approaches.
Living conditions index hits lowest level in 15 years in Japan
The share of respondents to a Bank of Japan quarterly survey in June who said they have become worse off came to 61.0%, up 5.1 percentage points from the previous survey.
In Upper House race, younger voters in Tokyo turn to DPP for new direction
The Tokyo district has the highest number of candidates in the 2025 Upper House election with 32 people in the running for seven seats.
Concerns grow in Japan over possible Russian interference in Sunday’s election
A think tank researcher said anti-government propaganda by Russian bot accounts was what has made the small far-right party Sanseito so popular leading up to the Upper House election.
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Kawaii Lab redefines idol pop for the TikTok generation
Misa Kimura is the main producer for Kawaii Lab, a project by entertainment agency Asobisystem whose groups have found success by pairing a social media-first strategy with a fresh perspective on traditional idol-pop tropes.
Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”
With China and Trump, Japan defense report says world entering ‘new era of crisis’
A senior member of a Self-Defense Forces honor guard inspects a formation before the arrival of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for a visit to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on June 30.

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