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July 08, 2025
 

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The number of passengers on shinkansen and other express trains during Golden Week increased 3% from a year earlier to over 13 million, data from six Japan Railways group companies showed Wednesday.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2025
JR express train passengers during Golden Week up 3%
The result is believed to reflect the impact of the 2025 World Exposition in the city of Osaka, as well as demand from foreign visitors.
Power utilities, telecommunications carriers and other infrastructure companies are working on measures to minimize damage and strengthen cooperation beyond company boundaries to ensure early recovery in the event of a huge Nankai Trough earthquake.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 2, 2025
Japan infrastructure sector draws up contingencies for Nankai quake
Power utilities, telecommunications carriers and other companies are working on measures to reduce damage and strengthen cooperation to ensure rapid recovery.
A poster calling for the earlier extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen line to Sapporo is seen in the city's Chuo Ward in May.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Mar 31, 2025
Hokkaido's rail network faces tough challenges
Falling ridership is putting pressure on JR Hokkaido to close underutilized local lines even as it struggles to complete the Hokkaido Shinkansen.
Rail enthusiasts and local residents hold up a specially designed banner for arriving and departing trains at Higashi-Nemuro Station in Nemuro, Hokkaido, on Friday, the station's final day of operation.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2025
People bid farewell to Japan's easternmost train station
As the number of users is unlikely to recover from a prolonged decline, JR Hokkaido has decided to close the station.
JR East started the services in Minamiboso and Tateyama, cities in Chiba Prefecture, on Monday and will begin them in Senboku, Akita Prefecture, in the second half of this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 3, 2025
JR East to offer ride-hailing services at limited locations
The firm started the services in the cities of Minamiboso and Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture on Monday, and will begin them in Senboku, Akita Prefecture, later this year.
Passengers at a train station in Tokyo. Railway operators plan to expand the scope of chemicals and materials passengers will be banned from bringing onto trains starting in April.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2025
Railway companies to tighten restrictions on hazardous materials
The move comes as part of a push to bolster security ahead of the 2025 Osaka Expo.
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.
JR Kyushu concluded that it will not be able to guarantee the safety of the Queen Beetle high-speed passenger ferry operations even after safety measures are taken.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024
JR Kyushu to end passenger ship operations after water leak incident
JR Kyushu Jet Ferry covered up a water leak incident on its high-speed passenger ferry linking Hakata Port with the city of Busan in South Korea.
A Taiwan High Speed Rail bullet train arrives at Nangang Station in the city of Taipei.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2024
Taiwan’s bullet train a testament to shinkansen’s export potential
The line runs the length of Taiwan, over mountainous, unstable territory that makes the island a perfect test bed for the fast trains.
The JR Kyushu group has been working on raising safety awareness among employees, repairing the ship and enhancing governance, with the aim of resuming the Queen Beetle high-speed passenger ship operations.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2024
JR Kyushu may end South Korea ship route over water leak scandal
JR Kyushu Jet Ferry covered up water ingress on the Queen Beetle high-speed passenger ship for more than three months.
The East Japan Railway Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Within the next 10 years, JR East will develop automated walk-through gate technology so that passengers can enter the train platform without having to tap their Suica card or phone on the ticket gates.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2024
JR East announces 10-year plan to drastically overhaul Suica
Dubbed the "Suica Renaissance," the plan involves redesigned ticket gates, new payment features and a subscription service.
JR East Executive Vice President Chiharu Watari speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2024
JR East applies to raise fares by average of 7% in March 2026
The company plans to raise standard fares by 7.8%, commuter passes by 12% and student commuter passes by 4.9%.
Under a plan being put forward by JR East, the Yamanote Line's base fare will be raised from ¥150 to ¥160.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2024
JR East to raise standard fares for first time since privatization
The plan would mark the railway operator's first full-fledged fare hike since its creation through the Japanese National Railways' privatization in 1987.
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.
JR Central is believed to have been involved in a bid-rigging case as a coordinator.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 22, 2024
JFTC inspects JR Central and others for suspected bid-rigging
They are suspected of conspiring to decide in advance which company would win contracts for land bridge inspection work on 10 of JR Central's lines.
The move of extending to employees with same-sex partners spousal welfare benefits follows the enforcement of a law on boosting understanding for sexual minorities in June 2023.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2024
Central Japan Railway to recognize employees' same-sex partners
Finer details of the system, such as whether official certificates will need to be submitted, are planned to be hammered out at a later date.
The Tokaido Shinkansen platforms at Nagoya Station are packed with passengers on Aug. 9, when the operator ran a record 483 trains in a single day.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Chubu
Oct 21, 2024
Timetable planners form backbone of Tokaido Shinkansen's 60-year journey
Timetables based on precise demand predictions and the efforts of staffers on the ground have been integral to the evolution of bullet trains.
A train on JR East's Chuo Line in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2024
JR East failed to disclose data tampering for seven years
The misconduct occurred in a rail yard of JR East in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward and was detected in March 2017.
A Japan Freight Railway train passes through a train station in Osaka in 2017. JR Freight on Thursday resumed operations for all of its freight trains after a temporary halt following the discovery of data tampering and other irregularities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2024
JR Freight resumes train operations after discovery of data tampering
The freight operator had suspended operations on Wednesday to inspect container cars suspected to have been affected.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
China’s housing crisis is worse than it seems
Residential buildings under construction in Shanghai in July 2022. The Chinese government risks long-term decline by repeating Japan’s policy mistakes in handling its real estate and demographic crises.
Lawson to let visitors use larger parking lots as paid car campsites
A Lawson convenience store in Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture. A new service from the company comes amid the rise in inbound tourists, making hotels and inns harder to book and more expensive.
The future is bright inside the visionary mind of architect Sou Fujimoto
The exhibition of Fujimoto’s architecture surveys his career to date, as well as looks ahead as shown in his proposal of a future floating city designed in collaboration with data scientist Hiroaki Miyata.
A tiny mountain hamlet keeps traditional log rafting afloat
Once a way to transport lumber from the mountains to the coast, log rafting is now Kitayama's biggest attraction.
A furever friend: Tips for responsible dog ownership in Japan
Dog ownership may seem daunting in Japan, but with the right tools and logistical knowledge, you can ensure a healthy, happy life for your pet.
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
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