NEWSWORTHY
The Nara Prefectural Government said Wednesday that it will make the use of its official mascot free of charge from August. The local government, which currently collects a fee of 3 percent of expected sales for the use of Sento-kun, hopes that the new measure ...
One of the many deer in the city of Nara has been found with a makeshift dart lodged in its neck, local authorities said Wednesday, prompting police to launch an investigation. The roughly 4-year-old, 36-kilogram doe appears to have suffered only a minor injury and ...
Prosecutors indicted an American man Wednesday for killing a woman in Osaka in February. According to the indictment, Yevgeniy Vasilievich Bayraktar, strangled 27-year-old Saki Kondo at a condominium rented out to tourists on Feb. 16. The prosecutors charged him with injury resulting in death, not murder, ...
Goldfish-filled phone booth to be removed from Nara shopping street after accusations of plagiarism
An art installation featuring a telephone booth filled with water and dozens of goldfish will be removed from a spot in front of a coffee shop in Nara Prefecture after the work was said to be plagiarized, the local body managing the property said ...
Oh deer! Nara urges use of 'deer sign language' by tourists after more get bitten by hungry animals
Faced with a growing number of injuries from deer bites, authorities in Nara Park have issued tips on feeding the hundreds of animals that attract tourists from around the world. The picturesque park in the ancient capital is home to more than 1,000 Sika deer, ...
Nara announces record number of deer bites as tourists flood in
Famed wild deer in the city of Nara appear to be growing increasingly frustrated with tourists who make them wait to munch on crackers while trying to frame the perfect photo.
At the O-chamori first tea ceremony of the year, attendees drink to get a taste of the new year from a bowl so large it hides their faces.
Airbnb becoming rural income source from India to Japan
Mobile apps that help women in the Indian countryside and tiny villages in Japan to open their homes to visitors from across the world are generating incomes, revitalizing remote communities and helping to curb migration to cities. A women's organization in the western Indian state ...
Local governments in Japan look to clamp down on private lodging services with stricter regulations
With the explosion of overseas tourism, local governments are looking to curb the number of illegal outlets that have sprung up in recent years.
A district court on Thursday found a 24-year-old father not guilty of fatally assaulting his 5-month-old daughter in December last year, saying his statements could not be taken as evidence of his guilt as they were "not reliable." Atsushi Nishikawa, presiding judge of the Nara ...
Nara mom arrested for stabbing son's 8-year-old female classmate
Rie Chisaka, a 41-year-old part-time worker in Ikoma, Nara Prefecture, was arrested Thursday after she called the police to report that she had stabbed her 8-year-old son's female classmate. The responding officer found the suspect with her son and the victim. Police said the girl, ...
Japan's geisha battle to protect their future
A handful of traditional female entertainers across the country are experimenting with innovative ways of preserving their culture.
