Tag - tourism

 
 

TOURISM

An estimated 835,200 people were due to travel through Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture during the 11-day Golden Week period — about 77% of the number during the same period in 2019, before the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 27, 2024
Travelers flock to train stations, airports as Golden Week begins
Japan kicked off its Golden Week holidays, which run through May 6, on Saturday, with many people heading to resorts or their home towns.
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 26, 2024
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
The country is looking to nudge affluent tourists to lesser-known destinations with the offer of unique experiences of culture, craftsmanship and nature.
Specializing in gastronomy-themed tours, Arigato Travel, founded and directed by Anne Kyle, was once a one-woman operation. Today, it counts more than 100 employees.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 26, 2024
Anne Kyle: 'People want to know what life actually is like here’
The founder and CEO of Arigato Travel grew her business from a one-woman operation to a national outfit of more than 100 employees in a matter of years.
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 26, 2024
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
An official said some visitors leave litter behind and ignore traffic regulations.
Check-in counters at Narita International Airport are crowded with travelers on Dec. 30, 2023.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2024
Passengers at Narita Airport soar 72% in fiscal 2023
The operator forecast that during the Golden Week holiday period, international passengers would total 835,200, up 33.6% from the same period last year.
A terrace of one of the rooms of the Grand Chateau hotel building located in Tokyo DisneySea's new "Fantasy Springs" area in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2024
Hotel at new Tokyo DisneySea area shown to press
The minimum overnight fee for the hotel's two buildings is ¥66,000 for rooms at the Fantasy Chateau and ¥341,000 for those at higher-end Grand Chateau.
A man offers flowers in Shari, Hokkaido, Tuesday for the victims of the fatal sinking of a sightseeing boat off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido two years ago.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 24, 2024
Hokkaido boat operator probe ongoing two years after fatal sinking
Thirty relatives of passengers plan to file a group lawsuit against the operator's president at the Sapporo District Court as early as next month.
The average daily room rate of hotels in Japan for March marked the highest level since August 1997, as the country saw a record number of foreign visitors in March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 19, 2024
Japan hotel prices near 30-year high as weak yen lures record tourists
The average daily room rate for March was about ¥20,986 ($136), the highest level since August 1997 and a nearly 20% increase from the same period in 2023.
Tourists in Kyoto on Saturday. Japan saw a record 3.08 million foreign visitors in March.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 17, 2024
Inbound tourism numbers hit record high, with Japan set to achieve 2025 goal
The nation welcomed a record 3.08 million foreign visitors in March, surpassing the previous high of 2.99 million from July 2019.
In a Kyoto long past, the "hyakki yagyō" (100 demon night parade) haunted a sleepy corner of Kyoto. Now, one enterprising monster enthusiast has won a small batttle to keep the march alive.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 17, 2024
Kyoto’s demon night parade lives to haunt another day
Held this year on April 20, an ancient Kyoto monster march has overcome obstacles to continue going bump in the night.
Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Apr 15, 2024
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on
After a five-year absence, kabuki has returned to Kotohira. Can it be the draw that this tourism-hungry town desires?
Cherry blossom viewers at Notokashima Station in Ishikawa Prefecture on Saturday
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2024
Train station in quake-hit town crowded with cherry blossom viewers
Cherry trees line both sides of the station's platforms, creating a stunning sight that has earned it the nickname the "cherry blossom tunnel."
Summer averages in eastern Hokkaido float in the high teens and low 20s, not necessitating widespread air conditioning usage in homes and businesses.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2024
Fear the impending heat? Escape to Kushiro, the land of no summer.
A once mighty fishing port, Kushiro now aims to capture the hearts of tourists seeking escape from sweltering urban jungles for a misty paradise.
The international departure lobby at Haneda Aiport in Tokyo on April 29, 2023, at the start of the Golden Week holidays.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2024
Golden Week travel plans near pre-pandemic levels as overseas bookings surge
This year's Golden Week marks the first since the government downgraded COVID-19’s classification to the same level as the seasonal flu.
Despite Japan’s strict anti-scalping laws, tickets for premium seats to sumo tournaments are being offered at massive markups on resale sites.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Apr 10, 2024
Scarcity of tickets leaves foreign sumo fans out in the cold
Almost as soon as general ticket sales began on Saturday for the upcoming May Grand Sumo Tournament, the entire meet was sold-out.
The Nishi no Ma room of the State Guest House Akasaka Palace in Tokyo will be opened to the public from Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2024
State guest house room in Tokyo to be opened to public
Sketching events and brass band events are also planned for visitors.
Tourists visit Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan in Bangkok in January.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2024
Thailand leads push for six-nation visa to attract more tourists
The plan is meant to ensure seamless mobility for travelers among neighboring countries.
In 2017, chef Shinsaku Suzuki moved to the Yatsugatake region of Yamanashi Prefecture with his wife, Emi Ishida, after locating the perfect premises: a splendid 170-year-old traditional Japanese house.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Apr 6, 2024
Ai to Ibukuro: Terroir of Yamanashi's uplands
With a name that translates to “Love and Stomach,” this rural restaurant not far from Tokyo delivers with flying colors on both counts.
Foreign tourists get their photos taken in front of a public toilet that was redesigned as part of a project to transform public toilets into restrooms that can be used comfortably by everyone, during a Tokyo Toilet Shuttle Tour, in Shibuya Ward, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 6, 2024
Flushed with pride, public toilets a tourist draw in Tokyo
Along with taking in temples and cherry blossoms, Tokyo visitors can now join a curated pilgrimage of the city's more modern wonders: its public toilets.
People visit to view cherry blossoms in full bloom at Chidorigafuchi, one of the moats around the Imperial Palace, in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2024
Tokyo crowds revel as cherry blossoms reach full bloom
The Meteorological Agency declared that Japan's most common and popular Somei Yoshino variety of cherry tree was in full bloom.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores