South Korean visitors to Japan down by half in August, government data shows
The number of South Korean visitors to Japan tumbled 48.0 percent in August from a year earlier, to 308,700, government data showed Wednesday, amid escalating tensions between the two neighbors over wartime history and trade policy. The estimated number of visitors from overseas fell 2.2 ...
Friends in high places: Tokyo Skytree's window washers
How would you like to spend an afternoon dangling 450 meters above the ground in a metal basket with room for only two people? For Takuma Tachibana, it's just another day at the office. "I've always liked high places," says the 32-year-old, as he prepares for ...
12 dead, 25 missing in boat accident on swollen southern India river
A sightseeing boat capsized on a swollen river in southern India on Sunday, killing 12 people and leaving 25 others missing, an official said. Andra Pradesh state's home minister, M. Sucharita, said there were 61 people — 50 passengers and 11 crew members, all of ...
Bahamas tourist industry hopes for quick comeback from 'Category Hell' hurricane
As rescuers search for bodies amid mountains of debris and the stench of death on the Bahamas island of Abaco, life on most of the archipelago's 700 isles is little changed. Cruise ships have pulled in and out of the capital and tourist hub Nassau ...
Japan's anime tourism: A blend of cash and chaos
When Liu Chenyu and Ji Xiaotian arrived in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, for their honeymoon early this summer, the Great Buddha and Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine, two well-known tourist spots in the area, weren't what they wanted to see. Their destination was a railway crossing near Kamakura ...
Japan's new land minister Kazuyoshi Akaba resolved to bolster disaster management
New Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Kazuyoshi Akaba has stressed his resolve to beef up Japan's disaster preparedness following a spate of serious natural events, including earthquakes and typhoons. He also underlined that it was important for the central and local governments to work ...
Shrinking Yamanashi village converts 150-year-old home into hotel in hope of reversing decline
A new hotel in a traditional wooden house has been opened in a small village in Yamanashi Prefecture in the hope of revitalizing an area that it is grappling with a declining population. The village of Kosuge, where the population has fallen by 40 percent ...
Japan take note: Chinese tourism has strings attached
China has a history of 'weaponizing' tourism to punish foreign governments.
Diplomatic row with South Korea starts to hurt Japan's current account surplus
Japan's surplus in spending by overseas travelers declined in July from a year earlier as the number of visitors from South Korea tumbled, a sign the souring bilateral relations are taking a toll on the world's third-largest economy. The travel account surplus — or the ...
'Crazy Rich' Asian beaches go quiet amid Chinese tourism U-turn
From quiet beaches in Bali to empty rooms in Hanoi's hotels, pangs from China's economic malaise and weakening yuan are being felt across Southeast Asia's vacation belt. A boom in Chinese outbound travel in recent years that stoked tourism across Southeast Asia is now in ...
Pressured by its struggling finances, Yokohama goes all in on casino bid
On a recent afternoon, Yamashita Park in Yokohama's waterfront was teeming with visitors — from lovey-dovey young couples to picnicking families and foreign tourists taking selfies in front of the ocean liner Hikawamaru, a museum ship permanently moored at the park. A short distance away, ...
Casino-hosting cities must help attract visitors from overseas, new draft government policy confirms
The government has released a draft policy to select cities capable of bringing more foreign visitors to the country as hosts of newly legalized casino resorts. Public opinions will be heard through Oct. 3, and the government will formally decide on the basic policy of ...
