NEWSWORTHY
The number of visitors to Japan by cruise ships in 2018 dropped 3.3 percent from the previous year to 2,446,000, the first fall since statistics began in 2013, the transport ministry said Friday. The decline came chiefly because the number of visitors departing from China, ...
Dozens of North Korean boats, some carrying human remains, continue to wash ashore in northern Japan
Numerous wooden boats believed to have drifted from North Korea to Tohoku's Sea of Japan coast have been left where they washed up as local residents lack the financial resources to dispose of them. Local governments cannot keep pace with the number of abandoned boats, ...
Brazil may drop visas for U.S., Australian and Japanese visitors in bid to boost tourism
Brazil is considering dropping visas for visitors from the U.S., Australia, Canada and Japan to boost its tourism industry, media reported Thursday. Tourism Minister Alvaro Antonio told reporters the measure could be adopted soon, with the aim of tripling annual revenues from foreign tourists to ...
From travel to IPOs, U.S. shutdown doing more economic damage than White House expected
Delta Air Lines can't get eight new aircraft in the air. Roughly a million government employees and contractors aren't being paid. Some Americans who are trying to start small businesses face delays in obtaining the required tax identification number from the IRS. As the partial ...
Foreign tourists spent record ¥4.5 trillion in Japan in 2018
Spending by foreign visitors increases for the seventh consecutive year, with the average person spending ¥153,000, the Japan Tourism Agency says in a preliminary report.
Ibaraki to adopt smartphone-based cashless payment system in tie-up with Tokyo startup
Ibaraki Prefecture is adopting cashless payments made using smartphones as a means to tap into data-driven marketing, and allow small and medium-sized businesses to benefit from a central government plan to offset a scheduled consumption tax hike by rewarding consumers for noncash purchases. Prefectural officials ...
The government must make sure the money from the new tax is going toward serving the needs of inbound tourists.
With eye on tourism, Tsukiji redevelopment planning set to accelerate in 2019
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will soon accelerate work to draw up a blueprint for redevelopment of the former site of the landmark Tsukiji food market, following its closure in October 2018. Through the redevelopment, the authority aims to increase the capital's appeal as a waterfront ...
The estimated number of overseas visitors to Japan reached a record high 31.19 million in 2018, up 8.7 percent from the previous year and rising for the seventh straight year, the tourism minister said Friday. Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Keiichi Ishii credited the ...
The number of Japanese people who flew out of and into Japan using Narita International Airport near Tokyo during the year-end and New Year's holiday period marked the first growth in two years, preliminary data showed Thursday. Between Dec. 21 and Jan. 3, the number ...
Kaoru Kanetaka, a reporter who starred in a popular TV travel show that aired for 30 years, has died of heart failure, her office said Wednesday. She was 90. As a pioneering journalist and broadcaster, Kanetaka brought the world to viewers with her TV series ...
New departure tax gets mixed reviews from both Japanese and foreign travelers
The travel industry is pinning its hopes on the departure tax that was introduced Monday, while some passengers leaving the country voiced unhappiness with the new levy. Japan began collecting ¥1,000 per person from those leaving the country regardless of nationality. Revenue from the new tax, ...
