Four Kansai issues stirring up Upper House election
While the sensitive issue of constitutional revision and the looming consumption tax hike to 10 percent in October dominate media discussion of what's important in the Upper House election Sunday, there are other problems and issues, some especially acute in the Kansai region, that ...
Kanto railways to offer three-day pass for foreign nationals during 2020 Games
East Japan Railway Co. and 25 other railway operators in the Kanto area said Thursday they will sell a three-day train pass for foreign visitors during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. The Tokyo Supporters Pass will allow users to ride trains of any of ...
A growing number of complaints regarding an increase in foreign residents is straining relations in Niseko, an area in Hokkaido internationally known for its famous ski resorts. In the town of Kutchan, foreign residents make up over 10 percent of the population during winter. Tensions ...
Cyprus detains 12 Israeli teens for eight days over alleged rape of Briton
A Cyprus court has ordered 12 Israelis vacationing on the east Mediterranean island nation to remain in police custody for eight days after a 19-year-old British woman alleged that she was raped. Judge Tonia Nicolaou removed reporters from the hearing Thursday because some of the ...
Japan saw record number of foreign visitors in first half of 2019
Japan saw a record number of overseas visitors in the first six months of 2019 with an estimated 16.63 million arrivals, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday. Spending by foreign visitors in the period through June increased 8.3 percent from ...
Japanese city struggles as its World Heritage sheen fades
Drastic drops in the number of visitors to the Tomioka Silk Mill, a designated World Heritage Site in Gunma Prefecture, leaves citizens looking to find new ways to boost tourism.
Egypt on Saturday opened two of its oldest pyramids to visitors for the first time since 1965. Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany told reporters that tourists are now allowed to visit the Bent Pyramid and its satellite pyramid in the Dahshur royal necropolis, located about 40 ...
Small Korean airline cancels charter flights to Shimane amid frayed ties
Korea Express Air, a small South Korean airline, has decided to cancel charter flights to Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, because of falling demand for package tours as Tokyo and Seoul find themselves increasingly at odds over wartime issues, local officials said Friday. Six round-trip flights scheduled ...
With Japan's increasing tourism numbers, tensions will inevitably follow
When is a ghost not a ghost? When it is, in fact, graffiti attributed to a 23-year old Australian tourist who this past May went on a spree of tagging the word "ghost" at various locations throughout the city of Kyoto, including bridges along the ...
In Japan, the business of watching whales is far larger than the business of hunting them
People packed the decks of the whale-watching boat, screaming in joy as a pod of orcas put on a show: splashing tails at each other, rolling over and leaping out of the water. In Kushiro, just 160 km south of Rausu, where the four dozen ...
'Tourism': Not quite the trip of a lifetime
Taking a pleasure trip abroad used to be a big, once-in-a-lifetime event for the average Japanese. The No. 1 dream destination was Hawaii, since it was seen as glamorous and exotic, yet safe and familiar. A view of Diamond Head out the hotel window ...
Boycott Japan: South Koreans take to social media in reaction to trade spat
#BoycottJapan is trending in South Korea. Angered by Japan's move to restrict exports of vital manufacturing materials to the country, South Koreans have taken to Instagram and other social media platforms to show their support for boycotts of Japanese travel and consumer products. More than 2,400 ...
