Tag - tourism

 
 

TOURISM

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.
The 2024 grand prix winner was Zerogravity, a marine activity provider with a focus on accessible tours and accommodation.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 29, 2024
Japan Travel Awards promote inclusive tourism
While currently far from a global player, the Japan Travel Awards is filling a void for recommendations on forward-looking travel-centric organizations.
Tourists crowd Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district in February.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2024
Japan tourism agency picks model areas aiming to address overtourism
The agency has selected 20 areas to implement model projects aimed at addressing challenges related to the negative impacts of a surge in tourists.
Beijing-based Chinese influencer Chang Feifei has taken on many jobs to promote travel destinations in Japan, including from Universal Studios Japan and the Hankyu and Hanshin department stores.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Mar 28, 2024
Influencers — Japan’s secret weapon to promote niche tourism spots
Followers' trust in — and reliance on — social media for travel info, even when the content is sponsored, is a key factor.
Festivalgoers sit at dining tables next to food stalls at the Tomorrowland electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium, last year. The event is set to take place in Thailand in 2026.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 26, 2024
Thailand to host two major music events after Taylor Swift miss
The Southeast Asian country plans to welcome two foreign music festivals, one of them Japanese, to help boost tourism.
High-end tourism is becoming more about the kinds of experiences that Japan's lesser-known places can provide.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Mar 25, 2024
Can Japan lure the jet-set class off the beaten path?
High-end travelers are looking for sustainability, wellness and adventure when they head abroad. Japan hopes to deliver in places other than Tokyo.
Public restrooms designed by Shigeru Ban
JAPAN / Society
Mar 24, 2024
Revamped public toilets tours give visitors unique view of Tokyo
Participants involved in the project include some of Japan's most well-known architects, including Kengo Kuma, Shigeru Ban and Toyo Ito.
Tourists wearing rented 'maiko' costumes stroll down a street in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2024
Kyoto and the hard part of soft power
Kyoto has the kind of soft power few cities — and countries — possess.
While policies differ from country to country, a common goal is to clean up an aviation industry that for a century has relied on fossil fuels to function.
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2024
Expensive flights become new normal on $5 trillion green transition
Sustainable aviation fuel is the industry’s primary means of reaching a 2050 net zero target.
Travel agents from Thailand make matcha tea in the town of Wazuka, Kyoto Prefecture, on Feb. 27, during a tourism promotion program organized by the Kansai Bureau of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2024
Japan hoping wealthy Asians will visit rural areas near 2025 expo
While Japan sees the expo as a chance to attract foreign tourists, the event has yet to gain recognition.
Japan welcomed 2.79 million visitors in February, a record for the month and the most for any month since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2024
Japan sees record 2.79 million visitors in February due to Lunar New Year boost
The travel industry is getting a major boost from a weak yen that has made Japan a bargain destination for foreign travelers.
Tourists ride go-karts on a street in Tokyo's Asakusa area in October.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 19, 2024
Tokyo go-karts draw over 100 complaints in 2023
Common grievances include riders exiting karts at traffic lights for photos and disregarding red lights, according to the police.
The 125-kilometer section from Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture to Tsuruga in Fukui, which opened Saturday, adds six new stations to the Hokuriku Shinkansen line.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2024
Hokuriku Shinkansen extension opens, buoying tourism hopes for Fukui
The extension brings shinkansen services to Fukui Prefecture for the first time.
A woman takes pictures with Kawazu cherry blossom trees, one of the earliest to bloom in Japan, in Tokyo's Sumida district on Monday.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 15, 2024
Economic impact of hanami expected to double this year
Higher tourist numbers and prices, along with a depreciation of the Japanese currency, are among factors contributing to the larger economic impact.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces