Tag - tourism

 
 

TOURISM

Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2017
Oita aims to heat things up with video of Olympian synchronized swimming in onsen
Famous for its onsen (hot springs), Oita Prefecture has posted a promotional video featuring former Olympians performing synchronized swimming in geothermal pools in a bid to "heat up" momentum for an upcoming international aquatics sports competition.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 4, 2017
In bid to give couples some privacy, Cuba to revive network of state-run love motels
As Cuba's communist government seeks to "diversify options for love," it is reviving a network of state-run "love motels" in Havana where couples can rent rooms by the hour, the official trade union weekly Trabajadores said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 30, 2017
New home-sharing law may give HomeAway the edge over rival Airbnb
Japan's home-sharing market is poised for a shift away from couch surfing toward professional services after the passage of a law regulating short-term rentals.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 30, 2017
Airbnb's new premium service steps up competition with luxury hotels
Airbnb Inc. is close to launching a new service that will match guests with quality-inspected home and apartment rentals. The product is intended to attract higher-paying travelers who have yet to use Airbnb because they prefer the amenities guaranteed by fancy hotels, said three people familiar with...
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jun 27, 2017
Narrowed Trump travel ban could sow confusion in U.S. and abroad, experts say
The Supreme Court's criteria for who can be barred from entering the United States under President Donald Trump's travel ban may confuse the U.S. officials overseas charged with implementing it and trigger a new round of lawsuits, experts said.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jun 25, 2017
Wakayama seeks to lift itself out of obscurity with fruit and gambling
In the Kansai region, known mostly for the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Kobe, Wakayama Prefecture rarely tops the destination list of most tourists.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 18, 2017
Explicit porn pamphlets on display for all to see in Japan's hotels
This week's topic comes courtesy of M.J., who contacted Lifelines after her uncomfortable experience at a Tokyo hotel with her family.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jun 9, 2017
In case you missed them: a year of responses to Community stories, part 2
The second in a series of selections of unpublished letters about Community stories from the previous year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 29, 2017
BITPoint in talks to add bitcoin payments to outlets across Japan
BITPoint Japan, the company behind Peach Aviation's move to let travelers use bitcoin to pay for tickets, is planning to give hundreds of thousands of retail outlets the ability to accept the digital currency.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 26, 2017
U.S. bill would ban Americans from traveling to North Korea as tourists
Republican and Democratic U.S. congressmen introduced a bill on Thursday that would ban Americans from traveling to North Korea as tourists and require them to obtain special permission for other types of visits.
Japan Times
JAPAN / OKINAWA BEAT
May 11, 2017
Okinawa grapples with mounting garbage, water supply dilemma amid record tourist numbers
As Okinawa continues to mark record high numbers of tourists in recent years, the prefecture is struggling to dispose of snowballing garbage and supplying sufficient amounts of water.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
May 9, 2017
Group will use drone to help prevent suicide at remote Fukui Prefecture site
A suicide prevention group will dispatch a drone to monitor remote areas around Tojinbo in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture — whose lonely cliffs remain romanticized in popular imagination as a destination where people go to end their lives — in the hopes that the effort will help reduce the suicide rate....
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 8, 2017
Shabani the gorilla credited with keeping Nagoya zoo visitor numbers up despite bird flu outbreak
The total number of visitors to Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya reached 2,408,400 in fiscal 2016, the second-highest level in the last 20 years.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 2, 2017
Aomori city sees bitcoin as way to attract overseas tourists
The castle city of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, has moved into the digital currency age with the launch of a project to use bitcoin to lure international travelers and preserve the city's historic attractions, an apparent first by a Japanese municipality using a cryptocurrency.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 14, 2017
Thai police arrest woman over tour scam that stranded over 1,000 Japan-bound travelers
Thai police have arrested a woman accused of cheating more than 1,000 people who were left stranded at Bangkok's main airport this week, media said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2017
Aspiring Tsuruga's tourism drive hindered by nuclear image
Officials in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, attempting to promote their city as a tourist destination, received a rude shock recently when a survey showed its image was less one of natural beauty and fresh seafood and more one of being a center for nuclear power.
Japan Times
JAPAN / OKINAWA BEAT
Apr 12, 2017
Naha firm to open miniature model theme park in Okinawa featuring tourist sites around the world
A company based in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, is aiming to open a theme park in the prefecture around 2022 featuring exhibitions of famous cities around the world using miniature models.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 8, 2017
Ken Yokoyama: 'Be selfless and look at the big picture'
Former general manager of Hyatt Regency Kyoto on tourism, hospitality and pink Cadillacs.
EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 2017
New rules on 'minpaku' lodging
Proposed Diet legislation will make it easier for people to rent out their private residences to tourists.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 27, 2017
Popular Thai city launches 'Happy Zone' in bid to clean up notorious image
With mascots dressed as smiling fish and a police rock band, Thai authorities launched a "Happy Zone" at the weekend to improve the image of a city notorious for sex tourism.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past