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July 11, 2026
 

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TOURISM

Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in March. Various cities around the world have cracked down on private lodgings, such as in Barcelona where the city is attempting to eradicate all short-stay apartments by 2028.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2026
Japan to allow local governments to ban private lodging
The move comes amid complaints of lodgers partying at night, ignoring trash rules, and leaving cigarette butts on the streets.
A rendering of a Supreme Class premium private compartment to be offered on Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen train cars from October
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 18, 2026
Private compartments coming in October to Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen trains
The compartments in the Supreme Class will feature reclining seats and lockable doors, and tickets for them can only be purchased online.
The number of mountaineering accidents in Japan reached a total of 3,122 in 2025, up by 176 year on year and the second-highest level on record, according to National Police Agency data.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 18, 2026
Japan saw record 3,623 people encounter mountaineering accidents in 2025
Overall, accidents mainly occurred due to people getting lost, or falling or slipping on slopes, though bear attacks accounted for 27 cases — tripling from the previous year.
Revelers take a photo with a tourist after carrying a portable shrine during a Shinto festival in Tokyo's Asakusa district on May 17.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2026
Visitors to Japan fell 3.6% in May
Japan saw visitors from South Korea, Taiwan and the United States hitting their respective highest levels for May.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya speaks to reporters in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 17, 2026
Sanseito submits bill to create agency on policies related to foreign nationals
After submitting the bill, Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya expressed his dissatisfaction with the government’s policies on foreign nationals.
Cafe Phosphorescence, owned by Osamu Dazai fan Miyuki Daba, is located about 15 minutes away from where the novelist used to live.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 15, 2026
In Tokyo’s Mitaka, a search for traces of Osamu Dazai
The novelist’s hometown honors his memory, but with many buildings demolished, a pilgrimage is an exercise in imagination.
Across Kojima, production facilities handle different stages of denim-making, from sewing and washing to finishing and quality control.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 13, 2026
How Kojima made a destination out of denim
In Okayama Prefecture, an old textile town has turned jeans into a source of craft, identity and tourism.
The share of drunken-driving accidents involving specified small motorized two-wheel vehicles, including electric kick scooters, is "extremely high," Japan's annual white paper on traffic safety noted.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2026
10% of e-scooter accidents in Japan resulted from drunken driving in 2025
Of the 386 accidents involving specified small motorized two-wheel vehicles, including electric kick scooters, drunken driving was blamed for 43 of them.
South Bangkok Criminal Court
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 11, 2026
Thailand sentences Chinese Uyghurs to death over 2015 shrine bombing
The blast came weeks after Thailand’s then-ruling junta forcibly repatriated 109 Uyghurs to China.
Widely popularized by “Kill Bill,” Onitsuka Tiger started as a sport shoe brand and later became a fashion trend under parent Asics.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2026
Asics will spin off trendy shoe brand Onitsuka Tiger
Asics said that transitioning the 77-year-old brand to a more independent operating structure would enable faster decision-making.
More municipalities in Okinawa Prefecture are adopting a program that allows children to take a "learncation" from school to spend time with family engaging in educational activities.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jun 8, 2026
Okinawa schools adopting ‘learncation’ to give students more family time
The program allows children to take authorized leave from school on weekdays to spend time with family for educational activities.
Californians Ben and Ariella Jacoby, who married with Mount Fuji as their backdrop, are part of a growing trend of inbound weddings in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 8, 2026
Foreign couples are turning Japan into a wedding destination
Personal and cultural connections, as well as a weak yen, are driving more foreign couples to choose Japan to mark major life events.
A woman swims in a pool at the Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort in Dubai on Saturday.
WORLD
Jun 7, 2026
Dubai luxury hotels woo staycationers as tourists flee
The clientele is driven by hotels offering residents-only deals that have become a lifeline for Dubai’s luxury tourism.
Tourists in Nara Park in March
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 7, 2026
Benefits for foreign tourists spark debate in Japan
Some facilities stopped offering discounts amid criticism of preferential treatment for foreigners.
The body of James "Weston" Higginbotham ‌was discovered in a mountainous area ​by a volunteer search-and-rescue group, his mother, Nancy Higginbotham, wrote Saturday on Facebook.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 7, 2026
Missing U.S. student found dead near Kyoto, mother says
The body of James Higginbotham, ‌20, ‌was discovered in a mountainous area ​by a volunteer search-and-rescue group, Nancy Higginbotham wrote.
On the 41st floor of the Akasaka Trust Tower, the Panoramic Tower Studio Suite at 1 Hotel Tokyo offers stunning views while keeping sight of the hotel's sustainable, down-home core.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 6, 2026
At 1 Hotel Tokyo, luxury is a zero-waste journey
Open from March, the brand’s first outpost in Japan stays true to its sustainable roots.
James "Weston" Higginbotham was last seen in Kyoto on May 29.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 4, 2026
Kyoto police search for missing American tourist
James Higginbotham, who also goes by Weston, was last seen in the Kyoto area on Friday last week.
While the total number of visitors to Japan have wavered as the Middle East conflict hurts travel demand, tourists from places like Taiwan, South Korea and Southeast Asia have been increasing this year and the weak yen is encouraging them to spend.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 2, 2026
Japan’s duty-free sales climb in May as tourism boom endures
Japanese department stores are rebounding from a shaky start to the year as lingering political tensions kept many Chinese tourists away.
A guestroom at an APA Hotel in Tokyo. APA built its name in Japan on a standardized formula: a long list of amenities packed into tight rooms engineered for efficiency.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 1, 2026
Billionaire behind Japan’s tiny-room hotel empire bets on U.S.
APA Hotels has grown into one of Japan’s most recognizable hotel operators, with more than 1,100 hotels and nearly 150,000 rooms across its global network.
The Yaima Maru ferry, which will operate between Taiwan and Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture, is docked in Keelung, Taiwan, Thursday.
JAPAN
May 28, 2026
New Taiwan-Japan ferry service debuts on ship that has war evacuation role
The Yaima Maru is among vessels to be used to evacuate residents on southern Japanese islands to mainland Japan in times of crisis.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Trump says ‘Japan’ instead of Iran at meeting in Ankara
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference during a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on Wednesday.
World’s first fully sealed vertical-farming facility opens in Tokyo
Fully sealed units are stacked on top of each other at Plantx's vertical-farming facility in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Wednesday.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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