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July 12, 2026
 

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TOURISM

Hokkaido is reconsidering the possibility of hosting a casino resort, several years after Gov. Naomichi Suzuki halted plans for one.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Sep 29, 2025
Hokkaido cities consider fresh bet on casino resort
Citing concerns over gambling addiction and possible environmental impacts, Hokkaido’s governor said it will be challenging to gain public acceptance for a casino bid.
An empty street is seen in the abandoned town of Okuma, in Fukushima Prefecture, during a temporary return visit by evacuees in February 2012.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 27, 2025
Ukrainian YouTuber arrested in Japan over Fukushima livestream
The arrest is the latest in a string of incidents involving fame-seeking foreign nationals behaving badly in the country.
Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Linda Joyce moved to rural Tochigi Prefecture in 2024 for a career shift from teaching to hospitality and sustainable tourism.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 25, 2025
Linda Joyce: ‘We hope people recognize the benefits of exploring rural areas’
Former teacher Linda Joyce shifted careers to the tourism industry in 2024 and now works at a historic property in rural Tochigi Prefecture.
A business class suite of an Airbus SE A350-1000 aircraft operated by Japan Airlines is seen during a media preview at the company's hangar at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in January last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2025
Boom in business class travel from Japan fuels airlines profits
As tariffs change trade patterns and roil global supply chains, corporate Japan is dealing with it by getting executives in the air.
Visitors at the Osaka Expo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2025
Osaka Expo visitors top 20 million as crowds surge
Ahead of the Oct. 13 closing of the event, the Osaka Expo is attracting visitors at a rapid pace, with the daily turnout exceeding 200,000.
Tours are being offered in Tokyo using a shoulder-mounted robot equipped with a camera, speaker and microphone. The robot twitches its wing-like arms, which it can fold together as if in prayer when visiting a temple.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 19, 2025
Robot tour guides in Tokyo offer way for those with disabilities to work
OriHime, a robot remotely controlled by people with disabilities, is offering tours in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district.
Tourists in the Dotonbori area in Osaka. Calls are growing in Osaka Prefecture for a review of <i>minpaku</i> private lodging services for tourists, as locals face the issue of bad manners by some foreign guests.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2025
Review of minpaku private lodgings sought in Osaka
Issues linked to such services became one of the focal points in the July election for the House of Councillors.
Tourists walk through a traditional alleyway near Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in August.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2025
Foreign visitors to Japan hit record 3.42 million in August
The tally was pushed higher by visitors from mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States.
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 16, 2025
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
Along with a nickname referencing its financial woes, Choshi Electric Railway is selling “Mazui-bo,” a snack named after the company’s mazui, or “bad” fiscal situation.
With one month left to go, crowds are expected to swell at the World Expo in Osaka during its final weeks.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2025
Final weeks of World Expo in Osaka likely to see large crowds
At its current pace, the Expo will top 22 million visitors — which is the target to break even on operating costs — and is expected to turn a profit.
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 13, 2025
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Well known for its views of Mount Fuji, the mountainous community also holds a growing collection of world-class art.
A stay at Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, is one of Bali's priciest choices — but also one of its most uncompromisingly luxurious.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 13, 2025
In Bali, the Ritz-Carlton’s ultraluxury Mandapa hotel marks 10 years
One of just nine “Reserve” properties around the world, Mandapa offers a delightfully unsanitized take on a rainforest retreat.
Juan Ansotegui walks on his property in Villalibado, a hamlet in the Odra-Pisuerga comarca of Burgos, Castile, Spain.
WORLD / Society
Sep 12, 2025
Spain wants to save rural areas — and it’s finding creative ways to do it
Public and private actors are experimenting with ways to reverse demographic decline and save the centuries-old histories, traditions and cultures of Spain’s rural communities.
Forbes and Unforgettable Travel Company have ranked Shirakawago in Gifu Prefecture as Asia's most beautiful village.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2025
‘Fairytale’ Shirakawago ranked one of the world’s most beautiful villages
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Shirakawago is famed for its verdant landscape and gasshō-zukuri farmhouses, which are hundreds of years old.
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Sep 8, 2025
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Hotels hit by labor shortage hope to reduce their burden, while restaurants and the local community aim to attract more visitors.
Haruto Kotani (second from right), the 20.25 millionth visitor to the Osaka Expo, and others during a ceremony in Osaka on Saturday
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2025
Osaka Expo hits record 200,000 daily visitors
The cumulative number of visitors, including those related to the Expo project, has reached 20.25 million.
Redevelopment plans for Kawayu Onsen have hit some snags — an example of how bringing tourists back to declining rural communities is far from easy work.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 6, 2025
In rural Hokkaido, the stops and starts of tourism revival on full display
A new luxury resort might halt the decline of Kawayu, but only if locals and businesses can agree on how to move forward.
Lotte Holdings President Genichi Tamatsuka (left), Lotte hotels Japan head Tomoya Fukui (center) and Hotel Lotte CEO Jung Ho-suck (right) at a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday. The companies unveiled plans to open 20 hotels in Japan by 2034.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2025
Lotte’s sweet deal aims to capitalize on Japan’s tourism boom
Confectionery giants Lotte Holdings and Lotte Corporation plan to draw on South Korea expertise and in-house products to create more hotels in Japan.
Foreign tourists visit a park near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in August.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2025
Anger in Japan after Instagrammer drinks burial site offering
On Tuesday, the Australian Embassy warned on Facebook that travelers must ensure “appropriate behavior” while visiting Japan, without explicitly referring to the incident.
Osaka stayed in first place thanks to high scores in the economy and for tourist attractions.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2025
Osaka rated most powerful Japanese city outside Tokyo for fifth year
Osaka stayed in first thanks to high scores in the economy and for tourist attractions, with the city hosting the World Expo.
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 scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
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.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
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.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘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.

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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